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SAP Crystal

SAP Crystal

Overview

What is SAP Crystal?

SAP 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.

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Recent Reviews

Decent reporting tool

8 out of 10
February 15, 2020
Incentivized
I used SAP Crystal for report visualization. The graphs in the tool are outstanding with strong information telling ability combining with …
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SAP Crystal Review

7 out of 10
January 08, 2020
Incentivized
Crystal is used enterprise-wide for pixel-perfect reporting. We have both on-demand reporting use cases, and scheduled reporting via email …
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Awards

Products that are considered exceptional by their customers based on a variety of criteria win TrustRadius awards. Learn more about the types of TrustRadius awards to make the best purchase decision. More about TrustRadius Awards

Popular Features

View all 29 features
  • Publish to PDF (131)
    10.0
    100%
  • Report sharing and collaboration (118)
    10.0
    100%
  • Report Formatting Templates (115)
    10.0
    100%
  • Formatting capabilities (133)
    10.0
    100%

Reviewer Pros & Cons

View all pros & cons
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Pricing

View all pricing

Upgrade Version to SAP Crystal Reports 2020

$295

On Premise
per single user license

SAP Crystal Reports 2020 64-Bit

$495

On Premise
per single user license

SAP Crystal Reports 2016 32-Bit

$495

On Premise
per single user license

Entry-level set up fee?

  • Setup fee optional
For the latest information on pricing, visithttp://www.sapstore.com/solutions/99013…

Offerings

  • Free Trial
  • Free/Freemium Version
  • Premium Consulting/Integration Services
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Product Demos

Software TRAIL DEMO SAP Crystal Reports 2013

YouTube

SAP Crystal Dashboard Design - Demo video

YouTube
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Features

BI Standard Reporting

Standard reporting means pre-built or canned reports available to users without having to create them.

9.3
Avg 8.2

Ad-hoc Reporting

Ad-Hoc Reports are reports built by the user to meet highly specific requirements.

9.6
Avg 8.1

Report Output and Scheduling

Ability to schedule and manager report output.

9.4
Avg 8.4

Data Discovery and Visualization

Data Discovery and Visualization is the analysis of multiple data sources in a search for patterns and outliers and the ability to represent the data visually.

8
Avg 8.1

Access Control and Security

Access control means being able to determine who has access to which data.

8.6
Avg 8.6

Mobile Capabilities

Support for mobile devices like smartphones and tablets.

8.4
Avg 7.9

Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding

APIs are a set of routines, protocols, and tools for used for embedding one application in another

7
Avg 7.9
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Product Details

What is SAP Crystal?

SAP Crystal Reports and SAP Crystal Server are designed to help users create pixel-perfect, richly formatted, and dynamic reports from virtually any data source – delivered in dozens of export formats, in up to 24 languages. SAP Crystal Reports is a production reporting tool designed to turn almost any data source into interactive, actionable information that can be accessed offline or online, from applications, portals and mobile devices. SAP Crystal Server enables self-service access to reports, dashboards, and data exploration within a secure infrastructure.

SAP Crystal Features

BI Platform Features

  • Supported: Administration via Web Interface
  • Supported: Live Connection to External Data
  • Supported: Snapshot of External Data
  • Supported: OLAP (Pre-processed cube representation)
  • Supported: ROLAP (SQL-layer querying)
  • Supported: Multi-Data Source Reporting (Blending)
  • Supported: Data warehouse / dictionary layer

Supported Data Sources Features

  • Supported: MS Excel Workbooks
  • Supported: Text Files (CSV, etc)
  • Supported: Oracle
  • Supported: MS SQL Server
  • Supported: IBM DB2
  • Supported: Postgres
  • Supported: MySQL
  • Supported: ODBC
  • Supported: EMC Greenplum
  • Supported: HP Vertica
  • Supported: SAP Hana
  • Supported: Teradata
  • Supported: Salesforce
  • Supported: SAP

BI Standard Reporting Features

  • Supported: Pixel Perfect reports
  • Supported: Customizable dashboards
  • Supported: Report Formatting Templates

