Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services vs Windward Core comparison

Microsoft and Windward Studios are both solutions in the Reporting category. Microsoft is ranked #6 with an average rating of 7.9, while Windward Studios is ranked #25. Microsoft holds a 3.6% mindshare in RT, compared to Windward Studios’s 0.5% mindshare. Additionally, 88% of Microsoft users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Windward Studios users who would recommend it.

Microsoft SQL Server Report...

Read 18 Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services reviews

3,298 Views
2,298 Comparison Views

88% willing to recommend

Windward Core

Read 36 Windward Core reviews

537 Views
168 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Microsoft SQL Server Report...

Windward Core

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services and Windward Core based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Reporting solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services vs. Windward Core Report (Updated: January 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft SQL Servering Services vs. Windward Core

January 2025

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Helped 832,138 peers since 2012

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

Windward Core

Ranking in Reporting

25th

Average Rating

8.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Document Generation Tools (1st)

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2025, in the Reporting category, the mindshare of Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services is 3.6%, down from 5.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Windward Core is 0.5%, up from 0.3% 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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Hit Mistry

Vice President at PSC Group, LLC

It has streamlined a lot of our reporting processes

Their PDF needs improvement. We've run into some issues when we tried to generate a Word document. If we try to generate the same document in PDF, sometimes it doesn't look exactly the same. We have gone back to Windward support a couple of times on a few issues, e.g., we had some issues with reports that had barcodes on them. The barcode wasn't displaying properly. It was displaying as a skewed image as opposed to an actual barcode. Therefore, we worked with Windward support, having some daily calls with them. Then, within the next release, they were able to resolve the issue. They even gave us a pre-release, so we could implement it into our code before the actual official release on the website. It would be nice to have some sort of workflow capability within the product. Anytime you generate a document, nine out of ten times there is something which precedes that document, whether it's entering parameters in, e.g., if I'm requesting the status report for a project. The first thing that I usually want from a status perspective is which project is the status report for and which week is it for, as those are some of the things that I have to supply before I can generate a document. From a workflow perspective, it would be nice to say, "This project belongs to this person, and this person is okay with me pulling information out of this document for whatever need I have." From a workflow perspective, I would like a wizard interface that goes step-by-step, like a questionnaire, where there are a bunch of things that you have to answer, "Yes or no," before it knows what to do or how to produce the document. Right now, we write our own custom UI for this.

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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 get good support from Microsoft."

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

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

"We were able to embed the report builder within our internal proprietary systems, improving our reporting capabilities."

"I'm very satisfied with the customer service. And usually, whenever we have any issue or details, we get to the person for the support. I'm really satisfied with the service. Within a few minutes or within a few hours, the support person will be available."

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

"The solution's features are all just wrapped up in one nice easy package. I don't need a lot of toolsets to get everything I need done."

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

More Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services pros

"We can develop any report at least five times faster."

"AutoTag is valuable because it integrates with MS Word and makes it easy for our users to create template documents and reports. It allows our users to design the templates based on differing needs."

"Another thing our clients absolutely love is the ability to design templates within the Microsoft Office suite, because of how simple it is. They're building off of something that's familiar. When they can build off of that feature, on top of something that's very familiar, that's a plus for them."

"Windward helped automate reports which otherwise would have needed IT to create and maintain."

"Some of our clients are looking at the nested filtering which is coming out. That's going to be a huge benefit for them because they're going to be able to nest and loop while they're also looking at filtering out certain data elements."

"The most valuable features are the ability for it to be integrated into our software solution and the AutoTag tool that allows us to quite quickly create and update the templates themselves."

"We ended up going with Windward for the level of support we got from them during our proof of concept."

"One of the things they added in the last two or three years is PODs, Portable Object Doclets. One of our clients said they wanted to use PODs. They're a good way to make some constructs modular and keep things in one place."

More Windward Core pros

Cons

"We encounter some barriers while trying to build a report."

"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."

"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."

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

"The setup is difficult because you have to install different servers."

"We have had issues with the refresh interval since we have too many reports scheduled. Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services is also expensive."

"The solution's interface is old."

More Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services cons

"It is software, so there are always times where things don't work. Most of the time issues happen when trying to move to a new version. There might be problems with reports that were created in an older version, so either we have to make a tweak to the templates or we report it to them and get them to make an adjustment to their software."

"The reason it took us so long to get the system up and running is that the APIs could be improved a bit. It could be a little bit more interoperable with software, without having to do a lot of the heavy lifting that we had do to get it in."

"AutoTag needs to be web-based, so our customers can create reports from our web."

"There are some Excel formatting things that you lose when you implement a template: some default Excel validation scripts, macros. You could create them in Excel if you were just using Excel, but in creating a template that generates a report, some of those validation things are lost."

