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Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services vs Windward Core comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 4, 2025

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
7.4
Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services enhances usability, saves time, and improves decision-making and efficiency with streamlined reporting processes.
Sentiment score
7.0
Windward Core enhances template design efficiencies, reduces costs, and increases productivity up to 70%, freeing IT resources.
Any tool which obviates the need for a lot of coding will definitely save at least 60-70% of effort.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.9
Technical support receives mixed reviews; some praise its responsiveness, others face challenges, with satisfaction ratings between seven and nine.
Sentiment score
8.4
Windward Core's service is praised for promptness, professionalism, effective communication, and proactive support, despite some troubleshooting concerns.
Reaching out to Microsoft took a prolonged time to the extent that we were wondering why Microsoft was unable to get its own logs to us.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
6.8
SQL Server Reporting Services offers moderate scalability, with challenges in horizontal scaling, preferring smaller deployments over enterprise ones.
Sentiment score
7.4
Windward Core is generally scalable, effectively handling demand, though some infrastructure and cost limitations affect performance.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.5
Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services is highly stable, with minor issues mainly related to upgrades and large datasets.
Sentiment score
7.6
Windward Core is praised for stability, reliable performance, and strong support, despite occasional random errors and upgrade issues.
 

Room For Improvement

SQL Server Reporting Services needs better visualization, integration, and performance to compete with alternatives, plus improved support and pricing.
Windward Core needs improvements in compatibility, user interface, documentation, error handling, and feature enhancements like charts and interactivity.
I am thinking that with all the Copilot integration within the Microsoft environment, that could be integrated as well, so that you could issue a prompt and it generates designs.
 

Setup Cost

Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services offers moderate pricing and good value, though the licensing model can be complex and costly.
Windward Core offers flexible and competitive pricing, ideal for enterprises with varied needs, supporting multiple deployment models.
Otherwise, you need to write a lot of code or API calls to generate reports if using some other tool outside of the ecosystem, which definitely requires additional effort and therefore additional cost and time.
 

Valuable Features

Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services provides intuitive usability, robust security, and seamless integration, enhancing report creation, visualization, and deployment.
Windward Core integrates with Office tools, enabling non-technical users to generate complex reports with customizable templates effortlessly.
The best features of Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services are that it is easy to get the reports out because it is integrated with SQL and we have many of these tables.
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft SQL Server Report...
Ranking in Reporting
4th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
21
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Windward Core
Ranking in Reporting
24th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
36
Ranking in other categories
Document Generation Tools (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Reporting category, the mindshare of Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services is 3.4%, down from 4.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Windward Core is 0.8%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Reporting
 

Featured Reviews

MartinSimons - PeerSpot reviewer
Ensures database access and monitoring have been manageable, but batch load analysis needs better support
There are occasions during maintenance runs when the Check Point monitoring system reports a lot of blocked sessions. This is typically due to system processes or maintenance processes that temporarily block themselves. Additionally, a tool within the studio for performing SQL analysis does not provide useful information for batch load processes, often advising not to use an index, which is expected with batch loads.
CH
Strong layout and design capabilities; leverages every aspect available in Word-native formatting
The licensing key is a little bit twitchy. I'd like to see more HTML formatting support in templates. It has a basic stock of HTML formatting capability, but it doesn't have a rich vocabulary. I have to work around that sometimes. The help documentation and blog posts are extensive, but not always up to date. The error reports also need improvement. If you don't key it in right, it's a little hard to find the root cause. It gives you information as much as it can, but it doesn't really hone in and tell you explicitly what you should do to correct the problem.
report
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861,170 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
14%
Government
11%
Computer Software Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
20%
Computer Software Company
10%
Real Estate/Law Firm
7%
Healthcare Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services?
I mainly use the solution for the ease of reporting and for executive dashboards.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services?
I would consider it cost effective for our environment, and we don't have to invest in another big tool to generate these reports, making it all integrated and easier. Otherwise, you need to write ...
What needs improvement with Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services?
I am thinking that with all the Copilot integration within the Microsoft environment, that could be integrated as well, so that you could issue a prompt and it generates designs.
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Also Known As

SQL Server Reporting Services, Microsoft SSRS, SSRS, MS SQL Server Reporting Services
Windward, Windward Studios
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

CMS Wire, The New York Times
HAL, Inc., Axe Group, White Clark Group, Blueprint Software, Aspect Security, Nucleus Software, LeBlanc’s Food Stores, South Sound 911, Aegon, Barclays, Fidelity Investments, ArisGlobal LLC, USDA, RepLink, AON Hewitt
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services vs. Windward Core and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
861,170 professionals have used our research since 2012.