SAP IQ vs SQL Server 2014 Express comparison

SAP and Cognosys Inc Hardened Images are both solutions in the Relational Databases Tools category. SAP is ranked #24 with an average rating of 6.8, while Cognosys Inc Hardened Images is ranked #30 with an average rating of 7.0. Additionally, 80% of SAP users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Cognosys Inc Hardened Images users who would recommend it.

SAP IQ

Read 23 SAP IQ reviews

1,362 Views
640 Comparison Views

80% willing to recommend

SQL Server 2014 Express

Read 2 SQL Server 2014 Express reviews

176 Views
60 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

SAP IQ

SQL Server 2014 Express

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between SAP IQ and SQL Server 2014 Express based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, Oracle, SAP and others in Relational Databases Tools.

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January 2026

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Helped 881,082 peers since 2012

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

SAP IQ

Ranking in Relational Databases Tools

24th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Data Warehouse (15th)

SQL Server 2014 Express

Ranking in Relational Databases Tools

30th

Average Rating

7.0

Reviews Sentiment

5.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Featured Reviews

Akhilesh Narayanan

Tech Lead, Database Section. at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees

Compression performance gets high marks but user-friendly interface needs improvement

The downside of SAP IQ, from what I understood from the management side, is that the front end for the DBA, for the admin, is not that user-friendly. If you compare it with SQL Server Management Studio, it is not that user-friendly GUI for the admin. But the engine is very strong and powerful. It is easy to deploy SAP IQ; the implementation and installation are easy. The downside I see is that it doesn't allow most integrated backups; many of the marketplace players such as NetBackup, those software integrated backups are not available. So, if you want to take a backup, you need to take it locally, and then only you can back it up to any storage or anything. Those features such as integrated backup, which would allow it to stripe into an appliance or something similar, are not present. One thing I notice as a downside is that if the CPU utilization is very high, there is no direct way we can find out which query is taking the most CPU. In any other RDBMS, there are DMVs available to find out which query is taking most of the CPU, but those features are not present in SAP IQ. If our CPU is hitting at 100%, it is not easy to identify which connection is taking the most CPU.

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Rajneesh Prajapati

Senior Rpa Consultant at Accely Consulting

Reliable data storage has boosted automation logs and now needs fewer limits for growing workloads

The best features SQL Server 2014 Express offers are that it is free and reliable. The biggest advantage is that it is free and very stable, which makes it ideal for small scale and non-critical workloads. It integrates easily with .NET applications, automation tools, and reporting solutions. Setting up the installation and basic configuration is straightforward even for a small team. The integration with .NET applications and automation tools helps my team and projects by allowing me to record and store large amounts of data quickly. It processes very fast, stores very fast, reads the data, searches the data, and executes queries very quickly. However, in Excel, it does not work when the data is large. SQL Server 2014 Express has impacted my organization positively because it is time-saving. When I try to read Excel with a large amount of data, it is slow and sometimes it does not open because there is a lot of data. Sometimes Excel crashes. When I use SQL Server 2014 Express, it is very quick and time-saving, properly visible, and I can track where the data is breaking. It is reliable and cost-efficient for small use cases, but scalability and feature limitations prevent a higher rating.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"The feature I appreciate the most about SAP IQ is the compression, which is very good; we cannot compare with any other type of EDW."

"Valuable features for us include the compression, speed, fast response time, and easy object maintenance."

"The column-based technologies (basically all the database for ITP) are used for SAP IQ. It is used as a column-based solution."

"The primary benefit of SAP IQ is its ability to limit the expansion of the costly SAP HANA database, which has limited storage capacity. This necessitates a form of data management that involves moving data from SAP HANA to SAP NLS, which is essentially archiving. This allows us to retain access to the data via a link whenever it is required."

"Unbeatable speed and compression with a colummn-structured relational database."

"The initial setup is easy."

"The product is easy to learn."

"It is very robust for ad hoc DW queries and its columnar compression is unique and valuable."

More SAP IQ pros

"SQL Server 2014 Express has positively impacted my organization by improving my knowledge in SQL coding and making my work faster."

"SQL Server 2014 Express has impacted my organization positively because it is time-saving."

Cons

"The tool gets stuck sometimes."

"Multiplex is very problematic. There are consistency problems in the metadata, meaning it is possible to lose metadata consistency. You should make sure you have healthy backups."

