Microsoft BI (MSBI) vs. UZIO

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

UZIO is one of the best HRIS systems I have used over my career. What sets them apart, in my opinion, is the ability to quickly fix or add things because they have actual engineers. Other HRIS systems are just duplicates of other systems that require a lengthy process to correct anything and are much more cumbersome. UZIO is use-friendly.

Incentivized

• 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

• Tech support is consistent and reliable.
• User interface is easy for employees tracking time and managers approving time.
• High degree of confidence in the tech.

Incentivized

• 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

• We have a shift that crosses midnight and the system resets OT calculation when it becomes a new day, but in CA OT is calculated on hours worked and doesn’t split a shift at midnight for OT purposes. So far they have been unable to address this as it's not an issue in other states.
• Holiday Pay has been an issue because of our policy - too many changing variables to create a process. Unfortunately, you cannot adjust holiday pay on the employee's timesheet. That would be the simplest solution but so far that hasn't happened.
• Non-US Citizen beneficiary. This is not an option when electing benefits. Not a big deal unless you have employees with families abroad. We had one and we created a work around.
• Everything has to be downloaded. You cannot click on an employee's pay stub (for example) and view it within UZIO. It must be downloaded to your computer. Not a big deal - just takes more time and more files to delete on your computer.

Incentivized

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.

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

Has some blips that have been stated throughout this review that can be fixed, I do not want to fully repeat myself however a more intuitive interface, interface that does not lag, and then glitches with service would be ideal. That's about all I can say on the matter, pertaining to what I have access to in my org.

Incentivized

The product has been reliable.

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.

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

This training was more directed toward what the product was capable of rather than actual programming.

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.

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.

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

UZIO has a much smoother/easier workflow for benefits setup and management. The system is extremely user friendly and the platform is clean and easy to read. UZIO listens to client feedback and uses that information to improve the system and make it work better for users.

Incentivized

• 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

• UZIO has had a positive impact on the time it takes to onboard/offboard or complete payroll.
• UZIO is much more affordable that some of the other HRIS systems.
• The only negative is that they do not have a performance mgmt system.

Incentivized