Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services vs Pentaho Business Analytics comparison

Microsoft SQL Servering Services vs. Pentaho Business Analytics

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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

Microsoft SQL Server Report...

Ranking in Reporting

6th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

8.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Pentaho Business Analytics

Ranking in Reporting

14th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

BI (Business Intelligence) Tools (20th), Cloud Operations Analytics (4th)

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2025, in the Reporting category, the mindshare of Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services is 3.5%, down from 4.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Pentaho Business Analytics is 1.1%, down from 1.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Reporting

Featured Reviews

Gnanavel-Chakkarapani

Junior Consultant at CMA CGM

Offers useful templates but needs to improve the connectivity offered

In Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services, not much of the interface part is used. With Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services, its users face issues with the interface after they use Excel or create Microsoft SSIS Packages. The tool's interface is an area of concern requiring improvement. There needs to be an improvement in the product's connectivity so that the tool can connect easily with other third-party databases. In the dashboard, drag and drop functionality needs to improve, especially when compared to other tools like IBM Cognos Analytics and Qlik Sense. Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services is useful only for standard reports. In IBM Cognos Analytics, query studio can be used by users to drag the data and simply download the reports, so the user doesn't need to have any technical knowledge like developers. Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services is to be improved to offer features like query Studio, which is provided in IBM Cognos Analytics.

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Sayan König

Senior Manager, Financial Services at KPMG

Flexible, easy to understand, and simple to set up

The repository should be improved. There should be the possibility to have versioning, to make it combinable with some Git repositories or something like that, to check out the processes and make sure it has a traceable history. The solution could really be improved. There are too many bugs in our version.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"We can create quality reports in real time."

"The initial setup is easy."

"The tool's valuable features are its drill-down feature, graphs, and charts."

"I like Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services' automated reporting feature."

"The solution is known for its robust security features."

"In Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services, the installation and configuration are easy."

"The stability of SSRS has been reliable, with minimal issues encountered during our usage."

"We get good support from Microsoft."

More Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services pros

"I use the BI Server, CDE Dashboards, Saiku, and Kettle, because these tools are very good and highly experienced."

"The initial setup is pretty straightforward."

"The most valuable feature of Pentaho is the Tableau report."

"Easy to use components to create the job."

"Pentaho Business Analytics' best features include the ease of developing data flows and the wide range of options to connect to databases, including those on the cloud."

"It is robust, offers market intelligence, and utilizes modules effectively."

"Pentaho is an analytics platform that can be used when an organization has a lot of big data storage systems already installed and needs to manage and analyze that data. It has a specific use case for unstructured data, such as documents, and needs to be able to search and analyze it."

"We were able to install it without any assistance from tech support."

Cons

"The product should improve its performance."

"The complex tuning for report performance is complicated. There is a lack of native support for source code control. We often need to use separate tools like VS Code or other software to manage version control and changes in the database. It would be beneficial if source code management were integrated directly into SSRS, thus eliminating the need to rely on external tools. While CLI-based operations are exemplary, the trend is towards GUI for a better user experience. Integrating both visualization and source code management within SSRS would simplify the process for users."

"There is room for improvement in the pricing model."

"Technical support is in minor need of improvement so that they can solve problems in a more timely manner."

"In this solution, the cost should be reduced for the enterprise edition."

"I would like the solution to add the scheduling feature for reports."

"It doesn't have quite the flexibility of a Tableau or something like that. Many users are more comfortable with Tableau and I'm not quite sure why that is right now, but it seems to be the case."

"The solution's interface is old."

More Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services cons

"The repository should be improved."

"Another concern is that Pentaho is not customizable or interactive."

"Pentaho Business Analytics' user interface is outdated."

"We did not achieve the ROI. The work delivered to users had lesser value than the subscription cost."

"Logging capability is needed."

"Deployment is not simple. It is not simple because we are dealing with a lot of data; we are dealing with a lot of storage. So, it's not a simple process."

"Pentaho, at the general level, should greatly improve the easy construction of its dashboards and easy integration of information from different sources without technical user intervention."

"The tool is very good, and yet it has some problems as it relies heavily on Java."

More Pentaho Business Analytics cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is cheaper than its alternatives."

"The solution is expensive."

"The product pricing is reasonable in terms of suitable features for business."

