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What are the benefits of business intelligence tools?
Business intelligence tools are indispensable resources that not only analyze your company’s performance but also provide valuable insights for strategic alignment. They enable efficient aggregation and interpretation of data from various sources, offering a solid foundation for well-informed business decisions.
The market offers a wide range of business intelligence software specifically designed to optimize your data analysis and create meaningful visualizations. To find the right business intelligence tool, it is crucial to thoroughly understand the specific needs of your business. This overview provides a brief insight into the available business intelligence platforms and their functionalities. The comparison primarily considers functionality, data integration and sources, scalability and performance, user-friendliness/complexity, security mechanisms, pricing, support and training, integration with other systems, support for mobile devices, and future readiness.
In general, business intelligence tools can be divided into two categories: self-service BI tools and enterprise BI tools.
Self-service BI tools are ideal for users with limited technical expertise, while enterprise BI tools, with their complexity, are mainly suitable for large companies. These tools cater to a more specific audience, such as management, department heads, functional area employees, and data analysts, addressing their typical challenges.
The top tools for business intelligence in one overview
SAP Analytics Cloud
- SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC) is a cloud-based self-service BI tool for reporting and planning, offering advanced functionalities such as predictive analytics and simulation scenarios.
- It provides seamless data integration with SAP products and supports a wide range of data sources. However, connecting external data sources can sometimes be complex and may require IT support, as the focus is primarily on SAP ecosystems.
- The SAC is capable of processing large data volumes efficiently. However, performance differences may occur depending on the type of connection (live or import) and the complexity of analyses or calculations.
- Its wide range of functionalities can make it complex for SAP newcomers or IT beginners, particularly when modeling reports. Nonetheless, numerous free online tutorials (from SAP and other providers) are available, and the tool itself provides various aids for creating dashboards.
- A broad range of security mechanisms is available, including role-based security concepts, data access controls, and user authentication management. These features can be tailored to the specific needs of a company.
- Pricing depends on factors such as existing SAP licenses, the number of required users, and the nature of usage.
- Learning resources, such as Learning Journeys, are accessible through the SAP Learning Platform. Additionally, the SAP Community offers opportunities to exchange knowledge and seek support from other users.
- The SAC can be used independently or integrated with other SAP products.
- SAP provides a mobile app, enabling access to dashboards and applications from mobile devices.
- As SAP’s prioritized tool for reporting and planning, the SAC continues to expand its functionalities. Enhancements such as generative AI improve the speed and efficiency of creating analyses. In combination with tools like SAP Datasphere, the SAC sets new benchmarks, offering a unique mix of powerful features, seamless integration, and a modern user experience that aligns with the future of business intelligence.
Microsoft Power BI
- Microsoft Power BI is a web-based self-service tool for modeling and visualizing data. It is user-friendly and particularly intuitive for users familiar with the Excel interface or Analysis for Microsoft Office.
- It connects to a wide range of data sources, such as SAP ERP systems, Salesforce, Azure SQL DB, and SharePoint, although live connections are somewhat limited. Excel sheets and workbooks can be easily imported and modeled. The Power Query Editor simplifies data transformation and cleaning, ensuring consistency and accuracy for analysis.
- Performance issues may arise when handling large datasets or multiple data sources.
- It offers customizable visualization options. Developers can create user-defined visualizations to tailor reports to specific needs and enhance data insights, but this requires expertise in web development and visualization design. Quick insights, data analysis through grouping, forecasting, and clustering are available, though predictive analytics is limited. DAX formulas allow for custom calculations and data transformations, but users need to learn the syntax.
- Dashboard access is managed through user sharing, and roles/permissions from connected systems (e.g., SAP ERP systems) are adopted. A multi-layered security framework can protect sensitive data from unauthorized access, although some features may require additional licenses.
- It is a cost-effective tool for basic functionalities, but premium features come at an additional cost (ranging from free to approximately €19 net per month, or custom pricing for larger deployments; packages for unlimited users are ideal for over 200 users).
- Tutorials and resources are widely available online, many of which are free of charge.
- Power BI integrates seamlessly with various Microsoft tools, including Excel, SharePoint, and Azure.
- Dashboards can be accessed and operated from virtually anywhere and on any common device. They can be used locally or published to the cloud, depending on the license scope.
- Microsoft continuously develops Power BI at a rapid pace, actively working to close functionality gaps and expand its application options.
SAP AO (Analysis for Microsoft Office)
- SAP AO enables in-depth data analysis directly within Excel, combining the familiar Excel interface with advanced functionalities for reporting, planning, and simulation.
