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Microsoft BI (MSBI) vs. Sisense for Cloud Data Teams vs. Zendesk Explore

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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

    Sisense for Cloud Data Teams

    Score5 out of 10
    N/ASisense for Cloud Data Teams (formerly Periscope Data) is a data visualization tool that allows users to connect to their SQL databases to create sharable, interactive dashboards. In addition to SQL, its analytics integrate with R and Python, allowing users to prep datasets, perform analysis, and create their own visualizations. Sisense acquired Periscope Data in mid-2019.N/A

    Zendesk Explore

    Score8.1 out of 10
    N/AZendesk offers Explore, a business intelligence and customer analytics tool which integrates with the Zendesk suite featuring ticket analytics, custom fields, dashboards, and other features. Zendesk is migrating customers of the BIME analytics product, which is approaching end of support, to Zendesk Explore in 2019.N/A
    Pricing
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)Sisense for Cloud Data TeamsZendesk Explore
    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)Sisense for Cloud Data TeamsZendesk Explore
    Free Trial
    NoNoNo
    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)Sisense for Cloud Data TeamsZendesk Explore
    Considered Multiple Products
    Microsoft
    No answer on this topic
    Sisense Ltd
    Chose Sisense for Cloud Data Teams
    Periscope's lightweight footprint and customizable SQL-based reports make it a better choice for us than Tableau or Microsoft BI. We deal with millions of rows of transactional data in a SQL Server data warehouse, so having seamless front-end integration makes reporting seamless.
    Incentivized
    Zendesk
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    100%
    Would buy again
    15 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Would buy again
    7 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    15 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    6 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    15 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    7 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    13 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    11 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    6 Answers
    Features
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)Sisense for Cloud Data TeamsZendesk Explore
    BI Standard Reporting
    Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of Microsoft BI (MSBI) and Sisense for Cloud Data Teams and Zendesk Explore
    Feature
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    9.0
    53 Ratings
    10% above category average
    Sisense for Cloud Data Teams
    7.0
    19 Ratings
    14% below category average
    Zendesk Explore
    9.0
    10 Ratings
    10% above category average
    Pixel Perfect reports8.546 Ratings6.010 Ratings8.06 Ratings
    Customizable dashboards9.653 Ratings7.019 Ratings9.010 Ratings
    Report Formatting Templates8.951 Ratings8.017 Ratings9.97 Ratings
    Ad-hoc Reporting
    Comparison of Ad-hoc Reporting features of Microsoft BI (MSBI) and Sisense for Cloud Data Teams and Zendesk Explore
    Feature
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    8.5
    53 Ratings
    6% above category average
    Sisense for Cloud Data Teams
    4.8
    19 Ratings
    48% below category average
    Zendesk Explore
    6.7
    10 Ratings
    18% below category average
    Drill-down analysis8.548 Ratings6.015 Ratings10.010 Ratings
    Formatting capabilities8.253 Ratings7.018 Ratings5.110 Ratings
    Integration with R or other statistical packages8.342 Ratings3.010 Ratings4.85 Ratings
    Report sharing and collaboration8.953 Ratings3.019 Ratings7.110 Ratings
    Report Output and Scheduling
    Comparison of Report Output and Scheduling features of Microsoft BI (MSBI) and Sisense for Cloud Data Teams and Zendesk Explore
    Feature
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    8.5
    52 Ratings
    3% above category average
    Sisense for Cloud Data Teams
    7.6
    18 Ratings
    7% below category average
    Zendesk Explore
    7.8
    10 Ratings
    5% below category average
    Publish to Web9.348 Ratings5.012 Ratings6.96 Ratings
    Publish to PDF9.148 Ratings10.012 Ratings6.08 Ratings
    Report Versioning7.444 Ratings8.012 Ratings9.03 Ratings
    Report Delivery Scheduling8.547 Ratings5.015 Ratings8.97 Ratings
    Delivery to Remote Servers8.426 Ratings10.06 Ratings8.04 Ratings
    Data Discovery and Visualization
    Comparison of Data Discovery and Visualization features of Microsoft BI (MSBI) and Sisense for Cloud Data Teams and Zendesk Explore
    Feature
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    8.7
    52 Ratings
    9% above category average
    Sisense for Cloud Data Teams
    4.8
    19 Ratings
    47% below category average
    Zendesk Explore
    7.1
    7 Ratings
    12% below category average
    Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)9.651 Ratings7.018 Ratings6.66 Ratings
    Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization8.748 Ratings8.017 Ratings7.16 Ratings
    Predictive Analytics7.845 Ratings1.011 Ratings5.55 Ratings
    Pattern Recognition and Data Mining8.76 Ratings3.01 Ratings9.43 Ratings
    Access Control and Security
    Comparison of Access Control and Security features of Microsoft BI (MSBI) and Sisense for Cloud Data Teams and Zendesk Explore
