Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services vs SAP Crystal Reports comparison

Microsoft SQL Servering Services vs. SAP Crystals

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Categories and Ranking

IBM Cognos

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2024, in the Reporting category, the mindshare of IBM Cognos is 4.6%, down from 6.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services is 3.7%, down from 5.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAP Crystal Reports is 2.8%, down from 4.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Reporting

Featured Reviews

Carlos Larrad Salgado

Deputy Director Operations Management Control at Mapfre

Improved the quality of our KPIs, while reducing calls to the IT department

I don't like that when we use Colab packages, we get less functionality. For example, you can make groups of data with Excel or with the data sets from the packages, but when you use the Colab packages directly, you can only group the data when you analyze it with Analysis Studio. I think Cognos needs to improve more on this functionality. The user experience is also very important. Cognos is not very easy to understand sometimes, especially when they change the layout but keep the functionality the same. The help is not very graphic and they have no examples. Cognos has to make a big effort to help with understanding the functionality by improving the documentation. There is a lot of documentation, but the examples are hard to find and they should make their help section easier to understand for non-technical users.

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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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MVD Prasad

Assistant General Manager at Soma Enterprise

Helps analyze your data by creating richly formatted, pixel-perfect, and multiple reports from virtually any data source, delivered in over a dozen formats

It has significantly enhanced security features, especially when compared to the standard security features of the earlier PeerSpot version I purchased. I've observed improvements in security, and overall, it's quite commendable. Regarding potential enhancements for the next release of this solution, I haven't closely examined SAP Crystal Reports 53. I've only encountered it briefly, perhaps once or twice. However, I anticipate that it likely offers advanced features distinct from its predecessor. I believe there may be notable improvements and additions in the latest version, and I look forward to exploring them further.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The product is a very good reporting tool and is very flexible. It allows for the users to get a scheduled report."

"The solution's most valuable feature is its ease of use, which makes it easily compatible with other tools."

"The main difference that I like about Cognos compared to other solutions is its data splitting functionality. We have all our company data inside the Cognos environment and so we prefer to split the information Cognos itself. It's more efficient this way."

"In terms of stability, I think that Cognos is more stable than Tableau and Power Bi because of its framework manager concept that allows us to import metadata and store it in the framework manager."

"The comprehensiveness or broadness of the software functions or business intelligence functions that it provides is valuable. It is also quite easy to use and user-friendly."

"Integration with Office can enable the 'download' mode of storytelling."

"The Report Studio that is aimed at professional report writers."

"We use IBM Cognos for enterprise analytics and reporting."

More IBM Cognos pros

"I am impressed with the product's seamless integration. It can work with different databases like Oracle."

"The initial setup is easy."

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

"Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) is reliable for management dashboard and reporting purposes. It is helpful for user reporting and administrative tasks, such as monitoring progress. It is easy to use since it is lightweight and integrates well with the SQL Server database, making reporting straightforward. The visualization capabilities enhance our reporting needs with good pagination and KPI features. It integrates well with data servers and workbooks, allowing us to publish reports on mobile applications and tablets easily. Integrating other tools and platforms in our tech ecosystem is generally straightforward. However, if we need to perform something very specialized, we might have to use third-party tools rather than inbuilt options."

"We get good support from Microsoft."

"It is a stable solution."

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

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

More Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services pros

"SAP Crystal Reports offers a plethora of features, many of which were available much earlier than in the Crystal Reports we previously used. We extensively use its capabilities for generating general reports, working with Kaspersky data, and even incorporating images into our reports. The range of functions available in SAP Crystal Reports is diverse, and we leverage them across various systems for our needs."

"I find Crystal Reports very easy to use, even for a non-technical person."

"We use SAP Crystal Reports for operational reporting."

"The initial setup of the solution is pretty easy."

"The most valuable feature is that from a user's point of view, it is easy to use and requires just a simple click to generate a report."

"The most valuable feature of the solution is that it is a fantastic way of generating reports."

"It is an user-friendly solution."

"The overall environment is the best. Data management, graphs, and layout – everything is the best, in my opinion."

Cons

"IBM Support can be slow at times, but they can usually deliver in a timely manner."

"Need improvement towards Visualization."

"There are a lot of limitations with the out-of-the-box tool."

"They were lacking in the initial phases of development in the area of big data, and they still need to improve that aspect of the product."

"The solution's support could be better."

"This product could use improvement in terms of usability for those with less technical know how."

"They should provide improved visual reporting."

"It could have more options for themes."

More IBM Cognos cons

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

"The product could be improved by reducing the time it takes to build and deploy reports."

"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."

