Pentaho vs. SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Pentaho
Score 7.5 out of 10
N/A
Pentaho is a suite of open source business intelligence and analytics products, now offered and supported by Hitachi Data Systems since the June 2015 acquisition.N/A
SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
Score 8.1 out of 10
N/A
The SAP® BusinessObjects™ Business Intelligence Platform provides users with ad hoc queries, reporting, data visualizations, and analysis tools. Its integrated, unified infrastructure aims to offer scalability from one-to-many tools and interfaces on-premise, in the cloud, or as a hybrid approach.N/A
Pricing
PentahoSAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
PentahoSAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
PentahoSAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
Considered Both Products
Pentaho
Chose Pentaho
The basic functionality of Pentaho is well matching the capabilities of some of the main competitors. We also selected Pentaho since part of the platform is open source and can be used without commercial licenses. Currently we use a mix of the open source components and the …
SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
Chose SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
The biggest advantage that SAP Business Objects has over these competitors are value and options. Value wise, it brings together a tool set that delivers a bit of something for everyone. With integration into Microsoft Office, additional options are available to for those …
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
PentahoSAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
BI Standard Reporting
Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Pentaho
9.0
20 Ratings
9% above category average
SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
7.7
49 Ratings
6% below category average
Pixel Perfect reports8.718 Ratings7.444 Ratings
Customizable dashboards9.818 Ratings8.145 Ratings
Report Formatting Templates8.618 Ratings7.745 Ratings
Ad-hoc Reporting
Comparison of Ad-hoc Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Pentaho
8.7
19 Ratings
7% above category average
SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
8.2
46 Ratings
1% above category average
Drill-down analysis7.718 Ratings9.045 Ratings
Formatting capabilities8.319 Ratings8.345 Ratings
Integration with R or other statistical packages9.312 Ratings7.531 Ratings
Report sharing and collaboration9.617 Ratings8.245 Ratings
Report Output and Scheduling
Comparison of Report Output and Scheduling features of Product A and Product B
Pentaho
9.6
20 Ratings
14% above category average
SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
8.7
46 Ratings
4% above category average
Publish to Web9.618 Ratings8.338 Ratings
Publish to PDF9.719 Ratings7.944 Ratings
Report Versioning9.613 Ratings9.140 Ratings
Report Delivery Scheduling9.917 Ratings9.145 Ratings
Delivery to Remote Servers9.310 Ratings9.224 Ratings
Data Discovery and Visualization
Comparison of Data Discovery and Visualization features of Product A and Product B
Pentaho
8.2
17 Ratings
1% above category average
SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
8.3
41 Ratings
3% above category average
Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)7.916 Ratings8.339 Ratings
Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization8.216 Ratings7.737 Ratings
Predictive Analytics8.314 Ratings8.936 Ratings
Access Control and Security
Comparison of Access Control and Security features of Product A and Product B
Pentaho
9.1
20 Ratings
6% above category average
SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
9.4
46 Ratings
9% above category average
Multi-User Support (named login)9.320 Ratings8.946 Ratings
Role-Based Security Model9.519 Ratings9.144 Ratings
Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)9.918 Ratings9.843 Ratings
Single Sign-On (SSO)7.710 Ratings9.927 Ratings
Mobile Capabilities
Comparison of Mobile Capabilities features of Product A and Product B
Pentaho
8.3
11 Ratings
4% above category average
SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
8.8
32 Ratings
10% above category average
Responsive Design for Web Access9.710 Ratings8.331 Ratings
Mobile Application7.07 Ratings9.026 Ratings
Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile8.711 Ratings9.128 Ratings
Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding
Comparison of Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding features of Product A and Product B
Pentaho
8.6
10 Ratings
8% above category average
SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
7.5
22 Ratings
5% below category average
REST API8.310 Ratings7.319 Ratings
Javascript API9.09 Ratings7.217 Ratings
iFrames7.39 Ratings8.116 Ratings
Java API8.69 Ratings7.520 Ratings
Themeable User Interface (UI)8.910 Ratings7.319 Ratings
Customizable Platform (Open Source)9.610 Ratings7.318 Ratings
Best Alternatives
PentahoSAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
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
PentahoSAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
Likelihood to Recommend
9.1
(31 ratings)
7.7
(71 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.8
(11 ratings)
8.3
(24 ratings)
Usability
9.3
(6 ratings)
9.0
(14 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(5 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(10 ratings)
Support Rating
9.3
(7 ratings)
8.6
(16 ratings)
In-Person Training
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(4 ratings)
Online Training
9.5
(2 ratings)
9.0
(2 ratings)
Implementation Rating
5.0
(1 ratings)
9.0
(8 ratings)
Configurability
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(2 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(2 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
PentahoSAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
Likelihood to Recommend
Hitachi Vantara
Pentaho is very well suited to perform data extraction & data mining from various cloud storage & transform that data using various available data models. However, the software struggles when it comes to visualizing the extracted data in an appealing manner & can be difficult for end-users to get an understanding of data tables created using those models.
