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MicroStrategy vs SAP Crystal Reports comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
7.0
MicroStrategy improves business efficiency, enhancing reporting capabilities and perceived value, though ROI measurement is challenging for some users.
Sentiment score
5.7
SAP Crystal Reports greatly enhances ERP reporting and efficiency, offering ROI over 1000%, despite costly user training.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
5.2
MicroStrategy's customer service relies on a knowledge base, facing mixed reviews due to response times and support quality disparities.
Sentiment score
5.7
SAP Crystal Reports customer support is inconsistent, with mixed reviews, leading users to favor online resources and self-help solutions.
Since NTT Data is on MicroStrategy Cloud, we get exclusive customer support from MicroStrategy, which is pretty fast.
Principal Architect & Software Engineering Department Manager at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
I would rate the technical support from MicroStrategy as nine out of 10.
Lead Software Engineer at Momentus
I have not encountered any problems requiring assistance.
SAP Technical Manager at VS Furniture Middle East
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
MicroStrategy offers strong scalability and performance, though high costs and memory requirements can influence its enterprise usage efficiency.
Sentiment score
7.6
SAP Crystal Reports supports scalability and is suitable for medium to large enterprises, with room for scalability improvements.
We have moved from on-premises to cloud-based infrastructure.
Data Engineer at a insurance company with 10,001+ employees
MicroStrategy's scalability is good, as it has the possibility to read a lot of data and works fine with all the information that we have.
Analyst - IM at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
MicroStrategy was able to handle more than 15,000 or even 30,000 users properly.
Principal Architect & Software Engineering Department Manager at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.3
MicroStrategy is reliable and stable, with strong performance; minor issues are typically resolved through support or configuration adjustments.
Sentiment score
7.1
SAP Crystal Reports is stable on Windows, with Unix challenges and improved performance on specialized servers post-2011.
I would rate the stability of MicroStrategy as nine out of 10.
Lead Software Engineer at Momentus
 

Room For Improvement

MicroStrategy needs improved modeling, visualization, usability, cloud integration, support, and pricing to enhance smaller organizations' adoption.
SAP Crystal Reports needs better visualization, modern tech integration, improved analytics, compatibility, and enhanced documentation and support.
Creating hierarchies and the modeling part is challenging because data modeling is one of the most important aspects of any BI project.
Data Engineer at a insurance company with 10,001+ employees
Organizations that are well-established and have more money can afford MicroStrategy, but startups and mid-level organizations who do not have this much budget have to opt for other cheaper tools.
Lead Software Engineer at Momentus
They have moved to Intelligent Cubes, which can actually handle better data handling.
Principal Architect & Software Engineering Department Manager at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Integration of a real-time preview and a live preview panel that updates instantly while designing the reports would make it much easier to use.
I'm at DTS Group
If it is closed due to any problem, it should be able to recover where I left off, similar to Excel, which should be a feature for SAP Crystal Reports.
SAP Technical Manager at VS Furniture Middle East
Enabling better practices and testing to enhance data accuracy and efficiency for company sectors.
Inhouse SAP Business One Sr. Consultant at a retailer with 501-1,000 employees
 

Setup Cost

MicroStrategy's high pricing is due to licensing costs, though long-term benefits exist; licensing complexity concerns users.
SAP Crystal Reports pricing perceptions vary; some find it costly, but discounts and volume deals can reduce expenses.
Here, we actually handle some of the pricing and setup, the license cost, and other things, so we get to know what's behind it.
Principal Architect & Software Engineering Department Manager at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
 

Valuable Features

MicroStrategy excels in flexibility, scalability, and user-friendly reporting, supporting large data volumes with strong security and Visual Insights features.
SAP Crystal Reports provides flexible data connectivity, custom design, and efficient reporting, enhancing decision-making and client communication.
Platform Analytics mainly helps to understand the load, the statistics on the project-wise or server-wise performance, and what areas we can actually improve, which thing is consuming more memory.
Principal Architect & Software Engineering Department Manager at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
It's important because with MicroStrategy we can manage all our cubes and show data to our clients.
Analyst - IM at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
MicroStrategy's compatibility with Teradata is why my organization has chosen this product.
Data Engineer at a insurance company with 10,001+ employees
SAP Crystal Reports has had a very positive impact and benefits. It's a powerful tool to design any kind of report if you have knowledge of the database, and it can attach to both HANA and SQL databases.
SAP Technical Manager at VS Furniture Middle East
The best features SAP Crystal Reports offers are powerful data connectivity, customized report design, interactive and visual reports, import, export, sharing options, and automation and scheduling.
I'm at DTS Group
The efficiency gained by our organization from SAP Crystal Reports is measurable through multiple export formats such as PDF and Excel.
Inhouse SAP Business One Sr. Consultant at a retailer with 501-1,000 employees
 

