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Kantata PSA vs. Microsoft BI (MSBI) vs. Replicon Polaris PSA

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Kantata PSA

    Score9 out of 10
    Mid-Size Companies (51-1,000 employees)
    Kantata Cloud (formerly Mavenlink + Kimble) provides project management and collaboration software for small to mid-sized professional services companies. Features include resource management, project dependencies, time and expense tracking, file sharing, versatile user permissions, private messaging, planning and reporting.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

    Replicon Polaris PSA

    Score7.3 out of 10
    N/AReplicon Polaris PSA is a professional services automation platform containing project management, expense tracking, and billing features, from Replicon headquartered in Redwood City, California.N/A
    Pricing
    Kantata PSAMicrosoft BI (MSBI)Replicon Polaris PSA
    Editions & Modules
    Premier
    Contact Sales Team
    per month per seat
    Enterprise
    Contact Sales Team
    Power BI Pro
    $14
    per month per user
    Power BI Premium
    $24
    per month per user
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Kantata PSAMicrosoft BI (MSBI)Replicon Polaris PSA
    Free Trial
    NoNoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoYesNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    YesNoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeRequiredNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details———
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Kantata PSAMicrosoft BI (MSBI)Replicon Polaris PSA
    Considered Multiple Products
    Kantata (Kimble + Mavenlink)
    No answer on this topic
    Microsoft
    No answer on this topic
    Deltek Replicon
    Chose Replicon Polaris PSA
    We looked at Mavenlink, it did not quite deliver what we could gain from using Replicon PSM.
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    94%
    Would buy again
    17 Answers
    100%
    Would buy again
    15 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    94%
    Delivers good value for the price
    15 Answers
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    15 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    89%
    Happy with the feature set
    16 Answers
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    15 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    92%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    11 Answers
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    13 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    12 Answers
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    11 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Features
    Kantata PSAMicrosoft BI (MSBI)Replicon Polaris PSA
    BI Standard Reporting
    Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of Kantata PSA and Microsoft BI (MSBI) and Replicon Polaris PSA
    Feature
    Kantata PSA
    -
    Ratings
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    9.0
    53 Ratings
    10% above category average
    Replicon Polaris PSA
    -
    Ratings
    Pixel Perfect reports00 Ratings8.546 Ratings00 Ratings
    Customizable dashboards00 Ratings9.653 Ratings00 Ratings
    Report Formatting Templates00 Ratings8.951 Ratings00 Ratings
    Ad-hoc Reporting
    Comparison of Ad-hoc Reporting features of Kantata PSA and Microsoft BI (MSBI) and Replicon Polaris PSA
    Feature
    Kantata PSA
    -
    Ratings
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    8.5
    53 Ratings
    6% above category average
    Replicon Polaris PSA
    -
    Ratings
    Drill-down analysis00 Ratings8.548 Ratings00 Ratings
    Formatting capabilities00 Ratings8.253 Ratings00 Ratings
    Integration with R or other statistical packages00 Ratings8.342 Ratings00 Ratings
    Report sharing and collaboration00 Ratings8.953 Ratings00 Ratings
    Report Output and Scheduling
    Comparison of Report Output and Scheduling features of Kantata PSA and Microsoft BI (MSBI) and Replicon Polaris PSA
    Feature
    Kantata PSA
    -
    Ratings
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    8.5
    52 Ratings
    3% above category average
    Replicon Polaris PSA
    -
    Ratings
    Publish to Web00 Ratings9.348 Ratings00 Ratings
    Publish to PDF00 Ratings9.148 Ratings00 Ratings
    Report Versioning00 Ratings7.344 Ratings00 Ratings
    Report Delivery Scheduling00 Ratings8.547 Ratings00 Ratings
    Delivery to Remote Servers00 Ratings8.426 Ratings00 Ratings
    Data Discovery and Visualization
    Comparison of Data Discovery and Visualization features of Kantata PSA and Microsoft BI (MSBI) and Replicon Polaris PSA
    Feature
    Kantata PSA
    -
    Ratings
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    8.7
    52 Ratings
    9% above category average
    Replicon Polaris PSA
    -
    Ratings
    Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)00 Ratings9.651 Ratings00 Ratings
    Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization00 Ratings8.748 Ratings00 Ratings
    Predictive Analytics00 Ratings7.745 Ratings00 Ratings
    Pattern Recognition and Data Mining00 Ratings8.76 Ratings00 Ratings
    Access Control and Security
    Comparison of Access Control and Security features of Kantata PSA and Microsoft BI (MSBI) and Replicon Polaris PSA
    Feature
    Kantata PSA
    -
    Ratings
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    9.3
    53 Ratings
    9% above category average
    Replicon Polaris PSA
    -
    Ratings
    Multi-User Support (named login)00 Ratings9.449 Ratings00 Ratings
    Role-Based Security Model00 Ratings9.347 Ratings00 Ratings
    Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)00 Ratings8.949 Ratings00 Ratings
    Report-Level Access Control00 Ratings9.36 Ratings00 Ratings
    Single Sign-On (SSO)00 Ratings9.431 Ratings00 Ratings
    Mobile Capabilities
    Comparison of Mobile Capabilities features of Kantata PSA and Microsoft BI (MSBI) and Replicon Polaris PSA
    Feature
    Kantata PSA
    -
    Ratings
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    8.0
    42 Ratings
    3% above category average
    Replicon Polaris PSA
    -
    Ratings
    Responsive Design for Web Access00 Ratings8.139 Ratings00 Ratings
    Mobile Application00 Ratings8.030 Ratings00 Ratings
    Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile00 Ratings7.739 Ratings00 Ratings
    Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding
