What users are saying about

Microsoft BI (MSBI) vs SAP Crystal

Microsoft BI (MSBI)
911 Ratings
SAP Crystal
544 Ratings

Microsoft BI (MSBI)

911 Ratings
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Score 8.2 out of 100

Based on 911 reviews and ratings

SAP Crystal

544 Ratings
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Score 7.8 out of 100

Based on 544 reviews and ratings

Feature Set Ratings

  • Microsoft BI (MSBI) ranks higher in 4 feature sets: Data Discovery and Visualization, Access Control and Security, Mobile Capabilities, Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding
  • SAP Crystal ranks higher in 3 feature sets: BI Standard Reporting, Ad-hoc Reporting, Report Output and Scheduling

BI Standard Reporting

8.5

Microsoft BI (MSBI)

85%
8.8

SAP Crystal

88%
SAP Crystal ranks higher in 2/3 features
SAP Crystal ranks higher in 2/3 features

Pixel Perfect reports

8.8
88%
45 Ratings
8.4
84%
111 Ratings

Customizable dashboards

8.5
85%
52 Ratings
8.8
88%
98 Ratings

Report Formatting Templates

8.2
82%
50 Ratings
9.0
90%
116 Ratings

Ad-hoc Reporting

8.6

Microsoft BI (MSBI)

86%
8.7

SAP Crystal

87%
SAP Crystal ranks higher in 3/4 features
SAP Crystal ranks higher in 3/4 features

Drill-down analysis

8.7
87%
47 Ratings
8.3
83%
116 Ratings

Formatting capabilities

8.6
86%
52 Ratings
8.9
89%
134 Ratings

Integration with R or other statistical packages

8.4
84%
42 Ratings
8.5
85%
64 Ratings

Report sharing and collaboration

8.5
85%
52 Ratings
9.1
91%
119 Ratings

Report Output and Scheduling

8.6

Microsoft BI (MSBI)

86%
9.1

SAP Crystal

91%
SAP Crystal ranks higher in 5/5 features
SAP Crystal ranks higher in 5/5 features

Publish to Web

8.8
88%
47 Ratings
9.1
91%
90 Ratings

Publish to PDF

8.9
89%
47 Ratings
9.3
93%
132 Ratings

Report Versioning

8.3
83%
43 Ratings
8.9
89%
94 Ratings

Report Delivery Scheduling

8.6
86%
46 Ratings
9.1
91%
96 Ratings

Delivery to Remote Servers

8.3
83%
27 Ratings
9.0
90%
51 Ratings

Data Discovery and Visualization

8.4

Microsoft BI (MSBI)

84%
7.9

SAP Crystal

79%
Microsoft BI (MSBI) ranks higher in 3/3 features
Microsoft BI (MSBI) ranks higher in 3/3 features

Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)

8.4
84%
50 Ratings
7.6
76%
51 Ratings

Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization

8.4
84%
47 Ratings
8.4
84%
75 Ratings

Predictive Analytics

8.3
83%
45 Ratings
7.8
78%
42 Ratings

Access Control and Security

8.6

Microsoft BI (MSBI)

86%
8.5

SAP Crystal

85%
Microsoft BI (MSBI) ranks higher in 3/4 features
Microsoft BI (MSBI) ranks higher in 3/4 features

Multi-User Support (named login)

8.0
80%
49 Ratings
8.3
83%
81 Ratings

Role-Based Security Model

8.6
86%
46 Ratings
8.2
82%
79 Ratings

Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)

8.8
88%
49 Ratings
8.6
86%
79 Ratings

Single Sign-On (SSO)

9.1
91%
31 Ratings
9.1
91%
38 Ratings

Mobile Capabilities

8.7

Microsoft BI (MSBI)

87%
8.4

SAP Crystal

84%
Microsoft BI (MSBI) ranks higher in 2/3 features
Microsoft BI (MSBI) ranks higher in 2/3 features

Responsive Design for Web Access

8.9
89%
39 Ratings
8.8
88%
62 Ratings

Mobile Application

8.7
87%
29 Ratings
7.7
77%
45 Ratings

Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile

8.4
84%
39 Ratings
8.8
88%
57 Ratings

Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding

8.4

Microsoft BI (MSBI)