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SAP
The proper management of SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards requires an expert on the team to manage and build reports. If an organization does not have the proper expertise on board to build and deploy reports it will fail. Data analytics, dropping into excel, and broadcasting of information are major bonuses for the use of SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards.
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Pros
Hitachi Vantara
  • Integrate and synchronize with big data easily
  • Import data from any sources and different databases
  • Managing data in on-premise, hybrid and cloud environments.
  • Compatibility and flexibility of the platform with any type of scenario and any business or industry
  • Various tools in the software suite to transformation of data
  • Simple interface appearance and creative UI graphics
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SAP
  • This software is easy to initially learn, and very powerful in producing reusable reports.
  • It is much faster than my company's internal manual queries. The ability to build off of a saved query and share queries to other users is a great positive.
  • My favorite part is that you can run queries in the background and it does not interfere with your current work or slow your computer down.
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Cons
Hitachi Vantara
  • I think the relative obscurity of the tool is a downside, not as many developers, consultants or peers you can tap into.
  • Lack of a solid user community held us back, looking at Power BI and Qlik, they have huge user communities that help each other out. Would have liked that here.
  • Smaller company means smaller sales force, and the lack of a local presence made it hard to only interact online with the account rep. Other companies have someone local who often stops by with pre-sales developers to just pitch in free of charge when they have time.
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SAP
  • The installation can be very complex and time-consuming, it requires a lot of planning and foresight as to what role the software will play in the organization.
  • The software has a relatively large learning curve that takes dedicated users months to get comfortable with, the UI is a bit intimidating for new users.
  • SAP could organize their help better, it can be difficult to find dependable solutions to issues via their website and support channels.
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Likelihood to Renew
Hitachi Vantara
I will use Pentaho until I find a better tool with a better, easier to use report designer client. For now, Pentaho has been the most powerful reporting tool for our clients because of its ability to connect to Odoo, integrate in Odoo (reports are accessible in Odoo) and the flexibility in report design and parameter integration
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SAP
The institution has decided to move in a different direction, and will be using MSBI for reporting. I have been very happy with the Business Objects suite of tools, and will continue to use them heavily until we make the transition.
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Usability
Hitachi Vantara
The Pentaho tools are designed so you can start playing around on your own. Of course, you will need guidance at some point, but the training teams are good at guiding new users, and the online documentation is usually pretty up-to-date.
Some of the tools, such as the Pentaho Data Integration tool and the Pentaho Server, are pretty self-explanatory. The other tools maybe are not so quickly and obvious to use, but again, with some documentation and some customer support, you can find your way around them.
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SAP
From a server and client side perspective. the Business Intelligence Platform provides a foundation for all aspects of content development, distribution, analysis, collaboration and self service. Ease of use from targeted content delivery through controlled accessibility. Content exporting in the format of the users choice. Scheduling for internal or external delivery. Public and private folders for secure content access when requied. Web based for viewing on the users device of choice without the need to download additional applications.
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Reliability and Availability
Hitachi Vantara
No answers on this topic
SAP
When we implemented 3.1, we had a tough time managing the system: It took almost a year to stabilize.

With 4.0, we want to roll out to more users, and are holding back because of fears about the performance issue
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Performance
Hitachi Vantara
No answers on this topic
SAP
Overall, the tool (Web Intelligence 4.2) is fast and solid. One issue is a dependability on JAVA for a full feature report creation/edit capabilities (as opposed to limited HTML option). Second, planned end of JAVA support by major browsers (Chrome is already not supporting JAVA applet).
