Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

Board vs SAP Analytics Cloud comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 1, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Board
Ranking in BI (Business Intelligence) Tools
23rd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
36
Ranking in other categories
Business Performance Management (10th), Reporting (20th)
SAP Analytics Cloud
Ranking in BI (Business Intelligence) Tools
4th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
69
Ranking in other categories
Predictive Analytics (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the BI (Business Intelligence) Tools category, the mindshare of Board is 0.5%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAP Analytics Cloud is 4.4%, down from 5.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
BI (Business Intelligence) Tools
 

Featured Reviews

Wiboon Thabsuwan - PeerSpot reviewer
Easy to use and requires less time to learn or understand its features
I think the product is good in terms of ease of use. The interface looks really nice and very easy to use. Every command appears in the icon. It looks like you don't have to understand everything about the command. You do not necessarily have to know more, or I would say that there is less time for our study about the products. Functionality-wise, it is quite easy to use and requires less time to understand or learn about the product. I am a software vendor, so I do not use the tool myself. I use it for my clients. My clients mostly use it for budgeting and timing purposes. I would say that's really less maintenance at all because they can do everything by themselves. It is good in terms of ease of use.
RamasamyTelungupalayam - PeerSpot reviewer
Seamless integration, collaborative features, and enhances data exploration
There are several areas for improvement in SAP Analytics Cloud. Firstly, features available in SAP Lumira are missing in SAP Analytics Cloud. Secondly, the predictive analytics functions, although promising, are currently only suitable for Proof of Concepts (POCs) and not for industrial-scale use. Lastly, the pricing model for the planning functionality is quite high and presents an entry barrier.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The flexibility and the user-experience are the most valuable features of the solution."
"Primary valuable features are its flexibility and versatility and, obviously, functionality goes along with that. Plus, it does that at a small footprint in the file servers, and does it very efficiently."
"​Our data is now more structured. Between our data warehouse and BOARD, which are both brand new, we now have a more structured data view with more accurate, timely data."
"Our clients have improved a lot in terms of coordination and communication. This has improved their internal performance."
"The ability to create a data model and have it in testing within a week is fantastic."
"It is very easy to use. It has got what they call a toolkit, which is a no-code development environment. You can develop a whole solution with it because it is a complete platform. There is a lot of online material that can be used as a reference. You can help yourself while developing a solution. There are some prebuilt applications in the platform environment. You can very easily customize and integrate these applications. It also has flexible scaling of machine resources, which is really great."
"Now, we have only one version of the truth."
"What is very valuable is the ability to customize. We didn't see a solution out there that really matched exactly what our functional requirements would be. So we were able to work with New Brain, our integrator, and we were able to build from the ground up what we wanted, and I think that's pretty unique to BOARD."
"One of the most outstanding features is being able to use the dashboard with a touch screen."
"The most valuable features of SAP Analytics Cloud are its native integration with SAP data and the ability to leverage SAP artifacts."
"The most valuable feature of the tool is machine learning."
"In the data warehouse, you're free to make changes. You can make everything text, meaning it's always a string. Even numbers appear as text, giving you the flexibility to work with all columns."
"It's many features make it the best in the market."
"The visualization feature is the most valuable. SAP Analytics Cloud is also very easy to use."
"The solution is quite effective for collaborative planning."
"Provides rich features for developing automated reports and dashboards."
 

