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Microsoft BI (MSBI) vs. Salesforce CRM Analytics vs. SAS Viya

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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

    Salesforce CRM Analytics

    Score8.5 out of 10
    N/ASalesforce CRM Analytics (formerly Tableau CRM) is a cloud-based business intelligence solutions and analytics software. It provides users with automated data discovery, CRM-connected analytics, top-down views of data, augmented analytics, predictive insights, and customizable data visualization tools.

    $125

    per month

    SAS Viya

    Score10 out of 10
    N/AAn end-to-end platform for AI, data science, and analytics, used for modeling, as well as management and deployment of AI models.N/A
    Pricing
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)Salesforce CRM AnalyticsSAS Viya
    Editions & Modules
    Power BI Pro
    $14
    per month per user
    Power BI Premium
    $24
    per month per user
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)Salesforce CRM AnalyticsSAS Viya
    Free Trial
    NoNoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    YesNoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)Salesforce CRM AnalyticsSAS Viya
    Considered Multiple Products
    Microsoft
    Chose Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    The biggest player against Microsoft BI (MSBI) was Tableau, which was acquired by Salesforce. Recently there have been other standalone software/applications that provide similar functionality to Microsoft BI (MSBI). Because my company is a Microsoft shop, we have not explored …
    Incentivized
    Chose Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    Looking at the visualization portion of BI, there are three types of tools.
    1. Programming packages. Free and powerful, they let you make any diagram, at the cost of difficulty of use.
    2. Specialist software like Tableau and Microsoft BI. This is the best choice in most cases due to …
    Incentivized
    Salesforce
    Chose Salesforce CRM Analytics
    Salesforce needs fully baked data for its architecture and design to give you the best results you deserve. Teams not having used Salesforce previously take some time getting used to EA. But its ability to give the data points for KPIs to the sales team in real time and to the …
    Incentivized
    Chose Salesforce CRM Analytics
    Salesforce analytics cloud was selected for its client management capabilities that were already setup internally. As an analysis tool, Tableau was the most valuable tool, but it didn’t have the CRM capabilities of the Salesforce ecosystem.
    Incentivized
    SAS
    Chose SAS Viya
    SAS offered more capabilities than any of its competitors
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    100%
    Would buy again
    15 Answers
    73%
    Would buy again
    8 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    15 Answers
    89%
    Delivers good value for the price
    8 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    15 Answers
    91%
    Happy with the feature set
    10 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    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
    11 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    11 Answers
    90%
    Implementation went as expected
    9 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Features
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)Salesforce CRM AnalyticsSAS Viya
    BI Standard Reporting
    Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of Microsoft BI (MSBI) and Salesforce CRM Analytics and SAS Viya
    Feature
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    9.0
    53 Ratings
    10% above category average
    Salesforce CRM Analytics
    7.8
    48 Ratings
    5% below category average
    SAS Viya
    -
    Ratings
    Pixel Perfect reports8.546 Ratings7.541 Ratings00 Ratings
    Customizable dashboards9.653 Ratings8.548 Ratings00 Ratings
    Report Formatting Templates8.951 Ratings7.546 Ratings00 Ratings
    Ad-hoc Reporting
    Comparison of Ad-hoc Reporting features of Microsoft BI (MSBI) and Salesforce CRM Analytics and SAS Viya
    Feature
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    8.5
    53 Ratings
    6% above category average
    Salesforce CRM Analytics
    7.8
    49 Ratings
    3% below category average
    SAS Viya
    -
    Ratings
    Drill-down analysis8.548 Ratings8.548 Ratings00 Ratings
    Formatting capabilities8.253 Ratings7.548 Ratings00 Ratings
    Integration with R or other statistical packages8.342 Ratings7.537 Ratings00 Ratings
    Report sharing and collaboration8.953 Ratings7.546 Ratings00 Ratings
    Report Output and Scheduling
    Comparison of Report Output and Scheduling features of Microsoft BI (MSBI) and Salesforce CRM Analytics and SAS Viya
    Feature
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    8.5
    52 Ratings
    3% above category average
    Salesforce CRM Analytics
    8.1
    47 Ratings
    1% below category average
    SAS Viya
    -
    Ratings
    Publish to Web9.348 Ratings9.037 Ratings00 Ratings
