SAP Crystal Reports vs TIBCO Spotfire comparison

The compared SAP and TIBCO solutions aren't in the same category. SAP is ranked #9 in RT , with an average rating of 8.4, and holds a 2.8% mindshare in the category. TIBCO is ranked #16 in BIT , with an average rating of 8.4, and holds a 1.1% mindshare. Additionally, 96% of SAP users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 96% of TIBCO users who would recommend it.

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Executive Summary

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

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To learn more, read our detailed Reporting Report (Updated: October 2024).

Buyer's Guide

Reporting

October 2024

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Categories and Ranking

IBM Cognos

Mindshare comparison

Reporting

BI (Business Intelligence) Tools

Featured Reviews

Carlos Larrad Salgado

Deputy Director Operations Management Control at Mapfre

Jul 27, 2022

Improved the quality of our KPIs, while reducing calls to the IT department

I don't like that when we use Colab packages, we get less functionality. For example, you can make groups of data with Excel or with the data sets from the packages, but when you use the Colab packages directly, you can only group the data when you analyze it with Analysis Studio. I think Cognos needs to improve more on this functionality. The user experience is also very important. Cognos is not very easy to understand sometimes, especially when they change the layout but keep the functionality the same. The help is not very graphic and they have no examples. Cognos has to make a big effort to help with understanding the functionality by improving the documentation. There is a lot of documentation, but the examples are hard to find and they should make their help section easier to understand for non-technical users.

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MVD Prasad

Assistant General Manager at Soma Enterprise

Jan 9, 2024

Helps analyze your data by creating richly formatted, pixel-perfect, and multiple reports from virtually any data source, delivered in over a dozen formats

We were dedicated to Crystal Reports, and now they have shifted to SAP reports. While both functionalities are similar, there might be some enhancements or additional features to look forward to in the SAP version. However, I haven't encountered any issues. I've consistently used SAP Crystal…

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Fuad Mammadli

Deputy Chief Financial Officer at Unibank

Nov 8, 2023

A scalable tool to create dashboards for financial reporting

I use TIBCO Spotfire in my company for finance-related purposes. Basically, we use TIBCO Spotfire to create dashboards for financial reporting, and with the dashboard, we manage data mining and similar kinds of activities in our company The way TIBCO Spotfire is designed, in my opinion, is the…

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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

"The solution's initial setup process is easy."

"The main difference that I like about Cognos compared to other solutions is its data splitting functionality. We have all our company data inside the Cognos environment and so we prefer to split the information Cognos itself. It's more efficient this way."

"Even while a user is using a cube for reporting, there will not be a situation as ' Cube file locked; unable to build or deploy'."

"For planning, forecasting, in-boxing, modeling in general and for predicting numbers and doing work analysis, they are excellent."

"Previously, we were doing static reporting. Management would request a report, and it would take staff a week or more to provide it. With Cognos, we have dynamic reporting, and it has reduced both reporting and decision making times significantly. With the solution's dashboard, the company's management team has updated records at their fingertips. This means that they can directly access the data they need to make decisions."

"Mapbox integration for geospatial analytics down to longitude/latitude layers."

"The initial setup was straightforward."

"Security administration tools are powerful and flexible."

More IBM Cognos pros

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

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

"The initial setup of the solution is pretty easy."

"We use SAP Crystal Reports for operational reporting."

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

"It is an user-friendly solution."

"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."

"Live Query data on demand, R and Python integration, and the ability to write HTML and JavaScript text areas are all valuable features."

"It allows users to quickly analyze data from a variety of sources and visualize it with powerful, interactive graphs, and charts."

"Data discovery is very simple."

"I appreciate Spotfire's range of visualization options, advanced analytics features, and seamless integration with other TIBCO products."

"The flexibility, data preparation, and data wrangling abilities of the platform are exceptional."

"It’s stable and straightforward."

"It's scalable."

"TIBCO Spotfire is easy to use. We initiated Spotfire as POC, with support from a tech team based in South Africa. While they assisted with the setup, we conducted the POC ourselves."

More TIBCO Spotfire pros

Cons

"The AI-based features could be further enhanced by the solution."

"Chart quality: many other competitors have charts and graphics that look much better and that provide dynamic effects. Cognos doesn't."

"I would like to see is more easy building, movement in the reports, and dashboard functionality within reporting. Overall more simple elements within reports. If the elements are simple then you don't have to render a full page, but you can move separate parts in the page."

"The solution seems to slow down the servers."