"I think the universe should be part of the Sybase IQ tool set."

"The solution works best when combined with other SAP solutions. If the environment has other systems other options might be better."

"The room for improvement would be the marketing of the product, because this product is much better than advertised."

"The downside I see is that it doesn't allow most integrated backups; many of the marketplace players such as NetBackup or Veritas, those software integrated backups are not available."

"There is very little documentation available."

"The only negative aspect of IQ is the cost, which can be challenging for companies in Peru."

More SAP IQ cons

"SQL Server 2014 Express can be improved as there are some resource limits. There are limitations on database size, memory, and CPU usage which restrict scalability."

"SQL Server 2014 Express can be improved by increasing the maximum 10 gigabytes for a database, as it would be better if this limit were increased."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It's not that costly. So, the pricing is cheap."

"The only costs after standard licensing fees are for add-ons and upgrades."

"Negotiate based on the features required."

"The cost of implementation is about $3,000."

"Negotiation is very important."

"Evaluate all options; check to see if you need expensive add-ons."

Information not available

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

36%

Comms Service Provider

Outsourcing Company

Computer Software Company

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	6
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	16

No data available

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SAP IQ?

IQ implementation costs about three thousand dollars. It's less expensive compared to alternatives like Teradata Base in terms of transactional efficiency.

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What needs improvement with SAP IQ?

When it comes to SAP IQ, the areas that could be improved or enhanced include the error messaging and the locking capabilities, as that's where we often encounter problems. When there is an issue, ...

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What is your primary use case for SAP IQ?

Our usual use cases for SAP IQ is that we have a Software-as-a-Service architecture where this database is the foundation for our SAP BusinessObjects platform. This is where it's getting its data f...

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What needs improvement with SQL Server 2014 Express?

SQL Server 2014 Express can be improved by increasing the maximum 10 gigabytes for a database, as it would be better if this limit were increased.

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What is your primary use case for SQL Server 2014 Express?

My main use case for SQL Server 2014 Express is querying with SQL code. I use SQL Server 2014 Express in my work for analyzing the data set, so I can learn how to use SQL code and how to correctly ...

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What advice do you have for others considering SQL Server 2014 Express?

The advice I would give to others looking into using SQL Server 2014 Express is to be careful about the size of the database. I would rate this product a 7.

See all answers

Comparisons

SQL Server vs SAP IQ

Compared 11% of the time

SAP HANA vs SAP IQ

Compared 9% of the time

Snowflake vs SAP IQ

Compared 9% of the time

Oracle Database vs SAP IQ

Compared 8% of the time

OpenText Analytics Database (Vertica) vs SAP IQ

Compared 6% of the time

More SAP IQ Competitors

No data available

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Also Known As

Sybase IQ

No data available

Overview

SAP® IQ software delivers speed and power for extreme-scale enterprise data warehousing and analytics. Its column-oriented, grid-based massively parallel processing (MPP) architecture and patented data compression and indexing technologies enable companies to exploit the value of huge amounts of data at the speed of business.

SAP

SQL Server 2014 Express is a free, feature-rich database that provides capabilities for lightweight data-driven applications. It offers seamless integration, making it ideal for developers who need a reliable and manageable environment.

Designed for small-scale applications, SQL Server 2014 Express delivers a robust platform for developers. Its architecture supports efficient data management and application development without additional costs. With features like advanced security and scalability, it caters to complex needs with ease, providing tools for data storage and dynamic application growth.

What are the key features of SQL Server 2014 Express?

Advanced Security: Ensures data integrity with strong authentication and authorization.
Data Scalability: Efficiently handles growing amounts of data without compromising performance.
Full-Text Search: Provides powerful search capabilities within text data.
Integration Services: Simplifies data transformation and importing tasks.

Why should users review SQL Server 2014 Express?

Cost-Effectiveness: Offers substantial features at no cost, reducing operational expenses.
Performance: Optimized for quick data retrieval and processing, enhancing application speed.
Manageability: Provides simple configuration and management tools.
Reliability: Ensures consistent data availability and uptime.

SQL Server 2014 Express is widely implemented across industries like retail and healthcare, where reliable, scalable data management systems are essential. Its support for application development and data handling helps businesses innovate efficiently and maintain competitive operations.

Cognosys Inc Hardened Images

Sample Customers

ASR Group, Citrix, State of Indiana, PocketCard Co. Ltd.

Information Not Available

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January 2026

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