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Support Rating
Hitachi Vantara
They were responsive to our questions when we raised issues. They gave us workarounds when required. They were quite knowledgeable when it came to issue analysis and providing fixes. They were forthright in informing us if a bug was not due for release soon.
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SAP
SAP has released various versions of SAP BO BI. starting from 3.1 and going to 4.0,4.1,4.2 and latest being 4.3. SAP provides support to these new versions. As new versions keep on coming, support for the very old software goes out of scope from SAP. it is when the different organization plans to get their BO content migrated from a lower version to a newer version. The newer version had definitely added functionality and features which ease the work of users.
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In-Person Training
Hitachi Vantara
No answers on this topic
SAP
SAP authorized training is best, Please go ahead with it. Even lot of online training options/videos available for self learning
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Online Training
Hitachi Vantara
Course Taken: DI1000 Pentaho Data Integration Fundamentals Setup A week before your class started, the instructor will start sending out class material and lab setup instructions. This is helpful so that you understand how the environment is laid out and can start reviewing the content. Ultimately it saved about a 1/2 day trying to setup with 10 other people online which was great! The Course The 3-day course was laid out like many other technical classes with 15-30 minutes instruction and 15-60 minutes of lab exercises. The instructor was very knowledgeable with the functionality from version to version and answered questions as we went along. I was amazed at some of the functionality that was available that I was not using at the time and quickly implemented changes to many existing transformations and jobs. The novice users seemed to catch on quickly and more experienced users explained how some of the functionality was used in their home environments. Towards the end there was enough time so that we were able to ask very directed questions about our own environments. Overall, I really found the class to be informative and deliver enough information to be dangerous. My skills improved and I was able to design better and efficient transformations for the HIE. Course Description: https://training.pentaho.com/instructor-led-training/pentaho-data-integration-fundamentals-di1000
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SAP
I haven't used it or got feedback from the end user.

Content looks to be pretty detailed. Focused on SQL but not BW.
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Implementation Rating
Hitachi Vantara
Get the right people in before starting implementation. Start small and build as you go approach is time consuming and involves lot of rework. Evangalize within the organization the capabilities and limitations equally so that correct delivery expectations are set. Set expectations with the Customer that the tool cannot replace proprietary software in terms of stability/usability and that timelines could change given the new ness of the product.
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SAP
Hire specialists and experienced staff. Mix some beginners so that everyone is not a leader but a learner too. Plan well; architect well; break down implementation in small steps and move towards larger steps. Create a centralized and authorized SAP Business Objects implementation team.
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Alternatives Considered
Hitachi Vantara
Since the Pentaho platform offers a range of broad functionality across data preparation and advanced analytics, it also can be easily integrated to support many data sources and machine-learning frameworks. Based on that fact, we selected Pentaho to be used in our internal department. It also supports many of our BI use cases as required by company management or the business user. Last but not least, the Pentaho license is cheaper than their competitor.
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SAP
We selected SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence (BI) based on price. It can stack up against others in terms of price and honestly, that's about it. Salesforce Commerce does a hell of a better job at handling it. However, in the space of Business Intelligence, SAP can do more, and that's why at the end we went with it
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Scalability
Hitachi Vantara
No answers on this topic
SAP
SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence (BI) Platform supports SOA Service Oriented Architecture. You can start/restart/enable/disable all the servers. You can seamless do load balancing and clustering. It supports all leading application and web server. Supports LDAP SSO integration. People who can work on excel with training they can work on SAP Business Objects Web Intelligence, dashboard, Lumira, Information design tool product suite. Tool is very user friendly and easy to learn and implement
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Return on Investment
Hitachi Vantara
  • Pentaho has improved our overall business process.
  • Pentaho has helped the Managers and Directors to analyze the numbers going up and down from time to time.
  • We have a started a big project using Pentaho that is going to include all the business processes in the organization.
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SAP
  • By generating and distributing reports in a timely manner, we were able to save millions of dollars for the company which otherwise would not have been visible.
  • Almost realtime dashboard, saved the company a huge amount by showing the outages and kept the company from buying a tool to do just that.
  • It showed the customers who were not paying the bills and were missing in the system due to some loophole. This was visible by doing reporting on the theft usage of electricity.
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ScreenShots