SAP Crystal Reports vs Windward Core comparison

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3,532 views|2,791 comparisons
96% willing to recommend
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788 views|228 comparisons
100% willing to recommend
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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between SAP Crystal Reports and Windward Core based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

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To learn more, read our detailed Reporting Report (Updated: April 2024).
768,578 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 use SAP Crystal Reports for operational reporting.""The initial setup of the solution is pretty easy.""It is an user-friendly solution.""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.""I find Crystal Reports very easy to use, even for a non-technical person.""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.""The most valuable feature of the solution is that it is a fantastic way of generating reports."

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"The integration with MS Office is an advantage, creating a better user experience.""The two features that I like the best are the ability to generate Word and Excel documents, and the ability to create my templates directly inside those software sets. It's absolutely critical for me as a user to have design and layout control, because all of my reports are very, very customized. I have to have control over the ability to generate and to control what they look like.""The design tool, with all of its features and sample output fidelity tests, and being able to work with JSON data and output PDF and HTML, were also both crucial.""Windward helped automate reports which otherwise would have needed IT to create and maintain.""The engine being able to sit inside of our firewall is the most important feature.""AutoTag is valuable because it integrates with MS Word and makes it easy for our users to create template documents and reports. It allows our users to design the templates based on differing needs.""The ultimate feature is the product it produces. The ROI around that saves hours and hours. It's probably about a hundred days per year. The time savings and the ability to turn it around quickly pleases our customers.""It's easy to create templates and reports using Microsoft Word, so we don't have to learn something new to create a template. That makes it very user-friendly... they have integrated the product with Microsoft Word. People can easily start working on it without too much training."

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Cons
"SAP Crystal Reports should provide better support for dynamic connectors.""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.""If at all possible, a little bit of improvement on the analytical side is needed.""The financing part needs improvement.""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.""There could be improvements made to the analytics capabilities."

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"It needs better support for upgrades and more control over layout of elements. Upgrades tend to break existing output. Elements do not position where expected due to insertion of blank lines and page breaks. It takes time to fix these through trial and error.""We would like to shrink these reports into one page, because there is a lot of free space on one page, but we cannot shrink it into the one page to be shorter. This is one thing we would like to change.""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.""It needs the ability to drill down in a single report (i.e., interactive)​ into data.""The reason it took us so long to get the system up and running is that the APIs could be improved a bit. It could be a little bit more interoperable with software, without having to do a lot of the heavy lifting that we had do to get it in.""One thing that frustrated us a little bit is that we have to use the Office PDF generation, because the native PDF generation is always slightly different compared to the one in Office. The formatting is just a little bit off here and there... This means that we need to have Office installed on the server to be able to generate these documents via API.""About six months ago, we raised the possibility of improving the way they manage the HTML 5. Sometimes, when you insert a lot of data in the data source, you get an error because it is not managing HTML 5 features well. I believe they have addressed this in later versions of their product.""Their PDF needs improvement. We've run into some issues when we tried to generate a Word document. If we try to generate the same document in PDF, sometimes it doesn't look exactly the same."

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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 →

  • "I can't advise anybody about pricing and licensing, but it was competitive. A lot of things we did look at were all volume-based, so it was a case of you buy a license to generate this many reports a year, and that's not something that I'm particularly interested in because it doesn't give you any idea - if we have future growth, or if we have a lean year - for budgeting reasons it's more difficult. With Windward it's a straight out license fee, whether we generate one page or we generate a million, it makes no difference."
  • "​They are fair and flexible. They are willing to work with your current architecture to make sure you have the best deal.​"
  • "CapEx fits our requirements, OpEx is higher due to the 20% service and maintenance cost, where we normally pay 15%."
  • "It is absolutely worth the value. They have flexibility, depending on what you're looking for from a buying standpoint. The current pricing models are quite flexible, with the ability to use it on an as-needed basis, or to get a perpetual license that covers a customer that might have extensive needs. I think it's pretty good."
  • "For what you're getting, it's an extremely good value."
  • "The only problem with the pricing of Windward is the limitation on the number of reports generated. It is costly in that sense. If you want to increase, you have to pay more, based on the number of reports generated per day. It is not the same with Crystal Reports. With the latter, you buy a license at one point in time and that's it."
  • "From my experience in this field, the product is reasonably priced, at least with the RESTful engine implementation. It's definitely not a cheap option. People say, "That's a fair amount of money to pay for a document generation tool." At the same time, you do get good functionality and the support is good."
  • "Pricing is something I complain about. Production pricing is okay, but for a testing environment the pricing looks a bit high to me."
  • More Windward Core Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Questions from the Community
    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.
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    Ranking
    9th
    out of 50 in Reporting
    Views
    3,532
    Comparisons
    2,791
    Reviews
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    Average Words per Review
    416
    Rating
    8.5
    24th
    out of 50 in Reporting
    Views
    788
    Comparisons
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    Also Known As
    Windward, Windward Studios
    Learn More
    Overview

    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

    What is Windward Studios?

    For over a decade, Windward has been a leader in the software development industry by creating the most innovative and advanced document automation and reporting software on the planet. 

    Data-Driven Document Automation

    Generate stunning documents that incorporate relevant data easily and seamlessly.

    Visually Striking Designs

    Our software provides innovative tools and features to build beautiful designs and stunning layouts, all within the familiar Microsoft Office Suite. Your imagination is the only limitation.

    Agile Document Logic

    We offer the best document automation software for the new millennium. With our conditional logic functionality, you can swiftly personalize the document content to gratify your end users. 

    Huge Time Saver

    Looking for faster template creation that enables you to keep pace with your business?  With our software, template creation takes minutes and you do not need any programming experience to get it done.

    Exceptionally Intuitive Interface

    Our program's design offers documents that can be edited, customized and designed using MS Office. Enjoy a stress-free document automation experience in programs you already know.

    Efficient Savings

    Significantly reduce the resources and time required for template development by using our streamlined template design and document automation tools. 

    Sample Customers
    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
    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
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Healthcare Company17%
    Financial Services Firm17%
    Construction Company8%
    Computer Software Company8%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Government10%
    Computer Software Company10%
    Financial Services Firm9%
    Manufacturing Company7%
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm21%
    Healthcare Company21%
    Computer Software Company21%
    Insurance Company7%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company16%
    Financial Services Firm14%
    Comms Service Provider7%
    Real Estate/Law Firm7%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business29%
    Midsize Enterprise27%
    Large Enterprise43%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business23%
    Midsize Enterprise14%
    Large Enterprise62%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business61%
    Midsize Enterprise13%
    Large Enterprise26%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business20%
    Midsize Enterprise19%
    Large Enterprise62%
    Buyer's Guide
    Reporting
    April 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, Tableau, Oracle and others in Reporting. Updated: April 2024.
    768,578 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    SAP Crystal Reports is ranked 9th in Reporting with 48 reviews while Windward Core is ranked 24th in Reporting. SAP Crystal Reports is rated 8.4, while Windward Core is rated 8.8. 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". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Windward Core writes "It has streamlined a lot of our reporting processes". SAP Crystal Reports is most compared with Microsoft Power BI, TIBCO Jaspersoft, Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services, IBM Cognos and Alteryx, whereas Windward Core is most compared with Docmosis, Nintex Document Generation, OpenText Magellan BI & Reporting, CA Easytrieve Report Generator and Templafy.

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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.