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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    SAP Crystal

    Score7.1 out of 10
    N/ASAP Crystal is an analytics and reporting software solution for SMBs. SAP Crystal comprises Crystal Reports for pixel-perfect reporting, and SAP Crystal Server for automated distribution and self-service access to reports, dashboards and data exploration.

    $295

    per single user license

    Tableau Server

    Score7.5 out of 10
    N/ATableau Server allows Tableau Desktop users to publish dashboards to a central server to be shared across their organizations. The product is designed to facilitate collaboration across the organization. It can be deployed on a server in the data center, or it can be deployed on a public cloud.

    $12

    Per User Per Month

    Pricing
    SAP CrystalTableau Server
    Editions & Modules
    Upgrade Version to SAP Crystal Reports 2020
    $295
    per single user license
    SAP Crystal Reports 2020 64-Bit
    $495
    per single user license
    SAP Crystal Reports 2016 32-Bit
    $495
    per single user license
    SAP Crystal Server 2020 1 NUL
    $869
    per user license + first year maintenance to be added
    SAP Crystal Server 2020 5 CAL
    $8,744
    5 concurrent users + first year maintenance to be added
    Viewer
    $12.00
    Per User Per Month
    Explorer
    $35.00
    Per User Per Month
    Creator
    $70.00
    Per User Per Month
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    SAP CrystalTableau Server
    Free Trial
    YesYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    YesNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    YesYes
    Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalNo setup fee
    Additional 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.—
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    SAP CrystalTableau Server
    Considered Both Products
    SAP
    Chose SAP Crystal
    SAP Crystal Server is exactly what we need for our reporting, both internally and externally, and we consistently use the scheduled reporting option and set up automatic delivery to save us time. These features are the main reason why we decided that this program was the …
    Incentivized
    Chose SAP Crystal
    When we evaluated several options, we found SAP Crystal Server to be more reliable than some of its competitors. We wanted something that we could customise to use in several departments and for all different types of situations where reports would be useful. We also use other …
    Incentivized
    Chose SAP Crystal
    We have a lot of clients who use SAP Crystal Server that we collaborate on reports with and this was a big reason for why we work with SAP Crystal Server. If I had to rate all the other analytics programs that I have worked with against SAP Crystal Server I would rate SAP …
    Incentivized
    Chose SAP Crystal
    I enjoyed using Tableau more than SAP crystal reports but it has been a while since using Tableau.
    Incentivized
    Tableau
    Chose Tableau Server
    Today, if my shop is largely Microsoft-centric, I would be hard pressed to choose a product other than Power BI. Tableau was the visualization leader for years, but Microsoft has caught up with them in many areas, and surpassed them in some. Its ability to source, transform, …
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    91%
    Would buy again
    10 Answers
    75%
    Would buy again
    6 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    10 Answers
    75%
    Delivers good value for the price
    6 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    11 Answers
    88%
    Happy with the feature set
    7 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    6 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    90%
    Implementation went as expected
    9 Answers
    71%
    Implementation went as expected
    5 Answers
    Features
    SAP CrystalTableau Server
    BI Standard Reporting
    Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of SAP Crystal and Tableau Server
    Feature
    SAP Crystal
    7.7
    124 Ratings
    6% below category average
    Tableau Server
    8.4
    95 Ratings
    3% above category average
    Pixel Perfect reports8.0113 Ratings9.129 Ratings
    Customizable dashboards6.7100 Ratings7.094 Ratings
    Report Formatting Templates8.4117 Ratings9.081 Ratings
    Ad-hoc Reporting
    Comparison of Ad-hoc Reporting features of SAP Crystal and Tableau Server
    Feature
    SAP Crystal
    8.3
    136 Ratings
    4% above category average
    Tableau Server
    7.8
    95 Ratings
    3% below category average
    Drill-down analysis9.0117 Ratings8.095 Ratings
    Formatting capabilities8.8135 Ratings8.093 Ratings
    Integration with R or other statistical packages6.964 Ratings8.059 Ratings
    Report sharing and collaboration8.6120 Ratings7.089 Ratings
    Report Output and Scheduling
    Comparison of Report Output and Scheduling features of SAP Crystal and Tableau Server
    Feature
    SAP Crystal
    8.7
    136 Ratings
    6% above category average
    Tableau Server
    7.2
    91 Ratings
    13% below category average
    Publish to Web9.191 Ratings8.085 Ratings
    Publish to PDF9.4133 Ratings7.084 Ratings
    Report Versioning7.994 Ratings8.070 Ratings
    Report Delivery Scheduling8.997 Ratings8.077 Ratings
    Delivery to Remote Servers8.454 Ratings5.19 Ratings
    Data Discovery and Visualization
    Comparison of Data Discovery and Visualization features of SAP Crystal and Tableau Server
