Azure Analysis Services vs. MicroStrategy Analytics

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Azure Analysis Services
Score 8.5 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
MicroStrategy Analytics
Score 8.5 out of 10
N/A
MicroStrategy Analytics is an enterprise business analytics and mobility platform. Key features include automatic big data analysis and reporting, data discovery and visualization, digital security credentials, and support for mobile devices.N/A
Pricing
Azure Analysis ServicesMicroStrategy Analytics
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Azure Analysis ServicesMicroStrategy Analytics
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details—Must contact sales team for pricing information.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Azure Analysis ServicesMicroStrategy Analytics
Top Pros

No answers on this topic

Top Cons

No answers on this topic

Features
Azure Analysis ServicesMicroStrategy Analytics
BI Standard Reporting
Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Azure Analysis Services
8.7
10 Ratings
7% above category average
MicroStrategy Analytics
10.0
26 Ratings
20% above category average
Pixel Perfect reports8.810 Ratings10.023 Ratings
Customizable dashboards8.89 Ratings10.023 Ratings
Report Formatting Templates8.510 Ratings10.024 Ratings
Ad-hoc Reporting
Comparison of Ad-hoc Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Azure Analysis Services
8.9
10 Ratings
10% above category average
MicroStrategy Analytics
10.0
24 Ratings
21% above category average
Drill-down analysis9.08 Ratings10.022 Ratings
Formatting capabilities8.99 Ratings10.024 Ratings
Integration with R or other statistical packages8.89 Ratings10.016 Ratings
Report sharing and collaboration9.110 Ratings10.023 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
8% above category average
MicroStrategy Analytics
10.0
23 Ratings
18% above category average
Publish to Web9.110 Ratings10.022 Ratings
Publish to PDF8.99 Ratings10.023 Ratings
Report Versioning9.39 Ratings10.020 Ratings
Report Delivery Scheduling8.910 Ratings10.022 Ratings
Delivery to Remote Servers8.89 Ratings10.05 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
MicroStrategy Analytics
10.0
22 Ratings
22% above category average
Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)9.38 Ratings10.020 Ratings
Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization9.19 Ratings10.019 Ratings
Predictive Analytics8.68 Ratings10.018 Ratings
Pattern Recognition and Data Mining00 Ratings10.01 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
8% above category average
MicroStrategy Analytics
10.0
21 Ratings
16% above category average
Multi-User Support (named login)9.29 Ratings10.019 Ratings
Role-Based Security Model9.310 Ratings10.020 Ratings
Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)9.110 Ratings10.020 Ratings
Single Sign-On (SSO)9.39 Ratings10.09 Ratings
Report-Level Access Control00 Ratings10.01 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
MicroStrategy Analytics
9.7
19 Ratings
20% above category average
Responsive Design for Web Access8.58 Ratings10.019 Ratings
Mobile Application9.45 Ratings10.015 Ratings
Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile8.67 Ratings10.019 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
11% above category average
MicroStrategy Analytics
10.0
8 Ratings
24% above category average
REST API8.97 Ratings10.06 Ratings
Javascript API8.77 Ratings10.07 Ratings
iFrames9.06 Ratings10.05 Ratings
Java API8.98 Ratings10.04 Ratings
Themeable User Interface (UI)8.36 Ratings10.05 Ratings
Customizable Platform (Open Source)9.25 Ratings10.06 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Azure Analysis ServicesMicroStrategy Analytics
Small Businesses
SAP Crystal
SAP Crystal
Score 8.9 out of 10
SAP Crystal
SAP Crystal
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 ServicesMicroStrategy Analytics
Likelihood to Recommend
9.1
(11 ratings)
9.9
(47 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
9.9
(27 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
3.2
(5 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(2 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(2 ratings)
Support Rating
-
(0 ratings)
2.2
(5 ratings)
Online Training
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(5 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(4 ratings)
Configurability
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(2 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
Azure Analysis ServicesMicroStrategy Analytics
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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MicroStrategy
MSTR is great for any organization that is looking for a way to deliver complicated data in an uncomplicated way. From business teams to marketing and finance, several departments benefit from using MSTR to keep track of KPIs enabling teams to make optimizations along the way. MSTR provides great visual representations of data enabling team members to distill thousands of data points into easily digestible charts and graphs
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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.
Read full review
MicroStrategy
  • They sell the product well, and make promises you will actually believe
  • "checks the box" for most features a company would need. Doesn't actually deliver them though
  • They answer the phone in a timely manner. Can't answer your questions or provide support, but the queue time isn't bad
  • They have online documentation. It's not up to date, and likely doesn't reflect the version of software you are using, but hey... they can point to it.
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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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MicroStrategy
  • The graph options are not as robust as an Excel user might want.
