Microsoft BI (MSBI) vs. SAP Analytics Cloud

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Microsoft BI (MSBI)
Score 8.8 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft 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
SAP Analytics Cloud
Score 8.2 out of 10
N/A
The SAP Analytics Cloud solution brings together analytics and planning with integration to SAP applications and access to heterogenous data sources. As the analytics and planning solution within SAP Business Technology Platform, SAP Analytics Cloud supports trusted insights and integrated planning processes enterprise-wide to help make decisions without doubt.
$36
per month per user
Pricing
Microsoft BI (MSBI)SAP Analytics Cloud
Editions & Modules
Power BI Pro
$14
per month per user
Power BI Premium
$24
per month per user
SAP Analytics Cloud for Business Intelligence
$36.00
per month per user
SAP Analytics Cloud for Planning
Price upon request
per month per user
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Microsoft BI (MSBI)SAP Analytics Cloud
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
YesNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsA 30-day trial with SAP Analytics Cloud is available, supporting analytics enterprise-wide. A trial can be extended up to 90 days on request.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Microsoft BI (MSBI)SAP Analytics Cloud
Considered Both Products
Microsoft BI (MSBI)

No answer on this topic

SAP Analytics Cloud
Chose SAP Analytics Cloud
Our org selected SAP Analytics Cloud due to its brilliant integration capability with SAP models.
HANA/BW/BO etc which save development efforts and resource costs.
SAP Analytics Cloud stands hand in hand with any other similar viz tool in the market and has capability to …
Chose SAP Analytics Cloud
Since we are IT software Selling organisation we need to review data of the deals that are closed new project coming so we can plan our resources. SAP Analytics helps us to analyse the data and plan our deals and projects. Obviously, there are manual decisions taken post …
Chose SAP Analytics Cloud
Seamless integration with SAP. It works with web services and allows us to integrate with other platforms. It's easy to use for end-users.
Features
Microsoft BI (MSBI)SAP Analytics Cloud
BI Standard Reporting
Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft BI (MSBI)
9.9
49 Ratings
19% above category average
SAP Analytics Cloud
7.9
311 Ratings
4% below category average
Pixel Perfect reports9.942 Ratings7.6261 Ratings
Customizable dashboards9.849 Ratings8.3303 Ratings
Report Formatting Templates9.947 Ratings7.7279 Ratings
Ad-hoc Reporting
Comparison of Ad-hoc Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft BI (MSBI)
9.9
49 Ratings
21% above category average
SAP Analytics Cloud
7.8
317 Ratings
3% below category average
Drill-down analysis9.944 Ratings8.1308 Ratings
Formatting capabilities9.849 Ratings7.6304 Ratings
Integration with R or other statistical packages9.939 Ratings7.1231 Ratings
Report sharing and collaboration9.949 Ratings8.4294 Ratings
Report Output and Scheduling
Comparison of Report Output and Scheduling features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft BI (MSBI)
9.9
48 Ratings
18% above category average
SAP Analytics Cloud
7.7
298 Ratings
7% below category average
Publish to Web9.944 Ratings7.9255 Ratings
Publish to PDF9.944 Ratings8.0285 Ratings
Report Versioning9.940 Ratings7.8245 Ratings
Report Delivery Scheduling9.943 Ratings7.6240 Ratings
Delivery to Remote Servers9.924 Ratings7.033 Ratings
Data Discovery and Visualization
Comparison of Data Discovery and Visualization features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft BI (MSBI)
9.9
48 Ratings
21% above category average
SAP Analytics Cloud
7.7
305 Ratings
4% below category average
Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)9.947 Ratings8.0291 Ratings
Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization9.944 Ratings7.8280 Ratings
Predictive Analytics9.942 Ratings7.7280 Ratings
Pattern Recognition and Data Mining9.92 Ratings7.474 Ratings
Access Control and Security
Comparison of Access Control and Security features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft BI (MSBI)
9.9
49 Ratings
15% above category average
SAP Analytics Cloud
8.2
313 Ratings
4% below category average
Multi-User Support (named login)9.946 Ratings8.2287 Ratings
Role-Based Security Model9.943 Ratings8.0295 Ratings
Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)9.946 Ratings8.0288 Ratings
Report-Level Access Control9.92 Ratings8.2101 Ratings
Single Sign-On (SSO)9.928 Ratings8.5293 Ratings
Mobile Capabilities
Comparison of Mobile Capabilities features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft BI (MSBI)
8.8
39 Ratings
13% above category average
SAP Analytics Cloud
7.5
264 Ratings
3% below category average
Responsive Design for Web Access8.936 Ratings7.5253 Ratings
Mobile Application8.027 Ratings7.0223 Ratings
Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile10.036 Ratings7.2249 Ratings
Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding
Comparison of Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft BI (MSBI)
9.9
21 Ratings
24% above category average
SAP Analytics Cloud
7.2
42 Ratings
7% below category average
REST API9.919 Ratings7.237 Ratings
Javascript API9.919 Ratings7.034 Ratings
iFrames9.918 Ratings7.328 Ratings
Java API9.917 Ratings7.328 Ratings
Themeable User Interface (UI)9.918 Ratings7.735 Ratings
Customizable Platform (Open Source)9.817 Ratings7.030 Ratings
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User Ratings
Microsoft BI (MSBI)SAP Analytics Cloud
Likelihood to Recommend
9.9
(73 ratings)
8.6
(323 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.0
(25 ratings)
8.6
(14 ratings)
Usability
10.0
(15 ratings)
8.1
(250 ratings)
Availability
9.5
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
7.0
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.9
(15 ratings)
6.0
(70 ratings)
In-Person Training
6.9
(3 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Online Training
8.5
(2 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
Implementation Rating
9.6
(7 ratings)
7.9
(7 ratings)
Configurability
10.0
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
-
(0 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
Professional Services
-
(0 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
-
(0 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
-
(0 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
Microsoft BI (MSBI)SAP Analytics Cloud
Likelihood to Recommend
Microsoft
Microsoft BI is well suited for Stream analytics, easy data integration, report creation and UI/UX designs (limited but what all available are great ones) Microsoft BI may be less appropriate for handling huge number of datasets and difficult queries. It may also be difficult for a company with heavy data.
Read full review
SAP
>> Using SAC predictive analytics capabilities for inventory management in a Production line setup has helped generate Purchase Requisitions and Purchase Orders for raw or semi-finished goods without much head-banging into Demand management rules. It does it beautifully with seamless integration with HANA core MM and PP modules, along with BI integration. It has resulted in 30% greater warehouse storage capacity, thereby saving revenue from piled-up inventory and associated manpower costs. >> SAC sometimes shows latency in working out a large data set, thus giving a poor user experience compared to its competition. Also, it may occasionally show misinterpretations when embedding data from 3rd-party systems into the HANA core dataset.
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.
Read full review
SAP
  • It makes it easier yo analyse order and related records easily.
  • We can easily maintain and track the performance of employees in organisation.
  • Can easily track various aspects for the growth of an organisation thus allowing real time analysis and tracking of organisation's growth and performance.
Read full review
Cons
Microsoft
  • The race to perfect gathering of Non-Traditional datasets is on-going; with Microsoft arguably not the leader of the pack in this category.
  • Licensing options for PowerBI visualizations may be a factor. I.e. if you need to implement B2C PowerBI visualizations, the cost is considerably high especially for startups.
  • Some clients are still resistant putting their data on the cloud, which restricts lots of functionality to Power BI.
Read full review
SAP
  • Complexity in Data Modeling
  • SAC supports various data sources, but improvements in the ease of connecting to and integrating with certain data repositories, especially non-SAP databases, would enhance the platform's versatility and integration capabilities.
  • An offline mode for SAC could be valuable for users who need to access and analyze data without an internet connection. Additionally, optimizing performance for large datasets and complex visualizations would contribute to a smoother user experience.
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
SAP
We are planning to review the licensing as we have issues with SAC dealing with huge datasets. Analytics area is good for import models but when we have live connections in place that's when we have issue with SAC dealing with huge datasets in live be it BW or be it HANA models in the backend.
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.
Read full review
SAP
On a scale of 1 to 10, I would rate 8 SAP Analytics Cloud's overall usability as a 7. SAC has a clean, modern user interface with drag-and-drop features. It is an integrated platform that combines reporting, planning, and predictive analytics in one tool. It has Real-time connectivity with SAP data sources like S/4HANA.


