SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform Reviews

I've used BusinessObjects for projects in finance and healthcare. Also, one of the leading pharmaceutical companies uses it as a reporting tool. We had the data source and ad hoc requirements, so we created semantic layer data modeling for the database and reporting system. Then we used BusinessObjects as a tool for reporting and dashboards.

BusinessObject's most useful feature is the semantic layer, which offers us the flexibility to go for ad hoc reporting.

I want BusinessObjects to have more flexibility like Tableau or Power BI. The interface could be slicker and more user-friendly. SAP could add more ability to design and customize the dashboards.

BusinessObjects is not that user-friendly. They have different tools for designing dashboards like Discovery— previously called Lumira. That isn't as user-friendly as Tableau. 

I've been using BusinessObjects for four to five years.

BusinessObjects is stable.

BusinessObject's main advantage is the ad hoc capability.

I've contacted SAP support once or twice. We raised a support request, and they responded promptly. They organized a call and helped us resolve the issue. 

BusinessObjects' installation is comparable to Tableau, but BusinessObjects requires a skilled administrator for management and maintenance because it's a little more complex than Tableau.  

In terms of flexibility and user-friendliness, Tableau is better than BusinessObjects, but if you have ad hoc requirements, then BusinessObjects is better.

I rate SAP BusinessObjects eight out of 10. I would recommend BusinessObjects, but it depends on the requirements. SAP is a better choice if you are doing daily reporting where you need to drag and drop objects and create ad hoc reporting then export to Excel or CSV. 

We are using SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform for a lot of things, such as simple reports and business dashboards, and in all the business areas, for example, finance, sales, and purchasing.

The most valuable feature we have found to be the SAP BW, which is a warehouse tool. Additionally, it is an easy tool to use.

The dashboard tool is called Lumira and it is very uncomfortable for developers to use. They should improve this in the future.

I have been using the SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform for approximately five years.

The stability is good. However, the performance could be better.

We have several hundred end-users using this solution and we use the solution on a daily basis.

The solution is scalable. We feel comfortable with the infrastructure that we have, but we can expand if we want to. 

The technical support is good, I am satisfied.

I previously use Oracle BI. I think the Oracle BI is stronger and has more functionality than SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform. However, it does not connect to SAP ERP which is a disadvantage.

The initial setup is simple, it took us two days to complete.

The implementation, maintenance, and updates can be done by staff within the company. There are times we have used local support or integrators in our area.

This solution is not meant to be very complicated, solutions that are complicated require other tools.

I rate SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform a seven out of ten.

The planning and dashboarding features have been useful. Additionally, the fixed-format reports are good.

The solution is not good for self-services, they can improve in this area.

We are in the beginning stages of the implementation and once we roll it out to end-users then we will see further improvement areas.

In SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform we use Lumira Designer, or the earlier version is Design Studio, where we create management dashboards. We feel that the tool is very complex in terms of implementing the dashboard. Lots of coding and performance issues. We require particular skillsets and resources, regular users cannot understand it. The management dashboards should be easy to configure. The only option right now is Lumira Designer, but it is complex to implement. Maintaining and supporting it takes time, and something should be done to improve the experience.

I have been using the SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform for approximately five years.

The solution is stable.

I have found the solution to be scalable.

We have approximately 1,000 users using this solution in our company.

We did not find any major support areas that needed the support from SAP. The majority of the application support our team managed fine and we did not suffer any hardware issues. Our issues were resolved. 

The installation was a medium difficulty level because we do not have complex scenarios in our use case. There are some complex portions but there were no roadblocks that prevented us from continuing.

The price and the pricing model are fine. We find the solution does not give us a lot of additional value.

Our organization prefers one visualization tool, that's why SAP will be in our roadmap.

I think companies prefer self-service. BSAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform seems a little typical tool in terms of self-service. We recommend other solutions, such as Microsoft BI, because they can do a lot more functions.

Our company is in the healthcare industry and we are using BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform for a lot of our data, such as eligibility, claims, premium, plan. We run all kinds of different reports for our customers and our brokers on how the claims and planners are performing and what is the utilization of different services throughout the claims.

The feature that allows pivot users to create the report dashboards and run them when they want with a lot of flexibility with the drill-downs is very useful. The drill-down features are very good because, in other solutions, such as Excel, you have to create separate pivot tables and a lot of other operations to do drill-downs. SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform tool does the drill-downs automatically. Overall the solution is user-friendly and has a lot of drag and drop features.

Tableau was easier for me to use because the interface is more similar to Excel which I was used to using.

I have been using the SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform for a short period of time.

The solution has been stable in my usage. Our company has had SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform for as long as I have been here, which is 20 years. I think we have had dashboards with it before. I did not know how it worked with the data universes and we did not have a lot of data in the universe. Using software for service we will upgrade when they upgrade. I have heard that when we move to version 4.3, the user interface looks entirely different and I do not know how that experience will go.

Our IT department does the data and the universe design. We have a universe designer who does it and it is their full-time job. Additionally, they do all the ETLs and many other operations within the company. My team is more focused on business analysts and is trying to learn the report-building side of the solution, designing the reports, and working with the interface. I have one person that does works with the designer to try to make the connections better and they have a good understanding of the data. The IT people do not understand the data, we understand the data. We are trying to learn how to write the reports and we only have five people in training. I have five users that I want to learn how to be involved in the process and create these reports.

I have previously used Tableau.