"Sometimes, we need to make sure that the configuration stays consistent across the reporting instances. They all connect to the same database. So, it shares that same backend, but the reporting services itself can also be configured. On the application level, for reporting level. And it is, based on my own experience, it is a manual effort to make sure that the reporting servers are configured the same across the environment."

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

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

"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

"It has significantly enhanced security features, especially when compared to the standard security features of the earlier PeerSpot version I purchased. I've observed improvements in security, and overall, it's quite commendable. Regarding potential enhancements for the next release of this solution, I haven't closely examined SAP Crystal Reports 53. I've only encountered it briefly, perhaps once or twice. However, I anticipate that it likely offers advanced features distinct from its predecessor. I believe there may be notable improvements and additions in the latest version, and I look forward to exploring them further."

"SAP Crystal Reports should provide better support for dynamic connectors."

"If at all possible, a little bit of improvement on the analytical side is needed."

"The financing part needs improvement."

"A real improvement would be a simpler system that allows users to play with the visualization without needing specialized skills and code."

"There could be improvements made to the analytics capabilities."

"Maybe some Power BI-related features could be added, like dashboards or direct editing in reports."

"SAP Crystal Reports has some compatibility issues with third-party products."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Cognos is super expensive compared to Tableau ($70/month) and Power BI ($20/month) — I think Cognos is roughly $200 a month."

"It is quite pricy. I think Microsoft BI is cheaper. Tableau might also be cheaper, but it also depends on the usage. If you have very many users, Cognos can be a problem. It could be cheaper than Tableau but not for so many users. If you have a few thousand users, Tableau, which is generally quite expensive, can be cheaper than Cognos."

"I rate the product price as four or five on a scale from one to ten, where one is a low price, and ten is a high price."

"IBM Cognos offers competitive pricing similar to other BI vendors in the market."

"My company uses IBM Cognos with another IBM product, so I think only one license is used."

"There is some additional licensing that we needed to purchase because we were touching data outside of our core data platform. The cost was approximately $25,000 for the additional licenses, which were approximate 45 licenses. For the application itself, updates, and the core platform it was approximately $50,000. Giving a total cost of $75,000 annually for our usage of IBM Cognos."

"The cost of IBM Cognos it's more or less the same as most of the other solutions on the market. They're very competitive with the rest of the market and it is not the most expensive product."

"IBM Cognos price is on the higher side of the spectrum. However, with the features that it brings, such as correlation analysis, it's worth the money. They should look at the pricing more clearly because it's a little on the higher side."

More IBM Cognos pricing and cost advice

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

"The solution is free to use for developers."

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

"The pricing is high."

"The price is pretty good."

"The solution is cheaper than its alternatives."

"The tool's licensing costs are expensive."

"The solution is expensive."

"SAP Crystal Reports is a very expensive solution."

"This product costs a lot of money."

"The cost of licensing can be a significant factor to consider when upgrading or transitioning to a new version of SAP Crystal Reports. It's important to evaluate the benefits and features offered by the new version against the associated costs to ensure it aligns with your organization's needs and budget."

"We pay fifteen hundred dollars as licensing fee."

"I feel that SAP Crystal Reports is a reasonably priced product."

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824,067 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

55%

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

15%

Government

12%

Computer Software Company

10%

Healthcare Company

Financial Services Firm

11%

Computer Software Company

10%

Government

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

Seeking lightweight open source BI software

It depends on the Data architecture and the complexity of your requirement. Some great tools in the market are Qlik ...

What do you like most about IBM Cognos?

The solution's most valuable feature is its ease of use, which makes it easily compatible with other tools.

What needs improvement with IBM Cognos?

I need improvements, particularly with the Framework Manager, which has an outdated user interface from older version...

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 solu...

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.

What needs improvement with SAP Crystal Reports?

Maybe some Power BI-related features could be added, like dashboards or direct editing in reports. We use query langu...

What is your primary use case for SAP Crystal Reports?

We use SAP Crystal Reports for reporting. We use it for financial reports like statements of accounts, trial balances...

What do you like most about SAP Crystal Reports?

We use SAP Crystal Reports for operational reporting.