84%
7.9

SAP Crystal

79%
Microsoft BI (MSBI) ranks higher in 5/6 features
Microsoft BI (MSBI) ranks higher in 5/6 features

REST API

8.2
82%
22 Ratings
7.4
74%
8 Ratings

Javascript API

8.6
86%
22 Ratings
8.5
85%
34 Ratings

iFrames

8.7
87%
21 Ratings
7.1
71%
8 Ratings

Java API

8.7
87%
20 Ratings
8.9
89%
34 Ratings

Themeable User Interface (UI)

8.5
85%
21 Ratings
8.2
82%
37 Ratings

Customizable Platform (Open Source)

7.9
79%
17 Ratings
7.7
77%
30 Ratings

Attribute Ratings

  • Microsoft BI (MSBI) is rated higher in 3 areas: Availability, Support Rating, Implementation Rating
  • SAP Crystal is rated higher in 4 areas: Likelihood to Renew, Usability, Performance, In-Person Training
  • Microsoft BI (MSBI) and SAP Crystal are tied in 1 area: Likelihood to Recommend

Likelihood to Recommend

9.0

Microsoft BI (MSBI)

90%
76 Ratings
9.0

SAP Crystal

90%
157 Ratings

Likelihood to Renew

8.0

Microsoft BI (MSBI)

80%
25 Ratings
10.0

SAP Crystal

100%
19 Ratings

Usability

8.8

Microsoft BI (MSBI)

88%
15 Ratings
9.3

SAP Crystal

93%
28 Ratings

Availability

9.5

Microsoft BI (MSBI)

95%
4 Ratings
8.0

SAP Crystal

80%
2 Ratings

Performance

7.0

Microsoft BI (MSBI)

70%
4 Ratings
8.0

SAP Crystal

80%
2 Ratings

Support Rating

8.9

Microsoft BI (MSBI)

89%
22 Ratings
8.0

SAP Crystal

80%
36 Ratings

In-Person Training

6.9

Microsoft BI (MSBI)

69%
3 Ratings
10.0

SAP Crystal

100%
1 Rating

Online Training

8.5

Microsoft BI (MSBI)

85%
2 Ratings

SAP Crystal

N/A
0 Ratings

Implementation Rating

9.6

Microsoft BI (MSBI)

96%
14 Ratings
8.8

SAP Crystal

88%
28 Ratings

Product Scalability

Microsoft BI (MSBI)

N/A
0 Ratings
7.0

SAP Crystal

70%
1 Rating

Likelihood to Recommend

Microsoft BI (MSBI)

Microsoft BI is well suited for
  • Displaying sales analysis dashboard.
  • Displaying dashboard of customer segmentation.
  • Displaying product sales dashboard.
  • Displaying marketing campaign insight dashboard.
  • Displaying dashboard of financial analytics.
Microsoft BI is less appropriate for
  • New users with little to no knowledge of Microsoft Excel.
  • Handling large amounts of Data.

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Swarnabh Sarmah | TrustRadius Reviewer
Swarnabh Sarmah
View all 76 answers on this topic

SAP Crystal

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

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Issac Paul | TrustRadius Reviewer
Issac Paul
View all 157 answers on this topic

Pros

Microsoft BI (MSBI)

  • 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.

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Nilufa Hossain | TrustRadius Reviewer
Nilufa Hossain
View all 76 answers on this topic

SAP Crystal

  • 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.

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Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Verified User
View all 157 answers on this topic

Cons

Microsoft BI (MSBI)

  • 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.

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Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Verified User
View all 76 answers on this topic

SAP Crystal

  • 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.

