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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Datameer

    Score8.4 out of 10
    N/ADatameer helps businesses clean up, combine, and organize data to make sense of it and use it for reports and machine learning.N/A

    Microsoft BI (MSBI)

    Score8.5 out of 10
    N/AMicrosoft BI is a business intelligence product used for data analysis and generating reports on server-based data. It features unlimited data analysis capacity with its reporting engine, SQL Server Reporting Services alongside ETL, master data management, and data cleansing.

    $14

    per month per user

    SAP Crystal

    Score7.1 out of 10
    N/ASAP Crystal is an analytics and reporting software solution for SMBs. SAP Crystal comprises Crystal Reports for pixel-perfect reporting, and SAP Crystal Server for automated distribution and self-service access to reports, dashboards and data exploration.

    $295

    per single user license

    Pricing
    DatameerMicrosoft BI (MSBI)SAP Crystal
    Editions & Modules
    Team/Enterprise
    Contact for pricing
    per month Team
    Power BI Pro
    $14
    per month per user
    Power BI Premium
    $24
    per month per user
    Upgrade Version to SAP Crystal Reports 2020
    $295
    per single user license
    SAP Crystal Reports 2020 64-Bit
    $495
    per single user license
    SAP Crystal Reports 2016 32-Bit
    $495
    per single user license
    SAP Crystal Server 2020 1 NUL
    $869
    per user license + first year maintenance to be added
    SAP Crystal Server 2020 5 CAL
    $8,744
    5 concurrent users + first year maintenance to be added
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    DatameerMicrosoft BI (MSBI)SAP Crystal
    Free Trial
    YesNoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoYesYes
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNoYes
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup feeOptional
    Additional Details* SAP Crystal Reports 2020 Viewer allows you to view static data within a SAP Crystal Reports file. * SAP Crystal Reports 2020 - Full version allows you to create powerful, richly formatted, and dynamic reports from virtually any data source, delivered in dozens of formats, in up to 28 languages. If you already have an older version of Crystal Reports, buy a license for SAP Crystal Reports 2020 - Upgrade at a discounted, upgrade price. * SAP Crystal Server 2020, 1 NUL includes 1 license of: SAP Crystal Reports 2020 - SAP Crystal Server 2020. * As an add-on to SAP Crystal Server 2020 1 NUL, SAP Crystal Server 2020 5 CAL allows you to support a wider, intermittent audience of end users, up to five logged on at the same time.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    DatameerMicrosoft BI (MSBI)SAP Crystal
    Considered Multiple Products
    Datameer
    No answer on this topic
    Microsoft
    Chose Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    Better integration with Microsoft products is one of the advantages of using Business Intelligence (BI). It's simple to understand, and plenty of resources are available to outsource it. Many of our existing clients have Microsoft licensing agreements. It's an obvious path when …
    Incentivized
    Chose Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    MSBI is great for data collection and reporting, but it lacks the visual appeal and features of Power BI. Even though it's still useful, it falls short of Power BI in terms of features. There's no reason to doubt MSBI's findings. MSBI has a proactive customer service team that …
    Incentivized
    Chose Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    A lot of our existing client base has licensing agreements in place with Microsoft, couple that with decision-makers wanting to achieve the outcome with the least amount of additional licensing costs added, and it becomes an obvious path, however, it is very crucial to first …
    Incentivized
    Chose Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    Looking at the visualization portion of BI, there are three types of tools.
    1. Programming packages. Free and powerful, they let you make any diagram, at the cost of difficulty of use.
    2. Specialist software like Tableau and Microsoft BI. This is the best choice in most cases due to …
    Incentivized
    Chose Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    -Tableau is clearly more cutting edge when it comes to data visualization and connecting to multiple data sources (support for MongoDB, Hadoop, etc).
    -Assuming your data is not that sophisticated, Microsoft BI is a great product. I would say its a good "all around" BI tool. It …
    Chose Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    Microstrategy - I went with Microsoft BI because of features, usability, integration capabilities, performance, availability of talent, cost, and end-user (self-service) capabilities.
    SAP
    Chose SAP Crystal
    We actually have all 3 in place and all 3 are used in different situations. Some are bundled with certain products so we continue to use them. Others such as BI from Microsoft are stand alone and allow for easier data visualizations than SAP Crystal does. We chose SAP Crystal …
    Incentivized
    Chose SAP Crystal
    Due to its bigger brand and excellent user support, it is better than many competitors. If you have huge organization support, then operating it will make your reporting system much better. Otherwise, you might need better employee support for operating it. Otherwise, the whole …
