FactSet Workstation vs. SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
FactSet Workstation
Score 8.5 out of 10
N/A
The FactSet Workstation is a dynamic platform designed to empower financial professionals with seamless data access, advanced analytics, and technology. Integrating over 800 data sources across asset classes and markets, it consolidates crucial insights and elevates decision-making. Its AI-powered tools include smart search and chat features. The workstation simplifies complex workflows, enabling users to uncover insights quickly and improve collaboration. From research and portfolio…N/A
SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
Score 7.1 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
FactSet WorkstationSAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
FactSet WorkstationSAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesNo
Entry-level Setup FeeRequiredNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
FactSet WorkstationSAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
Features
FactSet WorkstationSAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
Financial Research
Comparison of Financial Research features of Product A and Product B
FactSet Workstation
6.8
12 Ratings
9% below category average
SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
-
Ratings
Private Company Data4.89 Ratings00 Ratings
Industry-Specific Information6.812 Ratings00 Ratings
Independent Research Access6.711 Ratings00 Ratings
M&A Analysis6.99 Ratings00 Ratings
Supply Chain Data6.87 Ratings00 Ratings
ESG Data6.68 Ratings00 Ratings
Macroeconomic News8.012 Ratings00 Ratings
Search Tools7.912 Ratings00 Ratings
BI Standard Reporting
Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of Product A and Product B
FactSet Workstation
-
Ratings
SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
7.7
56 Ratings
6% below category average
Pixel Perfect reports00 Ratings8.550 Ratings
Customizable dashboards00 Ratings6.752 Ratings
Report Formatting Templates00 Ratings7.951 Ratings
Ad-hoc Reporting
Comparison of Ad-hoc Reporting features of Product A and Product B
FactSet Workstation
-
Ratings
SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
7.0
53 Ratings
14% below category average
Drill-down analysis00 Ratings6.352 Ratings
Formatting capabilities00 Ratings6.651 Ratings
Integration with R or other statistical packages00 Ratings8.035 Ratings
Report sharing and collaboration00 Ratings7.352 Ratings
Report Output and Scheduling
Comparison of Report Output and Scheduling features of Product A and Product B
FactSet Workstation
-
Ratings
SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
7.8
53 Ratings
5% below category average
Publish to Web00 Ratings8.444 Ratings
Publish to PDF00 Ratings8.051 Ratings
Report Versioning00 Ratings7.546 Ratings
Report Delivery Scheduling00 Ratings8.152 Ratings
Delivery to Remote Servers00 Ratings7.031 Ratings
Data Discovery and Visualization
Comparison of Data Discovery and Visualization features of Product A and Product B
FactSet Workstation
-
Ratings
SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
6.1
48 Ratings
27% below category average
Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)00 Ratings5.846 Ratings
Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization00 Ratings6.243 Ratings
Predictive Analytics00 Ratings6.242 Ratings
Pattern Recognition and Data Mining00 Ratings6.36 Ratings
Access Control and Security
Comparison of Access Control and Security features of Product A and Product B
FactSet Workstation
-
Ratings
SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
7.6
53 Ratings
11% below category average
Multi-User Support (named login)00 Ratings7.953 Ratings
Role-Based Security Model00 Ratings7.551 Ratings
Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)00 Ratings7.650 Ratings
Report-Level Access Control00 Ratings7.57 Ratings
Single Sign-On (SSO)00 Ratings7.434 Ratings
Mobile Capabilities
Comparison of Mobile Capabilities features of Product A and Product B
FactSet Workstation
-
Ratings
SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
6.3
38 Ratings
21% below category average
Responsive Design for Web Access00 Ratings5.837 Ratings
Mobile Application00 Ratings5.132 Ratings
Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile00 Ratings5.334 Ratings
Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding
Comparison of Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding features of Product A and Product B
FactSet Workstation
-
Ratings
SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
7.7
28 Ratings
0% below category average
REST API00 Ratings7.824 Ratings
Javascript API00 Ratings7.523 Ratings
iFrames00 Ratings8.021 Ratings
Java API00 Ratings7.326 Ratings
Themeable User Interface (UI)00 Ratings7.524 Ratings
Customizable Platform (Open Source)00 Ratings8.122 Ratings
Best Alternatives
FactSet WorkstationSAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
Small Businesses