    Feature
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    9.3
    53 Ratings
    9% above category average
    Sisense for Cloud Data Teams
    -
    Ratings
    Zendesk Explore
    7.3
    10 Ratings
    15% below category average
    Multi-User Support (named login)9.449 Ratings00 Ratings8.09 Ratings
    Role-Based Security Model9.347 Ratings00 Ratings8.010 Ratings
    Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)8.949 Ratings00 Ratings6.08 Ratings
    Report-Level Access Control9.36 Ratings00 Ratings8.64 Ratings
    Single Sign-On (SSO)9.431 Ratings00 Ratings6.18 Ratings
    Mobile Capabilities
    Comparison of Mobile Capabilities features of Microsoft BI (MSBI) and Sisense for Cloud Data Teams and Zendesk Explore
    Feature
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    8.0
    42 Ratings
    3% above category average
    Sisense for Cloud Data Teams
    -
    Ratings
    Zendesk Explore
    7.8
    7 Ratings
    1% above category average
    Responsive Design for Web Access8.239 Ratings00 Ratings6.15 Ratings
    Mobile Application8.030 Ratings00 Ratings8.32 Ratings
    Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile7.839 Ratings00 Ratings9.06 Ratings
    Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding
    Comparison of Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding features of Microsoft BI (MSBI) and Sisense for Cloud Data Teams and Zendesk Explore
    Feature
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)
    8.5
    24 Ratings
    9% above category average
    Sisense for Cloud Data Teams
    -
    Ratings
    Zendesk Explore
    4.9
    5 Ratings
    45% below category average
    REST API9.221 Ratings00 Ratings3.15 Ratings
    Javascript API8.821 Ratings00 Ratings5.04 Ratings
    iFrames8.820 Ratings00 Ratings6.04 Ratings
    Java API8.718 Ratings00 Ratings5.04 Ratings
    Themeable User Interface (UI)8.021 Ratings00 Ratings7.04 Ratings
    Customizable Platform (Open Source)7.319 Ratings00 Ratings3.13 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)Sisense for Cloud Data TeamsZendesk Explore
    Small Businesses
    Cyfe
    Score4 out of 10
    Chartio (discontinued)
    Score7.5 out of 10
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    Score4 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Qlik Cloud Analytics (Qlik Sense)
    Score8.2 out of 10
    Jet Reports
    Score9.5 out of 10
    Qlik Cloud Analytics (Qlik Sense)
    Score8.2 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Jaspersoft Community Edition
    Score7 out of 10
    Kibana
    Score8.4 out of 10
    Jaspersoft Community Edition
    Score7 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)Sisense for Cloud Data TeamsZendesk Explore
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.9
    (77 ratings)
    4.0
    (19 ratings)
    10.0
    (10 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    8.0
    (25 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    8.9
    (19 ratings)
    8.0
    (4 ratings)
    8.0
    (3 ratings)
    Availability
    9.5
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    7.0
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    8.9
    (15 ratings)
    6.9
    (2 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    6.9
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Online Training
    8.5
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    9.6
    (7 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Configurability
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Data Sharing and Collaboration
    8.5
    (42 ratings)
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    8.2
    (3 ratings)
    Data Sources
    8.4
    (41 ratings)
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    7.3
    (3 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Microsoft BI (MSBI)Sisense for Cloud Data TeamsZendesk Explore
    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
    Sisense Ltd
    Sisense for Cloud Data Teams is suited so well for our project that works with lots of data and needs some ways to share data internally or externally with our clients. It's very easy to pull out the data from the sense in best and in a suitable format and moreover a huge number of options are available there to represent the data. All features of this Sisense for cloud data teams software can be taken advantage of if you have a team who are well versed in data analytics, data management, and programming.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Zendesk
    Zendesk Explore is well suited for tracking ticket flow, agent performance, and customer satisfaction providing valuable insights into response and resolution time, workload and support quality. Particularly useful for monitoring ticket handling for different teams. Helps ensure accountability by tracking how long tickets remain assigned before being reassigned to another group. Drill down capability helps identify support bottlenecks. However, it is less appropriate for real time monitoring as it lacks real time data updates making it unsuitable for instant decision making.
    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
    Sisense Ltd
    • Rapid deployment of polished T-SQL-based data visualization charts and dashboards. Periscope supports a variety of database technologies, and allows users to write custom queries to display data.
    • Included caching to reduce server load.
