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SAP Analytics Cloud vs SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform comparison

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Buyer's Guide
SAP Analytics Cloud vs. SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform
March 2024
Executive Summary
Updated on Sep 5, 2022

We performed a comparison between SAP Analytics Cloud vs SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform based on our users’ reviews in five categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.

  • Ease of Deployment: Users of both products note that they are straightforward and simple to set up.
  • Features: Users of both products are happy with their flexibility, stability, and scalability.

    SAP Analytics Cloud users note that its visualization feature and cloud feature are robust, but it falls short when it comes to integrating with non-SAP systems, big data, and social media.

    SAP BusinessObjects users are happy with its flexibility in report dashboards and automatic drill-downs, but some users report that its user interface could be easier to use and navigate.
  • Pricing: Both solutions’ users report that they are expensive. SAP Analytics Cloud users report the price as reasonable, whereas SAP BusinessObjects feel the price is overly expensive and are dissatisfied with the licensing structure.
  • ROI: Users of both products mentioned being pleased with the ROI.
  • Service and Support: SAP Analytics Cloud and SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform are part of the same company. Their service and support are the same. Most users note that SAP’s support is at times sufficient, at times slow to respond.

Comparison Results: SAP Analytics Cloud has the winning edge in this comparison. Customers were more satisfied with SAP Analytics Cloud’s pricing and robust features.

To learn more, read our detailed SAP Analytics Cloud vs. SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform Report (Updated: March 2024).
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767,847 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
UttpeshVyas
Researched SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform but chose SAP Analytics Cloud: Eye-appealing visualizations and good predictive analytics, but more standard chart types should be included
Our clients do not have knowledge of business analytics, so we assist them by implementing this solution for them. Our customers are made up of... Read more →
Paul Grill
Easy to set up, good reporting, and very efficient
They've made it more efficient and able to respond to both report and ad-hoc requests in a timely fashion. The world still runs on reports. Reports... Read more →
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"The ease of use of the solution is its most valuable feature. We haven't tried all of the features yet. The graphing and the ease of using the analytics tools have been great. It's all drag and drop; you don't need to code anything.""Considering the reporting part, I rate the tool a nine out of ten.""Visualization is quite seamless and awesome. Once the data messaging is set up, it's straightforward and simple to select how it should be displayed. So, that's another advantage of SAP.""Technical support is helpful.""SAP Analytics Cloud is very easy to use, and you don't require much technology. It has a very good library and analytics. It is easy to configure and offers good visualization.""The product is flexible and has features like AI, link analysis, and insights. It has many features. I can search, and it creates automatic charts without selecting anything. For example, I can ask, "What is the gross margin?" the tool builds a chart based on my question.""The stories have really been helpful in looking at specific scenarios and analyzing trends over periods of time.""The visualization feature is the most valuable. SAP Analytics Cloud is also very easy to use."

More SAP Analytics Cloud Pros →

"Reporting from SAP Business Objects Web Intelligence is amazing, and gives users the ability to quickly access data from existing universes and/or relevant data sources, without the need to involve a functional business analyst or financial analyst.""It gives you a lot of flexibility in designing your dashboards.""The reporting features the solution offers are excellent.""Has features that can be leveraged to scale out and scale up.""​It is a very good product, stable, and has good technical capabilities.​""It has got great flexibility. As a reporting tool, it has a great deal of flexibility for numerous data resources that you can bring into it. It allows you to write your SQL query directly within the product. So, it allows you to do server-side joins instead of pulling all the data into Crystal Report to aggregate that data. It has great visualization. For the most part, it operates quite efficiently.""BusinessObjects can handle a lot of usage on the front end, and many users can view these reports. It's a relatively stable and secure tool.""I like the fact that we can integrate it seamlessly within our Epic environment, but probably the best thing that Crystal Reports offers is the ability to do visualizations. They're simple to do, and they're catchy. So, it is a really great tool."

More SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform Pros →

Cons
"One potential improvement is how we can transpose data. With SAP, if you have data from one system with a declared data type and a different system with another data type, the transfer is tricky.""There is no direct connector from SAP to Redshift, so we are required to use a third-party product that was recommended by SAP.""I would like to see reporting to the Analytics cloud directly.""Sometimes we have difficulty connecting to a SharePoint list.""The general management of this solution could be improved. The graphics or icons could also be improved to allow them to integrate with other environments on the web.""Custom visuals is another area of improvement. There are also some mobile features that are missing. There are features that aren't available on the mobile.""Sometimes there are speed issues with big deletion data.""There is plenty of room for improvement. They have different products, and you need to integrate all of them to have one functionality. For example, data extraction happens in Datasphere. Then it would be best if you had some connection between the Datasphere and the SAP Analytics Cloud to get the data, as this is causing headaches sometimes. The knowledge base and Jedox also could be more meaningful. I have tried to search for some specific knowledge base and technology base, and I didn't find them. I have learned it by trial and error. There is room to improve the integrations between the different products. The AFS, and the Data action, need improvement. Sometimes they release new tools and updates, but not in my area."

