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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Informatica PowerCenter (legacy)

    Score9.3 out of 10
    N/AInformatica PowerCenter was data integration technology designed to form the foundation for data integration initiatives, application migration, or analytics. It is a legacy product.N/A

    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
    Informatica PowerCenter (legacy)SAP Crystal
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    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
    Informatica PowerCenter (legacy)SAP Crystal
    Free Trial
    NoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoYes
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoYes
    Entry-level 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
    Informatica PowerCenter (legacy)SAP Crystal
    Considered Both Products
    Discontinued Products
    No answer on this topic
    SAP
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    No answers on this topic
    91%
    Would buy again
    10 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    No answers on this topic
    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
    11 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    6 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    No answers on this topic
    90%
    Implementation went as expected
    9 Answers
    Features
    Informatica PowerCenter (legacy)SAP Crystal
    Data Source Connection
    Comparison of Data Source Connection features of Informatica PowerCenter (legacy) and SAP Crystal
    Feature
    Informatica PowerCenter (legacy)
    8.5
    18 Ratings
    1% above category average
    SAP Crystal
    -
    Ratings
    Connect to traditional data sources9.018 Ratings00 Ratings
    Connecto to Big Data and NoSQL8.014 Ratings00 Ratings
    Data Transformations
    Comparison of Data Transformations features of Informatica PowerCenter (legacy) and SAP Crystal
    Feature
    Informatica PowerCenter (legacy)
    7.5
    18 Ratings
    8% below category average
    SAP Crystal
    -
    Ratings
    Simple transformations8.018 Ratings00 Ratings
    Complex transformations7.018 Ratings00 Ratings
    Data Modeling
    Comparison of Data Modeling features of Informatica PowerCenter (legacy) and SAP Crystal
    Feature
    Informatica PowerCenter (legacy)
    8.2
    18 Ratings
    3% above category average
    SAP Crystal
    -
    Ratings
    Data model creation9.015 Ratings00 Ratings
    Metadata management8.016 Ratings00 Ratings
    Business rules and workflow9.018 Ratings00 Ratings
    Collaboration6.116 Ratings00 Ratings
    Testing and debugging9.017 Ratings00 Ratings
    Data Governance
    Comparison of Data Governance features of Informatica PowerCenter (legacy) and SAP Crystal
    Feature
    Informatica PowerCenter (legacy)
    9.0
    15 Ratings
    11% above category average
    SAP Crystal
    -
    Ratings
    Integration with data quality tools9.015 Ratings00 Ratings
    Integration with MDM tools9.013 Ratings00 Ratings
    BI Standard Reporting
    Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of Informatica PowerCenter (legacy) and SAP Crystal
    Feature
    Informatica PowerCenter (legacy)
    -
    Ratings
    SAP Crystal
    7.7
    124 Ratings
    6% below category average
    Pixel Perfect reports00 Ratings8.0113 Ratings
    Customizable dashboards00 Ratings6.7100 Ratings
    Report Formatting Templates00 Ratings8.4117 Ratings
    Ad-hoc Reporting
    Comparison of Ad-hoc Reporting features of Informatica PowerCenter (legacy) and SAP Crystal
    Feature
    Informatica PowerCenter (legacy)
    -
    Ratings
    SAP Crystal
    8.3
    136 Ratings
    4% above category average
    Drill-down analysis00 Ratings9.0117 Ratings
    Formatting capabilities00 Ratings8.8135 Ratings
    Integration with R or other statistical packages00 Ratings6.964 Ratings
    Report sharing and collaboration00 Ratings8.6120 Ratings
    Report Output and Scheduling
    Comparison of Report Output and Scheduling features of Informatica PowerCenter (legacy) and SAP Crystal
    Feature
    Informatica PowerCenter (legacy)
    -
    Ratings
    SAP Crystal
    8.7
    136 Ratings
    6% above category average
    Publish to Web00 Ratings9.191 Ratings
    Publish to PDF00 Ratings9.4133 Ratings
    Report Versioning00 Ratings7.994 Ratings
    Report Delivery Scheduling00 Ratings8.997 Ratings
    Delivery to Remote Servers00 Ratings8.454 Ratings
    Data Discovery and Visualization
    Comparison of Data Discovery and Visualization features of Informatica PowerCenter (legacy) and SAP Crystal
    Feature
    Informatica PowerCenter (legacy)
    -
    Ratings
    SAP Crystal
    7.6
    89 Ratings
    5% below category average
    Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)00 Ratings7.650 Ratings
    Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization00 Ratings7.576 Ratings
    Predictive Analytics00 Ratings7.841 Ratings
    Access Control and Security
    Comparison of Access Control and Security features of Informatica PowerCenter (legacy) and SAP Crystal
    Feature
    Informatica PowerCenter (legacy)
    -
    Ratings
    SAP Crystal
    8.5
    88 Ratings
    0% above category average
    Multi-User Support (named login)00 Ratings8.481 Ratings
    Role-Based Security Model00 Ratings8.480 Ratings
    Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)00 Ratings8.480 Ratings
    Report-Level Access Control00 Ratings8.43 Ratings
    Single Sign-On (SSO)00 Ratings8.940 Ratings
    Mobile Capabilities
    Comparison of Mobile Capabilities features of Informatica PowerCenter (legacy) and SAP Crystal
    Feature
    Informatica PowerCenter (legacy)
    -
    Ratings
    SAP Crystal
    6.6
    65 Ratings
    16% below category average
    Responsive Design for Web Access00 Ratings6.163 Ratings
    Mobile Application00 Ratings5.946 Ratings
    Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile00 Ratings6.060 Ratings
    Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding
    Comparison of Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding features of Informatica PowerCenter (legacy) and SAP Crystal
    Feature
    Informatica PowerCenter (legacy)
    -
    Ratings
    SAP Crystal
    7.8
    45 Ratings
    1% above category average
    REST API00 Ratings7.48 Ratings
    Javascript API00 Ratings8.437 Ratings
    iFrames00 Ratings7.18 Ratings
    Java API00 Ratings8.437 Ratings
    Themeable User Interface (UI)00 Ratings7.439 Ratings
    Customizable Platform (Open Source)00 Ratings8.433 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Informatica PowerCenter (legacy)SAP Crystal
    Small Businesses
    Skyvia
    Score10 out of 10
    Cyfe
    Score4 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    IBM InfoSphere Information Server
    Score10 out of 10
    Qlik Cloud Analytics (Qlik Sense)
    Score8.1 out of 10
    Enterprises
