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Microsoft BI (MSBI) vs. Oracle Discoverer (discontinued)

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    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

    Oracle Discoverer (discontinued)

    Score8.4 out of 10
    N/AOracle's Business Intelligence Discoverer is an ad- hoc query and analysis reporting tool oriented for end users to have easy access to relational and multi-dimensional data. The product is now end of life. The vendor has stated that Discoverer 11g release 11.1.1.7.0 is the terminal release of Discoverer.N/A
    Pricing
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)Oracle Discoverer (discontinued)
    Editions & Modules
    Power BI Pro
    $14
    per month per user
    Power BI Premium
    $24
    per month per user
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)Oracle Discoverer (discontinued)
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    YesNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)Oracle Discoverer (discontinued)
    Considered Both Products
    Microsoft
    No answer on this topic
    Discontinued Products
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    100%
    Would buy again
    15 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    15 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    15 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    13 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    11 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Features
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)Oracle Discoverer (discontinued)
    BI Standard Reporting
    Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of Microsoft BI (MSBI) and Oracle Discoverer (discontinued)
    Feature
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    9.0
    53 Ratings
    10% above category average
    Oracle Discoverer (discontinued)
    7.9
    20 Ratings
    3% below category average
    Pixel Perfect reports8.546 Ratings8.017 Ratings
    Customizable dashboards9.653 Ratings7.717 Ratings
    Report Formatting Templates8.951 Ratings8.020 Ratings
    Ad-hoc Reporting
    Comparison of Ad-hoc Reporting features of Microsoft BI (MSBI) and Oracle Discoverer (discontinued)
    Feature
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    8.5
    53 Ratings
    6% above category average
    Oracle Discoverer (discontinued)
    7.9
    22 Ratings
    2% below category average
    Drill-down analysis8.548 Ratings7.021 Ratings
    Formatting capabilities8.253 Ratings8.022 Ratings
    Integration with R or other statistical packages8.342 Ratings7.514 Ratings
    Report sharing and collaboration8.953 Ratings9.020 Ratings
    Report Output and Scheduling
    Comparison of Report Output and Scheduling features of Microsoft BI (MSBI) and Oracle Discoverer (discontinued)
    Feature
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    8.6
    52 Ratings
    5% above category average
    Oracle Discoverer (discontinued)
    8.3
    22 Ratings
    1% above category average
    Publish to Web9.348 Ratings8.021 Ratings
    Publish to PDF9.148 Ratings9.020 Ratings
    Report Versioning7.444 Ratings9.018 Ratings
    Report Delivery Scheduling8.547 Ratings8.022 Ratings
    Delivery to Remote Servers8.426 Ratings7.716 Ratings
    Data Discovery and Visualization
    Comparison of Data Discovery and Visualization features of Microsoft BI (MSBI) and Oracle Discoverer (discontinued)
    Feature
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    8.7
    52 Ratings
    9% above category average
    Oracle Discoverer (discontinued)
    8.0
    16 Ratings
    0% above category average
    Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)9.651 Ratings8.416 Ratings
    Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization8.748 Ratings7.815 Ratings
    Predictive Analytics7.845 Ratings7.815 Ratings
    Pattern Recognition and Data Mining8.76 Ratings00 Ratings
    Access Control and Security
    Comparison of Access Control and Security features of Microsoft BI (MSBI) and Oracle Discoverer (discontinued)
    Feature
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    9.3
    53 Ratings
    9% above category average
    Oracle Discoverer (discontinued)
    9.7
    22 Ratings
    13% above category average
    Multi-User Support (named login)9.449 Ratings10.022 Ratings
    Role-Based Security Model9.347 Ratings10.020 Ratings
    Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)8.949 Ratings9.021 Ratings
    Report-Level Access Control9.36 Ratings00 Ratings
    Single Sign-On (SSO)9.431 Ratings10.017 Ratings
    Mobile Capabilities
    Comparison of Mobile Capabilities features of Microsoft BI (MSBI) and Oracle Discoverer (discontinued)
    Feature
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    8.0
    42 Ratings
    3% above category average
    Oracle Discoverer (discontinued)
    8.0
    16 Ratings
    3% above category average
    Responsive Design for Web Access8.239 Ratings7.915 Ratings
    Mobile Application8.030 Ratings7.811 Ratings
    Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile7.839 Ratings7.811 Ratings
    Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding
    Comparison of Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding features of Microsoft BI (MSBI) and Oracle Discoverer (discontinued)
    Feature
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    8.5
    24 Ratings
    9% above category average
    Oracle Discoverer (discontinued)
    7.5
    9 Ratings
    3% below category average
    REST API9.221 Ratings8.08 Ratings