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Frank Hunt | TrustRadius Reviewer
Frank Hunt
View all 157 answers on this topic

Pricing Details

Microsoft BI (MSBI)

General

Free Trial
—
Free/Freemium Version
Yes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
—
Entry-level set up fee?
No

Starting Price

$999 per user/per month

Microsoft BI (MSBI) Editions & Modules

Edition
Power BI Pro9.991
Power BI Premium$4,9952
  1. per user/per month
  2. per month
Additional Pricing Details
—

SAP Crystal

General

Free Trial
Yes
Free/Freemium Version
Yes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
Yes
Entry-level set up fee?
Optional

Starting Price

$295 per single user license

SAP Crystal Editions & Modules

Edition
SAP Crystal Reports 2020 64-Bit$4951
Upgrade Version to SAP Crystal Reports 2020$2951
SAP Crystal Reports 2016 32-Bit$4951
SAP Crystal Server 2020 1 NUL$8692
SAP Crystal Server 2020 5 CAL$8,7443
  1. per single user license
  2. per user license + first year maintenance to be added
  3. 5 concurrent users + first year maintenance to be added
Additional Pricing Details
* 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.

Likelihood to Renew

Microsoft BI (MSBI)

Microsoft BI (MSBI) 8.0
Based on 25 answers
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.

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Lee Cullom | TrustRadius Reviewer
Lee Cullom
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SAP Crystal

SAP Crystal 10.0
Based on 19 answers
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.

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Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Verified User
View all 19 answers on this topic

Usability

Microsoft BI (MSBI)

Microsoft BI (MSBI) 8.8
Based on 15 answers
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.

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Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Verified User
View all 15 answers on this topic

SAP Crystal

SAP Crystal 9.3
Based on 28 answers
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.

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Greg Goss | TrustRadius Reviewer
Greg Goss
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Reliability and Availability

Microsoft BI (MSBI)

Microsoft BI (MSBI) 9.5
Based on 4 answers
The product has been reliable.

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Robert Goodman | TrustRadius Reviewer
Robert Goodman
View all 4 answers on this topic

SAP Crystal

SAP Crystal 8.0
Based on 2 answers
No answer on this topic is available.

Performance

Microsoft BI (MSBI)

Microsoft BI (MSBI) 7.0
Based on 4 answers
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.

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Robert Goodman | TrustRadius Reviewer
Robert Goodman
View all 4 answers on this topic

SAP Crystal

SAP Crystal 8.0
Based on 2 answers
No answer on this topic is available.

Support Rating

Microsoft BI (MSBI)

Microsoft BI (MSBI) 8.9
Based on 22 answers
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.

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Jacob Saunders | TrustRadius Reviewer
Jacob Saunders
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SAP Crystal

SAP Crystal 8.0
Based on 36 answers
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.

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Nathan Patrick Taylor | TrustRadius Reviewer
Nathan Patrick Taylor
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In-Person Training

Microsoft BI (MSBI)

Microsoft BI (MSBI) 6.9
Based on 3 answers
This training was more directed toward what the product was capable of rather than actual programming.

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Stephanie Grice | TrustRadius Reviewer
Stephanie Grice
View all 3 answers on this topic

SAP Crystal

SAP Crystal 10.0
Based on 1 answer
Trainer was patient and thorough in going through the basics and willing to answer questions by email after the initial training

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Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Verified User
View all 1 answers on this topic

Online Training

Microsoft BI (MSBI)

Microsoft BI (MSBI) 8.5
Based on 2 answers
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.

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Sean Brady | TrustRadius Reviewer
Sean Brady
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SAP Crystal

No score
No answers yet
No answers on this topic

Implementation Rating

Microsoft BI (MSBI)

Microsoft BI (MSBI) 9.6
Based on 14 answers
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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Jacob Saunders | TrustRadius Reviewer
Jacob Saunders
View all 14 answers on this topic

SAP Crystal

SAP Crystal 8.8
Based on 28 answers
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!

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John Suit | TrustRadius Reviewer
John Suit
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Alternatives Considered

Microsoft BI (MSBI)

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.

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Bradley Geppert | TrustRadius Reviewer
Bradley Geppert
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SAP Crystal

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.

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Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Verified User
View all 157 answers on this topic

Return on Investment

Microsoft BI (MSBI)

  • 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.

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Haibo Yang | TrustRadius Reviewer
Haibo Yang
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SAP Crystal

  • 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.

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Rohit Narang | TrustRadius Reviewer
Rohit Narang
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Screenshots

Microsoft BI (MSBI)

—

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