MicroStrategy vs SAP Analytics Cloud comparison

MicroStrategy and SAP are both solutions in the BI (Business Intelligence) Tools category. MicroStrategy is ranked #8 with an average rating of 7.6, while SAP is ranked #4 with an average rating of 7.6. MicroStrategy holds a 3.5% mindshare in BIT, compared to SAP’s 5.1% mindshare. Additionally, 92% of MicroStrategy users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 91% of SAP users who would recommend it.

MicroStrategy

Read 159 MicroStrategy reviews

4,992 Views
3,248 Comparison Views

92% willing to recommend

SAP Analytics Cloud

Read 69 SAP Analytics Cloud reviews

7,738 Views
5,122 Comparison Views

91% willing to recommend

MicroStrategy

SAP Analytics Cloud

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 1, 2025

MicroStrategy and SAP Analytics Cloud both compete in the business intelligence and analytics category. SAP Analytics Cloud seems to have an upper hand for organizations already in the SAP ecosystem due to its seamless integration capabilities and strong machine learning features.

Features: MicroStrategy offers development flexibility, robust analytics without the need for ETL, and scalable SQL engines. Its robust mobile BI capabilities and centralized metadata make it suitable for complex requirements. SAP Analytics Cloud provides strong predictive analytics and machine learning features. It integrates seamlessly with SAP products, offering a unified platform for BI, planning, and predictive analytics, making it effective for SAP-centric organizations.

Room for Improvement: MicroStrategy users seek improvements in its report development interface, enhanced visualization options, and a more intuitive setup process. Better customer support is also desired. SAP Analytics Cloud needs to enhance third-party integration, improve data extraction, and offere more competitive pricing for smaller firms. Additionally, more flexible planning features and seamless big data integration are requested by users.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: MicroStrategy is traditionally focused on on-premises solutions, which can be complex. While its customer service receives mixed reviews, efforts are being made for improvement. SAP Analytics Cloud, being cloud-centric, offers ease of deployment and effective customer service with timely responses, aligning with its integrated support for SAP environments.

Pricing and ROI: MicroStrategy's pricing is high but can offer lower TCO through reusability. Negotiated discounts may be available, making it costly for smaller businesses. SAP Analytics Cloud's pricing is also high but justified by its integration within the SAP suite, offering tiered subscription plans. Both platforms provide significant ROI when leveraged within their specific use cases.

To learn more, read our detailed MicroStrategy vs. SAP Analytics Cloud Report (Updated: January 2025).

Buyer's Guide

MicroStrategy vs. SAP Analytics Cloud

January 2025

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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

MicroStrategy

Ranking in BI (Business Intelligence) Tools

8th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

159

Ranking in other categories

Embedded BI (3rd)

SAP Analytics Cloud

Ranking in BI (Business Intelligence) Tools

4th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Predictive Analytics (2nd)

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2025, in the BI (Business Intelligence) Tools category, the mindshare of MicroStrategy is 3.5%, down from 3.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAP Analytics Cloud is 5.1%, down from 5.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

BI (Business Intelligence) Tools

Featured Reviews

Harjinder-Singh

Data engineer at a insurance company with 10,001+ employees

Offers a simplified attribute and maze-creation process but lacks a thriving community

The solution provider should take some initiatives to grow the MicroStrategy community because, presently, it's quite small, and I wasn't able to find a solution to my problem by searching in the community. MicroStrategy can offer user-friendly training through platforms such as YouTube. Recently, at our company, the features we were able to utilize in the developer tool were not there in the workstation; such issues can be resolved through training videos or learning content distribution from MicroStrategy. The solution provider is presently promoting the workstation on the cloud instead of the developer tool, so there should be relevant resources for learning about the product. MicroStrategy is also working on integrating AI technology into its product. The object migration process from one environment to another using the solution is somewhat complex. It involves package creation, dependency, and transportation. But the migration process is rather simpler in OBIEE, where reports need to be archived in one system and unarchived in another, for example, from Dev to SID.

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RamasamyTelungupalayam

Product Manager - ERP Analytics and BI at Haleon

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.

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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

"It is a reliable solution for our needs."

"The whole repository side of things is beneficial because you develop it once, and you can use it anywhere, in the Enterprise grade."

"The interactive features that appear in the report were good. The external rendering option they give with multi servers was also good."

"It helps all the store managers and supply chain people to obtain a view of the data and plan the next week, the next month, quarters, and so on."