More SAP Analytics Cloud Cons →

"The solution is not good for self-services, they can improve in this area.""The integration could be improved. The SAP suite has some integration problems and it has some huge development needs. For example, when you use Power BI, if you publish a dataset to the web, there is no issue in seeing the data with the report. The data and report are integrated automatically. Or when you use QlikView, when you publish the QVD file, the report is integrated with QVD. Also, with Tableau, when you publish the data, it's in the hyper database, in the memory, and the dashboard with data is integrated seamlessly. In the SAP side, it's not easy. There are lots of business layers. There are also some performance issues in the SAP BusinessObjects suite. They should focus on the technologies. We are partners and every step of the way, SAP asks us for money. If you want to see the products, the PDFs, if you want to learn the product, online training, etc., everything has a cost on the SAP site. Because of this, partners try to get to know the products on their own. SAP only focuses on the sales side—only money is important for SAP, not the quality. In that way, the operation is not easy on the SAP side. As a suggestion, they should focus on customers first instead of money.""The initial setup could be simplified.""The user interface should be easier to use and navigate.""The calculation engine requires some improvement.""Most of the Apps right now are into dashboarding. This tool, for the Crystal Reports in the phase I'm primarily working on, does not have those dashboarding capabilities, like in the other advanced tools like Power BI or ClickView, and compared to them the dashboard generation is not that great.""Its data visualization tool is not as good as Power BI and Tableau. Currently, for data visualization, you need to spend more money to buy another solution such as Power BI or Tableau. It is also very hard to integrate it with other third-party solutions. Its integration with other solutions should be improved.""We're an Epic shop, and Epic is moving away from Crystal. It would be nice if it had tighter integration with products like Epic. It would be awesome to have better integration with third-party products."

More SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform Cons →

Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "It is a bit expensive, but really worth it, especially if you are already using other SAP tools."
  • "It is not the most expensive one. You have to do the cost-of-ownership analysis and take a lot of things into consideration to come up with the conclusion that it is cheaper or not, but its price is reasonable. It provides value for money."
  • "It's quite expensive and costs a lot to maintain, especially with licensing."
  • "It's not that costly as such for the time being."
  • "Its licensing is on a monthly basis."
  • "Compute and storage features should be sold separately."
  • "Its pricing is okay as compared to its competitors."
  • "Its price is slightly on the higher side."

    • More SAP Analytics Cloud Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "Just work with SAP to make sure you have enough licenses but don't go overboard."
  • "​It is not an expensive platform. The licensing is for a package of users starting at 10 users."
  • "It has an option of a Cloud Platform (SAP Analytics Cloud) which has a lower price than the on-premise platform, and you can buy individual licences per user.​"
  • "Depending on your size, try to stick with SAP BusinessObjects BI Edge. Most people tend to overthink the licensing. Remember that one concurrent user means that one person can be performing a task at a given time. That does not mean that only one user can be on the system at a time, it means that only one person can be refreshing a report or designing a dashboard. There are tons of ways you can access your data or reports without consuming a license. I've seen cases where five concurrent licenses support thousands of users."
  • "There's no additional charge for a Development environment license, so build an additional development server."
  • "Its price is fair."
  • "It is not cost-effective. It is expensive."
  • "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."

