I've used BusinessObjects for projects in finance and healthcare. Also, one of the leading pharmaceutical companies uses it as a reporting tool. We had the data source and ad hoc requirements, so we created semantic layer data modeling for the database and reporting system. Then we used BusinessObjects as a tool for reporting and dashboards.
Application Development Assoc Manager at Eccenture
The semantic layer offers us the flexibility to go for ad hoc reporting
Pros and Cons
- "BusinessObject's most useful feature is the semantic layer, which offers us the flexibility to go for ad hoc reporting."
- "The interface could be slicker and more user-friendly."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
BusinessObject's most useful feature is the semantic layer, which offers us the flexibility to go for ad hoc reporting.
What needs improvement?
I want BusinessObjects to have more flexibility like Tableau or Power BI. The interface could be slicker and more user-friendly. SAP could add more ability to design and customize the dashboards.
BusinessObjects is not that user-friendly. They have different tools for designing dashboards like Discovery— previously called Lumira. That isn't as user-friendly as Tableau.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using BusinessObjects for four to five years.
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What do I think about the stability of the solution?
BusinessObjects is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
BusinessObject's main advantage is the ad hoc capability.
How are customer service and support?
I've contacted SAP support once or twice. We raised a support request, and they responded promptly. They organized a call and helped us resolve the issue.
How was the initial setup?
BusinessObjects' installation is comparable to Tableau, but BusinessObjects requires a skilled administrator for management and maintenance because it's a little more complex than Tableau.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
In terms of flexibility and user-friendliness, Tableau is better than BusinessObjects, but if you have ad hoc requirements, then BusinessObjects is better.
What other advice do I have?
I rate SAP BusinessObjects eight out of 10. I would recommend BusinessObjects, but it depends on the requirements. SAP is a better choice if you are doing daily reporting where you need to drag and drop objects and create ad hoc reporting then export to Excel or CSV.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
SAP Business Objects Architect at a tech company with 51-200 employees
The Designer gives developers a powerful way to encapsulate business logic and push it out to users. Their data visualization products should be enhanced, made more robust and easier to implement.
Pros and Cons
- "Ease of report development is a key feature."
- "I would like to see their data visualization products enhanced and made more robust and easier to implement."
What is most valuable?
Ease of report development is a key feature. Also, installation is largely automated. The nicest part of BOE remains the semantic layer (Designer), giving developers a powerful way to encapsulate business logic and push it out to users through Webi or WRC.
How has it helped my organization?
Because I am primarily an installation and configuration architect working independently through a separate company, the product itself doesn't necessarily affect us in a BI sense. That's really the big-picture issue within our community; that companies often misunderstand how BI is supposed to work and that in order for the business to really participate, there needs to be sufficient training and the cultivation of a "culture of BI".
What needs improvement?
I would like to see their data visualization products enhanced and made more robust and easier to implement. Most of the other parts of the tool are fairly easy to get going and it would help getting user buy-in if they could extend that across the entire platform.
Like we always say, the tool is only as good as the person using it. But SAP sort of dropped the ball with their 4.x release, leaving out features that we had become used to with 3.1, which was stable.
For how long have I used the solution?
We started with Crystal Enterprise 10 eleven years ago, transitioning through BOBJ R2, XI and now 4.x.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
BOE 4.2 is currently pretty stable in our experience and we already know that it can scale to any level. The only downside to that is cost.
How is customer service and technical support?
My personal experience with the SAP engineers is that they are very supportive and develop personal connections easily.
How was the initial setup?
Depending on whether you are doing a simple, one-machine install (single-stack) or clustering according to the sizing recommendations from SAP, it can go from easy to more difficult. But the process is thoroughly documented.
What about the implementation team?
We are more or less the vendor team for our clients.
Always determine your prerequisites before you kick off remotely or onsite. It can save a lot of grief. Have a detailed SOW and project plan that you adhere to as much as possible, but be flexible.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We are operating in the Electronic Health Record space using Epic and BOE for reporting. Just work with SAP to make sure you have enough licenses but don't go overboard.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I've evaluated other visualization tools, but BOE still has the best out-of-the-box enterprise security.
What other advice do I have?
Planning is critical.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: We are an SAP Partner.
Buyer's Guide
SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform
January 2025
Learn what your peers think about SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: January 2025.
832,138 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Senior BI Consultant at a tech consulting company with 51-200 employees
LifeCycle manager needs more stability but Web Intelligence for its ad-hoc ability is a valuable feature
Valuable Features
Web Intelligence for its ad-hoc ability and user interface for allowing business users to create reports without depending on the IT department. The ability to merge data from multiple databases also allows more flexibility and business solutions.
