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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

    Quadient Inspire

    Score9.5 out of 10
    Enterprise companies (1,001+ employees)
    Quadient Inspire offers a customer experience management portfolio that provides human-centric communication solutions that span the entire customer lifecycle, to help organizations to create meaningful connections with their customers, wherever, whenever they prefer.N/A
    Pricing
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)Quadient Inspire
    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)Quadient Inspire
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    YesNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoYes
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details—The solution is highly modular. Pricing may differ a lot depending on usage and configuration.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)Quadient Inspire
    Considered Both Products
    Microsoft
    No answer on this topic
    Quadient
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    100%
    Would buy again
    15 Answers
    100%
    Would buy again
    33 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    15 Answers
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    30 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    15 Answers
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    33 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    13 Answers
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    23 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    11 Answers
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    28 Answers
    Features
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)Quadient Inspire
    BI Standard Reporting
    Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of Microsoft BI (MSBI) and Quadient Inspire
    Feature
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    9.0
    53 Ratings
    10% above category average
    Quadient Inspire
    -
    Ratings
    Pixel Perfect reports8.546 Ratings00 Ratings
    Customizable dashboards9.653 Ratings00 Ratings
    Report Formatting Templates8.951 Ratings00 Ratings
    Ad-hoc Reporting
    Comparison of Ad-hoc Reporting features of Microsoft BI (MSBI) and Quadient Inspire
    Feature
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    8.5
    53 Ratings
    6% above category average
    Quadient Inspire
    -
    Ratings
    Drill-down analysis8.548 Ratings00 Ratings
    Formatting capabilities8.253 Ratings00 Ratings
    Integration with R or other statistical packages8.342 Ratings00 Ratings
    Report sharing and collaboration8.953 Ratings00 Ratings
    Report Output and Scheduling
    Comparison of Report Output and Scheduling features of Microsoft BI (MSBI) and Quadient Inspire
    Feature
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    8.5
    52 Ratings
    3% above category average
    Quadient Inspire
    -
    Ratings
    Publish to Web9.348 Ratings00 Ratings
    Publish to PDF9.148 Ratings00 Ratings
    Report Versioning7.444 Ratings00 Ratings
    Report Delivery Scheduling8.547 Ratings00 Ratings
    Delivery to Remote Servers8.426 Ratings00 Ratings
    Data Discovery and Visualization
    Comparison of Data Discovery and Visualization features of Microsoft BI (MSBI) and Quadient Inspire
    Feature
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    8.7
    52 Ratings
    9% above category average
    Quadient Inspire
    -
    Ratings
    Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)9.651 Ratings00 Ratings
    Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization8.748 Ratings00 Ratings
    Predictive Analytics7.745 Ratings00 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 Quadient Inspire
    Feature
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    9.3
    53 Ratings
    9% above category average
    Quadient Inspire
    -
    Ratings
    Multi-User Support (named login)9.449 Ratings00 Ratings
    Role-Based Security Model9.347 Ratings00 Ratings
    Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)8.949 Ratings00 Ratings
    Report-Level Access Control9.36 Ratings00 Ratings
    Single Sign-On (SSO)9.431 Ratings00 Ratings
    Mobile Capabilities
    Comparison of Mobile Capabilities features of Microsoft BI (MSBI) and Quadient Inspire
    Feature
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    8.0
    42 Ratings
    4% above category average
    Quadient Inspire
    -
    Ratings
    Responsive Design for Web Access8.239 Ratings00 Ratings
    Mobile Application8.030 Ratings00 Ratings
    Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile7.739 Ratings00 Ratings
    Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding
    Comparison of Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding features of Microsoft BI (MSBI) and Quadient Inspire
    Feature
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    8.5
    24 Ratings
    9% above category average
    Quadient Inspire
    -
    Ratings
    REST API9.221 Ratings00 Ratings
    Javascript API8.821 Ratings00 Ratings
    iFrames8.820 Ratings00 Ratings
    Java API8.718 Ratings00 Ratings
    Themeable User Interface (UI)8.021 Ratings00 Ratings
    Customizable Platform (Open Source)7.319 Ratings00 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)Quadient Inspire
    Small Businesses
    Cyfe
    Score4 out of 10
    GoTo Connect
    Score8 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Qlik Cloud Analytics (Qlik Sense)
    Score8.1 out of 10
    GoTo Connect
    Score8 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Jaspersoft Community Edition
    Score7 out of 10
    No answers on this topic
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)Quadient Inspire
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.9
    (77 ratings)
    9.5
    (38 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    8.0
    (25 ratings)
    9.1
    (2 ratings)
    Usability
    8.9
    (19 ratings)
    9.5
    (22 ratings)
    Availability
    9.5
    (2 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    7.0
    (2 ratings)
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    8.9
    (15 ratings)
    7.9
    (21 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    6.9
    (3 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Online Training
    8.5
    (2 ratings)
    9.1
    (2 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    9.6
    (7 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Configurability
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.3
    (5 ratings)
    Data Sharing and Collaboration
    8.5
    (42 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Data Sources
    8.4
    (41 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    1.0
    (1 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Professional Services
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.9
    (5 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)Quadient Inspire
    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
    Quadient
    Scenarios where Quadient Inspire is well suited - When we want to create some content which can be reused, as we create blocks in Quadient which has some data in it, and these blocks can be reused. When we want to create consistent content and want to deliver it through omni-channel medium in large volume, as Quadient Inspire makes delivery of large volume communications possible, and it does so in mere seconds. Scenarios where Quadient Inspire is less appropriate - sometimes it feels like editing in a Word document is easier than Quadient Inspire, e.g., when we need to add bullet points in the content.
    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
    Quadient
    • Highly flexible data ingestion
    • Clear and powerful workflow design that makes support easy to understand as teams evolve
    • Great internal debugging tool that simplifies and accelerates the development cycle
    • Powerful scripting structure available at nearly every aspect of data management, composition, and finishing allowing for specialized requirements not available in the standard toolset to be met
    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