    • More SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Comparison Review
    Anonymous User
    SAP Business Objects vs. Microsoft BI
    A quick look at the whole idea on another weblogs gives you a sense that all of them just talked about very brief things like report refresh feature in BO or cube feature in MS Analysis Service. I choose MS BI and I want to share my reasons and opinions on why I choose it and give you another quick but a little deeper compare on these two BI platforms. As we all know both Business Objects and Microsoft are big companies who are working on BI solutions and both have their own advantages. It’s not true to compare them in term of which one is better, we have to check what is our requirements and then depend on requirements take the decision whether MS or BO. A vision like this could help us relief from religious decisions against a software or technology. In a BI architect first of all we have the data store level, I mean the storage of the raw data not the stage or olap cubes or universe data source, I mean the first place of our data. This is important to know that where your raw data is and what is the type of storage used to store them. Whether file system or Access or Fox database or a complex database solution like oracle, sqlserver or a web service can made our place of raw data. We have to check our tools against them; check to see which one gives us a smooth way to transfer them among ETL process to destination. So take a look at what Business Objects gives us. There is a Data Integration platform in Business objects but the problem is that you have to buy that… Read more →
    Questions from the Community
    Which would you choose - Tableau or SAP Analytics Cloud?
    Top Answer:Tableau is easy to set up and maintain. In about a day it is possible for the entire platform to be deployed for use. This relatively short amount of time can make all the difference for companies… more »
    Read all 6 answers   →
    What do you like most about SAP Analytics Cloud?
    Top Answer:Considering the reporting part, I rate the tool a nine out of ten.
    Read all 44 answers   →
    What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SAP Analytics Cloud?
    Top Answer:I wasn't directly involved in the pricing discussions, but when I joined the organization, they had already purchased the SAP Analytics Cloud solution. The organization faced challenges due to its… more »
    Read all 26 answers   →
    Seeking lightweight open source BI software
    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 »
    Read all 8 answers   →
    Tableau vs. Business Objects - Which is a better solution for visualizati...
    Top Answer:Both tools have their positives and negatives. First, I should mention that I am relatively new to Tableau. I have been working on and off Tableau for about a year, but getting to work on it… more »
    Read all 18 answers   →
    What do you like most about SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Pla...
    Top Answer:What I like the most about SAP BusinessObjects BI Platform is that it has significantly improved our decision-making process.
    Read all 39 answers   →
    Ranking
    4th
    out of 108 in BI (Business Intelligence) Tools
    Views
    11,682
    Comparisons
    7,624
    Reviews
    24
    Average Words per Review
    500
    Rating
    7.7
    6th
    out of 108 in BI (Business Intelligence) Tools
    Views
    8,854
    Comparisons
    6,867
    Reviews
    15
    Average Words per Review
    562
    Rating
    7.9
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    SAP BusinessObjects Cloud
    SAP BusinessObjects BI Platform, SAP BusinessObjects, Business Objects
    Learn More
    SAP
    SAP
    Overview

    SAP Analytics Cloud is an all-in-one Software-as-a-Service business intelligence tool that provides the key functionalities of an analytics tool to SAP business users. This tool is built on HANA Business Intelligence (BI) platform, providing analytics from data collected from multiple sources, such as ERP, Microsoft SQL, and Salesforce, among other solutions.

    You can use SAP Analytics Cloud to compile data and perform ad-hoc reporting and analysis for predictive planning. SAP Analytics Cloud collects and analyzes the raw data from transactional systems into intelligent insights that allow you to make better decisions.

    SAP Analytics Cloud uses machine learning to clean up data, identify errors, and issues, and suggest optimization or filtering options. You can use the modeling feature in Analytics Cloud to create hierarchies and get deeper data insights.

    The three core functions of SAP Analytics Cloud consist of Planning, Predictive Analysis, and Business Intelligence as a holistic SaaS solution that offers real-time analysis to business leaders.

    SAP Analytics Cloud Capabilities

    • Data discovery
    • Machine learning
    • Integrated financial and business planning
    • Predictive analysis
    • Automated data cleansing
    • Custom widgets
    • Mobile extension
    • Role-based customization
    • Data exploration and visualization

    SAP Analytics Cloud Key Features

    • Augmented analytics: SAP Analytics Cloud allows organizations to make the most of AI (Artificial Intelligence)-powered analytics through augmented analytics. It includes a Search to Insight feature that enables users not skilled or experienced in data science to access and use the platform.

      These smart insight tools allow organizations to visualize business data without manual intervention. By combining multiple machine learning algorithms, SAP Analytics Cloud automates predictive analysis so that organizations can have significant insight into secured data.
    • Enterprise planning: As SAP Analytics Cloud is an all-in-one financial planning and analysis solution, organizations can use it to align strategies across all departments. It allows end-to-end, data-driven planning decisions via financial modeling, allocations, smart insights, and automated reporting.

      The Zero-based budgeting feature allows for an effective resources allocation with built-in collaboration tools. The finance team can collaborate easily, create budget templates and make accurate decisions.

    SAP Analytics Cloud Benefits

    • Real-time cloud insights: SAP Analytics Cloud makes it easy for users at every level to generate instant insights and improve data-driven decision-making. With SAP Analytics Cloud, you can have immediate and central access to all figures, diagrams, insights, and evaluations for every employee on every device and updated in real time.

    • Customizable dashboard: You can customize your dashboard according to your requirements. This customization means you can easily access all the relevant data on a single pane of vision tailored to your business.

    • Collaborative planning: As an all-in-one platform, SAP Analytics Cloud integrates the multiple aspects of a business into a single solution, including finance, HR, sales, and supply chain management.

    • Data on any device: You can integrate SAP Analytics Cloud with SAP S/4 HANA and deploy insights to Android and iOS devices. The SAP S/4 HANA integration also enables the rolling out of changes to multiple files and devices from a central location, so you can carry your business operations on the go over a secured cloud network.

    • In-memory technology: Since it is based on SAP HANA in-memory technology, SAP Analytics Cloud can process massive amounts of data in a short time.

    Reviews from Real Users

    Segun O., SAP HANA Developer at SOA PEOPLE, says that "The most valuable features are on the application side, where you can design applications into your analytics on the platform."

