Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform vs SAP Crystal Reports comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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
6.3
SAP BusinessObjects aids ROI through savings, insights, and integration, with fluctuating returns based on usage and data quality.
Sentiment score
5.7
SAP Crystal Reports greatly enhances ERP reporting and efficiency, offering ROI over 1000%, despite costly user training.
The initial investment will be more, but the ROI is also good, so they can consider it if they're looking for something in the long run.
I have seen a return on investment so far in the form of saved time and resources.
For most of my clients using the on-premises version of SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform, the return on investment is positive due to its affordability and ability to handle diverse reporting needs while automating information distribution.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.4
Customer service and technical support are inconsistent, with varying experiences in response times and issue resolution effectiveness.
Sentiment score
5.7
SAP Crystal Reports customer support is inconsistent, with mixed reviews, leading users to favor online resources and self-help solutions.
I have experience with SAP technical support and have supported customers, including those in financial services.
I would rate their technical support as excellent.
Sometimes, they forward my ticket to the technical team, especially when my issue involves technical aspects that basis people may not be familiar with.
I have not encountered any problems requiring assistance.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
SAP BusinessObjects BI Platform excels in scalability and user support but may be complex for very high data volumes.
Sentiment score
7.6
SAP Crystal Reports supports scalability and is suitable for medium to large enterprises, with room for scalability improvements.
I rate the scalability of SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform as a nine due to performance issues related to optimizing parts.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
6.9
SAP BusinessObjects stability varies; proper configuration ensures reliability, though some face issues with updates and integration challenges.
Sentiment score
7.1
SAP Crystal Reports is stable on Windows, with Unix challenges and improved performance on specialized servers post-2011.
When they tried upgrading from 4.2 to 4.3, they found it buggy in some reports, which was quite problematic.
 

Room For Improvement

SAP BusinessObjects needs enhanced dashboards, integration, and flexibility, with improvements in performance, setup, support, and competitive self-service features.
SAP Crystal Reports needs better visualization, modern tech integration, improved analytics, compatibility, and enhanced documentation and support.
SAP BusinessObjects is expected to be phased out by 2027 as reports are moving to SAP Analytics Cloud.
I've worked with other tools, for example, Microsoft Power BI, which is visualization-wise very strong.
I would appreciate integration with Outlook as an additional feature in the future to make it closer to a perfect score.
It would be beneficial to have easier integration with Azure, Microsoft Power Platform, and similar cloud technologies.
Enabling better practices and testing to enhance data accuracy and efficiency for company sectors.
If it is closed due to any problem, it should be able to recover where I left off, similar to Excel, which should be a feature for SAP Crystal Reports.
 

Setup Cost

SAP BusinessObjects offers robust features with flexible but costly licensing, less price-competitive compared to alternatives like Microsoft Power BI.
SAP Crystal Reports pricing perceptions vary; some find it costly, but discounts and volume deals can reduce expenses.
SAP BTP is an expensive solution.
The price is very competitive and reliable.
I rate the pricing for SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform as a seven or eight.
 

Valuable Features

SAP BusinessObjects offers robust features like ad-hoc reporting, multi-source connectivity, and self-service for enhanced data visualization and decision-making.
SAP Crystal Reports provides flexible data connectivity, custom design, and efficient reporting, enhancing decision-making and client communication.
For calculations, SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform outperforms all other tools such as Power BI and Tableau, showing more accuracy, reliability, and flexibility compared to all other BI tools worldwide.
The best feature about it for me, and for them, is the fact that you have a universe that is well made.
The important features include a dashboard and reporting capabilities through SAP Analytics Cloud, which I consider to be a better version than the initial BusinessObjects platform.
SAP Crystal Reports has had a very positive impact and benefits. It's a powerful tool to design any kind of report if you have knowledge of the database, and it can attach to both HANA and SQL databases.
The efficiency gained by our organization from SAP Crystal Reports is measurable through multiple export formats such as PDF and Excel.
The best features SAP Crystal Reports offers are powerful data connectivity, customized report design, interactive and visual reports, import, export, sharing options, and automation and scheduling.
 

