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SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform vs ThoughtSpot comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 1, 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
5.8
SAP BusinessObjects BI Platform yields high ROI in large deployments, despite steep costs, through efficiency and decision-making improvements.
Sentiment score
6.2
ThoughtSpot offers time savings and decision-making benefits, though some struggle with costs and measuring financial returns due to adoption issues.
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.
Associate Software Enginner at Siddaganga Institute of Technology
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.
Data Analytics Manager at Dangote Industries Limited
I have seen a return on investment so far in the form of saved time and resources.
SAP Consultant at Sierra Digital Inc
Using ThoughtSpot has resulted in significant time savings and improved business sales by allowing us to identify sellers and buyers across regions, facilitating targeted marketing.
Business Intelligence & Reporting Manager at a tech vendor with 51-200 employees
Based on our implementation in one project, we are trying to raise more funding to expand its use.
Senior Business Intelligence Architect at Mphasis
ThoughtSpot saves a significant amount of time compared to other tools and is very user-friendly.
Data Analyst at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.5
Customer service for SAP BusinessObjects is mixed, showing both responsiveness and delays, with inconsistent technical support quality.
Sentiment score
5.7
ThoughtSpot customer service is supportive with quick responses, but some users experience delays and find the knowledge base lacking.
I would rate their technical support as excellent.
IT at a marketing services firm with 10,001+ employees
I have experience with SAP technical support and have supported customers, including those in financial services.
Data Analytics Manager at Dangote Industries Limited
Sometimes, they forward my ticket to the technical team, especially when my issue involves technical aspects that basis people may not be familiar with.
SAP Consultant at Sierra Digital Inc
I stopped opening tickets due to insufficient and untimely responses.
Software Engineer (Data specialist) at Salesforce
ThoughtSpot provides a dedicated customer success person and the ability to submit tickets online, with a response time of no more than a day.
Business Intelligence & Reporting Manager at a tech vendor with 51-200 employees
The knowledge base for ThoughtSpot is less robust compared to others.
Sr Data Analytics Consultant at Capgemini
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
SAP BusinessObjects BI Platform efficiently scales for global enterprises, supporting thousands of users with seamless advanced analytics integration.
Sentiment score
5.9
ThoughtSpot is highly scalable with data warehouse integration, but security governance and advanced features may be challenging.
The scalability of SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform is adequate; it is very scalable and grows with my organization's needs.
Senior Data Engineer at LTI LATAM and Toubro Improtech
I rate the scalability of SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform as a nine due to performance issues related to optimizing parts.
SAP Consultant at Sierra Digital Inc
Tableau, Power BI, or Looker have separate tools for preparation, customization, and storytelling.
Sr Data Analytics Consultant at Capgemini
The platform does not have technical problems with scaling data or connections.
Software Engineer (Data specialist) at Salesforce
As our data has grown, I have validated huge datasets and complex models without significant issues.
Data Analyst at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
6.9
SAP BusinessObjects BI Platform is stable and robust with proper configuration, despite occasional bugs and integration challenges.
Sentiment score
6.1
ThoughtSpot is reliable with high stability and minimal issues, but some users face indexing delays and feature limitations.
When they tried upgrading from 4.2 to 4.3, they found it buggy in some reports, which was quite problematic.
Senior Consultant at Keyrus
I use it primarily for large datasets, and it performs faster than regular data visualization tools such as Power BI, which has limits on dataset size.
Sr Data Analytics Consultant at Capgemini
The upgrades are smooth with no downtime, which is super important.
Software Engineer (Data specialist) at Salesforce
The responsiveness of accessing live data is exceptional and faster than most other BI tools.
Business Intelligence & Reporting Manager at a tech vendor with 51-200 employees
 

Room For Improvement

SAP BusinessObjects BI Platform faces challenges in performance, integration, user experience, setup, flexibility, and costly licensing.
ThoughtSpot users seek better visualization, customization, integration, user interface, data loading, pricing, governance, and tool integration features.
I've worked with other tools, for example, Microsoft Power BI, which is visualization-wise very strong.
Senior Consultant at Keyrus
SAP BusinessObjects is expected to be phased out by 2027 as reports are moving to SAP Analytics Cloud.
SAP enterpise cloud architect at ECC Experienced Certified Consulting
I would appreciate integration with Outlook as an additional feature in the future to make it closer to a perfect score.
IT at a marketing services firm with 10,001+ employees
Currently, it is not as customizable as the options available on Power BI or Tableau.
Sr Data Analytics Consultant at Capgemini
Handling governance when there are many models and dashboards is complex.
Software Engineer (Data specialist) at Salesforce
Enhancing integration capabilities with other tools like DBT would also be beneficial as it would make our lives easier.
Business Intelligence & Reporting Manager at a tech vendor with 51-200 employees
 

