SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence vs. TARGIT

As mentioned earlier reporting was a big headache for us and the tools we used didn't support large data sets and visualization Performing analytics with such data sets was cumbersome and later post using this SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence we were able to correlate different data sets and prepare the dashboard pretty easier which were helpful and easier to understand.

Incentivized

Targit is very strong when the data is presented to the system. Because of this, we are able to report on almost all of the information that is valuable to us. When we have questions or ideas on how to better leverage Targit, they are great to work with. We track our sales progress/process in Targit and AP tracks things such as outstanding invoices, open invoices, etc

• This software is easy to initially learn, and very powerful in producing reusable reports.
• It is much faster than my company's internal manual queries. The ability to build off of a saved query and share queries to other users is a great positive.
• My favorite part is that you can run queries in the background and it does not interfere with your current work or slow your computer down.

Incentivized

• Quick start-up and report turnaround time.
• Easy drag and drop capabilities as well as user friendly command options.
• Ability to share reports among other users making it easy to use an already created report and simply changing the criteria to suit your own needs.
• Ability to save a base report that can be modified as needed repeatedly, instead of recreating from scratch.
• Easy visual for final layout.
• Ability to run multiple reports within one screen without jumping around.

Incentivized

• The installation can be very complex and time-consuming, it requires a lot of planning and foresight as to what role the software will play in the organization.
• The software has a relatively large learning curve that takes dedicated users months to get comfortable with, the UI is a bit intimidating for new users.
• SAP could organize their help better, it can be difficult to find dependable solutions to issues via their website and support channels.

Incentivized

• Probably one of our biggest complaints from the user community is the inability for the user to see the details behind the data. I know with the tool you can write reporting services reports that would allow users to see the detail by right clicking on a measure and selecting Actions, but for a very lean IT shop there simply has not been time to build these Actions for every possible scenario a user might want to see detailed reporting on.
• Another complaint I've heard is the inability for the user to know exactly what the data represents from the source. If Targit had maybe some type of capability to hover over a measure or dimension and see a pop up of a more detailed description this might help resolve that issue.
• The most difficult concepts to teach our users is how and when to use comparisons and the syntax for calculations. Creating comparisons has become much simpler with the 2k11 release but it is still difficult for my users.

The institution has decided to move in a different direction, and will be using MSBI for reporting. I have been very happy with the Business Objects suite of tools, and will continue to use them heavily until we make the transition.

Incentivized

It is very easy to use and I am proficient at this point to be able to figure out how to run most of the reports I need. I have had the time to "play around" in TARGIT and really teach myself about the visibility settings and other aspects - though other users have needed help with some of these aspects - but once you conceptually understand how to build the reports, it is very simple from a power user perspective.

Incentivized

From a server and client side perspective. the Business Intelligence Platform provides a foundation for all aspects of content development, distribution, analysis, collaboration and self service. Ease of use from targeted content delivery through controlled accessibility. Content exporting in the format of the users choice. Scheduling for internal or external delivery. Public and private folders for secure content access when requied. Web based for viewing on the users device of choice without the need to download additional applications.

Incentivized

Everything on the back end needs to be correct, which sometimes it may not be set up or missing some variables. Some of the more difficult parts of Targit require a lot more attention and object creation to work properly

When we implemented 3.1, we had a tough time managing the system: It took almost a year to stabilize.

With 4.0, we want to roll out to more users, and are holding back because of fears about the performance issue

Overall, the tool (Web Intelligence 4.2) is fast and solid. One issue is a dependability on JAVA for a full feature report creation/edit capabilities (as opposed to limited HTML option). Second, planned end of JAVA support by major browsers (Chrome is already not supporting JAVA applet).

SAP has released various versions of SAP BO BI. starting from 3.1 and going to 4.0,4.1,4.2 and latest being 4.3. SAP provides support to these new versions. As new versions keep on coming, support for the very old software goes out of scope from SAP. it is when the different organization plans to get their BO content migrated from a lower version to a newer version. The newer version had definitely added functionality and features which ease the work of users.

Incentivized

Everyone I've dealt with at Targit genuinely cares about me and my success, and they respond to questions quickly and accurately. There is literally nothing more I could ask for from their support.

Incentivized

SAP authorized training is best, Please go ahead with it. Even lot of online training options/videos available for self learning

Incentivized

I haven't used it or got feedback from the end user.

Content looks to be pretty detailed. Focused on SQL but not BW.

Hire specialists and experienced staff. Mix some beginners so that everyone is not a leader but a learner too. Plan well; architect well; break down implementation in small steps and move towards larger steps. Create a centralized and authorized SAP Business Objects implementation team.

Incentivized

Make sure all of the back end work is done prior to getting Targit set up. Every variable you may need for calculations needs to be correct and every item needs to be uniform so it is read properly.

We selected SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence (BI) based on price. It can stack up against others in terms of price and honestly, that's about it. Salesforce Commerce does a hell of a better job at handling it. However, in the space of Business Intelligence, SAP can do more, and that's why at the end we went with it

Incentivized

It really met our business requirements when we were searching for a reporting/Bi tool and the flexible business model of being able to introduce additional functionally as your organization grows and requires it made the investment decision the right one for us. The functionality available in comparison to the investment is well worth it.

Incentivized

SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence (BI) Platform supports SOA Service Oriented Architecture. You can start/restart/enable/disable all the servers. You can seamless do load balancing and clustering. It supports all leading application and web server. Supports LDAP SSO integration. People who can work on excel with training they can work on SAP Business Objects Web Intelligence, dashboard, Lumira, Information design tool product suite. Tool is very user friendly and easy to learn and implement

Incentivized

• By generating and distributing reports in a timely manner, we were able to save millions of dollars for the company which otherwise would not have been visible.
• Almost realtime dashboard, saved the company a huge amount by showing the outages and kept the company from buying a tool to do just that.
• It showed the customers who were not paying the bills and were missing in the system due to some loophole. This was visible by doing reporting on the theft usage of electricity.

Incentivized

• We have been looking at our Product Hit Rate by Customer instead of just looking into Customer hit rate and adjusted our offerings accordingly.
• Giving people the ability to run their own ad-hoc reports rather than to request them from IT is a great benefit to my department.