"I would like for the platform to become more standard. If we make a development on our report and our dashboard, it will not be used in another solution. That means there is no portability for the developers."

"Extending dynamic cubes aggregate awareness with calculated measures."

"There are many problems with the product's stability part, making it an area where improvements are required."

"They should provide improved visual reporting."

More IBM Cognos cons

"The financing part needs improvement."

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

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

"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."

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

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

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

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

"The initial setup can be difficult."

"The Text Area feature needs to be more user-friendly. It is a little clunky to use, and it is difficult to consistently format text."

"Personalising Spotfire, as a whole, is painful and is something that could be made easier."

"The layered features within Spotfire can make it a bit complicated sometimes as compared to Power BI."

"The handling and consumption of realtime data could be improved."

"We would like to see some improvement in the default properties of the solution, so that there is less need for us to spend our time coding."

"We would like to see some development in the visualization aspect of this solution, as they can currently only be configured in the cloud, which limits us to one endpoint. It would be helpful if this could be integrated with other tools."

"One aspect where Spotfire could improve is its global recognition, especially in terms of support."

More TIBCO Spotfire cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing and licensing policies are comparatively cheaper than other products in the market ."

"I don't know the exact cost, but I believe Cognos is quite expensive, especially when it comes to the support consultants and the procedures that need to be applied."

"It is averagely priced."

"There is some additional licensing that we needed to purchase because we were touching data outside of our core data platform. The cost was approximately $25,000 for the additional licenses, which were approximate 45 licenses. For the application itself, updates, and the core platform it was approximately $50,000. Giving a total cost of $75,000 annually for our usage of IBM Cognos."

"It is pretty expensive."

"On a scale from one to ten where one is low pricing and ten is high pricing, I would rate this solution at eight."

"The cost of IBM Cognos it's more or less the same as most of the other solutions on the market. They're very competitive with the rest of the market and it is not the most expensive product."

"Pricing should be improved."

More IBM Cognos 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."

"We pay fifteen hundred dollars as licensing fee."

"SAP Crystal Reports is a very expensive solution."

"This product costs a lot of money."

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

"In comparison to other solutions such as IBM Cognos, TIBCO Spotfire is more affordable."

"The solution is affordable one."

"The Tibco sales teams have been very difficult to work with - ignoring requests, misrepresenting level of demand, etc."

"The price-point for this solution is negotiable depending on usage levels."

"The ROI is nearly impossible to calculate."

"The cost of TIBCO Spotfire could improve. It should be less expensive. It's the most expensive visualization tool in our company."

"This product carries a monthly licensing charge, with the amount depending on the features that are to be included. This costs also covers the use of technical support."

"The pricing seems competitive and reasonable. The value delivered by the product far exceeds the cost."

More TIBCO Spotfire pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

57%

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

Government

Computer Software Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Government

Manufacturing Company

18%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Energy/Utilities Company

11%

Computer Software Company

11%

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

Seeking lightweight open source BI software

It depends on the Data architecture and the complexity of your requirement. Some great tools in the market are Qlik ...

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What do you like most about IBM Cognos?

The solution's most valuable feature is its ease of use, which makes it easily compatible with other tools.

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What needs improvement with IBM Cognos?

I need improvements, particularly with the Framework Manager, which has an outdated user interface from older version...

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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 langu...

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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...

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What do you like most about SAP Crystal Reports?

We use SAP Crystal Reports for operational reporting.

See all answers

What do you like most about TIBCO Spotfire?

TIBCO Spotfire is easy to use. We initiated Spotfire as POC, with support from a tech team based in South Africa. Whi...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for TIBCO Spotfire?

Spotfire is a bit costly in terms of money, but it is value for money if you are installing it and working with it. C...

See all answers

What needs improvement with TIBCO Spotfire?

The hierarchies or the maps to some extent may need some modifications. The layered features within Spotfire can make...