Cons

"What could be better is the manual... nowadays, most people use a web client, but on the Board manual website, a lot of the information is only about the Windows client. If they could update that, it would be helpful."
"I'd like to see a more passive report user for enterprise report writers that aren't particularly technical."
"We would like to see better logging in the procedural world."
"The initial setup was very complex for us."
"I would like to see a better Web client, where the controls work the same way as in the Windows client. I do think that the focus is now on the Web, so it should be improved upon."
"​We are looking for ways to distinguish zeros versus nulls in BOARD."
"It can have more functionality for narrative reporting. They should also improve their training courses, which are currently very lightweight. When you get into more complex things, it is quite difficult to figure out what you're supposed to do, and you have to look at a lot of videos before you actually understand, which is a bit frustrating. Their training can be more comprehensive."
"One thing that I personally would like to see is additional visualization tools for visuals."
"SAP could add some more visualization features to Analytics Cloud, like charts and analytics. I would also like to see some more data cleaning and ad hoc functions added to this solution."
"Its integration or connectivity with non-SAP systems, big data, and social media, such as YouTube, LinkedIn, et cetera, can be improved. This is where SAP has limited features as compared to other solutions."
"The integration with other vendors and solutions could be improved."
"The general management of this solution could be improved. The graphics or icons could also be improved to allow them to integrate with other environments on the web."
"It should have the flexibility for scoping the story and models. When you use it in a three-layer architecture, you struggle with the fact that you usually have just one SAP Analytics Cloud tenant, and you have to switch the connections, which might be an issue for bigger developments. For the development role, there should be an option to switch between development and production scenarios."
"One area for improvement in SAP Analytics Cloud is incorporating Python into the coding. That functionality is available, but it's not as efficient, and it's a bit difficult sometimes to do it, so that could be improved."
"The scope is limited to a few accounts."
"SAC, which is the cloud version, lost some good features from the previous planning product, like BPC or BPS."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is quite expensive, if it is made cheaper then we can have more clients. I rate it four out of ten."
"It is not the cheapest product on earth, but you get so much. It provides good value for money."
"​In terms of the pricing, it was reasonable. BOARD is not the lowest in the market, but it was reasonable for us."
"The tool's price is a bit high compared to other solutions."
"Find a partner who will take responsibility for the implementation, and be available for support."
"It's quite expensive and costs a lot to maintain, especially with licensing."
"The pricing of this product is reasonable."
"The platform is about 50% more expensive than Power BI."
"SAP Analytics can be very costly to license, which can make it difficult for organizations to implement."
"Compute and storage features should be sold separately."
"It is not the most expensive one. You have to do the cost-of-ownership analysis and take a lot of things into consideration to come up with the conclusion that it is cheaper or not, but its price is reasonable. It provides value for money."
"Its licensing is on a monthly basis."
"I don't have the exact price for SAP Analytics Cloud, but it could be improved and made cheaper, especially when compared to Power BI."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which BI (Business Intelligence) Tools solutions are best for your needs.
844,944 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Insurance Company
6%
Educational Organization
22%
Manufacturing Company
15%
Computer Software Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

Is Board better than Anaplan as a Business Intelligence (BI) solution?
We've had several FP&A departments include Anaplan in their analytics discussions, and while BI information IS generated, the focus is generally on compiling input from various sources and simu...
What do you like most about Board?
All the reports are prepared automatically.
What needs improvement with Board?
Some of my company's customers are interested to see the predictive analytics part of the tool. Some customers would like to leverage or prioritize predictive analytics as the main feature, but som...
Which would you choose - Tableau or SAP Analytics Cloud?
Tableau is easy to set up and maintain. In about a day it is possible for the entire platform to be deployed for use. This relatively short amount of time can make all the difference for companies ...
What do you like most about SAP Analytics Cloud?
In the data warehouse, you're free to make changes. You can make everything text, meaning it's always a string. Even numbers appear as text, giving you the flexibility to work with all columns.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SAP Analytics Cloud?
The pricing model for SAP Analytics Cloud is quite competitive, but the cost for the planning functionality is high and can be a barrier to entry. The overall cost can be managed with better billin...
 

Also Known As

No data available
SAP BusinessObjects Cloud
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Coca-Cola, Puma, Desigual, Ricoh, KPMG, H&M, Groupe SEB
Live Oak Bank
Find out what your peers are saying about Board vs. SAP Analytics Cloud and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
844,944 professionals have used our research since 2012.