- It allows efficient data processing and saves time by integrating various data sources such as queries, CDS views, HANA, BPC, or local files.
- The tool handles large datasets efficiently.
- SAP AO is intuitive to use, especially for experienced Excel users, as it operates within the familiar Excel environment and retains access to the well-known tools and features of Excel.
- It leverages SAP’s security mechanisms and compliance standards, including data encryption, access controls, and authentication processes. Built on the SAP platform, it benefits from its security features, ensuring the protection of sensitive data.
- Costs for SAP AO depend on the licensing scope, the number of users, and specific business requirements. Licensing models vary, with pricing typically available upon request from SAP or authorized partners. There are often different options tailored to the size and needs of the business.
- SAP offers comprehensive support options, including technical assistance, regular updates, and access to a robust support portal. Training is available through SAP and its partners in the form of webinars, online courses, and in-person sessions. Additionally, the large SAP community provides further support and resources.
- SAP AO integrates seamlessly with other SAP systems, such as SAP BW/4HANA, SAP HANA, and SAP BusinessObjects. It supports connections to a wide variety of data sources, both SAP and non-SAP, enabling Excel to be used as a frontend for data analysis.
- Mobile support is limited. The tool is primarily designed for desktop use within Excel, with restricted mobile access compared to other BI tools. Its focus remains on desktop-based functionality.
- SAP AO is continually updated to remain compatible with the latest SAP technologies and platforms. SAP invests in the evolution of its BI solutions to incorporate new features and improvements that address users’ changing requirements. Ongoing innovation plans aim to enhance integration, usability, and performance.
SAP Business Objects
SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence (SAP BO) is a comprehensive reporting and analytics platform designed specifically for enterprises to optimize the entire business intelligence process. This platform provides a wide range of reporting applications that enable teams to explore data, perform in-depth analyses, and derive valuable insights, which can be visualized in accurate and meaningful reports.
A key advantage of SAP BO is its user-friendliness: business users can independently create reports and conduct analytics processes, including predictive analytics, without relying on data analysts.
The license includes several components, with the most important ones for dashboard creation outlined below.
SAP Lumira
- SAP BusinessObjects Lumira is a self-service data visualization tool for business users.
- With Lumira Discovery, data can be imported from a wide range of on-premise and cloud-based sources. Lumira Discovery facilitates not only data connectivity but also data acquisition, manipulation, merging, visualization, and ad hoc analysis.
- For locally stored data manipulated within Lumira, certain limitations exist, which depend on the capacity of the system being used. However, it can handle large datasets.
- Lumira simplifies the creation and sharing of interactive maps, charts, and infographics, providing quick insights through visual data preparation and intuitive dashboard creation. With Lumira Designer, professional users with IT skills can customize the look-and-feel and user interactions through scripting and CSS stylesheets.
- Through role- and user-based concepts of connected systems and Lumira’s governance functions, companies can develop a tailored security strategy.
- Costs can be relatively high for small and medium-sized businesses, although companies with multiple SAP licenses may find it more cost-effective.
- The SAP community offers support from other users, including guidance for beginners and assistance with more complex challenges. Specialized consulting firms and freelance experts also provide services to help businesses implement and optimize Lumira.
- Lumira supports the in-memory SAP HANA platform but can also function independently.
- The SAP Lumira Designer Edition enables interactive, mobile-optimized visualizations.
- Support for Lumira will end in 2026, as SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC) takes precedence in SAP’s “Cloud First” strategy. While Lumira will no longer be developed, existing implementations can continue to be used beyond the support end date.
SAP Crystal Reports
- SAP Crystal Reports enables teams to gain deeper insights into business data by presenting information through a variety of visualizations, allowing the efficient creation and delivery of formatted business reports and dashboards. It is primarily designed for generating print-ready reports.
- Users can embed images and barcodes into reports, enhancing analysis and visualization processes. Additionally, the tool supports the creation of pixel-perfect documents.
- SAP Crystal Reports is a powerful reporting platform specifically developed for small and medium-sized businesses.
- Data analysts can leverage its intuitive drag-and-drop interface and built-in report designer to sort data, apply complex formulas, and define precise parameters on a centralized platform.
- To ensure data security and access control, administrators can configure role-based permissions and integrate Single Sign-On (SSO) functionality.
- A free trial version is available, and Crystal Reports itself is relatively cost-effective. However, the accompanying BO license can be more expensive.
- Like other SAP tools, Crystal Reports is supported by the SAP community, where users can find guidance and resources.