Room for Improvement
Since SAP purchased Business Objects, they have made some nice improvements, but have still not managed to seamlessly integrate and harmonize the many products they offer.
Life Cycle manager needs to be more stable and easier to use. The Information Design tool could be improved when creating a multi-source universe for improved memory usage and SQL functions available.
Use of Solution
? I have worked with the Business Objects tools since 1999, SAP BW since 2006 and SAP Business Objects since 2011 with XI3
Deployment Issues
No issues encountered.
Stability Issues
No issues encountered.
Scalability Issues
No issues encountered.
Customer Service and Technical Support
Customer Service:
Customer service for the most part is good and a part of that may be due to the size of the investment the company has with SAP. We were provided a customer advocate on site to escalate issues within SAP as necessary.
Technical Support:The technical support has been a challenge when it comes to finding the correct support analyst who is familiar with how the various product components integrate. Many times we would get someone familiar with Crystal Reports but not with BW or Xcelsius etc.
Implementation Team
Business Objects XI 3 was implemented in house with assistance from various outside consultants. The upgrade to 4.0 was done the same way.
ROI
I don’t know the exact cost but one of the reasons the business chose to use Business Objects was that they could reduce licensing costs since it was already an SAP R/3 and BW customer.
Other Solutions Considered
Microstrategy and Web Focus were also considered back in 2010 when SAP bought and promoted the product for use with BW (replacing Web application designer). At the time none of the products were determined robust enough to use with BW as an enterprise level reporting tool.
Other Advice
Do not undersize the system hardware. Turn on all functionality for a product when installing – even if not anticipating using immediately. Spend ample time up front planning the security set up and only go with one option whether SAP, Enterprise, Windows AD or LDAP.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
It has improved our work but is difficult to use
Pros and Cons
- "I have seen improvement in our work after using the solution."
- "It is not simple to use."
What is our primary use case?
We use the solution to manage our databases.
What needs improvement?
The solution is more difficult to use than other products.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using the solution for five years.
What other advice do I have?
I have seen improvement in our work after using the solution. I rate the solution as a seven out of ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: partner
Director at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Robust in terms of security and integration, quite scalable, and good for building well-formatted reports
Pros and Cons
- "If I were to compare it with Power BI and I wanted to build proper well-formatted reports, BusinessObjects Business Intelligence does that much better. Power BI is just getting into that space. They've concentrated more on visualization, which is what the SAP Lumira does. With Web Intelligence, you are able to build reports that users can interact with. They can also do a lot of querying themselves. It is robust in terms of security and integration. It is also quite scalable."
- "I don't like the fact that I have to use two tools. Web Intelligence is good for reporting and all kinds of stuff, but I would rather have one product. All the reporting features of Web Intelligence should be developed within Lumira. A lot of predictive abilities have been brought into the cloud version of SAP Analytics. It would be nice to see a lot of newer technologies and AI. Predictive capabilities are becoming a little more standard. Instead of having to get another model, we are just looking for one solution to deal with analytics including predictive."
What is most valuable?
If I were to compare it with Power BI and I wanted to build proper well-formatted reports, BusinessObjects Business Intelligence does that much better. Power BI is just getting into that space. They've concentrated more on visualization, which is what the SAP Lumira does. With Web Intelligence, you are able to build reports that users can interact with. They can also do a lot of querying themselves.
It is robust in terms of security and integration. It is also quite scalable.
What needs improvement?
I don't like the fact that I have to use two tools. Web Intelligence is good for reporting and all kinds of stuff, but I would rather have one product. All the reporting features of Web Intelligence should be developed within Lumira.
A lot of predictive abilities have been brought into the cloud version of SAP Analytics. It would be nice to see a lot of newer technologies and AI. Predictive capabilities are becoming a little more standard. Instead of having to get another model, we are just looking for one solution to deal with analytics including predictive.
For how long have I used the solution?
My first engagement with SAP BI was in 1998, so it has been more than 20 years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Its environment is quite robust, especially when it is on-premise.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
SAP BI is quite scalable. It supports multiple servers and multiple combinations of landscapes. It is quite good. You can add more servers to get better performance. You can also separate services. You can separate the application server from the webserver. If you want to deploy a large on-premise setup, it would be the way to go.
How are customer service and technical support?
I work for an SAP partner company. We were the first SAP BusinessObjects partners in Nigeria, which is where I'm based. We've been partners since '98. Our goal as consultants is to be as self-sufficient as possible. We hardly need to get in touch with tech support because we are self-sufficient.
How was the initial setup?
The installation of SAP BI is an extensive function. Typically with an SAP installation, you need a combination of on-premise and cloud. The cloud functionality is still evolving and maturing. As compared to Power BI, it would take a lot more work. However, if I went the way of Lumira, I could use Lumira Desktop standalone, and I get to use the features.
