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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    SAS Visual Analytics

    Score7.8 out of 10
    Enterprise companies (1,001+ employees)
    SAS Visual Analytics provides a complete platform for analytics visualization, enabling users to identify patterns and relationships in data that weren't initially evident. Interactive, self-service BI and reporting capabilities are combined with out-of-the-box advanced analytics so everyone can discover insights from any size and type of data, including text.N/A

    Microsoft SQL Server

    Score8.7 out of 10
    N/AMicrosoft SQL Server is a relational database.

    $1,418

    Per License

    Pricing
    SAS Visual AnalyticsMicrosoft SQL Server
    Editions & Modules
    SAS Visual Analytics for SAS Cloud
    $0
    Annual By Users: 5, 10, 20
    Subscription
    $1,418.00
    Per License
    Enterprise
    $13,748.00
    Per License
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    SAS Visual AnalyticsMicrosoft SQL Server
    Free Trial
    YesNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    YesNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional DetailsSAS Visual Statistics and SAS Office Analytics are also available as add-ons.—
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    SAS Visual AnalyticsMicrosoft SQL Server
    Considered Both Products
    SAS
    No answer on this topic
    Microsoft
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Would buy again
    53 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    No answers on this topic
    96%
    Delivers good value for the price
    45 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    53 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    39 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    45 Answers
    Features
    SAS Visual AnalyticsMicrosoft SQL Server
    BI Standard Reporting
    Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of SAS Visual Analytics and Microsoft SQL Server
    Feature
    SAS Visual Analytics
    8.3
    11 Ratings
    2% above category average
    Microsoft SQL Server
    -
    Ratings
    Pixel Perfect reports8.011 Ratings00 Ratings
    Customizable dashboards8.011 Ratings00 Ratings
    Report Formatting Templates9.010 Ratings00 Ratings
    Ad-hoc Reporting
    Comparison of Ad-hoc Reporting features of SAS Visual Analytics and Microsoft SQL Server
    Feature
    SAS Visual Analytics
    8.8
    12 Ratings
    9% above category average
    Microsoft SQL Server
    -
    Ratings
    Drill-down analysis9.012 Ratings00 Ratings
    Formatting capabilities8.012 Ratings00 Ratings
    Integration with R or other statistical packages8.010 Ratings00 Ratings
    Report sharing and collaboration10.011 Ratings00 Ratings
    Report Output and Scheduling
    Comparison of Report Output and Scheduling features of SAS Visual Analytics and Microsoft SQL Server
    Feature
    SAS Visual Analytics
    9.2
    12 Ratings
    11% above category average
    Microsoft SQL Server
    -
    Ratings
    Publish to Web9.011 Ratings00 Ratings
    Publish to PDF9.012 Ratings00 Ratings
    Report Versioning9.09 Ratings00 Ratings
    Report Delivery Scheduling10.011 Ratings00 Ratings
    Delivery to Remote Servers9.06 Ratings00 Ratings
    Data Discovery and Visualization
    Comparison of Data Discovery and Visualization features of SAS Visual Analytics and Microsoft SQL Server
    Feature
    SAS Visual Analytics
    9.7
    10 Ratings
    19% above category average
    Microsoft SQL Server
    -
    Ratings
    Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)10.09 Ratings00 Ratings
    Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization10.010 Ratings00 Ratings
    Predictive Analytics9.09 Ratings00 Ratings
    Access Control and Security
    Comparison of Access Control and Security features of SAS Visual Analytics and Microsoft SQL Server
    Feature
    SAS Visual Analytics
    8.3
    11 Ratings
    2% below category average
    Microsoft SQL Server
    -
    Ratings
    Multi-User Support (named login)9.011 Ratings00 Ratings
    Role-Based Security Model8.010 Ratings00 Ratings
    Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)8.011 Ratings00 Ratings
    Single Sign-On (SSO)8.07 Ratings00 Ratings
    Mobile Capabilities
    Comparison of Mobile Capabilities features of SAS Visual Analytics and Microsoft SQL Server
    Feature
    SAS Visual Analytics
    8.7
    9 Ratings
    12% above category average
    Microsoft SQL Server
    -
    Ratings
    Responsive Design for Web Access10.09 Ratings00 Ratings
    Mobile Application9.07 Ratings00 Ratings
    Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile9.08 Ratings00 Ratings
    Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding
    Comparison of Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding features of SAS Visual Analytics and Microsoft SQL Server
    Feature
    SAS Visual Analytics
    9.2
    5 Ratings
    17% above category average
    Microsoft SQL Server
    -
    Ratings
    REST API10.04 Ratings00 Ratings
    Javascript API9.04 Ratings00 Ratings
    iFrames9.04 Ratings00 Ratings