- The platform offers flexibility through the use of standard access protocols, enabling seamless integration with external data sources and databases, such as SAP HANA, MS Access, IBM DB2, MySQL, JDBC, and MS Excel. For global use, the user interface can be configured in multiple languages, including English, Japanese, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Korean, and Danish.
- To enable usage on mobile devices, dashboards must be specifically designed as Crystal Mobile Reports beforehand.
- As SAP increasingly focuses on the SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC) and redefines its strategy regarding BusinessObjects (BO), the future of Crystal Reports remains uncertain. While the tool is currently supported, its inclusion in future releases is yet to be determined.
SAP Web Intelligence (SAP Webi)
- SAP Business Objects Web Intelligence (Webi) is a web-based SAP tool for creating and distributing reports.
- Webi integrates seamlessly with the existing BI platform and supports various data sources, such as BEx Queries, Excel files, and SAP HANA.
- Charts can be selected and arranged using drag-and-drop functionality. However, the interface is not particularly intuitive for new users.
- SAP provides a range of resources, including Learning Journeys and freely accessible manuals, to support users in operating the tool. Despite its capabilities, SAP is shifting its focus toward SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC), as outlined earlier, making SAC the priority for future developments.
QlikView
- QlikView is a highly flexible BI platform for transforming data into actionable knowledge and sharing reports and visualizations.
- It supports the creation of applications with embedded analytics, although Qlik-specific development skills are required.
- The platform is a user-friendly business intelligence suite designed for enterprise-wide dashboards and ad-hoc analyses.
- It enables the simple implementation of flexible applications that various departments can use for dynamic data analysis and informed decision-making.
- Users can independently create reports and visualizations without relying on experts.
- QlikView allows users to explore deeper questions and receive answers through simple clicks or taps.
Tableau
- Tableau is ideal for data visualization and analysis, enabling meaningful visualization of complex datasets.
- It offers extensive APIs and connectors for importing data from various sources.
- The platform efficiently handles large datasets.
- Dashboards can be intuitively created using drag-and-drop functionality. Advanced AI and machine learning methods provide deeper insights into data. However, in-depth analysis or data manipulation may require technical expertise or third-party tools. While Tableau offers a wide variety of chart types and customization options, it may be limited for specific needs or non-programmers. SQL knowledge is necessary to maximize its potential.
- It integrates with Salesforce, enabling predictive analytics, though live data updates are not available.
- Additional features are accessible through the purchase of extra licenses, with licensing costs tiered based on user roles.
- Tableau visualizations can be embedded in websites and applications.
- Dashboards are not responsive and do not adapt to different formats or resolutions, which can result in inconsistent displays.
Jedox
- Jedox is a comprehensive BI platform offering integrated functions for analysis, planning, and reporting.
- It allows the creation of a multidimensional database as a unified data source for the entire organization, ensuring data consistency and accuracy.
- Employees can intuitively create their own dashboards and reports without relying on IT resources.
- The platform is highly versatile, making it ideal for budget planning, detailed analyses, and traditional reporting.
- The Jedox Marketplace provides pre-configured templates for various industries, which can be easily customized to meet specific business requirements.
Oracle BI
- Oracle BI offers a wide range of business intelligence technologies and applications.
- It supports dashboards, proactive intelligence, ad-hoc analyses, and additional BI functionalities.
- The platform is robust for handling large datasets, making it particularly suitable for organizations analyzing significant volumes of data from both Oracle and non-Oracle sources.
- Oracle BI includes features such as data archiving, version control, self-service portals, and notifications/alerts.
IBM Cognos Analytics
- IBM Cognos Analytics is an AI-powered BI platform that supports the entire analytics lifecycle, from discovery to operationalization.
- It enables users to visualize, analyze, and share insights with colleagues.
- Integrated AI helps identify hidden patterns and delivers interpreted, visualized reports.
- It may take some time for users to become fully familiar with all the platform’s features.
MicroStrategy
- MicroStrategy provides businesses with robust and fast dashboards, comprehensive data analysis, cloud solutions, and hyperintelligence.
- It helps organizations identify trends, uncover new opportunities, and increase productivity.
- The platform seamlessly connects with various data sources, including spreadsheets, cloud-based applications, and enterprise software.
- MicroStrategy offers both desktop and mobile access options.
- Implementation can be complex and requires extensive knowledge of the platform.
SAS Augmented Analytics & Business Intelligence
- SAS combines leading predictive analytics capabilities with a comprehensive business intelligence platform, enabling holistic data analysis.
- The tool empowers users to utilize data and metrics accurately to make informed and strategic business decisions.
