MicroStrategy vs SAP Crystal Reports comparison

The compared MicroStrategy and SAP solutions aren't in the same category. MicroStrategy is ranked #9 in BIT , with an average rating of 7.4, and holds a 3.2% mindshare in the category. SAP is ranked #7 in RT , with an average rating of 8.4, and holds a 2.6% mindshare. Additionally, 92% of MicroStrategy users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 96% of SAP users who would recommend it.

MicroStrategy

Read 160 MicroStrategy reviews

4,412 Views
2,888 Comparison Views

92% willing to recommend

SAP Crystal Reports

Read 49 SAP Crystal Reports reviews

1,957 Views
1,532 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

MicroStrategy

SAP Crystal Reports

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between MicroStrategy and SAP Crystal Reports based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

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BI (Business Intelligence) Tools

February 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

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

160

Ranking in other categories

BI (Business Intelligence) Tools (9th), Embedded BI (4th)

SAP Crystal Reports

Average Rating

8.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Reporting (7th)

Mindshare comparison

While both are Business Intelligence solutions, they serve different purposes. MicroStrategy is designed for BI (Business Intelligence) Tools and holds a mindshare of 3.2%, down 3.6% compared to last year.
SAP Crystal Reports, on the other hand, focuses on Reporting, holds 2.6% mindshare, down 3.7% since last year.

BI (Business Intelligence) Tools

Reporting

Featured Reviews

AJIN S L

Technical Analyst at Allianz

Experience has shown effective features for analysis, but needs interface improvements

The most effective features of MicroStrategy for data analysis are those that cater to user needs. However, I find Power BI to be more useful when comparing some features, but my company does not choose Power BI due to certain code restrictions. The MicroStrategy interface is not as good as Power BI, especially concerning the user-friendly aspects.

Read full review

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

"I have never had any problems with the stability."

"The most valuable feature is the ability to build reports, then customize for different groups instead of having to build multiple reports. Therefore, the ability to build customization in the reports for different groups."

"The most valuable features are the Visual Insights and the visualizations."

"Semi-automatic support of implementing date dimensions, including delta to prior year implementation."

"In the past, when we had so many legacy systems, with Cognos and others, it was took multiple steps to get what we wanted. Now, it's a seamless integration. We can connect directly, in the form of In-Memory Cubes or live-publish cubes, to the data warehouse, and blend in the data with big data. Not only relational databases, but we can also integrate other third-party files, and create a single-source software."

"The technical support of MicroStrategy can be helpful through implementation."

"It has landing pages, and that makes life easy for exhibiting things."

"I have had a lot of projects where we had a lot of users, like thousands of users, and the data was in one report which could bring in six million records. MicroStrategy is doing a good job on scalability."

More MicroStrategy pros

"It is an user-friendly solution."

"We use SAP Crystal Reports for operational reporting."

"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."

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

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

"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 initial setup of the solution is pretty easy."

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

Cons

"MicroStrategy should improve migration automation. Additionally, I would like there to be better partnership support."

"The problem is the way that their metrics are designed. It can be difficult to understand what you're actually looking at. Then when you're comparing a document against the VI, you can't actually do that properly. So there are components, and there is a huge learning curve in the Enterprise Manager space. I think it would benefit them greatly if they were to exercise a significant amount of research and development in that space."

"Training would be an area that they could improve upon."

"They need to do a better job In its ability to allow end users to produce their own reports, metrics, and self-service business intelligence."

"It crashes multiple times for even small changes that I make on the fly in the dashboard. After doing all the necessary changes, the MicroStrategy desktop or even the web version kicks the users out, and all the changes are lost. This functionality is buggy in MicroStrategy. It is hard to keep track of all the changes that I have done before. I don't want to make copies of each change that I have made because I would end up creating a hundred dashboards. It is not feasible in a real environment. I haven't worked on integrating MicroStrategy with the cloud. I am not sure how it behaves in the cloud, but I have heard from a few of my friends that there are some hiccups when you kind of sync to the cloud through MicroStrategy."

"They should give proper industry-based tutorials so that one can learn it easily and implement it based on the requirements. They should give more MMP files so that we can import a whole project altogether and learn from that project."

"If they can make it more stable, in terms of the connectivity, that would help."

"Preparation, data loading and data management application is challenging with MicroStrategy. It lacks cube-based analytics as it is outdated, meaning there is no memory or fast processing analytics or MMA deployment."

More MicroStrategy cons

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

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

"The financing part needs improvement."

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

"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."

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

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

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

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Now, the price is high."

"MicroStrategy's licensing cost is higher than that of other tools in the market. My company uses the enterprise edition of the product."

"There have been actual direct bottomline impacts in terms of extra revenue created from the reporting solutions."

"They can improve its licensing. It is a bit expensive as compared to Microsoft and other tools."

"The price of MicroStrategy is reasonable."

"Pricing, in general, is high. With Power BI, you get mobile with the license, whereas with MicroStrategy, you have to purchase mobile for extra."

"We have one of the best pricing available, but we can't disclose that information."

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

More MicroStrategy pricing and cost advice

"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."

"This product costs a lot of money."

"We pay fifteen hundred dollars as licensing fee."

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

"SAP Crystal Reports is a very expensive solution."

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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

17%

Computer Software Company

11%

Retailer

Insurance 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

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?

MicroStrategy could learn from Power BI's user-friendly interface. I find the user interface lacking when compared to Power BI. Additionally, their hyperintelligence could be improved in certain as...

See all answers

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 language to build reports; this area could be improved more.

See all answers

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, and other management reports, salary slips, and many other purposes.

See all answers

What do you like most about SAP Crystal Reports?

We use SAP Crystal Reports for operational reporting.

See all answers

Comparisons

Tableau vs MicroStrategy

Compared 21% of the time

Microsoft Power BI vs MicroStrategy

Compared 18% of the time

Amazon QuickSight vs MicroStrategy

Compared 10% of the time

IBM Cognos vs MicroStrategy

Compared 8% of the time

SAP Analytics Cloud vs MicroStrategy

Compared 4% of the time

More MicroStrategy Competitors

Microsoft Power BI vs SAP Crystal Reports

Compared 23% of the time

TIBCO Jaspersoft vs SAP Crystal Reports

Compared 22% of the time

IBM Cognos vs SAP Crystal Reports

Compared 11% of the time

Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services vs SAP Crystal Reports

Compared 9% of the time

Pentaho Business Analytics vs SAP Crystal Reports

Compared 7% of the time

More SAP Crystal Reports Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

MicroStrategy

February 2025

Download MicroStrategy product report

Buyer's Guide

SAP Crystals

February 2025

Download SAP Crystal Reports product report

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.

MicroStrategy

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

SAP

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.

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

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BI (Business Intelligence) Tools

February 2025

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