Categories and Ranking

SAP BusinessObjects Busines...
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
110
Ranking in other categories
BI (Business Intelligence) Tools (5th)
SAP Crystal Reports
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
52
Ranking in other categories
Reporting (7th)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Business Intelligence solutions, they serve different purposes. SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform is designed for BI (Business Intelligence) Tools and holds a mindshare of 2.9%, down 4.8% compared to last year.
SAP Crystal Reports, on the other hand, focuses on Reporting, holds 2.7% mindshare, down 3.1% since last year.
BI (Business Intelligence) Tools Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform2.9%
Microsoft Power BI14.5%
Tableau Enterprise11.0%
Other71.6%
BI (Business Intelligence) Tools
Reporting Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
SAP Crystal Reports2.7%
Microsoft Power BI24.3%
Tableau Enterprise20.6%
Other52.4%
Reporting
 

Featured Reviews

Declan Dempsey - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides efficient data reporting while needing easier deployment and improved interface
Users tend to put everything into Excel, though I try to discourage this. The best feature about it for me, and for them, is the fact that you have a universe that is well made. This means you don't have those months that get assigned. You can just get to the point and get a report very quickly. Unfortunately, in some ways, it's a double-edged sword because it becomes more of a self-service ETL, even for the reporting team. If you have a decent universe and you just want to quickly get something together, it's very usable. Compared to Click, you can drop those reports very quickly.
MUHAMMAD_IMRAN - PeerSpot reviewer
Crystal Reports enables comprehensive data visualization but requires consistent integration practices for optimal accuracy
SAP Crystal Reports provides a clear picture for customer and vendor orders, showing whether orders are pending and delivering receivable and payable statuses, which allows understanding different scenarios categorically for client needs, ultimately satisfying both customers and clients. The efficiency gained by our organization from SAP Crystal Reports is measurable through multiple export formats such as PDF and Excel, which makes accessing and understanding data from the database easier. The ability to generate different formats facilitates better data analysis, although occasionally advanced features such as workbench center directly enhance the experience. The impact of SAP Crystal Reports' dynamic parameters significantly affects the customization and flexibility of reports, allowing adjustments to parameters based on client needs, such as date, users, and ledger views, ensuring data is correctly collected and formatted according to the client's requirements.
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which BI (Business Intelligence) Tools solutions are best for your needs.
867,445 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Comparison Review

it_user6663 - PeerSpot reviewer
May 25, 2013
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…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
14%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business32
Midsize Enterprise18
Large Enterprise65
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business17
Midsize Enterprise15
Large Enterprise22
 

Questions from the Community

Seeking lightweight open source BI software
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...
Tableau vs. Business Objects - Which is a better solution for visualization and analysis?
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 consta...
What do you like most about SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform?
What I like the most about SAP BusinessObjects BI Platform is that it has significantly improved our decision-making process.
What needs improvement with SAP Crystal Reports?
SAP Crystal Reports could be improved with more modern user-friendly interfaces and better integration with cloud platforms and AI tools. It would be beneficial to have easier integration with Azur...
What is your primary use case for SAP Crystal Reports?
I have been using SAP Crystal Reports for six months. I am using SAP Crystal Reports to develop data-driven reports and use customer data printing. When I use SAP Crystal Reports for customer data ...
What do you like most about SAP Crystal Reports?
We use SAP Crystal Reports for operational reporting.
 

Also Known As

SAP BusinessObjects BI Platform, SAP BusinessObjects, Business Objects
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

SRAM, Kennametal, Fairfax Water, British American Tobacco, Velux, and FedEx.
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
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, Salesforce, SAP and others in BI (Business Intelligence) Tools. Updated: August 2025.
867,445 professionals have used our research since 2012.