"A lot of clients who want to use this don't have the technical background for the SQL portion of gathering the data. If Windward were to make a more user-friendly SQL extract front-end, that would help a lot of clients to leverage the application a lot more."

"I'm still working in Office 2016, and we have had some issues, but Windward is very quick to react when there is a problem. We are also going to switch over to Office 365 and that will solve a few of the problems."

"Is there any way to avoid AutoTag loading in Word/Excel each time? I need to use it from time to time - quite rarely. AutoTag affects performance of Word/Excel. I do not want to install/uninstall AutoTag each time I need it."

"The only thing I can think of, that we'd like it to do, would be the ability to "burst out" reports, meaning one section of a report could be sent out as an email to a manager of a department, say, without having to run multiple reports to do it. As it sits now, we have to do multiple reports to do it."

More Windward Core cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is high."

"The tool's licensing costs are expensive."

"The solution is expensive."

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

"The price is pretty good."

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

"The solution is free to use for developers."

"The solution is cheaper than its alternatives."

"For what you're getting, it's an extremely good value."

"The pricing is fair. The way that they have it priced is the Windward Designer has a price that's associated with it. Then, depending on the number of cores that you're looking for, that is the price that you pay. The more cores that you want, the more expensive it is."

"I can't advise anybody about pricing and licensing, but it was competitive. A lot of things we did look at were all volume-based, so it was a case of you buy a license to generate this many reports a year, and that's not something that I'm particularly interested in because it doesn't give you any idea - if we have future growth, or if we have a lean year - for budgeting reasons it's more difficult. With Windward it's a straight out license fee, whether we generate one page or we generate a million, it makes no difference."

"The only problem with the pricing of Windward is the limitation on the number of reports generated. It is costly in that sense. If you want to increase, you have to pay more, based on the number of reports generated per day. It is not the same with Crystal Reports. With the latter, you buy a license at one point in time and that's it."

"It is absolutely worth the value. They have flexibility, depending on what you're looking for from a buying standpoint. The current pricing models are quite flexible, with the ability to use it on an as-needed basis, or to get a perpetual license that covers a customer that might have extensive needs. I think it's pretty good."

"They are fair and flexible. They are willing to work with your current architecture to make sure you have the best deal."

"From my experience in this field, the product is reasonably priced, at least with the RESTful engine implementation. It's definitely not a cheap option. People say, "That's a fair amount of money to pay for a document generation tool." At the same time, you do get good functionality and the support is good."

"The pricing is very reasonable for what it provides. The report builder is about one grand per user... We are paying for a support contract, which is 20 percent of the price, but because the licenses are perpetual, I think the pricing is very reasonable."

More Windward Core pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

14%

Government

13%

Computer Software Company

Healthcare Company

Computer Software Company

15%

Financial Services Firm

15%

Manufacturing Company

Real Estate/Law Firm

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.

See all answers

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...

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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.

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Comparisons

TIBCO Jaspersoft vs Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services

Compared 22% of the time

Tableau vs Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services

Compared 16% 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 12% of the time

SAP Crystal Reports vs Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services

Compared 9% of the time

More Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services Competitors

SAP Crystal Reports vs Windward Core

Compared 58% of the time

Docmosis vs Windward Core

Compared 42% of the time

More Windward Core Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft SQL Servering Services

January 2025

Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services report

Download Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services product report

Buyer's Guide

Windward Core

January 2025

Download Windward Core product report

Also Known As

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

Windward, Windward Studios

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.

Microsoft

What is Windward Studios?

For over a decade, Windward has been a leader in the software development industry by creating the most innovative and advanced document automation and reporting software on the planet.

Data-Driven Document Automation

Generate stunning documents that incorporate relevant data easily and seamlessly.

Visually Striking Designs

Our software provides innovative tools and features to build beautiful designs and stunning layouts, all within the familiar Microsoft Office Suite. Your imagination is the only limitation.

Agile Document Logic

We offer the best document automation software for the new millennium. With our conditional logic functionality, you can swiftly personalize the document content to gratify your end users.

Huge Time Saver

Looking for faster template creation that enables you to keep pace with your business? With our software, template creation takes minutes and you do not need any programming experience to get it done.

Exceptionally Intuitive Interface

Our program's design offers documents that can be edited, customized and designed using MS Office. Enjoy a stress-free document automation experience in programs you already know.

Efficient Savings

Significantly reduce the resources and time required for template development by using our streamlined template design and document automation tools.

Windward Studios

Sample Customers

CMS Wire, The New York Times

HAL, Inc., Axe Group, White Clark Group, Blueprint Software, Aspect Security, Nucleus Software, LeBlanc’s Food Stores, South Sound 911, Aegon, Barclays, Fidelity Investments, ArisGlobal LLC, USDA, RepLink, AON Hewitt

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft SQL Servering Services vs. Windward Core

January 2025

Free Report: Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services vs. Windward Core

Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services vs. Windward Core and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.

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