Pentaho Business Analytics vs SAP Crystal Reports comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Pentaho Business Analytics and SAP Crystal Reports based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Reporting solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.
To learn more, read our detailed Pentaho Business Analytics vs. SAP Crystal Reports Report (Updated: March 2024).
765,234 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"We were able to install it without any assistance from tech support.""The initial setup is pretty straightforward.""Easy to use components to create the job.""Pentaho is an analytics platform that can be used when an organization has a lot of big data storage systems already installed and needs to manage and analyze that data. It has a specific use case for unstructured data, such as documents, and needs to be able to search and analyze it.""I use the BI Server, CDE Dashboards, Saiku, and Kettle, because these tools are very good and highly experienced.""The most valuable feature of Pentaho is the Tableau report.""Pentaho Business Analytics' best features include the ease of developing data flows and the wide range of options to connect to databases, including those on the cloud."

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"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.""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.""I find Crystal Reports very easy to use, even for a non-technical person.""It is an user-friendly solution.""We use SAP Crystal Reports for operational reporting.""The most valuable feature of the solution is that it is a fantastic way of generating reports.""The initial setup of the solution is pretty easy."

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Cons
"Pentaho Business Analytics' user interface is outdated.""Deployment is not simple. It is not simple because we are dealing with a lot of data; we are dealing with a lot of storage. So, it's not a simple process.""Pentaho, at the general level, should greatly improve the easy construction of its dashboards and easy integration of information from different sources without technical user intervention.""Logging capability is needed.""The repository should be improved.""Another concern is that Pentaho is not customizable or interactive.""We did not achieve the ROI. The work delivered to users had lesser value than the subscription cost.""Version control would be a good addition."

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"A real improvement would be a simpler system that allows users to play with the visualization without needing specialized skills and code.""SAP Crystal Reports has some compatibility issues with third-party products.""The financing part needs improvement.""If at all possible, a little bit of improvement on the analytical side is needed.""SAP Crystal Reports should provide better support for dynamic connectors.""There could be improvements made to the analytics capabilities.""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."

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Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "Free and commercial versions are available."
  • "Pentaho is expensive ."
  • "We were lucky enough to find a Pentaho OEM partner who offered a data warehouse model and the ETL software for about 60K SGD per year."
  • More Pentaho Business Analytics Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "This product costs a lot of money."
  • "I feel that SAP Crystal Reports is a reasonably priced product."
  • "We pay fifteen hundred dollars as licensing fee."
  • "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."
  • "SAP Crystal Reports is a very expensive solution."
  • More SAP Crystal Reports Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Comparison Review
    Anonymous User
    Any company (be it technology, manfucaturing, human resource, ecommerce, SME etc) always has the need for Business Intelligence to some or the other extent. If cost is one of the consideration factor, then the 2 BI tools which are at the forefront are Pentaho and Jaspersoft. But, often the same companies are caught up in an imbrogilo as to which tool to use, what are the technology/and end business user wise differences/ do i actually need to purchase commercial edition, is there any work around etc. Differences :- In the below mentioned points, I have tried to cover functionality wise the differences a. Reports :- Jaspersoft is known for its picture pixel perfect reporting. Jasper uses ireport for designing the reports. Hence, for having reports, Jaspersoft is the most ideal candidate. Pentaho uses Pentaho Report Designer. b. Dashboards :- Pentaho provides much more capabililties, interactivity in terms of dashboards. Dashboards designed in Pentaho are far more superior in functionality, aesthetically as compared to Jaspersoft. Pentaho CE uses CDE/CDF, Pentaho EE uses PDD . Dashboard functionality is present only in the Enterprise edition of Jaspersoft. c. Pentaho is having an intermediate layer known as Xactions & hence providing much more flexibility in terms of plugin designing, integration with applications, having out of box experience etc. Xactions supports scripting and scheduling of scripts execution. Jaspersoft dosent provide that much of flexibility in terms of… Read more →
    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:There are many...It would rather depend what System BI architecture or Enterprise legacy you have at your end...I would recommend as follows:  1) If you have legacies of SAP, Oracle  - look for SAP… more »
    Top Answer:The organization has both options based on their needs and budget constraints. The Enterprise Edition is expensive with references to an added number of features.
    Top Answer:The product to me is not as user-friendly as other players in the market. It also still needs improvement in the reporting module. You will need to search for deployment examples or need to have a… more »
    Top Answer:SAP Crystal Reports should provide better support for dynamic connectors. The solution should export reports to Excel in a real Excel format and not in a paper-oriented way. The solution should… more »
    Top Answer: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… more »
    Top Answer:We use SAP Crystal Reports for operational reporting.
    Ranking
    16th
    out of 50 in Reporting
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    7.0
    9th
    out of 50 in Reporting
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    6
    Average Words per Review
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    Rating
    8.5
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    Pentaho, Kettle, Hitachi Pentaho Business Analytics
    Learn More
    Overview

    Pentaho is an open source business intelligence company that provides a wide range of tools to help their customers better manage their businesses. These tools include data integration software, mining tools, dashboard applications, online analytical processing options, and more.

    Pentaho has two product categories: There is the standard enterprise version. This is the product that comes directly from Pentaho itself with all of the benefits, features, and programs that come along with a paid application such us analysis services, dashboard design, and interactive reporting.

    The alternative is an open source version, which the public is permitted to add to and tweak the product. This solution has its advantages, aside from the fact that it is free, in that there are many more people working on the project to improve its quality and breadth of functionality.

    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

    Sample Customers
    Cargo 2000 Lufthansa, Marketo, ModCloth, Cardiac Science, Telefonica, ExactTarget, Active Broadband Networks, and Brussels Airport.
    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
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Computer Software Company19%
    University13%
    Financial Services Firm13%
    Educational Organization6%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Financial Services Firm21%
    Government12%
    Computer Software Company11%
    Educational Organization9%
    REVIEWERS
    Healthcare Company17%
    Financial Services Firm17%
    Computer Software Company8%
    Construction Company8%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Government10%
    Computer Software Company10%
    Financial Services Firm8%
    Manufacturing Company7%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business50%
    Midsize Enterprise17%
    Large Enterprise33%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business27%
    Midsize Enterprise13%
    Large Enterprise60%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business29%
    Midsize Enterprise27%
    Large Enterprise43%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business23%
    Midsize Enterprise14%
    Large Enterprise62%
    Buyer's Guide
    Pentaho Business Analytics vs. SAP Crystals
    March 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about Pentaho Business Analytics vs. SAP Crystal Reports and other solutions. Updated: March 2024.
    765,234 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Pentaho Business Analytics is ranked 16th in Reporting with 42 reviews while SAP Crystal Reports is ranked 9th in Reporting with 48 reviews. Pentaho Business Analytics is rated 8.0, while SAP Crystal Reports is rated 8.4. The top reviewer of Pentaho Business Analytics writes "Flexible, easy to understand, and simple to set up". On the other hand, the top reviewer of SAP Crystal Reports writes "Helps analyze your data by creating richly formatted, pixel-perfect, and multiple reports from virtually any data source, delivered in over a dozen formats". Pentaho Business Analytics is most compared with Microsoft Power BI, Databricks, Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services, Tableau and KNIME, whereas SAP Crystal Reports is most compared with Microsoft Power BI, TIBCO Jaspersoft, Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services, IBM Cognos and QlikView. See our Pentaho Business Analytics vs. SAP Crystal Reports report.

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    We monitor all Reporting reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.