For anybody who does not have a BI solution and is thinking about implementation should look at them all before deciding. We have another vendor we have worked with, Cognos, and I have worked with Tableau and it is important to evaluate all of the solutions to see which one makes more sense for their use case. I downloaded a list of the top five and they all are pretty similar, I will not say they are the same because there are a lot of differences but they are all heading in the same direction of getting the information to the universe and pulling out the data.

I rate SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform an eight out of ten.

We primarily use the product for reporting and dashboards. We only have those two use cases, although there are other ways to use them.

I have a 24-hour company, and the business layer on top of the database can translate database data into business language so that people can easily understand what's happening. It allows us to quickly create reports without IT or programming skills.

The stability is quite good.

According to our experience, SAP BO is too heavy and very difficult for customers with medium, or smaller-sized businesses to install and maintain. It is such a heavy reporting tool.

Even though they provide the business layer, it's difficult for the programmer to create their own business layer. It's too complex for them. They need to simplify this.

The user interface should be easier to use and navigate.

The initial setup is difficult. 

Technical support could be more responsive. 

I've been using the solution for five years already. I've used it for quite a while. 

The stability is pretty good. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. It's reliable and the performance is good. 

We only have three or four people who are using the solution at our company at this time. They are the admins and the ones who generate the reports for us. 

We haven't really looked into scaling as the data volume is very limited. I can't speak to how easy it is to expand or how well it handles extremely large data sets.

Technical support could be better. We tried to get them to help us with the implementation, and they were not quick to respond.

We currently also work with Crystal Reports, which is dated, and Jasper, which is also not that great of a product.

When we began to switch to SAP, we really wanted customization capabilities and we wanted the business layer. We needed something to provide a middle layer or translation layer so that people can generate reports much quicker, and, at the time, SAP was a good option.

The initial setup is not easy. We need a very experienced developer and they need to get enough training from SAP in order to be able to do anything effectively. It's not like other reporting tools that are really easy to use or easy to install and maintain. This one is complex and takes work and inside knowledge. 

There isn't too much maintenance required. You just need to update it every once in a while. 

We needed some help implementing the solution, however, in the end, we weren't completely satisfied as the level of response time was slow. 

I cannot speak to the exact cost of the product, as it's not an aspect of the solution I handle. 

We're currently looking at Power BI and Splunk among other options.

We are SAP partners. 

I use the latest version of the solution. I cannot speak to the exact version number.

I wouldn't necessarily recommend the product to others. Even now, for ourselves, we are looking into an alternative option. 

I would rate the solution at a six out of ten.

We primarily use the solution for reports regarding sales inventory and production.

The reporting features the solution offers are excellent.

Technical support is quite good. They are responsive when we reach out.

The solution can scale.

We are not on the latest patch, the latest version. There are different pain points, such as data loading or inventory issues. It can take a lot of time to load.

The solution could be less expensive. It's a bit pricey now.

We've been using the solution at the company for around six or seven years at this point. However, I've only used it for the last two years or so.

The stability isn't quite as good as it could be. It's not a perfectly scalable solution.

The solution is very easy to expand. It scales quite well. If a company needs to expand the solution, it can do so relatively easily.

I'm the only one who is using this solution and I'm publishing the reports and a few others are using Microsoft Analysis for SAP, doing the reports.

I've used technical support in the past. I've found them to be responsive and knowledgeable. They are quite helpful. We're satisfied with the level of service we receive.

I was not a part of the initial setup. I can't speak to how long the deployment was or how easy or difficult the process ended up being.

In terms of upgrading, we have no need to at this point. 

Licensing is paid on a yearly basis.

There is room for improvement in the pricing. It could be more reasonable.

We're just an end-user and a customer. We don't have a business relationship with SAP.

We are not yet on the latest version of the product.

I would advise new users to not go for these old versions and instead go for the new versions that at least use embedded analytics, et cetera.

I'd rate the solution at around seven out of ten. There are a few areas it could improve upon.

Our primary use case for this solution is business enterprise reporting. 

The most valuable SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform feature are metadata service layers. To share a metadata service layer, you don't need to add a user or write a SQL query. Instead, you can present a raw database to your end user. The end user can then use this data to create a report, dashboard, or whatever else.

It also has scheduling and can generate BI content for you. 

Their WebGUI presentation layer could be improved. They are still a little bit behind, for example, Tableau and QlikView.

I have been using this solution for about nine years. 

The features SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform provides are fairly stable. I only noticed one data error in the past.

Of course, the platform uses a lot of Java technologies so the performance and system-level management are tricky because it needs a lot of resources.

SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform is fairly scalable. You can either scale it up or create a cluster. They do have load balance and we have a cluster for important stuff. However, we use it relatively lightly, so we never have performance issues when we needed to scale up or scale out. Mostly, we have to scale up to give it enough RAM.

Currently, we have a couple hundred people using SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform at our institution. 

The SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform we use are not too advanced so we haven't had much need to contact tech support. When we run into an issue, we can usually solve it through community answers. We have had some SAP technical support come in a few times and every time we met with them we had a good experience. We have a fairly good relationship with their tech support. 

Just before switching to SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform, we were using QlikView. 

The initial setup was was not bad, but it was relatively complex. It did take some time to get it to work for us. 

I don't have the exact number, but SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform is not too cheap. 

My advice is to try to truly understand the system. It is fairly complicated. To get this system to work, you need a systems engineer and an architect in addition to a lot of other people who understand what's going on behind the scenes.