    Publish to PDF9.148 Ratings7.044 Ratings00 Ratings
    Report Versioning7.444 Ratings8.543 Ratings00 Ratings
    Report Delivery Scheduling8.547 Ratings8.540 Ratings00 Ratings
    Delivery to Remote Servers8.426 Ratings7.534 Ratings00 Ratings
    Data Discovery and Visualization
    Comparison of Data Discovery and Visualization features of Microsoft BI (MSBI) and Salesforce CRM Analytics and SAS Viya
    Feature
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    8.7
    52 Ratings
    9% above category average
    Salesforce CRM Analytics
    7.4
    45 Ratings
    8% below category average
    SAS Viya
    -
    Ratings
    Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)9.651 Ratings8.042 Ratings00 Ratings
    Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization8.748 Ratings6.540 Ratings00 Ratings
    Predictive Analytics7.845 Ratings7.042 Ratings00 Ratings
    Pattern Recognition and Data Mining8.76 Ratings8.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Access Control and Security
    Comparison of Access Control and Security features of Microsoft BI (MSBI) and Salesforce CRM Analytics and SAS Viya
    Feature
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    9.3
    53 Ratings
    9% above category average
    Salesforce CRM Analytics
    9.0
    48 Ratings
    6% above category average
    SAS Viya
    -
    Ratings
    Multi-User Support (named login)9.449 Ratings9.046 Ratings00 Ratings
    Role-Based Security Model9.347 Ratings8.546 Ratings00 Ratings
    Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)8.949 Ratings9.042 Ratings00 Ratings
    Report-Level Access Control9.36 Ratings9.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Single Sign-On (SSO)9.431 Ratings9.541 Ratings00 Ratings
    Mobile Capabilities
    Comparison of Mobile Capabilities features of Microsoft BI (MSBI) and Salesforce CRM Analytics and SAS Viya
    Feature
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    8.0
    42 Ratings
    3% above category average
    Salesforce CRM Analytics
    6.7
    45 Ratings
    14% below category average
    SAS Viya
    -
    Ratings
    Responsive Design for Web Access8.239 Ratings7.543 Ratings00 Ratings
    Mobile Application8.030 Ratings7.034 Ratings00 Ratings
    Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile7.839 Ratings6.539 Ratings00 Ratings
    Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding
    Comparison of Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding features of Microsoft BI (MSBI) and Salesforce CRM Analytics and SAS Viya
    Feature
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    8.5
    24 Ratings
    9% above category average
    Salesforce CRM Analytics
    8.2
    33 Ratings
    6% above category average
    SAS Viya
    -
    Ratings
    REST API9.221 Ratings8.031 Ratings00 Ratings
    Javascript API8.821 Ratings8.529 Ratings00 Ratings
    iFrames8.820 Ratings8.525 Ratings00 Ratings
    Java API8.718 Ratings8.528 Ratings00 Ratings
    Themeable User Interface (UI)8.021 Ratings7.528 Ratings00 Ratings
    Customizable Platform (Open Source)7.319 Ratings8.527 Ratings00 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)Salesforce CRM AnalyticsSAS Viya
    Small Businesses
    Cyfe
    Score4 out of 10
    Cyfe
    Score4 out of 10
    IBM SPSS Statistics
    Score8 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
    Alteryx Platform
    Score9 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Jaspersoft Community Edition
    Score7 out of 10
    Jaspersoft Community Edition
    Score7 out of 10
    Alteryx Platform
    Score9 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)Salesforce CRM AnalyticsSAS Viya
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.9
    (77 ratings)
    9.1
    (51 ratings)
    9.1
    (12 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    8.0
    (25 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    4.5
    (5 ratings)
    Usability
    8.9
    (19 ratings)
    8.5
    (10 ratings)
    8.2
    (3 ratings)
    Availability
    9.5
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    7.0
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    8.9
    (15 ratings)
    7.7
    (6 ratings)
    10.0
    (3 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    6.9
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Online Training
    8.5
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    9.6
    (7 ratings)
    6.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Configurability
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Data Sharing and Collaboration
    8.5
    (42 ratings)
    8.1
    (41 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Data Sources
    8.4
    (41 ratings)
    7.7
    (41 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)Salesforce CRM AnalyticsSAS Viya
    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
    Salesforce