"It offers us a lot of out-of-the-box tools, which give us the ability to automate a lot of our administrative tasks. Some things become menial: user creation, restarting a server at 10 o'clock on a Friday - simple things that they really give you the tools to be able to do. That's one thing I really like about the MicroStrategy platform from an administrative perspective."

"On our mobile solution you can deploy up to 100,000 users. In our case, we're up to about 10,000 active users, and MicroStrategy's server technology behind the scenes, the Intelligence Server and the Mobile Servers, are very robust and they can handle the workload."

"Mobile brings reports/dashboards closer to the business user."

"Project Schema/metadata- Very flexible, connects to a variety of different data sources and is very flexible for many specific tasks. Attributes/metrics/filters created once used by everyone."

More MicroStrategy pros

"The features that are most valuable in SAP Analytics Cloud are the planning feature and the predictive analytics feature, though the planning feature needs to be more efficient."

"The most valuable features are the visualization and user-friendliness."

"The SKU, the story build all are user- friendly. For the story build one just has to drag and drop it. And for the table, you just need some sort of selections and everything there."

"The new Application Design option offers lots of customization options by being able to script in Typescript (similar to Javascript)."

"The visualization feature is the most valuable. SAP Analytics Cloud is also very easy to use."

"The ease of use of the solution is its most valuable feature. We haven't tried all of the features yet. The graphing and the ease of using the analytics tools have been great. It's all drag and drop; you don't need to code anything."

"SAP Analytics Cloud allows you to quickly perform various tasks in terms of virtualization. CyberArk itself requires some enhancements to better connect with other technologies. While it's easy to connect with SAP, using analytics tools may sometimes necessitate sourcing information from different platforms. You might need data from SAP or other technologies/platforms to access specific information not available within SAP. SAP is effective for managing storage and enhancing virtualization capabilities."

"Its user-friendliness is valuable. It is a product for end-users and not for IT, which is an advantage."

More SAP Analytics Cloud pros

Cons

"The solution's licensing could be improved because its cost is heavy on the pockets."

"Its price should be lower. In terms of features, what we have is quite encompassing right now."

"We have the mobile server. We have not used it. That is because the people on our team have not been trained on it yet, but that is something that we want to do."

"Native VI on mobile apps and better android support are lacking."

"If there are some advanced visualization features - maybe I'm not aware of them - but if there were a Vitara which could work on top of MicroStrategy, it would make sense for MicroStrategy to have that within their own library. So they should add more visualizations to the library."

"There needs to be better visualization."

"You can now do data blending at the document level and data blending allows you to show results from different data sets in one grid, so to speak. I want to be able to create a data set that can receive data from multiple cubes, have it in one data set, and then bring it to the document, because then I can reuse it for other documents. Now, I have to do it in a document and then it's less reusable, because if I want to share that functionality, I have to copy the document, strip a lot of things, and then work on that basic element that I've built in that document."

"The graphs available for the new dashboard of version 10 are weak."

More MicroStrategy cons

"It seems like there's a problem with the tool's licenses. If there are a lot of users, like 200, who only use the solution once a year, paying for a full-year license for each user is expensive. There's no option for users who only use the solution occasionally."

"What could be improved in SAP Analytics Cloud is integration, particularly in terms of extracting data from the source system. Currently, its data extraction mechanism doesn't have good integration and needs improvement."

"An area for improvement in SAP Analytics Cloud is its planning feature because it's not that efficient when compared to BPC. Another area for improvement in the solution is the difficulty in building reports or dashboards, particularly if you don't have proper knowledge of the BI system. SAP Analytics Cloud technical support also needs improvement."

"Real-time reporting is one area that needs improvement for the product."

"The scope is limited to a few accounts."

"If the application has many pages or a page with more charts, it tends to load slowly."

"I expect more integration from SAP Analytics Cloud."

"There is no direct connector from SAP to Redshift, so we are required to use a third-party product that was recommended by SAP."

More SAP Analytics Cloud cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing list itself is not publicly accessible, so it's a bit opaque."

"For larger businesses, the pricing is logical."

"We actually researched some of the other solutions. For options, price, and customer acceptance, this product has worked well for us."

"The licensing is a bit high per user."

"Additional costs are associated with maintenance."

"They offer yearly as well as perpetual licenses."

"The solution is scalable. A little expensive perhaps, but it is scalable."