Microsoft Power BI vs IBM Cognos

Comparisons

Compared 13% of the time

Tableau vs IBM Cognos

Compared 10% of the time

Oracle Hyperion vs IBM Cognos

Compared 10% of the time

Amazon QuickSight vs IBM Cognos

Compared 8% of the time

Databricks vs IBM Cognos

Compared 2% of the time

More IBM Cognos Competitors

TIBCO Jaspersoft vs Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services

Compared 24% of the time

Tableau vs Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services

Compared 15% of the time

Oracle OBIEE vs Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services

Compared 12% of the time

Microsoft Power BI vs Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services

Compared 10% of the time

Oracle Business Intelligence Discoverer vs Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services

Compared 6% of the time

More Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services Competitors

Microsoft Power BI vs SAP Crystal Reports

Compared 21% of the time

TIBCO Jaspersoft vs SAP Crystal Reports

Compared 20% of the time

MicroStrategy vs SAP Crystal Reports

Compared 8% of the time

Pentaho Business Analytics vs SAP Crystal Reports

Compared 6% of the time

Oracle OBIEE vs SAP Crystal Reports

Compared 6% of the time

More SAP Crystal Reports Competitors

Product Reports

IBM Cognos

Download IBM Cognos product report

Microsoft SQL Servering Services

Download Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services product report

Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services report

Download SAP Crystal Reports product report

SAP Crystals

November 2024

Also Known As

Cognos, Cognos Analytics, IBM Cognos Analytics

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

No data available

Learn More

IBM

Microsoft

SAP

Overview

IBM Cognos Business Intelligence provides a wide range of tools to help you analyze your organization's data. IBM Cognos BI allows businesses to monitor events and metrics, create and view business reports, and analyze data to help them make effective business decisions.

IBM Cognos applies techniques to describe, summarize, and compare data, and draw conclusions. This allows users to see trends and discover anomalies or variances that may not be evident by simply reading data. Data sources that contain information from different areas of a business can be stored in separate packages. Users can see only information that they have been granted access to, based on their group or role.

IBM Cognos BI consolidates the following business intelligence functions into a single web-based solution:

IBM Cognos Insight: Create personal and managed workspaces for data analysis. Using these interactive workspaces, you can share insight results with managers. Cognos Insight supports write-back, and you can also use these workspaces to capture and integrate management goals, commitments, and forecasts.
IBM Cognos Workspace: With IBM Cognos Workspace, you can create rich, interactive workspaces using IBM Cognos content as well as data from external sources. You can view and open your favorite workspaces and reports, edit content in your workspaces, and share your workspaces via email.
IBM Cognos Analytics: IBM Cognos Analytics utilizes built-in AI and intuitive searches which helps users to quickly create the visualizations and a wide range of reports. Cognos Analytics provides cognitive and managed self-service, enabling you to gain insights from controlled and trusted data.
IBM Cognos Report Studio and IBM Cognos Query Studio: Easily create structured and query reports. IBM Cognos allows users to create application and report templates. In addition, report authors can reuse report objects to apply filters, fields, and styles to reports. Users can set the language of the user interface and report content according to the user's native language.
IBM Cognos Event Studio: Receive notifications of events that occur within your organization in real time. Event Studio enables the creation of agents that detect the occurrence of business events, failures, or anomalies, based on the change of specific events or data conditions. Notification can be sent via email, publication in the portal, or by triggering reports.
IBM Cognos Connection: This is the Web portal for IBM Cognos BI and is the central area for accessing all the IBM Cognos functions. In the web portal, users can schedule and distribute reports, create tasks, administer the server and the access permissions, and more.

Reviews from Real Users

IBM Cognos stands out among its competitors for a number of reasons. Two major ones are its powerful analysis tool and its reporting capabilities.

Prasad B., a senior software engineer at a financial services firm, notes, “The product is a very good reporting tool and is very flexible. It allows for the users to get a scheduled report. We can receive automated reports as well. They are easy to schedule on a weekly or monthly basis. It is very fast. I mean in means of report output, it's very fast compared to the actual clients involved.”

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.

Turn information from almost any data source into a sophisticated, interactive report with SAP Crystal Reports. This powerful, user-friendly application for small businesses and departments can help you deliver key insights to the right decision maker, at the right time, in the right format.

Click here for a free trial

Sample Customers

More than 23,000 leading organizations across multiple industries use Cognos. Some examples of Cognos customers include BMW Financial Services, Quinte Health Care, Troy Corporation, Michigan State University, and GKN Land System.

CMS Wire, The New York Times

City of Buenos Aires, ASR Group, Citrix, EarlySense, Usha International Limited, Automotive Resources International (ARI), LivePerson, Coelba (Grupo Neoenergia), RZD Russian Railways, National Basketball Association - NBA, TALLY WEiJL, El Machetazo, Young Heroes, Mozzart, Mitsui Knowledge Industry (MKI) , Surgutneftegas Open Joint Stock Company, The VELUX Group, AOK Bundesverband, AL-KO KOBER GROUP

Microsoft SQL Servering Services vs. SAP Crystals