    Incentivized
    Chose SAP Crystal
    We are very happy with SAP Crystal Server and we chose to go with SAP Crystal Server because it was the best fit for all the different departments that use it. With the other programs that we evaluated, we could not come to a consensus because certain critical features were …
    Incentivized
    Chose SAP Crystal
    SAP Crystal Server was chosen because of the scheduled reports capabilities that it had and because we were happier with the end look of the reports. We found the reports that are obtained with SAP Crystal Server easier to interpret than some what some of the other BI programs …
    Incentivized
    Chose SAP Crystal
    When we evaluated several options, we found SAP Crystal Server to be more reliable than some of its competitors. We wanted something that we could customise to use in several departments and for all different types of situations where reports would be useful. We also use other …
    Incentivized
    Chose SAP Crystal
    My department actually had a preference for another more powerful product but in the end I think SAP Crystal Server was chosen because it met our needs and it was within the budget we were looking to allocate to this type of software.
    Incentivized
    Chose SAP Crystal
    SAP Crystal Reports has a long service experience and is graphically superior.
    Incentivized
    Chose SAP Crystal
    Crystal Reports fits a niche for us in standard reporting. We don't use it for creating dashboards or interactive data analysis. That's where Tableau excels. For on-demand reports, we prefer Microsoft Reporting Service and Analysis Services. Crystal Report is very good when it …
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Would buy again
    15 Answers
    91%
    Would buy again
    10 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    15 Answers
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    10 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    15 Answers
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    11 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    13 Answers
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    6 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    11 Answers
    90%
    Implementation went as expected
    9 Answers
    Features
    DatameerMicrosoft BI (MSBI)SAP Crystal
    BI Standard Reporting
    Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of Datameer and Microsoft BI (MSBI) and SAP Crystal
    Feature
    Datameer
    -
    Ratings
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    9.0
    53 Ratings
    10% above category average
    SAP Crystal
    7.7
    124 Ratings
    6% below category average
    Pixel Perfect reports00 Ratings8.546 Ratings8.0113 Ratings
    Customizable dashboards00 Ratings9.653 Ratings6.8100 Ratings
    Report Formatting Templates00 Ratings8.951 Ratings8.4117 Ratings
    Ad-hoc Reporting
    Comparison of Ad-hoc Reporting features of Datameer and Microsoft BI (MSBI) and SAP Crystal
    Feature
    Datameer
    -
    Ratings
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    8.5
    53 Ratings
    6% above category average
    SAP Crystal
    8.3
    136 Ratings
    4% above category average
    Drill-down analysis00 Ratings8.548 Ratings9.0117 Ratings
    Formatting capabilities00 Ratings8.253 Ratings8.8135 Ratings
    Integration with R or other statistical packages00 Ratings8.342 Ratings6.964 Ratings
    Report sharing and collaboration00 Ratings8.953 Ratings8.6120 Ratings
    Report Output and Scheduling
    Comparison of Report Output and Scheduling features of Datameer and Microsoft BI (MSBI) and SAP Crystal
    Feature
    Datameer
    -
    Ratings
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    8.6
    52 Ratings
    5% above category average
    SAP Crystal
    8.7
    136 Ratings
    6% above category average
    Publish to Web00 Ratings9.348 Ratings9.191 Ratings
    Publish to PDF00 Ratings9.148 Ratings9.4133 Ratings
    Report Versioning00 Ratings7.444 Ratings7.994 Ratings
    Report Delivery Scheduling00 Ratings8.547 Ratings8.997 Ratings
    Delivery to Remote Servers00 Ratings8.426 Ratings8.454 Ratings
    Data Discovery and Visualization
    Comparison of Data Discovery and Visualization features of Datameer and Microsoft BI (MSBI) and SAP Crystal
    Feature
    Datameer
    -
    Ratings
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    8.7
    52 Ratings
    9% above category average
    SAP Crystal
    7.6
    89 Ratings
    5% below category average
    Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)00 Ratings9.651 Ratings7.650 Ratings
    Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization00 Ratings8.748 Ratings7.576 Ratings
    Predictive Analytics00 Ratings7.845 Ratings7.841 Ratings
    Pattern Recognition and Data Mining00 Ratings8.76 Ratings00 Ratings
    Access Control and Security
    Comparison of Access Control and Security features of Datameer and Microsoft BI (MSBI) and SAP Crystal
    Feature
    Datameer
    -
    Ratings
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    9.3
    53 Ratings
    9% above category average
    SAP Crystal
    8.5
    88 Ratings
    0% above category average
    Multi-User Support (named login)00 Ratings9.449 Ratings8.481 Ratings
    Role-Based Security Model00 Ratings9.347 Ratings8.480 Ratings
    Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)00 Ratings8.949 Ratings8.480 Ratings