    Quadient
    • Within CJM: Not easy to share maps with a large group of people, still needs to be done on an individual basis which is time-consuming.
    • Not able to unload all file types into maps. It would be great to have video.
    • There are a lot of third-party suppliers that make up the full services in Inspire. This limits the development that Quadient can do to.
    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
    Quadient
    We are using Quadient Inspire products since last 5 years. And we are able to achieve everything with respect to the customer's needs and desired output. Quadient is adding new very important features every day that make document structure very easy for developers and end users. We would like to stick with Quadient for a long time.
    Read full review
    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
    Quadient
    There are parts of the product that are extremely easy to use, but it can be hard to build it up to get to that point. I'm a power user and I know I've only barely scratched the surface, but the transactional users barely have to lift a finger to get their letters out. There's a lot more that can be done if I had the time and resources to devote to improving our letters more and there are times when the interface is in my way as to meeting those goals, but by and large, it's a swift and easy to use program.
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Microsoft
    The product has been reliable.
    Read full review
    Quadient
    I am giving this rating because Quadient products are highly available. Most of the time all Quadient products are available. In some cases Quadient always follows the planned schedule and maintenance. They always inform all the partners and clients a day or two in advance so that the clients can work accordingly.
    Read full review
    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
    Quadient
    I want you to rate the performance of the Quadient Inspire 9 out of 10. Because every time we work with Quadient products I never feel any sluggishness and any performance issue. Along with this, one thing that we all should understand is that the performance of any application also depends on the computer hardware. So along with the software application, your hardware should also meet the minimum requirements.
    Read full review
    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
    Quadient
    Overall Quadient team is very responsive and willing to come to the table and provide valuable information and resolution for problems. What tier of support you have would defiantly impact the experience you have. Had some challenges with a few members of the support team , but when brought up with the vendor it was quickly resolved
    Incentivized
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    In-Person Training
    Microsoft
    This training was more directed toward what the product was capable of rather than actual programming.
    Read full review
    Quadient
    I had a couple of weeks of training back in 2005 on the Quadient premises in Hradec Kralowe. The instructor was just great! Besides showing as normal functionalities, he went so far to solve our concrete challenges. He actually encouraged me to become a "real" programmer. I have written my first lines of code in Inspire (GMC PrintNetT) and never looked back.
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    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
    Quadient
    Quadient offers online training for all of its products (paid service). You can choose your pace and go through the material and then solve real challenges. At the end, you can choose to take a final assignment and get certification which is a really good thing to do. If you get stuck, the training team will answer any of your questions and give you guidance.
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    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.
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    Quadient
    As you consider your digital transformation, think of the people who may object. They have valid criticisms, valuable insights and information critical to your success. Quadient’s advice is to build a strong internal team and confront these questions early. When everyone understands the project from their perspective, the project has a better chance of success.
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    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
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    Quadient
    The above drop down would not allow me to pick the similar products that I have used previously. Planet Pres : Good in its time. Now very slow compared with Quadient. Compart: As quick... If not slightly quicker than Quadient. This does not counteract how difficult this software is to use. It has no GUI interface and even advanced programmers struggle to use it. Both of these products are inferior to Quadient when it comes to implementing within a normal organisation.
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    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Quadient
    Not really. It's not cheap, but it's a great value for what you get. This is enterprise-level software and the cost reflects that. The pay-per-page aspect makes sense too. We get a lot of sheets included in our contract and we use them all. It's a good contract with pricing that makes sense.
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    Scalability
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Quadient
    I am giving this rating because Quadient products are very reliable. Quadient products can be deployed across multiple departments and sites as needed. We can integrate Quadient products with other applications and tools in a very effective, efficient and flexible way. We can deploy Quadient products in Cloud as well.
    Read full review
    Professional Services
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Quadient
    The PSO team is very involved and knowledgeable. Some times there are availability issues due to the number of companies they are supporting but they do their best to deliver on time. PSO cost aren't cheap, but they deliver a big bang for the buck especially on critical projects or involving them in strategic approaches/decisions.
    Incentivized
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    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
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    Quadient
    • Since purchasing Inspire we have won many business opportunities as it enables us to create documents we couldn't do before, for example: Council Tax Bills.
    • It is a lot faster at processing than our previous software. We had one job we had to extract addresses from, it was 56,000 records from a 5.5million line text file. Our previous software took 26 hours to pull out the addresses, Quadient Inspire took 43 seconds!
    • We are able to automate processes through Inspire via CLI batch files, where a job would normally take 30 minutes to set up and process, a bit of time spent on the workflow and automation script means we can just double click a batch file for repeat jobs and the print file is created in seconds.
    Incentivized
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    ScreenShots

    Quadient Inspire Screenshots

    Screenshot of Inspire's customer journey mapping , used to identify gaps and pain points in the customer journey.Screenshot of the Quadient Digital Advantage Suite, which enables users to develop personalized mobile and web experiences that are integrated with core systems and aligned with non-digital communication channels.Screenshot of Inspire’s omnichannel preview, which lets users see how the communication will look on a variety of devices and screens.Screenshot of the Inspire Interactive interface used to create personalized ad-hoc communications with pre-approved blocks of content.Screenshot of where users can accept or reject content changes via a ‘change tracking feature that maintains a real-time audit trail.Screenshot of Quadient-hosted public Container Registry, which allows users to download and configure pre-built container images of Inspire Flex, saving dev time.