    For us it really comes down to that book management and next best contact for our advisors. When we're thinking about a book of business that may range, depending on the advisor, from 400 clients to a thousand clients, how do they really optimize their time? Who do they call next? Who do they work with to make sure not only they're keeping those clients engaged, they're not leaving the firm going to other advisors who they haven't talked to in a while who might need their attention. That's really where that CRM analytics is really proven pretty powerful for us.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SAS
    SAS Advance Analytics is well suited for data that is visual. Data where you want to see multiple graphs and models are good for this software. However, if your data is more descriptive this may not be the best program. SAS is well suited for data where you need to make comparisons on the feasibility of two different programs. Data that can be compared is perfect for this software.
    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
    Salesforce
    • Interactive Dashboards, it [consists] of wide variety of charts
    • Data from different sources can be easily integrated with it
    • Security, it provides easy way to secure and share the information with the users
    • Support actions like opening hyperlink etc
    • Almost everything can be done from configuration
    • Data can easily be managed from dataflow.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SAS
    • SAS is can be used as query builder tool which can automate a lot of excel process.
    • There are variety of statistical options available that tie up good visual analytics.
    • There are inbuilt models available for different operations which doesn't require any coding and are easy to run.
    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
    Salesforce
    • Implementation takes time and resources. It is a heavy lift to implement and at first, it can take a little bit of time to understand what you are looking at. But once it's implemented it's easy to get started.
    • Without any BI expertise or resources available to your organization, the implementation of this is difficult. If you aren't used to BI tools and don't have an expert in house, the terminology can be difficult to understand at first.
    • Their support is not on hand to help you if you encounter any issues, at least not on all the plans or the basic plans. Real-time support service is an add-on, so you'll need to be patient if you require help or pay extra money.
    • More functionality for the tool is needed to compete with other heavyweights in the arena like Tableau, Qlik, and Microstrategy. Still lacks the robustness, functionality, and flexibility other competing products possess.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SAS
    • SAS Analytics does not have very good graphic capabilities. Their advanced graphics packages are expensive, and still not very appealing or intuitive to customize.
    • SAS Analytics is not as up-to-date when it comes to advanced analytical techniques as R or other open-source analytics packages.
    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
    Salesforce
    No answers on this topic
    SAS
    Not only does SAS become easier to use as the user gets more familiar with its capabilities, but the customer service is excellent. Any issues with SAS and their technical team is either contacting the user via email, chat, text, WebEx, or phone. They have power users that have years of experience with SAS there to help with any issue.
    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
    Salesforce
    For someone who don't have coding background, this could be a useful tool and fairly easy to learn and use given the good support. However, if you know other open source tools, it would be much easier to use the other tools and the knowledge is more transferable in the future.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SAS
    If SAS Enterprise Guide is utilized any beginning user will be able to shorten the learning curve. This is allow the user a plethora of basic capabilities until they can utilize coding to expand their needs in manipulating and presenting data. SAS is also dedicated to expanding this environment so it is ever growing.
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Microsoft
    The product has been reliable.
    Read full review
    Salesforce
    No answers on this topic
    SAS
    SAS probably has the most market saturation out of all of the analytics software worldwide. They are in every industry and they are knowledgable about every industry. They are always available to take questions, solve issues, and discuss a company's needs. A company that buys SAS software has a dedicated representative that is there for all of their needs.
    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
    Salesforce
    No answers on this topic
    SAS
    Although nothing is perfect, SAS is almost there. The software can handle billions of rows of data without a glitch and runs at a quick pace regardless of what the user wants to perform. SAS products are made to handle data so performance is of their utmost important. The software is created to run things as efficiently as SAS software can to maximize performance.
    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
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    Salesforce