    Report-Level Access Control00 Ratings9.36 Ratings8.43 Ratings
    Single Sign-On (SSO)00 Ratings9.431 Ratings8.940 Ratings
    Mobile Capabilities
    Comparison of Mobile Capabilities features of Datameer and Microsoft BI (MSBI) and SAP Crystal
    Feature
    Datameer
    -
    Ratings
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    8.0
    42 Ratings
    3% above category average
    SAP Crystal
    6.6
    65 Ratings
    16% below category average
    Responsive Design for Web Access00 Ratings8.239 Ratings6.163 Ratings
    Mobile Application00 Ratings8.030 Ratings5.946 Ratings
    Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile00 Ratings7.839 Ratings6.060 Ratings
    Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding
    Comparison of Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding features of Datameer and Microsoft BI (MSBI) and SAP Crystal
    Feature
    Datameer
    -
    Ratings
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    8.5
    24 Ratings
    9% above category average
    SAP Crystal
    7.8
    45 Ratings
    1% above category average
    REST API00 Ratings9.221 Ratings7.48 Ratings
    Javascript API00 Ratings8.821 Ratings8.437 Ratings
    iFrames00 Ratings8.820 Ratings7.18 Ratings
    Java API00 Ratings8.718 Ratings8.437 Ratings
    Themeable User Interface (UI)00 Ratings8.021 Ratings7.439 Ratings
    Customizable Platform (Open Source)00 Ratings7.319 Ratings8.433 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    DatameerMicrosoft BI (MSBI)SAP Crystal
    Small Businesses
    No answers on this topic
    Cyfe
    Score4 out of 10
    Cyfe
    Score4 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Toad Data Point
    Score8.4 out of 10
    Qlik Cloud Analytics (Qlik Sense)
    Score8.2 out of 10
    Qlik Cloud Analytics (Qlik Sense)
    Score8.2 out of 10
    Enterprises
    AWS Glue
    Score8.8 out of 10
    Jaspersoft Community Edition
    Score7 out of 10
    Jaspersoft Community Edition
    Score7 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    DatameerMicrosoft BI (MSBI)SAP Crystal
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.0
    (9 ratings)
    8.9
    (77 ratings)
    6.8
    (159 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    6.4
    (7 ratings)
    8.0
    (25 ratings)
    10.0
    (19 ratings)
    Usability
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    8.9
    (19 ratings)
    7.1
    (31 ratings)
    Availability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.5
    (2 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.0
    (2 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    8.9
    (15 ratings)
    8.6
    (21 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    6.9
    (3 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Online Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.5
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.6
    (7 ratings)
    8.8
    (14 ratings)
    Configurability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Data Sharing and Collaboration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.5
    (42 ratings)
    8.8
    (124 ratings)
    Data Sources
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.4
    (41 ratings)
    9.2
    (129 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    DatameerMicrosoft BI (MSBI)SAP Crystal
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Datameer
    Datameer is a great tool if someone is capable of keeping the most recent version of the tool up to date along with the most recent version of the distribution of Hadoop. The tool is easy to support but it must have someone who can run the back end processes
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    Microsoft BI has a lot of features and is a very powerful tool, especially if you have folks on your team that know how to utilize all of its capabilities. To truly unlock all that it can do, it does require people to have a deep understanding of its capabilities. That's where the software really shines. If you are looking for a simpler, more basic reporting tool, there are other programs available that do not require such a steep learning curve.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SAP
    Generation of templated reports is the strong suit of SAP Crystal. Allows users to change formats in templates bases on requirement with minimal effort. Automated report delivery requires the user to be aware of sql which cannot be expected from all users. Should support more document export formats and improve the UI for SAP B1 Users
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Datameer
    • It leverages scalability, flexibility and cost-effectiveness of hadoop to deliver an end-user focused analytic platform for big data without involvement of IT.
    • It overcomes Hadoop`s complexity by providing GUI interface with pre-built functions across integration, analytics and data visualization .
    • Excel feature is awesome for business users which is already provided by Datameer.
    • Using datameer now user can do smart analytic using Decision Trees, Column dependency and recommendation.
    • Recently HTML5 inclusion is making application to available on a wider range of devices, including the iPad and other mobile devices which does not support Flash.
    • It can be used in premise or in a cloud computing environment.
