Pentaho vs. SAP Analytics Cloud

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Pentaho
Score 5.1 out of 10
N/A
Pentaho is a suite of open source business intelligence and analytics products, now offered and supported by Hitachi Data Systems since the June 2015 acquisition.N/A
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
PentahoSAP Analytics Cloud
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
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
PentahoSAP Analytics Cloud
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
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
PentahoSAP Analytics Cloud
Features
PentahoSAP Analytics Cloud
BI Standard Reporting
Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Pentaho
9.0
20 Ratings
9% above category average
SAP Analytics Cloud
7.9
312 Ratings
4% below category average
Pixel Perfect reports8.618 Ratings7.6262 Ratings
Customizable dashboards9.918 Ratings8.3304 Ratings
Report Formatting Templates8.718 Ratings7.8280 Ratings
Ad-hoc Reporting
Comparison of Ad-hoc Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Pentaho
8.7
19 Ratings
8% above category average
SAP Analytics Cloud
7.8
318 Ratings
3% below category average
Drill-down analysis7.618 Ratings8.1309 Ratings
Formatting capabilities8.319 Ratings7.6305 Ratings
Integration with R or other statistical packages9.312 Ratings7.2232 Ratings
Report sharing and collaboration9.717 Ratings8.4295 Ratings
Report Output and Scheduling
Comparison of Report Output and Scheduling features of Product A and Product B
Pentaho
9.7
20 Ratings
16% above category average
SAP Analytics Cloud
7.7
299 Ratings
7% below category average
Publish to Web9.618 Ratings8.0256 Ratings
Publish to PDF9.819 Ratings8.0286 Ratings
Report Versioning9.713 Ratings7.9246 Ratings
Report Delivery Scheduling9.917 Ratings7.7241 Ratings
Delivery to Remote Servers9.310 Ratings7.134 Ratings
Data Discovery and Visualization
Comparison of Data Discovery and Visualization features of Product A and Product B
Pentaho
8.1
17 Ratings
1% above category average
SAP Analytics Cloud
7.8
306 Ratings
3% below category average
Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)7.916 Ratings8.0292 Ratings
Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization8.216 Ratings7.8281 Ratings
Predictive Analytics8.314 Ratings7.8281 Ratings
Pattern Recognition and Data Mining00 Ratings7.575 Ratings
Access Control and Security
Comparison of Access Control and Security features of Product A and Product B
Pentaho
9.1
20 Ratings
7% above category average
SAP Analytics Cloud
8.2
314 Ratings
4% below category average
Multi-User Support (named login)9.320 Ratings8.3288 Ratings
Role-Based Security Model9.619 Ratings8.1296 Ratings
Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)9.918 Ratings8.0289 Ratings
Single Sign-On (SSO)7.610 Ratings8.5294 Ratings
Report-Level Access Control00 Ratings8.3102 Ratings
Mobile Capabilities
Comparison of Mobile Capabilities features of Product A and Product B
Pentaho
8.3
11 Ratings
6% above category average
SAP Analytics Cloud
7.5
265 Ratings
4% below category average
Responsive Design for Web Access9.710 Ratings7.6254 Ratings
Mobile Application6.97 Ratings7.1224 Ratings
Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile8.711 Ratings7.2250 Ratings
Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding
Comparison of Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding features of Product A and Product B
Pentaho
8.6
10 Ratings
10% above category average
SAP Analytics Cloud
7.3
43 Ratings
6% below category average
REST API8.310 Ratings7.338 Ratings
Javascript API9.09 Ratings7.135 Ratings
iFrames7.39 Ratings7.429 Ratings
Java API8.79 Ratings7.429 Ratings
Themeable User Interface (UI)8.910 Ratings7.736 Ratings
Customizable Platform (Open Source)9.610 Ratings7.131 Ratings
Best Alternatives
PentahoSAP Analytics Cloud
Small Businesses
Yellowfin
Yellowfin
Score 8.8 out of 10
Yellowfin
Yellowfin
Score 8.8 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Reveal
Reveal
Score 10.0 out of 10
Reveal
Reveal
Score 10.0 out of 10
Enterprises
Kyvos Semantic Layer
Kyvos Semantic Layer
Score 9.5 out of 10
Kyvos Semantic Layer
Kyvos Semantic Layer
Score 9.5 out of 10
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User Ratings
PentahoSAP Analytics Cloud
Likelihood to Recommend
9.1
(31 ratings)
8.7
(325 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.8
(11 ratings)
8.6
(14 ratings)
Usability
9.3
(6 ratings)
8.2
(252 ratings)
Support Rating
9.3
(7 ratings)
6.0
(70 ratings)
In-Person Training
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Online Training
9.5
(2 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
Implementation Rating
5.0
(1 ratings)
7.9
(7 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
PentahoSAP Analytics Cloud
Likelihood to Recommend
Hitachi Vantara
Pentaho is very well suited to perform data extraction & data mining from various cloud storage & transform that data using various available data models. However, the software struggles when it comes to visualizing the extracted data in an appealing manner & can be difficult for end-users to get an understanding of data tables created using those models.