    Feature
    SAP Crystal
    7.6
    89 Ratings
    5% below category average
    Tableau Server
    8.3
    90 Ratings
    4% above category average
    Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)7.650 Ratings9.086 Ratings
    Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization7.576 Ratings8.085 Ratings
    Predictive Analytics7.841 Ratings8.064 Ratings
    Pattern Recognition and Data Mining00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
    Access Control and Security
    Comparison of Access Control and Security features of SAP Crystal and Tableau Server
    Feature
    SAP Crystal
    8.5
    88 Ratings
    0% above category average
    Tableau Server
    10.0
    95 Ratings
    16% above category average
    Multi-User Support (named login)8.481 Ratings10.093 Ratings
    Role-Based Security Model8.480 Ratings10.090 Ratings
    Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)8.480 Ratings10.092 Ratings
    Report-Level Access Control8.43 Ratings10.01 Ratings
    Single Sign-On (SSO)8.940 Ratings10.062 Ratings
    Mobile Capabilities
    Comparison of Mobile Capabilities features of SAP Crystal and Tableau Server
    Feature
    SAP Crystal
    6.6
    65 Ratings
    16% below category average
    Tableau Server
    8.1
    79 Ratings
    4% above category average
    Responsive Design for Web Access6.163 Ratings10.077 Ratings
    Mobile Application5.946 Ratings7.061 Ratings
    Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile6.060 Ratings7.068 Ratings
    Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding
    Comparison of Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding features of SAP Crystal and Tableau Server
    Feature
    SAP Crystal
    7.8
    45 Ratings
    1% above category average
    Tableau Server
    6.4
    46 Ratings
    19% below category average
    REST API7.48 Ratings8.040 Ratings
    Javascript API8.437 Ratings8.037 Ratings
    iFrames7.18 Ratings6.040 Ratings
    Java API8.437 Ratings5.57 Ratings
    Themeable User Interface (UI)7.439 Ratings6.19 Ratings
    Customizable Platform (Open Source)8.433 Ratings4.67 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    SAP CrystalTableau Server
    Small Businesses
    Cyfe
    Score4 out of 10
    Cyfe
    Score4 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Qlik Cloud Analytics (Qlik Sense)
    Score8.1 out of 10
    Qlik Cloud Analytics (Qlik Sense)
    Score8.1 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Sisense
    Score6.9 out of 10
    Sisense
    Score6.9 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    SAP CrystalTableau Server
    Likelihood to Recommend
    6.7
    (159 ratings)
    8.0
    (111 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    10.0
    (19 ratings)
    10.0
    (20 ratings)
    Usability
    7.1
    (31 ratings)
    8.0
    (17 ratings)
    Availability
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.0
    (9 ratings)
    Performance
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    8.1
    (8 ratings)
    Support Rating
    8.6
    (21 ratings)
    3.0
    (18 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    8.0
    (4 ratings)
    Online Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (9 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    8.8
    (14 ratings)
    9.1
    (13 ratings)
    Configurability
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Data Sharing and Collaboration
    8.8
    (124 ratings)
    5.1
    (79 ratings)
    Data Sources
    9.2
    (129 ratings)
    6.6
    (82 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    SAP CrystalTableau Server
    Likelihood to Recommend
    SAP
    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
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Tableau
    Whole funnel and specific channel performance from upper to lower funnel metrics. The ability to view full channel performance for some time, such as weekly, monthly, or quarterly, has truly been monumental in how my team optimizes specific channels and campaigns. Daily performance tracking is a bit overwhelming, with load times and having to refresh specific live views over time. It can be challenging to do so at times, as extensive dashboards take much longer to load.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    SAP
    • 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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Tableau
    • It's good at doing what it is designed for: accessing visualizations without having to download and open a workbook in Tableau Desktop. The latter would be a very inefficient method for sharing our metrics, so I am glad that we have Tableau Server to serve this function.
    • Publishing to Tableau Server is quick and easy. Just a few clicks from Tableau Desktop and a few seconds of publishing through an average speed network, and the new visualizations are live!
    • Seeing details on who has viewed the visualization and when. This is something particularly useful to me for trying to drive adoption of some new pages, so I really appreciate the granularity provided in Tableau Server
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    SAP
    • 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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Tableau
    • Tableau Server has had some issue handling some of our larger data sets. Our extract refreshes fail intermittently with no obvious error that we can fix