    SolarWinds Task Factory
    Score8.3 out of 10
    Jaspersoft Community Edition
    Score7 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Informatica PowerCenter (legacy)SAP Crystal
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.0
    (21 ratings)
    6.7
    (159 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    10.0
    (4 ratings)
    10.0
    (19 ratings)
    Usability
    9.0
    (3 ratings)
    7.1
    (31 ratings)
    Availability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    9.4
    (2 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    8.6
    (21 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.8
    (14 ratings)
    Configurability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Data Sharing and Collaboration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.8
    (124 ratings)
    Data Sources
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.2
    (129 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Informatica PowerCenter (legacy)SAP Crystal
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Discontinued Products
    1.- Scenaries with poor sources of data is not recomended (Very bad ROI). The solution is for medium-big enterprises with a lot of sources of data and users. 2.- Bank and finance enviroment to integrate differente data form trading, Regulatory reports, decisions makers, fraud and financial crimes because in this kind of scenary the quality of data is the base of the business. 3.- Departments of development and test of applications in enterprises because you can design enviroments, out of the production systems, to development and test the new API's or updateds made.
    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
    Discontinued Products
    • Informatica Powercenter is an innovative software that works with ETL-type data integration. Connectivity to almost all the database systems.
    • Great documentation and customer support.
    • It has a various solution to address data quality issues. data masking, data virtualization. It has various supporting tools or MDM, IDQ, Analyst, BigData which can be used to analyze data and correct it.
    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
    Discontinued Products
    • There are too many ways to perform the same or similar functions which in turn makes it challenging to trace what a workflow is doing and at which point (ex. sessions can be designed as static or re-usable and the override can occur at the session or workflow, or both which can be counter productive and confusing when troubleshooting).
    • The power in structured design is a double edged sword. Simple tasks for a POC can become cumbersome. Ex. if you want to move some data to test a process, you first have to create your sources by importing them which means an ODBC connection or similar will need to be configured, you in turn have to develop your targets and all of the essential building blocks before being able to begin actual development. While I am on sources and targets, I think of a table definition as just that and find it counter intuitive to have to design a table as both a source and target and manage them as different objects. It would be more intuitive to have a table definition and its source/target properties defined by where you drag and drop it in the mapping.
    • There are no checkpoints or data viewer type functions without designing an entire mapping and workflow. If you would like to simply run a job up to a point and check the throughput, an entire mapping needs to be completed and you would workaround this by creating a flat file target.
    Incentivized
    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
    Discontinued Products
    Our team enjoys using Informatica and feels that it is one of the best ETL tools on the market.
    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
    Discontinued Products
    Positives; - Multi User Development Environment - Speed of transformation - Seamless integration between other Informatica products. Negatives; - There should be less windows to maintain developers' focus while using. You probably need 2 big monitors when you start development with Informatica Power Center. - Oracle Analytical functions should be natively used. - E-LT support as well as ETL support.
    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
    Performance
    Discontinued Products
    PowerCenter is robust and fast, and it does a great job meeting all the needs, not just the most commercially vocal needs. In the hands of an expert power user, you can accomplish almost anything with your data. It is not for new users or intermittent users-- for that the Cloud version is a better fit. Be prepared for costly connectors (priced differently for each source or destination you are working with), and just be planful of your projects so you are not paying for connectors you no longer need or want
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SAP
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    Discontinued Products
    Informatica power center is a leader of the pack of ETL tools and has some great abilities that make it stand out from other ETL tools. It has been a great partner to its clients over a long time so it's definitely dependable. With all the great things about Informatica, it has a bit of tech burden that should be addressed to make it more nimble, reduce the learning curve for new developers, provide better connectivity with visualization tools.
    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
    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    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
    Implementation Rating
    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    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
    Discontinued Products
    While Talend offers a much more comfortable interface to work with, Informatica's forte is performance. And on that front, Informatica Enterprise Data Integration certainly leaves Talend in the dust. For a more back-end-centric use case, Informatica is certainly the ETL tool of choice. On the other hand, if business users would be using the tool, then Talend would be the preferred tool.
    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
    Discontinued Products
    • The data pipeline automation capability of Informatica means that few resources are needed to pre-process the data that ultimately resides in a Data Warehouse. Once a workflow is implemented, manual intervention is not needed.
    • PowerCenter did require more resources and time for installation and configuration than was expected/planned for.
    • The lack of or minimal support of unstructured data means that newer sources of dynamic/changing data cannot be easily processed/transformed through PowerCenter workflows.
    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

    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