    Comparison of Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding features of Kantata PSA and Microsoft BI (MSBI) and Replicon Polaris PSA
    Feature
    Kantata PSA
    -
    Ratings
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    8.5
    24 Ratings
    9% above category average
    Replicon Polaris PSA
    -
    Ratings
    REST API00 Ratings9.221 Ratings00 Ratings
    Javascript API00 Ratings8.821 Ratings00 Ratings
    iFrames00 Ratings8.820 Ratings00 Ratings
    Java API00 Ratings8.718 Ratings00 Ratings
    Themeable User Interface (UI)00 Ratings8.021 Ratings00 Ratings
    Customizable Platform (Open Source)00 Ratings7.219 Ratings00 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Kantata PSAMicrosoft BI (MSBI)Replicon Polaris PSA
    Small Businesses
    Autotask PSA
    Score7.7 out of 10
    Cyfe
    Score4 out of 10
    Autotask PSA
    Score7.7 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Workday Professional Services Automation
    Score8.2 out of 10
    Qlik Cloud Analytics (Qlik Sense)
    Score8.1 out of 10
    Workday Professional Services Automation
    Score8.2 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Planview AdaptiveWork
    Score8.8 out of 10
    Jaspersoft Community Edition
    Score7 out of 10
    Planview AdaptiveWork
    Score8.8 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Kantata PSAMicrosoft BI (MSBI)Replicon Polaris PSA
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.1
    (50 ratings)
    8.9
    (77 ratings)
    10.0
    (4 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    9.0
    (6 ratings)
    8.0
    (25 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    8.0
    (8 ratings)
    8.9
    (19 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Availability
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    9.5
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    7.0
    (3 ratings)
    7.0
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.0
    (8 ratings)
    8.9
    (15 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    6.9
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Online Training
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    8.5
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    9.0
    (5 ratings)
    9.6
    (7 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Configurability
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Data Sharing and Collaboration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.5
    (42 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Data Sources
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.4
    (41 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Kantata PSAMicrosoft BI (MSBI)Replicon Polaris PSA
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Kantata (Kimble + Mavenlink)
    It is appropriate and even exceeds expectations 90% of the time. It makes project tracking very easy and visually accessible for most cases. The only occasion where Mavenlink came slightly short was for a special project that required more interaction options among project members. I am certain there are ways to work around that issue, but we did not find them.
    Incentivized
    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
    Deltek Replicon
    It is perfect for inputing time sheets, time offs and expenses. It is hosted on the cloud, so accessible from anywhere, and even from mobile. It should nonetheless do just that, as it is not suited to track the work that you are doing or details about it. It is completely useless in that case.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Kantata (Kimble + Mavenlink)
    • With Mavenlink when starting to assign tasks to people, set deadlines and milestones, and add files to our projects we can look at it all from a variety of perspectives, including a task tracker view and a Gantt chart view
    • Through Mavenlink each project also includes an activity stream where we can view all project details as they come up, as well as an activity feed for all the projects it is linked to.
    Incentivized
    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
    Deltek Replicon
    • Many of our staff members work on multiple projects. Replicon PSM is ideal for managers to track all staff hours just by running a simple report.
    • It's so easy use & maintain.
    • Support team is really impressive, seem to know their product.
    • Reporting is a breeze.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Kantata (Kimble + Mavenlink)
    • The Gantt chart does not allow for baselines to be stored
    • There is no means to upload an excel task tracker and build a plan using an upload
    • The schedule does not allow for planning of holidays
    • The status report functionality needs to be improved
    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
    Deltek Replicon
    • Though the technical support staff are always very nice, sometimes they don't seem to understand exactly what the issue is based on our explanation. There have been several times when I've ended up solving the issue on my own without their assistance, despite numerous emails and phone calls. Could be a language barrier issue, perhaps they could receive more training in how companies are actually using the software on a daily basis.
    • Employee time sheets have to be approved by project managers and supervisors prior to my final approval. However, when viewing the time sheets in list form, there is no way for me to tell whether a time sheet has been approved by everyone else. I have to manually open each one and hover over the approver link. It would be helpful if there was a column in the list showing which approvers still need to approve it.
    • There have been a few times when time sheets were accidentally deleted by approvers. In order to retrieve them, we've had to contact Replicon support and have a backup instance of the information created. It would be great if perhaps there was some sort of archive or recently deleted section that could be accessed right away without having to go through Replicon support, a folder or something that would hold on to recently deleted files for a few days or a week just in case they needed to be retrieved.
    • Some of our projects have more than one project manager. Replicon currently allows for co-managers to be assigned to a project, but this status does not seem to include that co-manager in the approval of time sheets and expenses. We have had to manually create an approval path to include that second manager. It would be nice if co-managers would automatically be included in those approval paths.