  • The metadata layer can sometimes be slower, and it takes a long time for reports to run.
  • Viewing the data feed entered can be cumbersome at times, in terms of validation with reports.
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Likelihood to Renew
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
MicroStrategy
I would always choose to renew MicroStrategy as long as they lead the market in features, functionality and price. The support of MicroStrategy is timely and professional, I frequently get answers to my questions within 24 hours and normally have solutions within 48 hours. Training available for MicroStrategy completely covers everything required to be able to expertly use MicroStrategy and understand data warehousing.
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Usability
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
MicroStrategy
The standard grid reporting could look more like the styling and object used for the Import and Visual Insight products. In addition, object properties almost seem to be hidden when first using the product. It's as if they are asking the engineers to only use the presets we make available...and, these presets are 10+ years old. On the positive side, Microstrategy seems to be the only product, not named Cognos, which can scale to Big Data. The product is "hackable" via the SDK or tricking the Intelligence Server to do uncommon things. The Microstrategy development team also seems to be very involved with their OEM partners; especially when it comes to features and enhancements. A large majority of the improvements we suggested have made it into the product or on the roadmap for future enhancements. Only suckas fall for the shiny objects from most other vendors; Microstrategy is really the only choice for Enterprise BI.
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Reliability and Availability
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
MicroStrategy
I've never had an issue with MicroStrategy not being available due to MicroStrategy application malfunction. It is very robust and only failures I've seen were due to user error or the platform the machine running the service failed some how.
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Performance
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
MicroStrategy
Being able to customize the performance based on the business need is extremely powerful. Proper configuration and understanding of the usage pattern is key, if the technical ability of the architect is not at top level, then the product will not be configured correctly which will lead to poor performance.
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Support Rating
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
MicroStrategy
Good user community. Support team is available if you are under AMC. You get decent support after raising the support ticket. If it is product bug they will inform you and let you know which patch will resolve the same.
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Online Training
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
MicroStrategy
I have attended many trainings offered by MicroStrategy; both distance and in-person training. I earned my CRD (Certified Report Developer) certification via the online training. I found the training to be well organized and concise. Overall I will definitely continue to increase my knowledge with MicroStrategy via the online training offering.
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Implementation Rating
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
MicroStrategy
We measured following KPI for the success
  • Increase in Business Feeds Loads
  • Reduction in Controllers Manual Work.
  • Conversion of Manual Work into Systematic Workflows.
  • Increase in Customer Spend
  • Reduction in Service costs
  • Reduction in time-to-market for new campaigns
  • Increase in cross sell and Up sell
  • Error reduction in customer Identification
  • Existing client retained
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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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MicroStrategy
Tableau is probably MicroStrategy Analytic's biggest competitor I've noticed over time, and I'm not sure why. Tableau only covers visualizations independently for each business user, which then creates the issues of every employee creating their own version of the data, and then you have 20 versions of the truth. A enterprise data warehouse and MicroStrategy's Visual Insight is a better method.
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Scalability
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
MicroStrategy
This software is extremely scaleable, one can add more core servers which performs as a load balancing. The configurations available to manage usage patterns and daily activity are as high a caliber as any other enterprise level software. This product can be installed on both a windows and unix platform allow for integration on a budget.
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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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MicroStrategy
  • MicroStrategy was helpful for reducing the amount of time we needed to spend number crunching large data sets, and in doing so, allowed me as the primary users to spend more time gleaning insights from the data that in turn informed our leadership team to make strategic decisions.
  • By creating numerous canned reports available to all members of the team through email distribution or basic access to the platform, we were able to reduce the time I spent showing people how to pull the data in Microsoft Excel by nearly 40% .
  • We ended up needing to make many changes to the way our DMP was feeding data into MicroStrategy due to incorrect reporting that caused complications in accounting and finance.
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ScreenShots