"The pricing is high."

"The solution is free to use for developers."

"The price is pretty good."

"The tool's licensing costs are expensive."

"Value-wise, the solution's pricing is good for the price that we pay."

"We were lucky enough to find a Pentaho OEM partner who offered a data warehouse model and the ETL software for about 60K SGD per year."

"Free and commercial versions are available."

"Pentaho is expensive ."

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Comparison Review

it_user6978

Co-Founder at Helical IT Solution (Jaspersoft, Pentaho, Talend, Kettle, DWBI, ETL, Ctools, iReport, Jasper Report)

Jun 10, 2013

Jaspersoft vs. Pentaho – Which one to use & is there any need to purchase the commercial edition

Any company (be it technology, manfucaturing, human resource, ecommerce, SME etc) always has the need for Business Intelligence to some or the other extent. If cost is one of the consideration factor, then the 2 BI tools which are at the forefront are Pentaho and Jaspersoft. But, often the same…

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

14%

Government

12%

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

26%

Computer Software Company

12%

Government

Educational Organization

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services?

I mainly use the solution for the ease of reporting and for executive dashboards.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services?

Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services should be okay if you're within the budget. We're just using open-source solutions if you're not within the budget. Sometimes, we use MySQL or something simi...

What needs improvement with Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services?

QL Server can support the customer language in the long term, so we can use another language to build some components.

Seeking lightweight open source BI software

There are many...It would rather depend what System BI architecture or Enterprise legacy you have at your end...I would recommend as follows: 1) If you have legacies of SAP, Oracle - look for SAP...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Pentaho Business Analytics?

For those starting to use this tool, there is a free version available which is beneficial. The company also finds the pricing to be good.

What needs improvement with Pentaho Business Analytics?

The tool is very good, and yet it has some problems as it relies heavily on Java. The platform works with Java, and it has brought some issues to the company.

TIBCO Jaspersoft vs Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services

Comparisons

Compared 23% of the time

Tableau vs Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services

Compared 17% of the time

Oracle OBIEE vs Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services

Compared 13% of the time

IBM Cognos vs Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services

Compared 11% of the time

ComponentOne ActiveReports vs Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services

Compared 2% of the time

More Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services Competitors

KNIME vs Pentaho Business Analytics

Compared 29% of the time

Databricks vs Pentaho Business Analytics

Compared 19% of the time

Microsoft Power BI vs Pentaho Business Analytics

Compared 15% of the time

SAP Crystal Reports vs Pentaho Business Analytics

Compared 9% of the time

Alteryx vs Pentaho Business Analytics

Compared 5% of the time

More Pentaho Business Analytics Competitors

Product Reports

Microsoft SQL Servering Services

Download Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services product report

Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services report

Pentaho Business Analytics

Download Pentaho Business Analytics product report

Also Known As

SQL Server Reporting Services, Microsoft SSRS, SSRS, MS SQL Server Reporting Services

Pentaho, Kettle, Hitachi Pentaho Business Analytics

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Microsoft

Hitachi Vantara

Overview

At Microsoft, our mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. Our mission is grounded in both the world in which we live and the future we strive to create. Today, we live in a mobile-first, cloud-first world, and the transformation we are driving across our businesses is designed to enable Microsoft and our customers to thrive in this world.

We do business in 170 countries and are made up of 114,000 passionate employees dedicated to fulfilling our mission of helping you and your organization achieve more.

Pentaho is an open source business intelligence company that provides a wide range of tools to help their customers better manage their businesses. These tools include data integration software, mining tools, dashboard applications, online analytical processing options, and more.

Pentaho has two product categories: There is the standard enterprise version. This is the product that comes directly from Pentaho itself with all of the benefits, features, and programs that come along with a paid application such us analysis services, dashboard design, and interactive reporting.

The alternative is an open source version, which the public is permitted to add to and tweak the product. This solution has its advantages, aside from the fact that it is free, in that there are many more people working on the project to improve its quality and breadth of functionality.

Sample Customers

CMS Wire, The New York Times

Cargo 2000 Lufthansa, Marketo, ModCloth, Cardiac Science, Telefonica, ExactTarget, Active Broadband Networks, and Brussels Airport.

Microsoft SQL Servering Services vs. Pentaho Business Analytics