What about the implementation team?
We have our own team for maintenance within our company. We used to have five people, but we have scaled down to just two full-time employees. We also have a number of people who are available on request.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I have always found SAP BI to be expensive. It is expensive even when you compare SAP BI Cloud with Microsoft Power BI. Power BI is probably around $9.99 per month, and the cheapest SAP BI is around $20, which is double. In terms of price, Power BI is definitely a lot better. If you have budget issues, you may want to go for Power BI.
What other advice do I have?
I will be a bit biased, and I would definitely recommend SAP BI. It is a bit more robust and mature as compared to Power BI. Power BI keeps changing every day, which is not a bad thing considering how old it is. For a serious setup, I would rather use SAP BI, but I look forward to having one tool rather than two.
I would rate SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
Project Manager at a manufacturing company with 501-1,000 employees
We extensively use the publication features of Crystal Reports and scheduling features of Web Intelligence. But we had some challenges with upgrades.
Valuable Features:
Business Object is truly a scalable and complete business intelligence solution for larger organizations. We have made use of the following components: Live Office, Xcelsius, Crystal Reports, Web Intelligence. We extensively use the publication features of Crystal Reports and scheduling features of Web Intelligence. For an organization that uses Excel extensively, the Live Office direct connect is fast, accurate and user friendly. Be sure to have some super users in the business who can develop Crystal Reports and well as Web Intelligence ad hoc queries. This will make the life of the IT developers and administrative employees much easier. Overall, with past experiences, I would have to rate our opinion of BOBJ very highly.
Room for Improvement:
On the downside, we have had some challenges with upgrades. Be sure to fully test every aspect in your development environment before applying any patches or service packs to Business Objects production servers. SAP was quick to respond to issues, but this still caused problems for users. The bugs we found were deep into software features (displaying column headings, formula logic, etc) and weren’t something we found in our extensive testing. I do admit we pushed the limits and had a lot of custom coding, but we expected these features to work and not break in future releases.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Hi Tina,
Please use Internet Explorer as the default browser for Business Objects, other browsers doesnt support all features
Yes, BO Explorer leverages the complete underlying BO deployment and it has extensive and comprehensive data exploration capabilities
Services not starting due to missing jar files, in this case redeploy the war files and check. Detailed description of error would help to provide more info
Head of BI and Analytics at a manufacturing company with 501-1,000 employees
Useful SAP BW tool, easy to use, but Lumira dashboard tool needs improvement
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature we have found to be the SAP BW, which is a warehouse tool. Additionally, it is an easy tool to use."
- "The dashboard tool is called Lumira and it is very uncomfortable for developers to use. They should improve this in the future."
What is our primary use case?
We are using SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform for a lot of things, such as simple reports and business dashboards, and in all the business areas, for example, finance, sales, and purchasing.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature we have found to be the SAP BW, which is a warehouse tool. Additionally, it is an easy tool to use.
What needs improvement?
The dashboard tool is called Lumira and it is very uncomfortable for developers to use. They should improve this in the future.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform for approximately five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability is good. However, the performance could be better.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have several hundred end-users using this solution and we use the solution on a daily basis.
The solution is scalable. We feel comfortable with the infrastructure that we have, but we can expand if we want to.
How are customer service and support?
The technical support is good, I am satisfied.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I previously use Oracle BI. I think the Oracle BI is stronger and has more functionality than SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform. However, it does not connect to SAP ERP which is a disadvantage.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is simple, it took us two days to complete.
What about the implementation team?
The implementation, maintenance, and updates can be done by staff within the company. There are times we have used local support or integrators in our area.
What other advice do I have?
This solution is not meant to be very complicated, solutions that are complicated require other tools.
I rate SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform a seven out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Consultant at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
It has a wide range of compatible operating systems and it was easy to install
Pros and Cons
- "Way of creating reports."
- "The calculation engine requires some improvement."
What is most valuable?
- Way of creating reports
- Ease of use
- Can connect to any database
- Create models with ease.
How has it helped my organization?
In our organization, they chose this product mainly due to its ease of use. They were also able to generate high revenue by identifying their backlog areas.
What needs improvement?
The calculation engine requires some improvement.
For how long have I used the solution?
For eight years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
No issues with stability.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
No issues with scalability.
How is customer service and technical support?
A 10 out of 10.
How was the initial setup?
I would say it's mostly straightforward, because it has a wide range of compatible operating systems and also it was easy to install. The whole software is bundled and provided to the consumer.
What other advice do I have?
It's the best product in the market when it comes to reporting technology.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partnership doing consultations.
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An upgrade in SAP BO is a hard, resource consuming job. Dont underestimate it.