    The Head of Finance Enterprise Application at a computer software company adds that "The visualization feature is the most valuable. SAP Analytics Cloud is also very easy to use."

    "Its many features make it the best in the market," sums up a Consultor SAP Business Object, Sap Analytics Cloud at a tech services company.

    SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform is a versatile and flexible solution for reporting and dashboards, focusing on analytics and ad hoc reporting. It can be deployed on-premise or in the cloud. The solution includes tools such as Web Intelligence, Crystal Reports, SAP Lumira, and Analytical Cloud and is primarily used for comprehensive business intelligence reporting.

    The most valuable features include excellent reporting features, good technical support, scalability, and the ability to translate database data into business language. The solution has helped organizations by providing analytics, monitoring KPIs, and making important decisions as a financial business.

    SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Key Features

    • Central management: Access all your BI from a single, central launchpad that can be customized to meet user-specific needs. The launchpad provides business users with access to all their BI tools, reports, notifications, and applications in a single place. This includes the ability to launch SAP Analytics Cloud.

    • Data visualization and analytics: Create powerful visualizations, dashboards, and applications to assess risk, improve efficiency, identify opportunities, and enable users to analyze developments and data. Business insights can be shared with colleagues across enterprises.

    • Integration with Microsoft Office: Integrate with SAP Business Warehouse and SAP HANA to power real-time analytics. For large-scale data analysis, you can integrate with Microsoft Excel to discover in-depth business insights and forecasts. Data analytics information can also be embedded into Microsoft PowerPoint presentations.

    • Cloud support: Extend and expand your BI on the cloud. SAP Analytics Cloud connects your BI to the cloud and offers enterprise planning and advanced analytics from a single online solution.

    Reviews from Real Users

    SAP BusinessObjects BI stands out among its competitors for a number of reasons. Several major ones are its user-friendly dashboard, its impressive reporting and analytic features, and its ability to integrate with multiple solutions.

    A managing partner at a tech services company writes, "One of the most valuable features of SAP BusinessObjects is that it's not a dashboarding solution. It's a real product. You can create operational reports and publish it to anyone. You can create schedules. You can create a Universe, semantic layers. There's also a security configuration. It's a huge product, so if there is a business need, SAP BusinessObjects can cover it."

    An associate manager at a consultancy notes, "It provides flexibility for creating reports. It is very good for creating highly complex reports. I like this solution because when I buy BusinessObjects, it comes with many components, such as reporting, dashboard, and data visualization tools. Its performance is good. It is running on top of SAP BW and SAP HANA."

    A manager of data analytics and interfaces at a healthcare company says, "It has got great flexibility. As a reporting tool, it has a great deal of flexibility for numerous data resources that you can bring into it. It allows you to write your SQL query directly within the product. It has great visualization. 

    Sample Customers
    Live Oak Bank
    SRAM, Kennametal, Fairfax Water, British American Tobacco, Velux, and FedEx.
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Computer Software Company28%
    Financial Services Firm12%
    Manufacturing Company12%
    Retailer8%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Educational Organization19%
    Manufacturing Company12%
    Computer Software Company10%
    Financial Services Firm6%
    REVIEWERS
    Manufacturing Company18%
    Healthcare Company11%
    Energy/Utilities Company9%
    Insurance Company7%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Financial Services Firm14%
    Computer Software Company11%
    Manufacturing Company9%
    Government8%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business31%
    Midsize Enterprise21%
    Large Enterprise48%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business16%
    Midsize Enterprise26%
    Large Enterprise58%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business29%
    Midsize Enterprise16%
    Large Enterprise55%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business18%
    Midsize Enterprise10%
    Large Enterprise71%
    Buyer's Guide
    SAP Analytics Cloud vs. SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform
    March 2024
    Free Report: SAP Analytics Cloud vs. SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform
    Find out what your peers are saying about SAP Analytics Cloud vs. SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform and other solutions. Updated: March 2024.
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    SAP Analytics Cloud is ranked 4th in BI (Business Intelligence) Tools with 57 reviews while SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform is ranked 6th in BI (Business Intelligence) Tools with 102 reviews. SAP Analytics Cloud is rated 8.0, while SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform is rated 7.8. The top reviewer of SAP Analytics Cloud writes "Good for reporting but needs to improve its predictive analytics features". On the other hand, the top reviewer of SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform writes "Web intelligence will work with any amount of data even if you have 10 million rows". SAP Analytics Cloud is most compared with Tableau, IBM Planning Analytics, Microsoft Power BI, Anaplan and IBM Cognos, whereas SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform is most compared with Microsoft Power BI, Oracle OBIEE, IBM Cognos, MicroStrategy and Looker. See our SAP Analytics Cloud vs. SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform report.

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    We monitor all BI (Business Intelligence) Tools 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.