Ad-hoc Reporting Features

  • Supported: Drill-down analysis
  • Supported: Formatting capabilities
  • Supported: Integration with R or other statistical packages
  • Supported: Report sharing and collaboration

Report Output and Scheduling Features

  • Supported: Publish to Web
  • Supported: Publish to PDF
  • Supported: Output Raw Supporting Data
  • Supported: Report Versioning
  • Supported: Report Delivery Scheduling
  • Supported: Delivery to Remote Servers

Data Discovery and Visualization Features

  • Supported: Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization

Access Control and Security Features

  • Supported: Multi-User Support (named login)
  • Supported: Role-Based Security Model
  • Supported: Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)
  • Supported: Report-Level Access Control
  • Supported: Table-Level Access Control (BI-layer)
  • Supported: Field-Level Access Control (BI-layer)
  • Supported: Single Sign-On (SSO)

Mobile Capabilities Features

  • Supported: Responsive Design for Web Access
  • Supported: Mobile Application
  • Supported: Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile

Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding Features

  • Supported: Javascript API
  • Supported: Java API
  • Supported: Themeable User Interface (UI)
  • Supported: Customizable Platform (Open Source)

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 reportsScreenshot of Export to popular formats

SAP Crystal Videos

SAP Crystal Solutions: The Mobile Worker Use Case
SAP Crystal Solutions: Identify and Eliminate Clutter in Your Visualizations
SAP Crystal Solutions: How to Buy SAP Crystal Reports Digitally

SAP Crystal Technical Details

Deployment TypesOn-premise
Operating SystemsWindows, Linux
Mobile ApplicationApple iOS, Android
Supported CountriesGlobal
Supported LanguagesEnglish, French, German, Japanese, Spanish, Simplified Chinese, Italian, Dutch, Russian, Korean, Traditional Chinese, Portuguese, Swedish, Polish, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, Thai, Czech, Hungarian, Slovakian, Turkish, Romanian, Slovenian

Frequently Asked Questions

SAP 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.

Windward Core, TIBCO Jaspersoft, and Jet Reports are common alternatives for SAP Crystal.

Reviewers rate Customizable dashboards and Report Formatting Templates and Drill-down analysis highest, with a score of 10.

The most common users of SAP Crystal are from Mid-sized Companies (51-1,000 employees).
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Comparisons

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Reviews and Ratings

(558)

Attribute Ratings

Reviews

(151-156 of 156)
Companies can't remove reviews or game the system. Here's why
November 22, 2013