Categories and Ranking

MicroStrategy
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
164
Ranking in other categories
BI (Business Intelligence) Tools (15th), Embedded BI (5th)
SAP Crystal Reports
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
52
Ranking in other categories
Reporting (14th)
 

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 1.2%, down 2.8% compared to last year.
SAP Crystal Reports, on the other hand, focuses on Reporting, holds 2.3% mindshare, down 2.6% since last year.
BI (Business Intelligence) Tools Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
MicroStrategy1.2%
Microsoft Power BI7.7%
Tableau Enterprise6.2%
Other84.9%
BI (Business Intelligence) Tools
Reporting Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
SAP Crystal Reports2.3%
Tableau Enterprise14.6%
Microsoft Power BI13.5%
Other69.6%
Reporting
 

Featured Reviews

Prabu Thanikchalam - PeerSpot reviewer
Principal Architect & Software Engineering Department Manager at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Reporting has improved with strong administration tools but performance and memory still need work
Compared to the new tools, MicroStrategy is still on the old mechanism, the attributes and metric creations that are still a bit vague compared to other tools. They can actually improve on the go, having derived metrics or derived attributes in MicroStrategy. If they have something like that for the attributes as well, it will be good. A pain point is MicroStrategy memory fluctuations that we couldn't actually read that much. If they can improve that performance, that would be great. MicroStrategy struggles a bit with large data volumes, but they are coming up with new ideas. They have moved to Intelligent Cubes, which can actually handle better data handling. They are coming up with good measures to handle big data.
Salman Mukhtar Baig - PeerSpot reviewer
SAP Technical Manager at VS Furniture Middle East
Unlock data insights with seamless integration and robust reporting features
I assess the impact of SAP Crystal Reports' dynamic parameters on the customization and flexibility of my reports as very good. Sometimes it creates a problem when it suddenly closes during work due to improper shutdowns, but most of the time it's beneficial since I can fetch the data in one report very efficiently, which is great for the company. The sub reports in SAP Crystal Reports help me enhance the depth and detail of my reports by allowing me to use multiple sets of records, especially when I have very large requirements, such as company dashboards that show what sales, purchases, productions, and HR are doing. Using sub reports as the main report is very beneficial because I can pull multiple department data into the main report. Over the years, SAP Crystal Reports has had a very positive impact and benefits. It's a powerful tool to design any kind of report if you have knowledge of the database, and it can attach to both HANA and SQL databases. I can also connect this data with Excel, which makes it a very powerful tool for me.
report
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Comparison Review

it_user6330 - PeerSpot reviewer
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…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
16%
Construction Company
10%
Marketing Services Firm
8%
Retailer
6%
Financial Services Firm
16%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Construction Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business37
Midsize Enterprise26
Large Enterprise102
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business18
Midsize Enterprise15
Large Enterprise22
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for MicroStrategy?
My company has many licenses for MicroStrategy because we can build reports in this tool. I don't know what the cost is for these licenses.
What needs improvement with MicroStrategy?
I am quite satisfied with the reporting part of the product. However, compared to other tools, the modeling part is not as strong. Data modeling is not as easy on MicroStrategy as it is on other pl...
What is your primary use case for MicroStrategy?
Harjinder, I recall approximately two years back we had a conversation with you about ForgeRock and Auth0, and I think we had discussed MicroStrategy as well. Currently, we are using it for financi...
What needs improvement with SAP Crystal Reports?
SAP Crystal Reports could be improved with more modern user-friendly interfaces and better integration with cloud platforms and AI tools. It would be beneficial to have easier integration with Azur...
What is your primary use case for SAP Crystal Reports?
I have been using SAP Crystal Reports for six months. I am using SAP Crystal Reports to develop data-driven reports and use customer data printing. When I use SAP Crystal Reports for customer data ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SAP Crystal Reports?
I am aware that the pricing of SAP Crystal Reports gradually changes. When I bought it last time, I don't remember the exact price, and I need to check the current price on the portal. SAP Crystal ...
 

Overview

 

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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902,894 professionals have used our research since 2012.