    • Wizard-based data integration designed for IT and business users to schedule and do transformation of large sets of structured, semi-structured and unstructured data without any knowledge of Hadoop ecosystem.
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • Comparatively easy to use compared to other data analytics solutions, collaborating with other colleagues on data work is simple.
    • Using Visual Studio for database, ETL, reporting, and analytics development save time and money.
    • Transfer of data from one application to another via Excel and comparison of data attributes between applications
    • Dashboard functionality, as well as Python support, are available, allowing you to add additional charts and graphs.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SAP
    • Crystal Reports allows us to create a consistent template for all of our reports.
    • Crystal Reports and Server allows us to house a repository for all of our reports to make them easy to find and update when necessary.
    • Crystal Reports can connect to a wide variety of data sources.
    • Crystal Reports can be a little daunting when first implementing. There are a lot of nuances in learning how to truly master this software and it can be frustrating at times.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Datameer
    • Concentration issues are possible while using a lot of tabs at once.
    • In most cases, the length of a tutorial video is excessive.
    • A more condensed design is certainly a viable option.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • MSBI designs can work on increasing data processing capabilities enough to handle the huge datasets etc.
    • It would be a lot better if it is a little low on cost.
    • it needs to create opportunities little more than they do regarding customization of some very unique visualization effects
    Read full review
    SAP
    • The export of reports to Excel is very cumbersome and the results are difficult to format.
    • The design of reports and the graphical features (e.g. charts) feel quite rigid.
    • The learning curve for a non-programmer is incredibly steep, making Crystal a specialty tool.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Datameer
    Employees with intermediate SQL and Hive knowledge can generate reports faster than using Datameer . It does have visualization tool but I don't think it is anything that cannot be accomplished by importing the data in Excel
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    Microsoft BI is fundamental to our suite of BI applications. That being said, Northcraft Analytics is focused on delighting our customers, so if the underlying factors of our decision change, we would choose to re-write our BI applications on a different stack. Luckily, mathematics are the fundamental IP of our technology... and is portable across all BI platforms for the foreseeable future.
    Read full review
    SAP
    We have been using this product for so many years and it has truly become a cornerstone to our business processes when it comes to developing and distributing information via reports. We currently have over 500 reports developed to date over about 30 systems and that will continue to grow as user needs change.
    Read full review
    Usability
    Datameer
    Easy to use for most things, starts to require some planning as your projects get more complex.
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    The Microsoft BI tools have great usability for both developers and end users alike. For developers familiar with Visual Studio, there is little learning curve. For those not, the single Visual Studio IDE means not having to learn separate tools for each component. For end-users, the web interface for SSRS is simple to navigate with intuitive controls. For ad-hoc analysis, Excel can connect directly to SSAS and provide a pivot table like experience which is familiar to many users. For database development, there is beginning to be some confusion, as there are now three tool choices (VS, SSMS, Azure Data Studio) for developers. I would like to see Azure Data Studio become the superset of SSMS and eventually supplant it.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SAP
    Crystal is very robust, but not always easy to use. It create wonderful looking reports, and so deserves a high rating. However, I have to take a couple of points off for the simple fact that I cannot hand it to a user and expect them to be able to do development with it.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Datameer
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    The product has been reliable.
    Read full review
    SAP
    No answers on this topic
    Performance
    Datameer
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) can drag at times. We created two report servers and placed them under an F5 load balancer. This configuration has worked well. We have seen sluggish performance at times due to the Windows Firewall.
    Read full review
    SAP
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    Datameer
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    MSBI natively has a site that allows you to vote on user enhancements and bug fixes. This allows the largest nagging issues to float to the top and the development team can prioritize accordingly. As mentioned earlier, the large community base of MSBI developers assist technical resources in handling technical questions.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SAP