Crystal Reports Review

Score 6 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
  • Crystal Reports gives users an option to connect to different data sources. The wizard provided to configure your connections is also easy to use and maintain.
  • Subreports functionality within Crystal Reports is awesome. It helps the user to breakdown the report into multiple subreports and hence makes the overall report easier to develop. Each subreport can be part of multiple main reports which increases efficiency.
  • Formulas - user can use the built-in formulas or create a new one according to needs. Different flags and indicators can be constructed using these formulas. This allows the reports to be flexible and robust.
  • While IT pros can help you create excellent reports, the whole idea of figuring out how to create a report yourself can be a painful process. While user can create customizable reports, getting there can be a burdensome process. There is not one exact methodology that a user can follow to create the report and the "look and feel" of the report can be achieved in multiple ways.
  • While built-in formulas helps you a great deal, creating your own is not fun. The syntax used is different than most other languages and there is no good assistance also if you build a wrong formula.
The tool has a learning curve, once you get learn it, you definitely get the desired results.
Phil Mondy | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 4 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
  • It provides layout flexibility for your report.
  • It easily maps to your existing database to help build table relationships for the report.
  • Databases are not always easy to use. Finding the right table can be tricky even with a tool like Crystal Reports. For example, it could be easier for a person to map things even if they don't know the difference between and inner and outer join. This would be a place for CR to improve.
Reporting tools all do the same things, but some are easier to use than others. Make sure you pick the easiest one to use.
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
  • Formatting - My sales team is very familiar with a particular format and I was able to recreate old reports identical to what they were used to. The transition from one computer system to another was seamless.
  • Linking information - In our computer system there is a specific set of data tables for different departments such as accounting, sales and manufacturing. The sales information does not easily link to the accounting information, but Crystal Reports allows me to pull information from both sides into one report
  • Grouping Information - I love grouping data in order to better analyze information. Rather than having to sort and subtotal like you do in Excel, Crystal allows me to write one report and pre-determine the groups so I save time not having to massage the data into the correct groups before I do my analysis
  • Cross Tabs - Cross tabs are so easy with the Cross Tab expert!! I can't begin to explain how nice it is to just select the fields I want in each position and then select the function I need and it does the work for me.
  • Terminology - Some of the terminology in the errors are very technically oriented to the point where I have to search the web in order to figure out what it means. I'm not an expert by any means, but I run some complex reports and when there is an error that I cannot resolve it takes a lot of time to figure out what the issue is.
One of the key questions that I would ask are: How many reports do you need to run and how complex are they? If it's only a handful, the benefit may not outweigh the cost. If they are looking to run a variety of reports that are overly complex, then I would give a rousing "yes" and suggest they purchase Crystal. If the reports are rather basic, it may not be worth the time and money to purchase an outside system and training costs involved with Crystal Reports.
Andrew Kessler | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 3 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
  • Ability to merge data from multiple sources with ease
  • Ability to create sub-reports is very helpful.
  • Ability to export as a PDF is a big plus.
  • Licensing fees are excessive
  • Did not want to connect to our server without extended 3rd party help.
  • Laying out the reports can be quite tedious and needs to have functionality improved
I would tell the colleague to look into another option first. If they had no choice, be sure to read a couple books or take some classes to better understand how Crystal Reports functions. I also found online forums to be of help, but the differences between versions caused some headaches receiving help.
Charlotte Craig | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Reseller
  • Crystal can use a variety of data sources and even combine data from multiple data sources which makes it very flexible. I recall once using it to combine data from DB2 and Access in order to print 1099s for a particular client when they switched AP systems half way through a year and only converted unpaid invoices.
  • Crystal has tremendous capability to create reports that look identical to requests. You can use OLE to place forms into Crystal, you can use images, you can conditionally suppress sections to allow the report to look completely different based on parameters driven by the users. So many other tools limit what the result looks like but Crystal doesn't.
  • It's so powerful in its ability to do complex queries and complex logic within the report itself. If someone is working with Crystal and they have a strong SQL acumen, they can leverage SQL commands to write complex queries, sub queries, temp tables etc... If desired, most of the report logic can reside within SQL and Crystal is simply used as a formatting tool. On the other hand, if the user has no knowledge of SQL but has a great understanding of Crystal, they can leverage sub reports, variables, arrays, group record selection and other such techniques to keep the logic within the report and still create powerful queries. I personally use a combination of the two so that my reports are as query efficient as possible but I still keep a lot of the formula type needs within Crystal. The flexibility though, allows people who aren't in IT and don't know SQL to still be able to create reports and this is a distinct advantage over other tools.
  • The server architecture allows users to self-serve reports running them ad hoc or scheduling them to run on any variety of schedules, in a wide variety of formats, and push if desired via FTP, email, or a location on their network. I've deployed the server where it’s used by only a few people to systems that serve over 50,000 users and run hundreds of thousands of report instances per month with high availability.
  • Charting doesn't provide as many options as I'd like to see.
It's inexpensive, it's powerful, there is training readily available across the country, it doesn't require IT level employees to create reports, there is a great method to distribute reports once written. Whatever your reporting needs, Crystal can handle it; if you store the data it can report on it from almost any system.
November 15, 2013

Basic Crystal Review

Kristen Lenihan | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
  • It generates reports quickly and efficiently.
  • I used Crystal Reports to pull information from a database and was able to customize certain aspects of letters to people in the database (name, address, donation amount, etc) without having to manually type these letters for each individual.
  • Crystal Reports is not very intuitive and is difficult to understand without having someone walk you through it first.
  • Formatting a document within the context of Crystal Reports can be tricky and it takes time to get the output to look exactly as you would like it to.
I would tell a colleague to spend as much time as possible just playing around and creating dummy reports when they first start using it so they can try out all of the different functions and get to know the program.
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