Self-service analytics capabilities allow non-technical users to build simple dashboards.
Read full review
Reliability and Availability
Microsoft
The product has been reliable.
Read full review
SAP
I would rate SAP Analytics Cloud an 8 out of 10 for scalability. It offers a flexible, cloud-based architecture that supports expansion across departments and geographies. The platform adapts well to growing data volumes and user needs, making it a strong choice for organizations looking to scale analytics capabilities efficiently.
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
SAP
I would rate SAP Analytics Cloud’s performance an 8 out of 10. Pages generally load quickly, and reports run within a reasonable time frame, even with complex datasets. Integration with other systems is smooth and doesn’t noticeably affect performance. Overall, it’s a responsive and efficient tool for business analytics. But
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Support Rating
Microsoft
While support from Microsoft isn't necessarily always best of breed, you're also not paying the price for premium support that you would on other platforms. The strength of the stack is in the ecosystem that surrounds it. In contrast to other products, there are hundreds, even thousands of bloggers that post daily as well as vibrant user communities that surround the tool. I've had much better luck finding help with SQL Server related issues than I have with any other product, but that help doesn't always come directly from Microsoft.
Read full review
SAP
Since the implementation stage, the support team has been very helpful and assisting. Even in the later stages, the tech team had quite a rapid response. In general, SAP has provided us with great customer support, let it be for a specific product of SAP or for integration of different modules.
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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
SAP
Good videos and reference material available in SAP Portal.
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
SAP
it's ok
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
SAP
SAC is a simple solution ad it works fine when connecting it to other SAP tools. On the other hand, connecting it to third party solutions brings difficulties when there's no previous design and the objetives are not clear. It is really important to integrate Business users from the start to provide with valuable business insights
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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.
Read full review
SAP
SAP Analytics Cloud and Power BI are both tools that help businesses understand their data, but they have some differences. SAC, made by SAP, works well if your company already uses other SAP products. It's in the cloud, easy to use, and has features for analyzing data, getting insights, and planning for the future. Power BI, made by Microsoft, can be used in the cloud or on your own computers. It fits well with Microsoft tools, is easy to use, and can do advanced data analysis. SAC has built-in planning tools, while Power BI needs extra tools for detailed planning
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Contract Terms and Pricing Model
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
SAP
unit pricing
Read full review
Scalability
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
SAP
I would rate SAP Analytics Cloud an 8 out of 10 for scalability. It offers a flexible, cloud-based architecture that supports expansion across departments and geographies. The platform adapts well to growing data volumes and user needs, making it a strong choice for organizations looking to scale analytics capabilities efficiently.
Read full review
Professional Services
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
SAP
very simple
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.
Read full review
SAP
  • Many manual data manipulations and exports in Excel have been replaced by the tool, providing management with improved insight into the amount of time spent at each stage of an invoice's lifetime, allowing bottlenecks to be discovered.
  • We now have more insight into the data, and people with little technical experience can easily build stories.
Read full review
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