    Java API9.04 Ratings00 Ratings
    Themeable User Interface (UI)9.04 Ratings00 Ratings
    Customizable Platform (Open Source)9.03 Ratings00 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    SAS Visual AnalyticsMicrosoft SQL Server
    Small Businesses
    Cyfe
    Score4 out of 10
    Amazon RDS
    Score8.1 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Qlik Cloud Analytics (Qlik Sense)
    Score8.1 out of 10
    SingleStore
    Score8.2 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Sisense
    Score6.9 out of 10
    SAP IQ
    Score5.4 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    SAS Visual AnalyticsMicrosoft SQL Server
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.0
    (17 ratings)
    7.9
    (107 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    9.3
    (3 ratings)
    9.0
    (8 ratings)
    Usability
    6.0
    (1 ratings)
    7.6
    (17 ratings)
    Availability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    8.0
    (3 ratings)
    7.9
    (26 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Online Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (6 ratings)
    Configurability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Data Sharing and Collaboration
    9.6
    (11 ratings)
    9.0
    (5 ratings)
    Data Sources
    9.8
    (11 ratings)
    10.0
    (5 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    SAS Visual AnalyticsMicrosoft SQL Server
    Likelihood to Recommend
    SAS
    I was in a meeting with the client and there I have to show them some analytic data to them. But I was confused about how I will manage to show big data to clients with accuracy. But then the SAS Visual Analytics software helps me in presenting accurate data at the moment and it was very presentable and through that, I got the deal for that business.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    Microsoft SQL is ubiquitous, while MySQL runs under the hood all over the place. Microsoft SQL is the platform taught in colleges and certification courses and is the one most likely to be used by businesses because it is backed by Microsoft. Its interface is friendly (well, as pleasant as SQL can be) and has been used by so many for so long that resources are freely available if you encounter any issues.
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    SAS
    • Provides the flexibility to the end user to slice and dice the data.
    • Anyone can make predictive models with the help of in-built algorithms without the need to write a single line of code or knowledge of what's under the hood of algorithms.
    • The feature to simply ask a question related to data and getting a response in form of text, chart or graph is amazing.
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    • Easy to configure and use with Visual Studio and Dot Net
    • Easy integration with MSBI to perform data analysis
    • Data Security
    • Easy to understand and use
    • Very easy to export database and tables in the form of SQL query or a script
    Incentivized
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    Cons
    SAS
    • SAS is relatively expensive when compared to other BI tools and requires a large amount of upfront fee which becomes an issue for smaller organizations.
    • UI for the dashboards looks a little date in comparison to competitors like Tableau and Microstrategy.
    • Integration with other open source software like Python needs to be built in.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • Microsoft SQL Server Enterprise edition has a high cost but is the only edition which supports SQL Always On Availability Groups. It would be nice to include this feature in the Standard version.
    • Licensing of Microsoft SQL Server is a quite complex matter, it would be good to simplify licensing in the future. For example, per core vs per user CAL licensing, as well as complex licensing scenarios in the Cloud and on Edge locations.
    • It would be good to include native tools for converting Oracle, DB2, Postgresql and MySQL/MariaDB databases (schema and data) for import into Microsoft SQL Server.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    SAS
    SAS really is the cutting edge in Business Intelligence. That is all they do! They are constantly coming out with new products, product upgrades, and their tech support is second to none. In addition, their support of Education has made our ability to acquire their product possible.
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    We understand that the Microsoft SQL Server will continue to advance, offering the same robust and reliable platform while adding new features that enable us, as a software center, to create a superior product. That provides excellent performance while reducing the hardware requirements and the total cost of ownership of our solution.
    Incentivized
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    Usability
    SAS
    SAS BI is good for creating reports and dashboards and then sharing it with the users. It also has ability to manage access to the reports and dashboards but somehow with most of the world moving to open source languages R, Python and Julia, SAS BI feels to be archaic in terms of feature set and integrations it allow[s]. Also, comparing it with other Business Intelligence tools like Tableau and Microsoft BI, the functionality of SAS BI is very limited and doesn't justify the pricing.
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    SQL Server mostly 'just works' or generates error messages to help you sort out the trouble. You can usually count on the product to get the job done and keep an eye on your potential mistakes. Interaction with other Microsoft products makes operating as a Windows user pretty straight forward. Digging through the multitude of dialogs and wizards can be a pain, but the answer is usually there somewhere.
    Incentivized
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    Reliability and Availability
    SAS
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    Its does not have outages.
    Incentivized
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    Performance
    SAS
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    SSAS data cubes may some time slow down your Excel reports.
    Incentivized
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    Support Rating
    SAS
    When you call tech support, you are immediately routed to a person who can answer your question. Often they can answer on the spot. However, if they cannot, you are given a track number and then followed up with. There have been times when I have had multiple track numbers open and they will actually TRACK YOU DOWN to ensure that your problem has been resolved. Issues do not fall into black holes with SAS. They are also willing to do a WebEx with you to diagnose the problem by seeing your environment, which is always helpful.
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    We managed to handle most of our problems by looking into Microsoft's official documentation that has everything explained and almost every function has an example that illustrates in detail how a particular functionality works. Just like PowerShell has the ability to show you an example of how some cmdlet works, that is the case also here, and in my opinion, it is a very good practice and I like it.
    Incentivized
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    In-Person Training
    SAS
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    It was good
    Incentivized
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    Online Training
    SAS
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    very hands on and detailed training
    Incentivized
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    Implementation Rating
    SAS
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    Other than SQL taking quite a bit of time to actually install there are no problems with installation. Even on hardware that has good performance SQL can still take close to an hour to install a typical server with management and reporting services.
    Incentivized
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    Alternatives Considered
    SAS
    I have used Crystal Reports, Jaspersoft and SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS). I would recommended Business Intelligence over SSRS and Crystal Reports. SSRS is very SQL-centric and Crystal Reports is more of an end-user tool. I would recommend Jaspersoft over Business Intelligence for developing a seamless web-based reporting interface but I highly recommend Business Intelligence for end-user ad-hoc reporting.
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    [Microsoft] SQL Server has a much better community and professional support and is overall just a more reliable system with Microsoft behind it. I've used MySQL in the past and SQL Server has just become more comfortable for me and is my go to RDBMS.
    Incentivized
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    Scalability
    SAS
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    SQL server does handle growing demands of a mid sized company.
    Incentivized
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    Return on Investment
    SAS
    • SAS Visual Analytics licensing cost should be reduced to enable users to use it in mass scale.
    • More statistical and mathematical equations and theories should be converted into SAS functions for reusing.
    • Because of enriched ETL and reporting capabilities SAS Visual Analytics is most preferred by business users.
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    • Increased accuracy - We went from multiple users having different versions of an Excel spreadsheet to a single source of truth for our reporting.
    • Increased Efficiency - We can now generate reports at any time from a single source rather than multiple users spending their time collating data and generating reports.
    • Improved Security - Enterprise level security on a dedicated server rather than financial files on multiple laptop hard drives.
    Incentivized
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    ScreenShots

    SAS Visual Analytics Screenshots

    Screenshot of Explore your data using analytics and interactive data visualizations.