    Javascript API8.821 Ratings8.09 Ratings
    iFrames8.820 Ratings8.08 Ratings
    Java API8.718 Ratings7.08 Ratings
    Themeable User Interface (UI)8.021 Ratings8.07 Ratings
    Customizable Platform (Open Source)7.319 Ratings6.08 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)Oracle Discoverer (discontinued)
    Small Businesses
    Cyfe
    Score4 out of 10
    Cyfe
    Score4 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Qlik Cloud Analytics (Qlik Sense)
    Score8.2 out of 10
    Qlik Cloud Analytics (Qlik Sense)
    Score8.2 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Jaspersoft Community Edition
    Score7 out of 10
    Jaspersoft Community Edition
    Score7 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)Oracle Discoverer (discontinued)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.9
    (77 ratings)
    8.0
    (22 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    8.0
    (25 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    8.9
    (19 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Availability
    9.5
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    7.0
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    8.9
    (15 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    6.9
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Online Training
    8.5
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    9.6
    (7 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Configurability
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Data Sharing and Collaboration
    8.5
    (42 ratings)
    8.0
    (21 ratings)
    Data Sources
    8.4
    (41 ratings)
    9.0
    (21 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)Oracle Discoverer (discontinued)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    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
    Discontinued Products
    Discoverer is well suited as a reporting tool where data integration doesn't play a major role. Discoverer suits very well situations where a user has to run a query every day. Discoverer reports can be scheduled and the user can just view the data instead of running the query manually. Also, Discoverer takes away the pain of managing the database credentials. Discoverer is not well suited to situations where the whole enterprise wants to view the same dashboard. Discoverer is more of a departmental BI tool. Discoverer doesn't offer many options to integrate data unless one has to create and handle integration using PL/SQL.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    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
    Discontinued Products
    • SQL friendly which allows for fast adoption for those users who know how to write in SQL. This makes integration with other programs much easier.
    • Accessing data is very fast even with larger data sets.
    • The layout is clean and organized similar to a spreadsheet which allows for easier viewing and analyzing of the data.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    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
    Discontinued Products
    • There is always room for more scalability and optimization of performance.
    • Oracle BI changes a lot from version to version. A smoother transition into a new version would be very helpful.
    • Oracle BI's reporting tool is a little hard to use at first. The UI/UX of the tool can use improvement.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    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
    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    Usability
    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
    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    Reliability and Availability
    Microsoft
    The product has been reliable.
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    Performance
    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
    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    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
    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    In-Person Training
    Microsoft
    This training was more directed toward what the product was capable of rather than actual programming.
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    Online Training
    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
    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation Rating
    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
    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    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
    Discontinued Products
    Discoverer was already in place when I joined the company so I was not involved in the selection process. However, I have been involved in the review of Discoverer as compared to alternatives including Business Objects, OBIEE, and SSRS. On a cost benefit analysis Discoverer always came out on top. Changing to another tool never provided enough additional functionality to overcome the cost of conversion and ongoing maintenance.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    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
    Discontinued Products
    • We have used Discoverer to respond to state sales and use tax audits and saved the company more than the cost of the product. Discoverer has thus assisted in our objective of managing costs.
    • Discoverer is used to provide reports for EEOC reporting assisting our goal of complying with all government requirements.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots