Azure Analysis Services vs. Looker

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Azure Analysis Services
Score 8.6 out of 10
N/A
Azure Analysis Services delivers enterprise-grade BI semantic modeling capabilities with the scale, flexibility, and management benefits of the cloud. Azure Analysis Services helps transform complex data into actionable insights. Azure Analysis Services is built on the analytics engine in Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services.N/A
Looker
Score 8.2 out of 10
N/A
Looker is a BI application with an analytics-oriented application server that sits on top of relational data stores. It includes an end-user interface for exploring data, a reusable development paradigm for data discovery, and an API for supporting data in other systems.N/A
Pricing
Azure Analysis ServicesLooker
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Azure Analysis ServicesLooker
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoYes
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeRequired
Additional DetailsMust contact sales team for pricing.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Azure Analysis ServicesLooker
Top Pros

No answers on this topic

Top Cons

No answers on this topic

Features
Azure Analysis ServicesLooker
BI Standard Reporting
Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Azure Analysis Services
8.7
10 Ratings
6% above category average
Looker
8.1
93 Ratings
1% below category average
Pixel Perfect reports8.810 Ratings7.678 Ratings
Customizable dashboards8.89 Ratings8.792 Ratings
Report Formatting Templates8.510 Ratings7.978 Ratings
Ad-hoc Reporting
Comparison of Ad-hoc Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Azure Analysis Services
8.9
10 Ratings
9% above category average
Looker
8.1
94 Ratings
0% below category average
Drill-down analysis9.08 Ratings8.291 Ratings
Formatting capabilities8.99 Ratings7.492 Ratings
Integration with R or other statistical packages8.89 Ratings8.037 Ratings
Report sharing and collaboration9.110 Ratings8.694 Ratings
Report Output and Scheduling
Comparison of Report Output and Scheduling features of Product A and Product B
Azure Analysis Services
9.0
10 Ratings
7% above category average
Looker
8.6
90 Ratings
3% above category average
Publish to Web9.110 Ratings8.574 Ratings
Publish to PDF8.99 Ratings8.780 Ratings
Report Versioning9.39 Ratings8.260 Ratings
Report Delivery Scheduling8.910 Ratings8.980 Ratings
Delivery to Remote Servers8.89 Ratings00 Ratings
Data Discovery and Visualization
Comparison of Data Discovery and Visualization features of Product A and Product B
Azure Analysis Services
9.0
9 Ratings
11% above category average
Looker
6.8
91 Ratings
17% below category average
Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)9.38 Ratings8.189 Ratings
Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization9.19 Ratings7.678 Ratings
Predictive Analytics8.68 Ratings4.66 Ratings
Access Control and Security
Comparison of Access Control and Security features of Product A and Product B
Azure Analysis Services
9.2
10 Ratings
7% above category average
Looker
8.5
90 Ratings
1% below category average
Multi-User Support (named login)9.29 Ratings8.985 Ratings
Role-Based Security Model9.310 Ratings8.378 Ratings
Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)9.110 Ratings8.685 Ratings
Single Sign-On (SSO)9.39 Ratings00 Ratings
Report-Level Access Control00 Ratings8.426 Ratings
Mobile Capabilities
Comparison of Mobile Capabilities features of Product A and Product B
Azure Analysis Services
8.8
9 Ratings
10% above category average
Looker
5.8
66 Ratings
31% below category average
Responsive Design for Web Access8.58 Ratings6.763 Ratings
Mobile Application9.45 Ratings5.01 Ratings
Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile8.67 Ratings6.558 Ratings
Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding
Comparison of Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding features of Product A and Product B
Azure Analysis Services
8.8
9 Ratings
10% above category average
Looker
-
Ratings
REST API8.97 Ratings00 Ratings
Javascript API8.77 Ratings00 Ratings
iFrames9.06 Ratings00 Ratings
Java API8.98 Ratings00 Ratings
Themeable User Interface (UI)8.36 Ratings00 Ratings
Customizable Platform (Open Source)9.25 Ratings00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Azure Analysis ServicesLooker
Small Businesses
BrightGauge
BrightGauge
Score 8.9 out of 10
BrightGauge
BrightGauge
Score 8.9 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Reveal
Reveal
Score 9.9 out of 10
Reveal
Reveal
Score 9.9 out of 10
Enterprises
Jaspersoft Community Edition
Jaspersoft Community Edition
Score 9.7 out of 10
Jaspersoft Community Edition
Jaspersoft Community Edition
Score 9.7 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Azure Analysis ServicesLooker
Likelihood to Recommend
9.1
(11 ratings)
8.3
(94 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(4 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
8.8
(12 ratings)
Support Rating
-
(0 ratings)
8.8
(14 ratings)
User Testimonials
Azure Analysis ServicesLooker
Likelihood to Recommend
Microsoft
We would have many technical issues and glitches with previous similar providers but found that Azure Analysis Services can simply handle our workload and memory better. I remember we lost an account due to cloud issues not fully saving or corrupting some files. Granted, this is rare with any cloud but haven't had that issue with the same load of memory with Azure Analysis Services.
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Google
Quick dashboards from Google Sheets - Easier to do the graphs than in Google Sheets - Operational dashboards to be used in the day-to-day work - It is good both for retrospective data and to do a pulse check of the current status - Better for not giant amounts of data and not multiple data sources. - If you need a lot of graphs to be displayed on the same page, it can be a bit glitchy during configuration (then the use works fine).
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Pros
Microsoft
  • Providing role based access or we can say privilege based on the role to the user if it is integrated with Azure active directory and hence securing the access to sensitive data.
  • We use to run different type of analytics services to get the better result which is hectic if done manually or with human efforts.
  • We also use to collect bulk of data with the help of this tool and run customized test cases for better efficiency of result and better decision making. The result are very crucial and helps in taking big decision.
  • It supports different or we can say heterogeneous database vendors like the Oracle, SQL, and hence make the task easy.
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Google
  • Filtering - you can filter across different dimensions and metrics to get a more specific "cut" of data
  • Refreshing - data automatically ingests into Looker which allows reports to be updated and backfilled in real time
  • Conditional Reporting - you can leverage Looker's reporting features to flag when a given metric or KPI falls below or above a specified threshold. For example, if you had a daily sales benchmark in a SAAS organization, you could use Looker to flag whenever daily sales falls above or below the benchmark
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Cons
Microsoft
  • Microsoft Azure Analysis Services is very costly solution and in that price we can get some better business intelligence tool with lot more of capabilities
  • The dashboard or we can say user interface is complex and need time to understand and gain expertise in order for proper working.
  • It needs continuation monitoring which is sometime a big task.
  • Sometime, the tool shows unusual behavior and become unstable, so we need to clear temp files for proper functioning.
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Google
  • Looker is less graphical or pictorial which makes it less attractive
  • Consumes a lot of memory when there are multiple rows and columns, impacts performance too
  • At times when we download huge chunks of raw data from Looker dashbords, the time taken to prepare the file is enormous - The user fails to understand if Looker has frozen or if the data is getting prepared in the background for downloading. In turn, user ends up triggering multiple downloads
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Likelihood to Renew
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Google
We've been very happy with Looker so far, and all teams in the organization are starting to see its value, and use it on a frequent basis. It has quickly become our accessible "source of truth" for all data/metrics.
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Usability
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Google
Looker is relatively easy to use, even as it is set up. The customers for the front-end only have issues with the initial setup for looker ml creations. Other "looks" are relatively easy to set up, depending on the ETL and the data which is coming into Looker on a regular basis.
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Support Rating
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Google
Never had to work with support for issues. Any questions we had, they would respond promptly and clearly. The one-time setup was easy, by reading documentation. If the feature is not supported, they will add a feature request. In this case, LDAP support was requested over OKTA. They are looking into it.
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Alternatives Considered
Microsoft
The best thing about it is the ability to create a query and drill down the data to a more granular level when needed. The best thing about Azure Analysis Services is. It provides secured access anytime from anywhere, it also provides REST API for this, which is very easy to use, and it provides video tutorials for beginners means you get the whole package of learning and implementation!!
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Google
Looker is an off-the-shelf, free tool for Google business users. Other than the internal cost of time to build, we had no costs to set up what we needed to do. Knowledge sharing internally and using templates greatly reduced this cost, making the overall cost very low.
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Return on Investment
Microsoft
  • Azure Analysis Service scale resources to match our business needs.
  • Helps us to govern, deploy, test and deliver our BI solution with confidence.
  • Stores our business data and clients data in a safe place where it's easy to access and visible to all our teams.
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Google
  • Allowing others to self-serve their own analytics and connect it to Looker simply and easily has helped unblock the central data team so they can instead focus on validated dashboards whilst stakeholders manage their day-to-day analysis themselves. Countless engineering hours have been freed up by not having to manage every user permission for each BI tool; we have a BYOBI approach; Bring Your Own BI
  • Creation and management of a semantic layer (LookML =Looker Modeling Language ) allows peoples sandboxes and production databases to become clutter free. Minor adjustments, conditional fields, and even some modelling can all be done in LookML which doesn't need oversight or governance from the central data team.
  • LookML, specifying drilldown fields and their sub-queries, as well as generally creating dynamic parameters with Liquid are all great features, but can have a steep learning curve. it may take some time to understand how to create this middle layer correctly, or even pose a risk of inheriting complex code from another source which can be unmaintainable if it becomes too big. Some level of governance is recommended if Looker is used by a large number of editors.
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ScreenShots

Looker Screenshots

Screenshot of a Looker dashboard with a geo chart.