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SAP Crystal Reports Review
Updated July 23, 2018

SAP Crystal Reports Review

Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Software Version

SAP Crystal Reports

Overall Satisfaction with SAP Crystal

A highly featured tool which is used by various people in our organization. With SAP Crystal Reports you can design and deliver meaningful business reports based on data from virtually any source. It saves time delivering interactive and graphical reports which are easy to read and analyze data. Crystal also allows developers to script their custom own sql-based query in the database editor. It is extensive in summary functions, running totals, and a rich formula programming language.
  • Reports can also be easily delivered through the Crystal Reports Server or BusinessObjects.
  • It is a WSIWYG design tool, allowing you to see what you are doing as you do it. You can customize the design with your own ideas and need.
  • Flexible Windows and Web application features support development.
  • Crystal can also handle very large volumes of data very well as its processing engines are optimized to do so.
  • Rules applied to the selection and manipulation of data can have unexpected results, leading to manual troubleshooting of report design and database queries.
  • Working with lines and boxes is not as flexible as, say, Microsoft Word.
  • New Users needs training to use it effectively.
  • A more intuitive interface for linking databases and database tables would be helpful for those that are new to databases and report writing.
Although Crystal is known to produce static reports, interactivity can easily be added with the use of parameters. Can create dynamic customer letters and certificates. Can schedule reports that are created and the system will send it via email.
SAP Crystal Reports is well suited in many ways like generating reports and analyzing data so that we can use for our benefit. Using it, I like how easy it is to develop a report to meet your needs with its WYSIWYG style. If you're good at HTML you can also use WYSIWYG source code feature. Users create reports to obtain data based upon what is entered into their database.

SAP Crystal Feature Ratings

BI Platform ()
Not Rated
Supported Data Sources ()
Not Rated
7.3
Pixel Perfect reports
7
Customizable dashboards
7
Report Formatting Templates
8
6.7
Drill-down analysis
6
Formatting capabilities
7
Report sharing and collaboration
7
7.8
Publish to Web
9
Publish to PDF
10
Report Versioning
8
Report Delivery Scheduling
4
7.3
Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)
7
Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization
7
Predictive Analytics
8
9.0
Multi-User Support (named login)
10
Role-Based Security Model
9
Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)
9
Single Sign-On (SSO)
8
8.0
Responsive Design for Web Access
8
Mobile Application
8
Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile
8
8.0
REST API
9
Javascript API
9
iFrames
6
Themeable User Interface (UI)
8
Customizable Platform (Open Source)
8

Evaluating SAP Crystal and Competitors

  • Product Features
  • Product Usability
  • Product Reputation
  • Analyst Reports
  • Third-party Reviews
SAP Crystal Reports is most stable product we have ever used. It's better at support, easier to use, simpler UI which makes it easy to understand. It becomes easy to create reports, charts with this great product and the presentation looks more convincing. Any cumbersome product can waste a lot of time if it doesn't have a good support system though it may be lesser in pricing but SAP crystal is far better and fast to work with.
The important part to choose a product is its features and stability. The product should not be difficult to use and should have simple UI to work and understand for a user. If user will find difficulty to understand the product they won't come again and will never recommend to others too. Also there should be a good support system so that if user needs a help they can get the solution within no time.

SAP Crystal Support

1) Support system executives are nice and friendly. They try to understand your problem and try to solve as soon as possible.
2) They give proper direction how to solve your problems.
3) Most of the time you can find your qstions's answer on INTERNET , FAQ's easily so that you don't have to wait for a long time to solve it.
ProsCons
Quick Resolution
Good followup
Kept well informed
No escalation required
Immediate help available
Support cares about my success
Quick Initial Response
None
Once when my software was crashing too much in between writing report, i had to take help of support team, they replied promptly and asked few settings. after replying they just gave me the solution and it was a great experience solving the issue and now i don't get much issues.

Using SAP Crystal

1) Good software to write important reports.
2) Intuitive design environment .
3) Preview function helps you analyzing your report on runtime.
4) Get broad connectivity to diverse data sources to create real-time operational reports.
5) Use flexible, customisable report design to give customers and partners the reporting formats of their choice.
ProsCons
Like to use
Relatively simple
Well integrated
Consistent
Convenient
Feel confident using
Familiar
None
  • Autosave.
  • Browse field data
  • Editable preview window
  • Database expert for graphical table linking. Not that difficult and for new users.
Yes, but I don't use it