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

SAP BusinessObjects Design Studio vs Tableau 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:
 

Categories and Ranking

SAP BusinessObjects Design ...
Ranking in Data Visualization
20th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
5.8
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Tableau
Ranking in Data Visualization
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
305
Ranking in other categories
BI (Business Intelligence) Tools (2nd), Reporting (2nd), Embedded BI (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Data Visualization category, the mindshare of SAP BusinessObjects Design Studio is 0.6%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Tableau is 25.0%, down from 31.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Visualization
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2329704 - PeerSpot reviewer
Comprehensive product with valuable dashboard and reporting features
SAP BusinessObjects offers a comprehensive solution with all BI functionalities. It includes valuable features like a dashboard, reporting, visualization, etc The platform's pricing needs improvement. It is very expensive. They should work on this particular area. We have been using SAP…
Nattawat Choosuwan - PeerSpot reviewer
Real-time data connection enhances workflow and decision-making process
An area for improvement in Tableau is the Explorer license type. It is not as useful, and the product owner should enhance its benefits or clarify its role. Additionally, the frequent updates with many versions available for download can be confusing and could affect stability. They should avoid providing access to older versions on their website.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It includes valuable features like a dashboard, reporting, visualization, etc."
"From my perspective, it enables clients to better understand our data and make better decisions based on that information."
"Tableau's visualization features let you present information insights quickly and practically. So it's something which I prefer with Tableau. In terms of reporting, I have to point out the sheer quality and function of the Tableau server, but the first impression is that it's a great visualization tool."
"The most valuable feature is that we can integrate with our own database, and it will displays the KPIs. This is highly required from the business side."
"Good data flow and management."
"Tableau serves as a stable dashboarding tool for higher management, aiding in quick decision-making."
"The most valuable features of the solution are the permission management and the user management."
"It's very easy to visualize data with this product. The visualization maps of and frames that we have been able to cross-reference has been excellent."
"This solution has transformed us from an Excel reporting environment to one of visual exploration."
 

Cons

"The platform's pricing needs improvement."
"From a downside perspective, some of the more advanced modeling techniques are actually fairly difficult to do. In addition, I just fundamentally disagree with the way you have to implement them because you can get incorrect answers in some cases."
"The process of embedding the dashboards on external portals and websites could be improved."
"The integration with other program languages, like Python, needs to be better."
"The look and feel of the tool itself, including the dashboard features and data visualization, could be improved. The graphs in Tableau also have room for improvement."
"Include forecasting on table calculation fields."
"Improvements can be made in template support. The workbook file structure is really hard to version control. If there was some sort of version control support offered particularly for workbooks, that would help big time."
"Tableau's integration with Einstein Analytics could be better."
"The solution does have scalability issues."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The platform's pricing needs to be revised."
"The cost of the solution should be improved."
"Paying for users you never setup or buying expensive desktop licenses for users who can solve their users with web editing on the server are the two biggest expenses."
"Buy 50 at a time. Project your use base every three months, and project your requirements forward."
"Pricing could be better. I believe they should offer better pricing for deployment in small to mid-sized companies."
"Tableau has core-based and user-based licensing, and it is tied to scalability. The core-based licensing is about you buying a certain number of cores, and there is no restriction on the number of users who can use Tableau. The restriction is only on the number of cores. In user-based subscription licensing, there is a restriction on the number of users. Big companies and government organizations with a lot of users typically go for core-based licensing. User-based subscription licensing is a more common model. It has user roles such as creator, explorer, and viewer. A creator is someone who does the groundwork or development work. An explorer is someone who is into middle management but is not technically savvy, such as a category head. A viewer is like a typical decision-maker in senior management. For each role, Tableau is priced differently. The viewer role has the minimum price, and the creator role has the highest price. This pricing is available on their website. Everybody can see it."
"We are on an annual license which costs us $1,400 which is very expensive. Microsft BI is less expensive."
"This license is on a yearly basis."
"The cost is high."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Data Visualization solutions are best for your needs.
851,823 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

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
No data available
Educational Organization
42%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Computer Software Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about SAP BusinessObjects Design Studio?
It includes valuable features like a dashboard, reporting, visualization, etc.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SAP BusinessObjects Design Studio?
The platform's pricing needs to be revised, and thus, one of its disadvantages.
What needs improvement with SAP BusinessObjects Design Studio?
The platform's pricing needs improvement. It is very expensive. They should work on this particular area.
Seeking lightweight open source BI software
It depends on the Data architecture and the complexity of your requirement. Some great tools in the market are Qlik Sense, Power BI, OBIEE, Tableau, etc. I have recently started using Cognos Enter...
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...
Which would you choose - Tableau or SAP Analytics Cloud?
Tableau is easy to set up and maintain. In about a day it is possible for the entire platform to be deployed for use. This relatively short amount of time can make all the difference for companies ...
 

Also Known As

SAP Design Studio, BusinessObjects Design Studio
Tableau Desktop, Tableau Server, Tableau Online
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Wipro, Tetra Pak, MIGROS
Accenture, Adobe, Amazon.com, Bank of America, Charles Schwab Corp, Citigroup, Coca-Cola Company, Cornell University, Dell, Deloitte, Duke University, eBay, Exxon Mobil, Fannie Mae, Ferrari, French Red Cross, Goldman Sachs, Google, Government of Canada, HP, Intel, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Macy's, Merck, The New York Times, PayPal, Pfizer, US Army, US Air Force, Skype, and Walmart.
Find out what your peers are saying about Salesforce, Qlik, Splunk and others in Data Visualization. Updated: May 2025.
851,823 professionals have used our research since 2012.