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Yellowfin
Score 8.7 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
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Score 7.6 out of 10
Reveal
Reveal
Score 10.0 out of 10
Enterprises
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S&P Capital IQ
Score 7.6 out of 10
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Score 9.5 out of 10
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User Ratings
FactSet WorkstationSAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
Likelihood to Recommend
9.8
(15 ratings)
6.9
(74 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
10.0
(2 ratings)
8.3
(24 ratings)
Usability
7.4
(12 ratings)
6.5
(17 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(5 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(10 ratings)
Support Rating
7.0
(1 ratings)
8.6
(16 ratings)
In-Person Training
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(4 ratings)
Online Training
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(2 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 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
FactSet WorkstationSAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
Likelihood to Recommend
FactSet
FactSet works for all my IR needs. I do not see a function for which I use it for that it would be less appropriate. I believe that the tool's efforts towards becoming more integrated with AI are strong and that in time the Mercury offering will be just as competitive as some of the other AI offerings out there today such as AlphaSense
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SAP
As mentioned earlier reporting was a big headache for us and the tools we used didn't support large data sets and visualization Performing analytics with such data sets was cumbersome and later post using this SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence we were able to correlate different data sets and prepare the dashboard pretty easier which were helpful and easier to understand.
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Pros
FactSet
  • Easy/clear UI for navigation
  • Easily find and sort through financial filings to get to the data
  • Document search functionality seems to be improving consistently with more robust features
Read full review
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
FactSet
  • The user interface on stock monitor needs work - sometimes I wish to clone the same fields to another tab/watchlist and it appears the best way to do so is recreate it form scratch
  • transcript to be more timely and more accurate
  • on the consensus financial forecast tab, have more segment breakouts like Visible Alpha
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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
FactSet
We need the FactSet data and capabilities to complete 75% of the financial analyses that we complete for both internal and external purposes. It is invaluable and I am not aware of any other provider that would be able to fill this gap that FactSet does
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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
FactSet
It does everything I need. It is pretty user friendly and easy to work with whatever technology interface I am using (desk top, notebook, tablet, or mobile phone). I am able to get work done whether I am in the office, at home, or traveling. The user up time is very good. They are rarely doing maintenance when I need to use the platform
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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
FactSet
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
FactSet
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
FactSet
I think the data delivery could be improved, but it's a good data set.
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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
FactSet
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
FactSet
No answers on this topic
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
FactSet
No answers on this topic
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
FactSet
Product is magnitudes more affordable and provides 80% of the functionality that Bloomberg has and is working to build out the remaining. The workstation is more user friendly than bloomberg but still not perfect. Not as robust as a Bloomberg Terminal and doesn't have the chat/trading features.
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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
FactSet
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
FactSet
  • hard to quantify, bc i havent brought any new business bc of it, so the ROI would be 0%. I use other systems for proposals.
  • However, I use it for everyday work and equity/fi analysis and portfolio construction research at ticker level, and that part works 100%.
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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

FactSet Workstation Screenshots

Screenshot of PM Hub, which simplifies portfolio management with tools for building, analyzing, and simulating trades for multi-asset class portfolios and exposures. Users can monitor positions in real time with customizable views, ensure compliance, and execute trades through its integration. Link IRN data to foster deeper collaboration between research analysts and portfolio managers.Screenshot of FactSet Internal Research Notes (IRN), which streamlines research with one connected platform. These can be used to organize, share, and analyze everything from market trends to individual securities. Its AI tools help to boost collaboration, enhance workflows, and drive smarter investment decisions.Screenshot of some of the available information which can used to analyze performance, risk, and attribution across multi-asset portfolios. This integrates portfolio, market, and proprietary data into a single platform to streamline workflows, adapt to market changes, and make confident decisions. From stress testing and scenario analysis to AI-driven insights, FactSet provides tools to strengthen portfolio resilience, uncover drivers of performance, and foster collaboration with customizable reports and data sharing.Screenshot of a display of all accounts in one personalized dashboard. Viewers can analyze top positions, spot trends with proprietary signals, and track market-moving events. Access summary stats like total market value and asset allocation across an entire book or by household and strategy.Screenshot of FactSet’s proprietary news, which delivers real-time, focused market insights across regions like the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. From stocks to sectors to broad markets, StreetAccount simplifies updates to cut through the clutter. This critical news is available anytime via the Workstation, web, email, app, or API.Screenshot of one of FactSet's unique datasets, Geographic Revenue (GeoRev), used to quickly understand a company's revenue exposure in countries impacted by geopolitical, macroeconomic, and market risk through a highly structured and normalized display of companies' revenues by geography.