    The support community can be difficult to navigate. I've also run into issues with my login. The SAP system has a bizarre mechanism for validating users that requires users to have what is called an S-ID. A basic ID may not give you access to all the features in the portal. The limitation may include not being able to perform a simple task like downloading patches and updates. This isn't a big deal for single user license but for teams it can be a pain.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    In-Person Training
    Datameer
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    This training was more directed toward what the product was capable of rather than actual programming.
    Read full review
    SAP
    Trainer was patient and thorough in going through the basics and willing to answer questions by email after the initial training
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Online Training
    Datameer
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    I have used on-line training from Microsoft and from Pragmatic Works. I would recommend Pragmatic Works as the best way to get up to speed quickly, and then use the Microsoft on-line training to deep dive into specific features that you need to get depth with.
    Read full review
    SAP
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation Rating
    Datameer
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    We are a consulting firm and as such our best resources are always billing on client projects. Our internal implementation has weaknesses, but that's true for any company like ours. My rating is based on the product's ease of implementation.
    Read full review
    SAP
    Just like any other implementation: When designing the differing reports, get end users' input, make sure to design the reports so that they display the information that the company requires, in the best and clearest way possible.
    Test, test, test, revise when needed, and, particularly, do sufficient training so users are comfortable using Crystal Reports!
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    Datameer
    Pricing, support, and ease of use. We plan to scale up our data over the net few years and Datameer gives us all the things we need in one tool. Handles large transformations quickly and works with all the cloud data warehouses.
    Datameer's per-user pricing sealed the deal for us as we plan to transfer much more data over the next few years. We looked at Fivetran but the usage pricing discourages growth. We also looked at Informatica but it was too expensive and didn't work as well with other BI tools like Datameer does.
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    We have used the built in ConnectWise Manager reports and custom reports. The reports provide static data. PowerBI shows us live data we can drill down into and easily adjust parameters. It's much more useful than a static PDF report.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SAP
    Crystal reports is useful in case we want to import data from data base . We can write queries in it but Google Charts require to be implemented in our application using code so crystal reports is better than Google Charts.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Datameer
    • We have not been able to reach our business objectives just yet.
    • Hadoop its a hard sell in most companies still.
    • Legacy skills are still highly on demand and as long as an easier path leverage SQL for example is available, it would be hard to gain more adoption.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • As a SaaS provider we see being able to provide self-service BI to our client users as a competitive advantage. In fact the MSSQL enabled BI is a contributing factor to many winning RFPs we have done for prospective client organisations.
    • However MSSQL BI requires extensive knowledge and skills to design and develop data warehouses & data models as a foundation to support business analysts and users to interrogate data effectively and efficiently. Often times we find having strong in-house MSSQL expertise is a bless.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SAP
    • It is a decent buy for specific departments in terms of reporting capabilities but updates and cost (frequent) demands are higher with the benefits offered.
    • So long as the requirements are not ever changing, with scheduling functionality, it's a handsome tool.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Datameer Screenshots

    Screenshot of DATA TRANSFORMATION: SQL or No Code

SQL SELECT statements can be used to explore and shape data. Work is represented visually on a canvas like interface, making it easier to design and maintain projects.

Datameer includes library of pre-built drag-and-drop transformations to accelerate SQL development or transform datasets without writing code.Screenshot of DATA CATALOG: Collaboration in Snowflake

Search, Metadata, Data Profiling, and Auto documentationScreenshot of AUTOMATION & INSIGHTS

Insights can be sent to email or Slack, integrated, and deployed to SnowflakeScreenshot of PRODUCTION PIPELINES: From ad-hoc exploration to production pipelines

GIT version control, materialization, dependency management, monitoring

    SAP Crystal Screenshots

    Screenshot of Pixel-perfect reporting solutionScreenshot of Refresh with a clickScreenshot of Build pixel-perfect documentsScreenshot of Connect to all data sourcesScreenshot of Use drag and dropScreenshot of Build interactive reports