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MicroStrategy 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
7.7
MicroStrategy offers cost-effective BI solutions, enhancing reporting, reducing maintenance, and providing significant ROI through tailored data management and visualization.
Sentiment score
6.3
SAP Crystal Reports delivers excellent ROI by enhancing ERP reporting and efficiency, with returns exceeding 1000% despite training costs.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
5.2
MicroStrategy receives praise for its responsive customer service and knowledge base, though some experience delays with complex issues.
Sentiment score
5.9
SAP Crystal Reports support is mixed, with larger clients prioritized, leaving smaller users often relying on online communities.
I would rate the technical support from MicroStrategy as nine out of 10.
I have not encountered any problems requiring assistance.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
MicroStrategy is highly scalable, supporting many users and large data, with some performance challenges but positive overall ratings.
Sentiment score
7.6
SAP Crystal Reports is scalable for medium to large businesses, but smaller companies may find it costly.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.3
Users find MicroStrategy stable, noting proper setup and newer versions' improvements, despite occasional bugs and configuration-specific performance issues.
Sentiment score
7.0
SAP Crystal Reports has become more stable since 2013, with most users experiencing improved reliability and performance.
I would rate the stability of MicroStrategy as nine out of 10.
 

Room For Improvement

MicroStrategy needs improved visualizations, user interface, and data integration to compete with more user-friendly platforms like Tableau and Power BI.
SAP Crystal Reports needs enhanced visualization, integration, and debugging to address interface complexity, performance issues, and compatibility limitations.
Organizations that are well-established and have more money can afford MicroStrategy, but startups and mid-level organizations who do not have this much budget have to opt for other cheaper tools.
MicroStrategy could learn from Power BI's user-friendly interface.
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

MicroStrategy's pricing is high; negotiate for discounts, align licenses with needs, and consider potential long-term cost benefits.
SAP Crystal Reports pricing varies, around $500 per license; discounts and free viewing options exist, training adds costs.
 

Valuable Features

MicroStrategy provides scalable analytics with customizable reports, self-service, real-time data, and mobile access for enhanced decision-making and visualization.
SAP Crystal Reports offers robust data visualization, extensive data connections, dynamic features, rapid development, and seamless Business Objects integration.
The MicroStrategy interface is not as good as Power BI, especially concerning the user-friendly aspects.
The most effective features of MicroStrategy for data analysis in my experience are the security, the metadata management, and the administration, along with the options of different workarounds available to accommodate different types of requirements.
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.
 

Categories and Ranking

MicroStrategy
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
161
Ranking in other categories
BI (Business Intelligence) Tools (7th), Embedded BI (3rd)
SAP Crystal Reports
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
51
Ranking in other categories
Reporting (7th)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Business Intelligence solutions, they serve different purposes. MicroStrategy is designed for BI (Business Intelligence) Tools and holds a mindshare of 2.8%, down 3.7% compared to last year.
SAP Crystal Reports, on the other hand, focuses on Reporting, holds 2.7% mindshare, down 3.2% since last year.
BI (Business Intelligence) Tools
Reporting
 

Featured Reviews

AJIN S L - PeerSpot reviewer
Experience has shown effective features for analysis, but needs interface improvements
The most effective features of MicroStrategy for data analysis are those that cater to user needs. However, I find Power BI to be more useful when comparing some features, but my company does not choose Power BI due to certain code restrictions. The MicroStrategy interface is not as good as Power BI, especially concerning the user-friendly aspects.
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
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Comparison Review

it_user6330 - PeerSpot reviewer
May 2, 2013
MicroStrategy vs. Tableau
After a recent presentation, several attendees asked me about the applications of Visual Insights and Tableau. Many companies are investing in both tools and are trying to figure out the right tool for specific applications Tableau has found its sweet-spot as an agile discovery tool that analysts…
 

Top Industries

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

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about MicroStrategy?
The stability of the product is good.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for MicroStrategy?
For larger businesses, I think the pricing is logical, but for smaller companies, it can be a bit costly.
What needs improvement with MicroStrategy?
Areas of MicroStrategy that have room for improvement include pricing because it is costly. Organizations that are well-established and have more money can afford MicroStrategy, but startups and mi...
What needs improvement with SAP Crystal Reports?
I believe SAP Crystal Reports could be improved or enhanced because one of the problems I am facing with it is that sometimes it hangs and uses too much memory, which is frustrating. If it is close...
What is your primary use case for SAP Crystal Reports?
My usual use cases for SAP Crystal Reports involve designing reports based on the requirements of the clients and management, such as profit and loss, graphs, multiple reports, sub reports, and das...
What do you like most about SAP Crystal Reports?
We use SAP Crystal Reports for operational reporting.
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Allstate Insurance, Barneys New York, Boston Children's Hospital, Buenos Aires Department of the Treasury, Campbell Soup Company, DHL, eBay, eHarmony, Facebook, Four Seasons Hotels Inc., Godiva, Hard Rock International, LinkedIn, Netflix, Pfizer, SECO (Swiss Government Unemployment Agency), Starbucks, Texas A&M University, Thomson Reuters Markets, US House of Representatives, and the US Postal Service.
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.
865,295 professionals have used our research since 2012.