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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
7.7
MicroStrategy enhances reporting and visualization, boosts efficiency, reduces costs, yet quantifying ROI remains 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 offers generally responsive customer service, though pricing, technical support expertise, and response times, especially after hours, need improvement.
Sentiment score
5.7
SAP Crystal Reports customer support is inconsistent, with mixed reviews, leading users to favor online resources and self-help solutions.
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 effective scalability, though challenges with large data volumes or architecture can require robust infrastructure and support.
Sentiment score
7.6
SAP Crystal Reports supports scalability and is suitable for medium to large enterprises, with room for scalability improvements.
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
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.3
MicroStrategy is stable and reliable, with most issues resolved through updates or proper setup, garnering positive feedback.
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 enhancements in usability, integration, and support, while addressing costly licensing and slow feature releases.
SAP Crystal Reports needs better visualization, modern tech integration, improved analytics, compatibility, and enhanced documentation and support.
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
MicroStrategy could learn from Power BI's user-friendly interface.
Technical Analyst at Allianz
I would appreciate improvements in MicroStrategy related to integration or sharing features with Power BI.
Analyst - IM at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
It would be beneficial to have easier integration with Azure, Microsoft Power Platform, and similar cloud technologies.
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 offers powerful features for large enterprises but is costly, with flexible licensing and competitive long-term ownership costs.
SAP Crystal Reports pricing perceptions vary; some find it costly, but discounts and volume deals can reduce expenses.
 

Valuable Features

MicroStrategy provides scalable BI solutions with advanced visualization, mobile integration, robust security, and extensive SDK/API for customization.
SAP Crystal Reports provides flexible data connectivity, custom design, and efficient reporting, enhancing decision-making and client communication.
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
The most effective features of MicroStrategy for data analysis in my experience are the security, the metadata management, and the administration, along with the options of different workarounds available to accommodate different types of requirements.
Lead Software Engineer at Momentus
The MicroStrategy interface is not as good as Power BI, especially concerning the user-friendly aspects.
Technical Analyst at Allianz
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
6.5
Number of Reviews
162
Ranking in other categories
BI (Business Intelligence) Tools (8th), Embedded BI (2nd)
SAP Crystal Reports
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
52
Ranking in other categories
Reporting (9th)
 

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 1.5%, down 3.4% compared to last year.
SAP Crystal Reports, on the other hand, focuses on Reporting, holds 2.6% mindshare, down 2.8% since last year.
BI (Business Intelligence) Tools Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
MicroStrategy1.5%
Microsoft Power BI10.8%
Tableau Enterprise7.6%
Other80.1%
BI (Business Intelligence) Tools
Reporting Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
SAP Crystal Reports2.6%
Microsoft Power BI20.7%
Tableau Enterprise18.0%
Other58.7%
Reporting
 

Featured Reviews

AS
Lead Software Engineer at Momentus
Provides strong data visualization and security while easing deployment across multiple sectors
The most effective features of MicroStrategy for data analysis in my experience are the security, the metadata management, and the administration, along with the options of different workarounds available to accommodate different types of requirements. MicroStrategy's data visualization capabilities are great, and I would rate them nine out of 10.
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
13%
Computer Software Company
9%
Retailer
8%
Healthcare Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Computer Software Company
10%
Government
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business37
Midsize Enterprise26
Large Enterprise100
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business18
Midsize Enterprise15
Large Enterprise22
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about MicroStrategy?
The stability of the product is good.
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 don't have any issues with MicroStrategy and would not suggest how it can be improved. I would not change anything because it's a great tool to build reports. I would appreciate improvements in M...
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 do you like most about SAP Crystal Reports?
We use SAP Crystal Reports for operational reporting.
 

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
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, Salesforce, Domo and others in BI (Business Intelligence) Tools. Updated: November 2025.
879,310 professionals have used our research since 2012.