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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.
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Pros
Hitachi Vantara
  • Integrate and synchronize with big data easily
  • Import data from any sources and different databases
  • Managing data in on-premise, hybrid and cloud environments.
  • Compatibility and flexibility of the platform with any type of scenario and any business or industry
  • Various tools in the software suite to transformation of data
  • Simple interface appearance and creative UI graphics
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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.
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Cons
Hitachi Vantara
  • I think the relative obscurity of the tool is a downside, not as many developers, consultants or peers you can tap into.
  • Lack of a solid user community held us back, looking at Power BI and Qlik, they have huge user communities that help each other out. Would have liked that here.
  • Smaller company means smaller sales force, and the lack of a local presence made it hard to only interact online with the account rep. Other companies have someone local who often stops by with pre-sales developers to just pitch in free of charge when they have time.
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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.
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Likelihood to Renew
Hitachi Vantara
I will use Pentaho until I find a better tool with a better, easier to use report designer client. For now, Pentaho has been the most powerful reporting tool for our clients because of its ability to connect to Odoo, integrate in Odoo (reports are accessible in Odoo) and the flexibility in report design and parameter integration
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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.
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Usability
Hitachi Vantara
The Pentaho tools are designed so you can start playing around on your own. Of course, you will need guidance at some point, but the training teams are good at guiding new users, and the online documentation is usually pretty up-to-date.
Some of the tools, such as the Pentaho Data Integration tool and the Pentaho Server, are pretty self-explanatory. The other tools maybe are not so quickly and obvious to use, but again, with some documentation and some customer support, you can find your way around them.
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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.
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Reliability and Availability
Hitachi Vantara
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.
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Performance
Hitachi Vantara
No answers on this topic
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
Hitachi Vantara
They were responsive to our questions when we raised issues. They gave us workarounds when required. They were quite knowledgeable when it came to issue analysis and providing fixes. They were forthright in informing us if a bug was not due for release soon.
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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
Hitachi Vantara
No answers on this topic
SAP
Good videos and reference material available in SAP Portal.
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Online Training
Hitachi Vantara
Course Taken: DI1000 Pentaho Data Integration Fundamentals Setup A week before your class started, the instructor will start sending out class material and lab setup instructions. This is helpful so that you understand how the environment is laid out and can start reviewing the content. Ultimately it saved about a 1/2 day trying to setup with 10 other people online which was great! The Course The 3-day course was laid out like many other technical classes with 15-30 minutes instruction and 15-60 minutes of lab exercises. The instructor was very knowledgeable with the functionality from version to version and answered questions as we went along. I was amazed at some of the functionality that was available that I was not using at the time and quickly implemented changes to many existing transformations and jobs. The novice users seemed to catch on quickly and more experienced users explained how some of the functionality was used in their home environments. Towards the end there was enough time so that we were able to ask very directed questions about our own environments. Overall, I really found the class to be informative and deliver enough information to be dangerous. My skills improved and I was able to design better and efficient transformations for the HIE. Course Description: https://training.pentaho.com/instructor-led-training/pentaho-data-integration-fundamentals-di1000
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SAP
it's ok
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Implementation Rating
Hitachi Vantara
Get the right people in before starting implementation. Start small and build as you go approach is time consuming and involves lot of rework. Evangalize within the organization the capabilities and limitations equally so that correct delivery expectations are set. Set expectations with the Customer that the tool cannot replace proprietary software in terms of stability/usability and that timelines could change given the new ness of the product.
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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
Hitachi Vantara
Since the Pentaho platform offers a range of broad functionality across data preparation and advanced analytics, it also can be easily integrated to support many data sources and machine-learning frameworks. Based on that fact, we selected Pentaho to be used in our internal department. It also supports many of our BI use cases as required by company management or the business user. Last but not least, the Pentaho license is cheaper than their competitor.
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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
Hitachi Vantara
No answers on this topic
SAP
unit pricing
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Scalability
Hitachi Vantara
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.
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Professional Services
Hitachi Vantara
No answers on this topic
SAP
very simple
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Return on Investment
Hitachi Vantara
  • Pentaho has improved our overall business process.
  • Pentaho has helped the Managers and Directors to analyze the numbers going up and down from time to time.
  • We have a started a big project using Pentaho that is going to include all the business processes in the organization.
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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.
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