    • Outstanding customer service/support, with expert advice as needed.
    • Constant updates and new features.
    • Built-in SQL formatters take the pain out of manipulating date/time objects.
    Read full review
    Zendesk
    • Zendesk Explore is easy to use.
    • Zendesk Explore allows users to create custom metrics.
    • Zendesk Explore allows users to create custom attributes.
    • Zendesk Explore is easy to learn.
    • Compared to other analytics function of other Ticket Management System, Zendesk Explore is probably the best as of now.
    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
    Sisense Ltd
    • Include more appropriate updates in their monthly newsletter as opposed to the general overview that doesn't always have the most pertinent information at the forefront.
    • There are bugs at times when certain dashboards are down, though not in an overwhelming way.
    • If you do not tag something it shows up in multiple views and may be accessible to people that it should not be, though that is a user error it may make sense to prompt for a tag and security setting.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Zendesk
    • Some aspects of Zendesk, in general, are not super intuitive. The same goes for Zendesk Explore. And, while you can google answers and hope you find something helpful, there isn't a great way to learn to get the full potential out of the product unless you want to pay for someone from your team to take a class (which costs several hundred dollars).
    • To piggyback off the last point, if you would prefer to get help from a Zendesk expert, you'll find that there is almost no customer support available to you. For a company that aims to help other companies help their customers, this has always struck me as odd. Again, Google is your friend and beyond that, you're mostly out of luck.
    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
    Sisense Ltd
    No answers on this topic
    Zendesk
    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
    Sisense Ltd
    If you know SQL or are somewhat data-savvy, you'll feel right at home with Sisense for Cloud Data Teams. However, like most other BI tools, it is a little challenging to use for users that are non-technical. The graphs and charts are very visually appealing, and there's lots of customization and export options.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Zendesk
    I rate Zendesk Explore 8 out of 10 for it's overall usability because it offers powerful reporting and analytics with an easy to navigate interface and intuitive dashboards. It helps improve customer satisfaction by providing valuable insights into ticket handling, agent performance and customer satisfaction. Though the complex query builder can be challenging for non technical users.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Microsoft
    The product has been reliable.
    Read full review
    Sisense Ltd
    No answers on this topic
    Zendesk
    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
    Sisense Ltd
    No answers on this topic
    Zendesk
    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
    Sisense Ltd
    The user interface is just amazing and it's really very easy to use and navigate, even for a newbie. Mostly it provides us the accurate data.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Zendesk
    Support for all of Zendesk has exceeding my expectations. This company will always get a 10 out of 10 in my book. Any question you have they make sure you have the answer plus a step-by-step guide on how to do each step so you are set up for success!
    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
    Sisense Ltd
    No answers on this topic
    Zendesk
    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
    Sisense Ltd
    No answers on this topic
    Zendesk
    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
    Sisense Ltd
    No answers on this topic
    Zendesk
    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
    Sisense Ltd
    Google Analytics works well but it does not have all of the bells and whistles that Periscope Data offers. Google Analytics is best used in a Google environment but if you are using other tools and programs outside of the Google universe, then Periscope Data is a much better option.
    Incentivized
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    Zendesk
    I selected Zendesk Explore only to provide an easy and quick access for my managers and supervisors regading metrics and volume trends. Is not the most flexible nor complete data visualization tool, but works well for day-to-day follow ups. You need to use another tool if you want to see long-term patterns (e.g. month over month volume trends) and you need another platform if you want your interaction metrics to interact with other important factors of the business
    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
    Sisense Ltd
    • Very positive - has allowed us to glean insights quickly and in real time.
    • Definitely helpful for evaluating performance of accounts and employees.
    • Versatile - we even use it with recruiting metrics, our software team uses it to test feature deployment.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Zendesk
    • Money saved due to proper staffing.
    • Happier Staff- proper staffing ensures no one is overworked.
    • Ability to quickly pinpoint where issues are and why.
    Incentivized
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    ScreenShots