    I was not able to be in interaction much with Salesforce support team since every feature works the way it should be working. So far I have not experienced any bug or major glitches that would delay the result of my work and performance. There is also a hotline in our company for Salesforce issue but so far I have not used it.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SAS
    SAS is generally known for good support that's one of the main reasons to justify the cost of having SAS licenses within our organization is knowing that customer support is just a quick phone call away. I've usually had good experiences with the SAS customer support team it's one of the ways in which the company stands out in my view.
    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
    Salesforce
    No answers on this topic
    SAS
    SAS has regional and national conferences that are dedicated to expanding users' knowledge of the software and showing them what changes and additions they are making to the software. There are user groups in most of the major cities that also provide multi-day seminars that focus on specific topics for education. If online training isn't the best way for the user, there is ample in-person training available.
    Read full review
    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
    Salesforce
    No answers on this topic
    SAS
    There are online videos, live classes, and resource material which makes training very easy to access. However, nothing is circumstantial so applying your training can get tricky if the user is performing complex tasks. When purchasing software, SAS will also allocate education credits so the user(s) can access classes and material online to help expand their knowledge.
    Read full review
    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
    Salesforce
    An implementation partner would certainly result in greater output in a more efficient amount of time. However, I have found implementation partners to be extremely expensive for the output received (at least working for a non-profit company they are frequently unaffordable). Internal implementation does help with usable output though since internal knowledge would better know the data architecture and business processes
    Incentivized
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    SAS
    Ask as many questions you can before the install to understand the process. Since a third party does the installation your company is sort of a passanger and it is easy to get lost in the process. It also helps to have all users and IT support involved in the install to help increase the knowledge as to how SAS runs and what it needs to perform correctly.
    Read full review
    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
    Salesforce
    Tableau is the absolute top of the class when it comes to business intelligence, but it doesn't make sense for every business case. In our case, we needed a simple data visualization platform for our CRM platform and sales pipeline. Salesforce Analytics, while nowhere near as robust, did the job we needed it to do perfectly in a significantly more cost-effective manner.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SAS
    SAS was the incumbent tool, and what the team knew. We did look into using Revolution Analytics enterprise version of R, but the learning curve on that caused us to stick with SAS. In my current position, I've opted for WPS over SAS. I can still leverage my SAS experience, but the price is about 15% of what SAS charges, with extra functionality, such as direct database access. I can supplement WPS with free software, such R for anything that it might be missing.
    Incentivized
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    Scalability
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Salesforce
    No answers on this topic
    SAS
    It all depends on the type of SAS product the user has. Scaleability differs from product to product, and if the user has SAS Office Analytics the scaleability is quite robust. This software will satisfy the majority of the company's analytic needs for years to come. In addition, if SAS is not meeting the users needs the company can easily find SAS solutions that will.
    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
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    Salesforce
    • I would say it's been positive just because as a company, anyone that has access to it can go in there and pull any company information and we're very up to date then on all of our client base. So I would say it's been a very positive impact.
    Incentivized
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    SAS
    • SAS is pretty expensive, so a company would need to take that into consideration before purchasing a license.
    • A lot of companies are now starting to use SAS Advance Analytics, it is great for sharing data between departments.
    • Presentations come out better when using SAS, and estimates are more precise to the confidence interval.
    Incentivized
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    ScreenShots