    • Tableau Server has been hard to work with before they launched their new Rest API, which is also a little tricky to work with
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    SAP
    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.
    Read full review
    Tableau
    It simply is used all the time by more and more people. Migrating to something else would involve lots of work and lots of training. The renewal fee being fair, it simply isn't worth migrating to a different tool for now.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    SAP
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Tableau
    Tableau Server takes training and experience in order to unlock the application's full potential. This is best handled by a qualified data scientist or data analytics manager. Tableau user interface layout, nomenclature, and command structure take time and training to become proficient with. Integration and connectivity require proper IT developer support.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    SAP
    No answers on this topic
    Tableau
    Our instance of Tableau Server was hosted on premises (I believe all instances are) so if there were any outages it was normally due to scheduled maintenance on our end. If the Tableau server ever went down, a quick restart solved most issues
    Read full review
    Performance
    SAP
    No answers on this topic
    Tableau
    While there are definitely cases where a user can do things that will make a particular worksheet or dashboard run slowly, overall the performance is extremely fast. The user experience of exploratory analysis particularly shines, there's nothing out there with the polish of Tableau.
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    SAP
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Tableau
    We have consistently had highly satisfactory results every time we've reached out for help. Our contractor, used for Tableau server maintenance and dashboard development is very technically skilled. When he hits a roadblock on how to do something with Tableau, the support staff have provided timely and useful guidance. He frequently compares it to Cognos and says that while Cognos has capabilities Tableau doesn't, the bottom line value for us is a no-brainer
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    In-Person Training
    SAP
    Trainer was patient and thorough in going through the basics and willing to answer questions by email after the initial training
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Tableau
    In our case, they hired a private third party consultant to train our dept. It was extremely boring and felt like it dragged on. Everything I learned was self taught so I was not really paying attention. But I do think that you can easily spend a week on the tool and go over every nook and cranny. We only had the consultant in for a day or two.
    Read full review
    Online Training
    SAP
    No answers on this topic
    Tableau
    The Tableau website is full of videos that you can follow at your own pace. As a very small company with a Tableau install, access to these free resources was incredibly useful to allowing me to implement Tableau to its potential in a reasonable and proportionate manner.
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    SAP
    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!
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Tableau
    Implementation was over the phone with the vendor, and did not go particularly well. Again, think this was our fault as our integration and IT oversight was poor, and we made errors. Would they have happened had a vendor been onsite? Not sure, probably not, but we probably wouldn't have paid for that either
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    SAP
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Tableau
    Today, if my shop is largely Microsoft-centric, I would be hard pressed to choose a product other than Power BI. Tableau was the visualization leader for years, but Microsoft has caught up with them in many areas, and surpassed them in some. Its ability to source, transform, and model data is superior to Tableau. Tableau still has the lead in some visualizations, but Power BI's rise is evidenced by its ever-increasing position in the leadership section of the Gartner Magic Quadrant.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    SAP
    • 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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Tableau
    • Tableau does take dedicated FTE to create and analyze the data. It's too complex (and powerful) a product not to have someone dedicated to developing with it.
    • There are some significant setup for the server product.
    • Once sever setup is complete, it's largely "fire and forget" until an update is necessary. The server update process is cumbersome.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    SAP Crystal Screenshots

    Screenshot of Pixel-perfect reporting solutionScreenshot of Refresh with a clickScreenshot of Build pixel-perfect documentsScreenshot of Connect to all data sourcesScreenshot of Use drag and dropScreenshot of Build interactive reports

    Tableau Server Screenshots

    Screenshot of Tableau Server interface and administration view 1.Screenshot of Tableau Server interface and administration view 2.Screenshot of Tableau Server permissions view.Screenshot of Tableau Services Manager (TSM) view 1.Screenshot of Tableau Services Manager (TSM) view 2.