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Kantata (Kimble + Mavenlink)
    Although the company I currently work for does not use the product I have recommended that we do switch to Mavenlink. We will be opening some new sites internationally this year and I can see that Mavenlink would be a great product for us to use
    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
    Deltek Replicon
    No answers on this topic
    Usability
    Kantata (Kimble + Mavenlink)
    I think Kantata is one of the most robust and best project management tools out there for an organization like ours. However, some of our staff feel like it isn't as user-friendly as it could be. From a Director point of view or a Project Manager point of view, Kantata is exceptional. From the point of view of a task-doer, it could be more visually appealing. Also, the mobile version isn't great.
    Incentivized
    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
    Deltek Replicon
    No answers on this topic
    Reliability and Availability
    Kantata (Kimble + Mavenlink)
    Mavenlink gives advance notice for system upgrades, and they're not during our business day. Mavenlink has always been available when we needed it.
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    The product has been reliable.
    Read full review
    Deltek Replicon
    No answers on this topic
    Performance
    Kantata (Kimble + Mavenlink)
    Very good integration with Google apps. Some complexity is called however in the synchronization between Google Tasks and Maven links tasks. This can sometimes lead to duplicate records in Google Tasks. It has been dissolvable that becomes cumbersome if not properly curated.
    Read full review
    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
    Deltek Replicon
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    Kantata (Kimble + Mavenlink)
    Kantata support is fantastic! Any issues that arise are always handled quickly and efficiently. Granted, we haven't had many issues to report. Typically, my team tends to only reach out to support if they need assistance remembering how to do something or asking about an improvement. We had Kantata build an integration when we first started using the software, and the support team worked hard to listen and improve the integration.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    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
    Deltek Replicon
    No answers on this topic
    In-Person Training
    Kantata (Kimble + Mavenlink)
    We prepared questions in advance, and our trainer was an expert in what Mavenlink was and wasn't able to do. We were able to have multiple people trained at once.
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    This training was more directed toward what the product was capable of rather than actual programming.
    Read full review
    Deltek Replicon
    No answers on this topic
    Online Training
    Kantata (Kimble + Mavenlink)
    The training was very well-organized. We were able to send questions in advance so the instructor knew what to cover, and the brought up related topics to maximize the usefulness of what they were teaching us.
    Read full review
    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
    Deltek Replicon
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation Rating
    Kantata (Kimble + Mavenlink)
    Dedicate as much internal time to the implementation effort as possible, even if you're using a 3rd party or Mavenlink services. Your team knows your processes the best
    Read full review
    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
    Deltek Replicon
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    Kantata (Kimble + Mavenlink)
    We have since switched over to JIRA and let me tell you, it was probably the best decision we have made as a company. We chose Mavenlink based on promises from the sales team about future roadmap work that really never happened. We thought Mavenlink would easily integrate with our billing software but we couldn't have been more wrong. We ended up never utilizing Mavenlink invoices as they don't even allow you to fully customize your invoices that go out to clients!
    Incentivized
    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
    Deltek Replicon
    We used to track time on JIRA on the tickets. This was good enough for time tracking, but didn't integrate efficiently with accounting software, so accountants had to replicate manually the data from JIRA to their software in order to bill clients. Using Replicon made things much easier for them.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Scalability
    Kantata (Kimble + Mavenlink)
    It's very easy to add users and contractors into Mavenlink. There's also an option that let's you manage access for teams in multiple locations.
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Deltek Replicon
    No answers on this topic
    Return on Investment
    Kantata (Kimble + Mavenlink)
    • Manvenlink is perfect for showing expenses and income over time and across people.
    • Manvenlink is adaptable for the integration and automation of the processes of each of our projects in order to optimize resources and improve operational performance.
    • Mavenlink allows us to determine if our projects are profitable or not, as well as save significant time by automating components such as recurring tasks and having templates, among other things.
    • Manvenlink is advantageous for our operations due to its simple portfolio management of our projects: manage several projects at once and receive a complete perspective of the development of each one at a glance.
    • Manvenlink kindly provides us with robust discussion threads, access restrictions, and built-in document management, allowing us to contextualize communications.
    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
    Deltek Replicon
    • No negative; we just use it for timesheets.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Kantata PSA Screenshots

    Screenshot of real-time project status tracking.Screenshot of visualizations that help track resources with confidence.Screenshot of at a glance capacity and staffing monitoring.Screenshot of financials and project margin monitoring.Screenshot of revenue tracking, to scale a business with confidence.