Astrato Analytics vs. ibi WebFOCUS

Astrato Analytics provides a feature-rich application that it easy to use for the non-technical user yet robust enough to create a sophisticated SaaS application. Astrato Analytics provides native integration to all the major large cloud data platforms and the implementation is very straight forward. The value provided through their feature-rich platform and competitive pricing is unmatched.

I would less recommend it because it looks like IBI is receding a bit from the European market. I would not be certain for future support. Knowledge in the market in western Europe is limited Functional wise the application suits almost all situations. I would for sure recommend it purely based on its capabilities

Incentivized

• Writeback to the database is simple and straightforward and allows us to build apps in the tool with a level of interation that is not possible with other BI tools
• Version control that is built into the workbooks allows us to quickly deploy changes without the fear of losing the older version and maintianing both a historcal updates and the ability to rollback
• Easy connectivity to a wide range of data platforms including Snowflake, Databricks, and Google Workspace within the same tenant allows us to leverage data from each of these platforms for specific use cases

• One thing that has always been good at WebFOCUS is how they interact with the customer on items. They take suggestions and implement them. In addition technical support is timely and very detailed.
• I think they keep up with and lead in implementing new technologies in the BI space. One case of this are the ability for user to create their own easy dashboard using the green plus buttons. Also the ability to link d3 into and have the ability to implement new types of graphs is nice.
• I have been to a spoke at one of their user conferences and they are worth going to. In addition to all of the great seminars the interaction you get with vendors and other users is key in the growth of your knowledge. I've learned so much for my time at these conferences.

Incentivized

• The product is still young, as a consequence, some features aren't as mature as competitors. Astrato has worked to catch up quickly, by rolling out new features regularly
• Better ability to control icons and themes from a central point, instead of having to add/change them on each report

Incentivized

• The newest versions of WebFOCUS have an unnecessarily complicated security layout that makes configuration difficult to accomplish without bringing in the vendor for installs.
• This software tries to cover too many bases allowing you to switch from writing code manually to creating reports using only GUI tools. This sometimes complicates screens and functionality where the two methods don't always work well together. -though its nice to have the choice.
• The sales force is not as top notch as many software companies

Incentivized

This software is deeply engrained with my organization and has become a tool that would not easily be replaced without spending more money and resources to get the same results. License cost is comparable to other report writing tools and the capabilities are greater than the competition without having to buy multiple apps to do the same thing.

Incentivized

It is a very intuitive system, a pleasure to use, practical and simple, for medium to advanced activities. BI supervisors are delighted with much of the functionality, but highlight some weaknesses that they still have, such as the loading speed in HEIC-type files.

Without a doubt, it is a tool that has become essential in our business routine.

Incentivized

Best BI tool/product I have used. The others don't compare overall. Some can look fancier, but when you actually use them with large data and data from numerous systems/sources that is where most of the competition falls away. I also don't like downtime. I have basically none for a large user base with WebFocus. Even SAP Crystal Reports went down for 4 days once - 4 days because the admin password got locked out due to a glitch and we had zero reports for 4 days. WebFocus has never had more than a few minutes of downtime. It's like a tank that just keeps rolling. There is no other choice for reliable BI.

Incentivized

Tracking availability formally for almost two years and we are at 99.8%

Incentivized

Very friendly, with online help, blog and community. The template documentation could be more complete, however.

Incentivized

They have extremely knowledgeable techs that I have worked with over the years. Some have actually become really good friends of mine. I see them often at local user groups and when we show them how we are using their tools to save millions of dollars throughout the company

Incentivized

It's hit and miss, the last class was overcrowded and people were having trouble connecting which took up much of the time. Instructors vary

Incentivized

Plan ahead on what data will be accessible and the type of security required on the database and if you will want to use security that is built into the software. It is worth consulting with the vendor on what your plan is and how they recommend you proceed in order to get results you are happy with.

Incentivized

To scale PowerBi, we would have needed a staff of technical folks and a substantial budget, and we still probably could not have created the robust SaaS application we did with Astrato Analytics. Astrato Analytics allowed for a staff of two to create and rollout a SaaS Application in under 60 days and provided hands on support to us as needed. There really is no comparison.

Webfocus handles the side of our business that is involved with our catalogs. Our catalogs is a huge revenue driver for us and this tool has been extremely useful with planning feature catalogs. Tableau is used more for marketing and merchandising purchases since we can filter data based on website sales.

Incentivized

• The ability to unify multiple platforms in Astrato provides cost savings.

• We are not yet a success story. Though we've been implementing WebFOCUS for over a year, we have very few products in our Production portal. Of course, this is not all the responsibility of Information Builders, but we were ill-advised by our 'training coordinator' in our training of staff and coming up to speed with the tools has been very slow.
• Once skilled analysts and professional IT staff achieve a grasp of the products, they are able to very quickly create polished and well-received products.
• The DW/BI project has helped us to establish standards and protocols of communication that will allow us to more quickly meet knowledge transfer requirements