"The solution’s licensing cost is expensive."

More MicroStrategy pricing and cost advice

"SAP Analytics Cloud can be quite expensive."

"The price is competitive. There is a power user license and normal user license, but the normal user license is reasonable."

"The premium option is very expensive at five thousand dollars. I use the nine hundred and ninety-nine dollar option."

"Compute and storage features should be sold separately."

"It Wasn't directly involved in the pricing discussions, but when I joined the organization, they had already purchased the SAP Analytics Cloud solution. The organization faced challenges due to its perceived expense, leading to restrictions on granting access to many users."

"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."

"SAP Analytics Cloud is a bit higher [in price]. Because, if Microsoft can afford a better product and lower cost, SAP can afford at least the same, or even lower."

More SAP Analytics Cloud pricing and cost advice

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Comparison Review

it_user6330

Product Manager at a retailer with 10,001+ employees

May 2, 2013

MicroStrategy vs. Tableau

After a recent presentation, several attendees asked me about the applications of Visual Insights and Tableau. Many companies are investing in both tools and are trying to figure out the right tool for specific applications Tableau has found its sweet-spot as an agile discovery tool that analysts…

Read full review

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

18%

Computer Software Company

10%

Retailer

Insurance Company

Educational Organization

26%

Manufacturing Company

14%

Computer Software Company

Financial Services Firm

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about MicroStrategy?

The stability of the product is good.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for MicroStrategy?

For larger businesses, I think the pricing is logical, but for smaller companies, it can be a bit costly.

See all answers

What needs improvement with MicroStrategy?

There is a need to improve the automatic generation of metrics in MicroStrategy, as currently everything must be done manually. Additionally, the hierarchy creation process in MicroStrategy could b...

See all answers

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 ...

See all answers

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.

See all answers

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...

See all answers

Comparisons

Tableau vs MicroStrategy

Compared 24% of the time

Microsoft Power BI vs MicroStrategy

Compared 17% of the time

Amazon QuickSight vs MicroStrategy

Compared 8% of the time

IBM Cognos vs MicroStrategy

Compared 7% of the time

SAP Crystal Reports vs MicroStrategy

Compared 3% of the time

More MicroStrategy Competitors

SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform vs SAP Analytics Cloud

Compared 18% of the time

Tableau vs SAP Analytics Cloud

Compared 17% of the time

IBM Planning Analytics vs SAP Analytics Cloud

Compared 12% of the time

Microsoft Power BI vs SAP Analytics Cloud

Compared 10% of the time

Salesforce Einstein Analytics vs SAP Analytics Cloud

Compared 2% of the time

More SAP Analytics Cloud Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

MicroStrategy

January 2025

Download MicroStrategy product report

Buyer's Guide

SAP Analytics Cloud

December 2024

Download SAP Analytics Cloud product report

Also Known As

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SAP BusinessObjects Cloud

Learn More

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MicroStrategy

SAP

Overview

Company: Founded in 1989, MicroStrategy (Nasdaq: MSTR) is a leading worldwide provider of enterprise software platforms. With direct operations in 26 countries worldwide and approximately 2,000 employees, our mission is to provide enterprise analytics, mobility, and security platforms that are flexible, powerful, scalable and user-friendly. To learn more, visit MicroStrategy online, and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

Product portfoilio:

MicroStrategy 10 Secure Enterprise™ empowers leading organizations to analyze vast amounts of data and distribute actionable business insight throughout an enterprise through two distinct offerings: MicroStrategy Analytics™ and MicroStrategy Desktop™. MicroStrategy Analytics delivers reports and dashboards, and enables users to conduct ad hoc analysis and share insights anywhere, anytime, via mobile devices or the Web. It also combines the agility and productivity of self-service visual data discovery with the security, scalability, and governance features of enterprise-grade business intelligence. MicroStrategy Desktop is a standalone, on-premise visual data discovery tool designed to enable business users to analyze and understand their data. MicroStrategy Mobile™ enables organizations to rapidly build custom business applications that deliver analytics combined with transactions, multimedia, and custom workflows to mobile devices. MicroStrategy Secure Cloud™ combines all of the enterprise analytics, mobile, and security features in MicroStrategy 10 Secure Enterprise with powerful and scalable data integration, validation, and warehousing services — all delivered in an environment where organizations can deploy transformational analytics applications in minutes.

