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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Microsoft Azure

    Score8.5 out of 10
    N/AMicrosoft Azure is a cloud computing platform and infrastructure for building, deploying, and managing applications and services through a global network of Microsoft-managed datacenters.

    $29

    per month

    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
    Microsoft AzureSAP Crystal
    Editions & Modules
    Developer
    $29
    per month
    Standard
    $100
    per month
    Professional Direct
    $1000
    per month
    Basic
    Free
    per month
    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
    Microsoft AzureSAP Crystal
    Free Trial
    YesYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    YesYes
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoYes
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeOptional
    Additional DetailsThe free tier lets users have access to a variety of services free for 12 months with limited usage after making an Azure account.* 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
    Microsoft AzureSAP Crystal
    Considered Both Products
    Microsoft
    No answer on this topic
    SAP
    Chose SAP Crystal
    More visualization options than PowerBI has, we are using PowerBI as well as it works better for non-relational big data sources. Less complex than SSRS and more flexible at the same time. Native support for SAP HANA databases makes SAP Crystal the best choice for this cases. …
    Incentivized
    Chose SAP Crystal
    WYSIWYG allows you to create your own template in Crystal Reports, also if you know HTML you can design it on WYSIWYG. Crystal Reports delivers design dynamic reports that can be linked to almost any data source. It integrates with a range of applications, such as Microsoft …
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    92%
    Would buy again
    34 Answers
    91%
    Would buy again
    10 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    94%
    Delivers good value for the price
    31 Answers
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    10 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    95%
    Happy with the feature set
    35 Answers
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    11 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    89%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    24 Answers
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    6 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    94%
    Implementation went as expected
    34 Answers
    90%
    Implementation went as expected
    9 Answers
    Features
    Microsoft AzureSAP Crystal
    Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS)
    Comparison of Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) features of Microsoft Azure and SAP Crystal
    Feature
    Microsoft Azure
    8.4
    27 Ratings
    2% above category average
    SAP Crystal
    -
    Ratings
    Service-level Agreement (SLA) uptime8.126 Ratings00 Ratings
    Dynamic scaling8.725 Ratings00 Ratings
    Elastic load balancing8.624 Ratings00 Ratings
    Pre-configured templates8.225 Ratings00 Ratings
    Monitoring tools8.326 Ratings00 Ratings
    Pre-defined machine images8.424 Ratings00 Ratings
    Operating system support8.926 Ratings00 Ratings
    Security controls8.626 Ratings00 Ratings
    Automation8.224 Ratings00 Ratings
    BI Standard Reporting
    Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of Microsoft Azure and SAP Crystal
    Feature
    Microsoft Azure
    -
    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 Microsoft Azure and SAP Crystal
    Feature
    Microsoft Azure
    -
    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 Microsoft Azure and SAP Crystal
    Feature
    Microsoft Azure
    -
    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 Microsoft Azure and SAP Crystal
    Feature
    Microsoft Azure
    -
    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 Microsoft Azure and SAP Crystal
    Feature
    Microsoft Azure
    -
    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 Microsoft Azure and SAP Crystal
    Feature
    Microsoft Azure
    -
    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 Microsoft Azure and SAP Crystal
    Feature
    Microsoft Azure
    -
    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
    Microsoft AzureSAP Crystal
    Small Businesses
    IBM Cloud Object Storage
    Score9 out of 10
    Cyfe
    Score4 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    IBM Cloud Bare Metal Servers
    Score8.7 out of 10
    Qlik Cloud Analytics (Qlik Sense)
    Score8.1 out of 10
    Enterprises
    SAP on IBM Cloud
    Score9 out of 10
    Sisense
    Score6.9 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Microsoft AzureSAP Crystal
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.7
    (96 ratings)
    6.7
    (159 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    10.0
    (17 ratings)
    10.0
    (19 ratings)
    Usability
    8.3
    (36 ratings)
    7.1
    (31 ratings)
    Availability
    6.8
    (2 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.0
    (27 ratings)
    8.6
    (21 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    8.0
    (2 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
    Microsoft AzureSAP Crystal
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Microsoft
    Azure is particularly well suited for enterprise environments with existing Microsoft investments, those that require robust compliance features, and organizations that need hybrid cloud capabilities that bridge on-premises and cloud infrastructure. In my opinion, Azure is less appropriate for cost-sensitive startups or small businesses without dedicated cloud expertise and scenarios requiring edge computing use cases with limited connectivity. Azure offers comprehensive solutions for most business needs but can feel like there is a higher learning curve than other cloud-based providers, depending on the product and use case.
    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
    Microsoft
    • Microsoft Azure is highly scalable and flexible. You can quickly scale up or down additional resources and computing power.
    • You have no longer upfront investments for hardware. You only pay for the use of your computing power, storage space, or services.
    • The uptime that can be achieved and guaranteed is very important for our company. This includes the rapid maintenance for security updates that are mostly carried out by Microsoft.
    • The wide range of capabilities of services that are possible in Microsoft Azure. You can practically put or create anything in Microsoft Azure.
    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
    Microsoft
    • The cost of resources is difficult to determine, technical documentation is frequently out of date, and documentation and mapping capabilities are lacking.
    • The documentation needs to be improved, and some advanced configuration options require research and experimentation.
    • Microsoft's licensing scheme is too complex for the average user, and Azure SQL syntax is too different from traditional SQL.
    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
    Microsoft
    Moving to Azure was and still is an organizational strategy and not simply changing vendors. Our product roadmap revolved around Azure as we are in the business of humanitarian relief and Azure and Microsoft play an important part in quickly and efficiently serving all of the world. Migration and investment in Azure should be considered as an overall strategy of an organization and communicated companywide.
    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
    Microsoft
    As Microsoft Azure is [doing a] really good with PaaS. The need of a market is to have [a] combo of PaaS and IaaS. While AWS is making [an] exceptionally well blend of both of them, Azure needs to work more on DevOps and Automation stuff. Apart from that, I would recommend Azure as a great platform for cloud services as scale.
    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
    Microsoft
    It has proven to be unreliable in our production environment and services become unavailable without proper notification to system administrators
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SAP
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    Microsoft
    We were running Windows Server and Active Directory, so [Microsoft] Azure was a seamless transition. We ran into a few, if any support issues, however, the availability of Microsoft Azure's support team was more than willing and able to guide us through the process. They even proposed solutions to issues we had not even thought of!
    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
    Microsoft
    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
    Microsoft
    As I have mentioned before the issue with my Oracle Mismatch Version issues that have put a delay on moving one of my platforms will justify my 7 rating.
    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
    Microsoft
    As I continue to evaluate the "big three" cloud providers for our clients, I make the following distinctions, though this gap continues to close. AWS is more granular, and inherently powerful in the configuration options compared to [Microsoft] Azure. It is a "developer" platform for cloud. However, Azure PowerShell is helping close this gap. Google Cloud is the leading containerization platform, largely thanks to it building kubernetes from the ground up. Azure containerization is getting better at having the same storage/deployment options.
    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
    Microsoft
    • For about 2 years we didn't have to do anything with our production VMs, the system ran without a hitch, which meant our engineers could focus on features rather than infrastructure.
    • DNS management was very easy in Azure, which made it easy to upgrade our cluster with zero downtime.
    • Azure Web UI was easy to work with and navigate, which meant our senior engineers and DevOps team could work with Azure without formal training.
    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