See all answers

Comparisons

Microsoft Power BI vs IBM Cognos

Compared 13% of the time

Oracle Hyperion vs IBM Cognos

Compared 10% of the time

Tableau vs IBM Cognos

Compared 10% of the time

Amazon QuickSight vs IBM Cognos

Compared 8% of the time

Databricks vs IBM Cognos

Compared 3% of the time

More IBM Cognos Competitors

TIBCO Jaspersoft vs SAP Crystal Reports

Compared 22% of the time

Microsoft Power BI vs SAP Crystal Reports

Compared 21% of the time

Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services vs SAP Crystal Reports

Compared 10% of the time

MicroStrategy vs SAP Crystal Reports

Compared 7% of the time

Pentaho Business Analytics vs SAP Crystal Reports

Compared 6% of the time

More SAP Crystal Reports Competitors

Tableau vs TIBCO Spotfire

Compared 19% of the time

Microsoft Power BI vs TIBCO Spotfire

Compared 12% of the time

TIBCO Jaspersoft vs TIBCO Spotfire

Compared 9% of the time

Databricks vs TIBCO Spotfire

Compared 9% of the time

Amazon QuickSight vs TIBCO Spotfire

Compared 8% of the time

More TIBCO Spotfire Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

IBM Cognos

October 2024

Download IBM Cognos product report

Buyer's Guide

SAP Crystals

October 2024

Download SAP Crystal Reports product report

Buyer's Guide

TIBCO Spotfire

October 2024

Download TIBCO Spotfire product report

Also Known As

Cognos, Cognos Analytics, IBM Cognos Analytics

No data available

Spotfire

Learn More

IBM

SAP

TIBCO

Overview

IBM Cognos Business Intelligence provides a wide range of tools to help you analyze your organization's data. IBM Cognos BI allows businesses to monitor events and metrics, create and view business reports, and analyze data to help them make effective business decisions.

IBM Cognos applies techniques to describe, summarize, and compare data, and draw conclusions. This allows users to see trends and discover anomalies or variances that may not be evident by simply reading data. Data sources that contain information from different areas of a business can be stored in separate packages. Users can see only information that they have been granted access to, based on their group or role.

IBM Cognos BI consolidates the following business intelligence functions into a single web-based solution:

IBM Cognos Insight: Create personal and managed workspaces for data analysis. Using these interactive workspaces, you can share insight results with managers. Cognos Insight supports write-back, and you can also use these workspaces to capture and integrate management goals, commitments, and forecasts.
IBM Cognos Workspace: With IBM Cognos Workspace, you can create rich, interactive workspaces using IBM Cognos content as well as data from external sources. You can view and open your favorite workspaces and reports, edit content in your workspaces, and share your workspaces via email.
IBM Cognos Analytics: IBM Cognos Analytics utilizes built-in AI and intuitive searches which helps users to quickly create the visualizations and a wide range of reports. Cognos Analytics provides cognitive and managed self-service, enabling you to gain insights from controlled and trusted data.
IBM Cognos Report Studio and IBM Cognos Query Studio: Easily create structured and query reports. IBM Cognos allows users to create application and report templates. In addition, report authors can reuse report objects to apply filters, fields, and styles to reports. Users can set the language of the user interface and report content according to the user's native language.
IBM Cognos Event Studio: Receive notifications of events that occur within your organization in real time. Event Studio enables the creation of agents that detect the occurrence of business events, failures, or anomalies, based on the change of specific events or data conditions. Notification can be sent via email, publication in the portal, or by triggering reports.
IBM Cognos Connection: This is the Web portal for IBM Cognos BI and is the central area for accessing all the IBM Cognos functions. In the web portal, users can schedule and distribute reports, create tasks, administer the server and the access permissions, and more.

Reviews from Real Users

IBM Cognos stands out among its competitors for a number of reasons. Two major ones are its powerful analysis tool and its reporting capabilities.

Prasad B., a senior software engineer at a financial services firm, notes, “The product is a very good reporting tool and is very flexible. It allows for the users to get a scheduled report. We can receive automated reports as well. They are easy to schedule on a weekly or monthly basis. It is very fast. I mean in means of report output, it's very fast compared to the actual clients involved.”

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

TIBCO Spotfire is a versatile data analytics platform that can handle large datasets and be deployed on-premise or in the cloud. Its dynamic reporting, easy creation of dynamic dashboards, and highly customizable tool make it a valuable asset for process data analysis, industrial performance dashboards, problem root cause analysis, business intelligence, and real-time analytics for IoT devices in the energy sector.

The solution also offers data science functions, map visuals, R and Python integration, and the ability to write HTML and JavaScript text areas. Spotfire has helped organizations deliver projects more efficiently and cost-effectively, allowing for faster data analysis.

Sample Customers

More than 23,000 leading organizations across multiple industries use Cognos. Some examples of Cognos customers include BMW Financial Services, Quinte Health Care, Troy Corporation, Michigan State University, and GKN Land System.

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

Allergan, ASSS de Montreal, Avantium, Blue River, Bank of Montreal, Citibank, FrieslandCampina, Hellmann Logistics, Merck, Novartis

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