Usher, MicroStrategy’s breakthrough security solution, is a powerful mobile security platform designed to dematerialize traditional forms of identity verification (such as passwords, tokens, and physical badges) and replace them with a single mobile identity badge that is cryptographically linked to its owner’s smartphone and dynamically linked to an enterprise’s existing identity repositories. Usher works on standard Android and iOS smartphones, and also boasts an Apple Watch™ integration.

SAP Analytics Cloud is an all-in-one Software-as-a-Service business intelligence tool that provides the key functionalities of an analytics tool to SAP business users. This tool is built on HANA Business Intelligence (BI) platform, providing analytics from data collected from multiple sources, such as ERP, Microsoft SQL, and Salesforce, among other solutions.

You can use SAP Analytics Cloud to compile data and perform ad-hoc reporting and analysis for predictive planning. SAP Analytics Cloud collects and analyzes the raw data from transactional systems into intelligent insights that allow you to make better decisions.

SAP Analytics Cloud uses machine learning to clean up data, identify errors, and issues, and suggest optimization or filtering options. You can use the modeling feature in Analytics Cloud to create hierarchies and get deeper data insights.

The three core functions of SAP Analytics Cloud consist of Planning, Predictive Analysis, and Business Intelligence as a holistic SaaS solution that offers real-time analysis to business leaders.

SAP Analytics Cloud Capabilities

Data discovery
Machine learning
Integrated financial and business planning
Predictive analysis
Automated data cleansing
Custom widgets
Mobile extension
Role-based customization
Data exploration and visualization

SAP Analytics Cloud Key Features

Augmented analytics: SAP Analytics Cloud allows organizations to make the most of AI (Artificial Intelligence)-powered analytics through augmented analytics. It includes a Search to Insight feature that enables users not skilled or experienced in data science to access and use the platform.

These smart insight tools allow organizations to visualize business data without manual intervention. By combining multiple machine learning algorithms, SAP Analytics Cloud automates predictive analysis so that organizations can have significant insight into secured data.

Enterprise planning: As SAP Analytics Cloud is an all-in-one financial planning and analysis solution, organizations can use it to align strategies across all departments. It allows end-to-end, data-driven planning decisions via financial modeling, allocations, smart insights, and automated reporting.

The Zero-based budgeting feature allows for an effective resources allocation with built-in collaboration tools. The finance team can collaborate easily, create budget templates and make accurate decisions.

SAP Analytics Cloud Benefits

Real-time cloud insights: SAP Analytics Cloud makes it easy for users at every level to generate instant insights and improve data-driven decision-making. With SAP Analytics Cloud, you can have immediate and central access to all figures, diagrams, insights, and evaluations for every employee on every device and updated in real time.
Customizable dashboard: You can customize your dashboard according to your requirements. This customization means you can easily access all the relevant data on a single pane of vision tailored to your business.
Collaborative planning: As an all-in-one platform, SAP Analytics Cloud integrates the multiple aspects of a business into a single solution, including finance, HR, sales, and supply chain management.
Data on any device: You can integrate SAP Analytics Cloud with SAP S/4 HANA and deploy insights to Android and iOS devices. The SAP S/4 HANA integration also enables the rolling out of changes to multiple files and devices from a central location, so you can carry your business operations on the go over a secured cloud network.
In-memory technology: Since it is based on SAP HANA in-memory technology, SAP Analytics Cloud can process massive amounts of data in a short time.

Reviews from Real Users

Segun O., SAP HANA Developer at SOA PEOPLE, says that "The most valuable features are on the application side, where you can design applications into your analytics on the platform."

The Head of Finance Enterprise Application at a computer software company adds that "The visualization feature is the most valuable. SAP Analytics Cloud is also very easy to use."

"Its many features make it the best in the market," sums up a Consultor SAP Business Object, Sap Analytics Cloud at a tech services company.

Sample Customers

Allstate Insurance, Barneys New York, Boston Children's Hospital, Buenos Aires Department of the Treasury, Campbell Soup Company, DHL, eBay, eHarmony, Facebook, Four Seasons Hotels Inc., Godiva, Hard Rock International, LinkedIn, Netflix, Pfizer, SECO (Swiss Government Unemployment Agency), Starbucks, Texas A&M University, Thomson Reuters Markets, US House of Representatives, and the US Postal Service.

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Buyer's Guide

MicroStrategy vs. SAP Analytics Cloud

January 2025

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