Setup Cost

SAP BusinessObjects BI Platform's licensing is flexible but costly compared to alternatives, suited for large enterprises, budget-sensitive for smaller businesses.
ThoughtSpot offers flexible, competitive pricing with various models, being comparable to Tableau and higher than Power BI.
SAP BTP is an expensive solution.
Associate Software Enginner at Siddaganga Institute of Technology
The price is very competitive and reliable.
IT at a marketing services firm with 10,001+ employees
I rate the pricing for SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform as a seven or eight.
SAP Consultant at Sierra Digital Inc
HubSpot is expensive.
Software Engineer (Data specialist) at Salesforce
ThoughtSpot's pricing is reasonable and in line with other BI tools.
Business Intelligence & Reporting Manager at a tech vendor with 51-200 employees
 

Valuable Features

SAP BusinessObjects BI Platform offers scalable, user-friendly reporting with robust features, enhancing decision-making and data governance.
ThoughtSpot offers fast data search, AI-driven insights, and self-service analytics, enhancing decision-making and user interaction.
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.
SAP Consultant at Sierra Digital Inc
Since we started using SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform, we have been able to make faster, data-driven business decisions based on actual data insights and data analysis, which has accelerated our ability to make better decisions for our business productivity.
Senior Data Engineer at LTI LATAM and Toubro Improtech
The best feature about it for me, and for them, is the fact that you have a universe that is well made.
Senior Consultant at Keyrus
Its compatibility with most databases, including the latest from FlexMovely and Redshift, allows users to create joins and worksheets easily.
Sr Data Analytics Consultant at Capgemini
This alerting feature is very beneficial for our company at the moment, and we use it extensively.
When I upload a data dump, AI analytics suggest possible data visualizations and insights, which I can pin to dashboards or live boards for modification.
Data Analyst at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
 

Categories and Ranking

SAP BusinessObjects Busines...
Ranking in BI (Business Intelligence) Tools
6th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
112
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
ThoughtSpot
Ranking in BI (Business Intelligence) Tools
10th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
17
Ranking in other categories
Data Visualization (8th), Embedded BI (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the BI (Business Intelligence) Tools category, the mindshare of SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform is 2.3%, down from 3.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ThoughtSpot is 1.5%, up from 1.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
BI (Business Intelligence) Tools Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform2.3%
ThoughtSpot1.5%
Other96.2%
BI (Business Intelligence) Tools
 

Featured Reviews

Declan Dempsey - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Consultant at Keyrus
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.
Sushma Polavarapu - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr Data Analytics Consultant at Capgemini
Creates user-friendly analysis environments for large datasets
The tool is user-friendly for the end users. It is primarily a search-based tool. Users do not need a technical background to work directly on the dataset. Its compatibility with most databases, including the latest from FlexMovely and Redshift, allows users to create joins and worksheets easily. ThoughtSpot is fast, even with one to ten terabytes of data.
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Comparison Review

it_user6663 - PeerSpot reviewer
BI Expert at a transportation company with 51-200 employees
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
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
18%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Healthcare Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business32
Midsize Enterprise19
Large Enterprise67
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise13
 

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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ThoughtSpot?
The pricing is on the higher end but reasonable for what ThoughtSpot offers.
What needs improvement with ThoughtSpot?
There should be a free version of it for people to learn easily so that they get adapted easily and get used to supporting the Domo community, which is something very important. The certification c...
What is your primary use case for ThoughtSpot?
I had some experience with ThoughtSpot. It was a very limited use case, as I was just a part of a POC, so I cannot really comment.
 

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.
Primary Capital Mortgage, Sterling Backcheck, RichRelevance, Rambus, Batteries Plus Bulbs
Find out what your peers are saying about SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform vs. ThoughtSpot and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
880,954 professionals have used our research since 2012.