- A wide range of APIs allows for extensive customization, while SAS ensures high levels of data integration and advanced features for analysis and reporting.
- Its advanced text analytics functions provide valuable insights, delivering deeper and more precise information from your data.
Yellowfin BI
- Yellowfin BI is an end-to-end business intelligence solution that integrates visualization, machine learning, and collaborative features.
- It provides intuitive data processing, allowing users to effortlessly explore large datasets using user-friendly filters like checkboxes and radio buttons.
- Dashboards are highly accessible and can be opened on mobile devices, web applications, and other platforms, ensuring flexibility.
- The tool offers a simple way to customize and optimize dashboards and visualizations through a no-code/low-code development environment.
QlikSense
- QlikSense promotes the discovery of new insights and connections through an associative data model.
- It supports integration with various data sources, including relational databases, big data platforms, and cloud storage.
- Performance may be limited when handling very large datasets.
- The tool offers a limited selection of chart types suitable for simple visualizations but provides dynamic dashboards with interactive features and real-time data exploration.
- Advanced analytics capabilities enable predictive modeling and machine learning to uncover hidden patterns and trends, though advanced data analysis knowledge may be required.
- Licensing costs are high, and the pricing model lacks flexibility.
- Its complexity often necessitates training to fully utilize its potential.
- QlikSense is optimized for use on any compatible device, including touchscreens.
Zoho Analytics
- Zoho Analytics is a self-service BI tool for comprehensive reporting and data analysis.
- It connects with various data sources, including spreadsheets, databases, and cloud-based platforms, although additional IT expertise may be required for complex integrations.
- Embedded charts can sometimes lead to long loading times.
- While intuitive for experienced BI users, it is less beginner-friendly. SQL knowledge is necessary for advanced data processing and analytical tasks.
- Flexible pricing adapts to specific needs.
- Visualizations can be embedded into websites or applications, which may require development skills.
Sisense
- Sisense is an easy-to-use data analytics and business intelligence tool that allows all employees to manage, analyze, and visualize large, complex datasets without requiring programming skills.
- It enables the integration of data from various sources, including AdWords, Google Analytics, and Salesforce.
- The platform processes large datasets quickly compared to many other tools.
- Sisense offers extensive self-service capabilities for data analysis and visualization.
- A free trial version is available, though pricing details are not publicly disclosed.
Looker Studio (Formerly Google Data Studio)
- Looker Studio is a web-based business intelligence tool that allows users to create interactive and customizable dashboards and reports.
- It seamlessly integrates with Google services and various data sources, including spreadsheets, databases, and cloud platforms. However, additional IT knowledge may be needed for combining different sources.
- The tool efficiently processes large datasets and offers good scalability to meet growing demands.
- Its user-friendly drag-and-drop interface simplifies report creation and data analysis, enabling quick onboarding and effective use of the tool.
- Basic security mechanisms are provided as part of Google services, but specific security requirements should be individually assessed.
- Core functionalities are available free of charge. Preconfigured dashboard templates are available for purchase to facilitate a quick start; additional pricing information for specific features or extensions is not publicly disclosed.
- The tool offers a free trial version and benefits from an active user community for support. Training is recommended to fully leverage its capabilities.
TIBCO Spotfire
- TIBCO Spotfire is an advanced business intelligence and data visualization tool, renowned for its sophisticated analytical capabilities.
- It enables quick analysis of complex datasets through interactive dashboards, visualizations, and predictive analytics.
- With drag-and-drop functionality and extensive data connectivity options, users can gain insights and make data-driven decisions without relying heavily on IT support.
- The platform supports real-time data analysis and is versatile across various industries.
Clear Analytics
- Clear Analytics provides an intuitive, Excel-based user interface that can be used effectively with basic Excel skills.
- It facilitates the creation, automation, analysis, and visualization of business data through a user-friendly platform.
- The tool works seamlessly with Microsoft Power BI, leveraging Power Query and Power Pivot for data cleansing and modeling.
- Role-based access controls and data encryption protect sensitive information.
- Flexible pricing is available based on company size, number of users, and required features, with details provided upon request.
- The platform offers technical support, regular updates, and training through online courses, webinars, and a community.
- It integrates well with SAP, Excel, and other BI platforms via standardized interfaces and APIs.
- The tool is primarily desktop-focused, with limited mobile functionality.
- Regular updates and enhancements are provided to meet user requirements and adapt to market developments.
Domo
- Domo offers extensive analytics and reporting capabilities, including predictive analytics powered by its AI engine, “Mr. Roboto.” While the user interface is user-friendly, the visualizations may appear somewhat outdated.
- It integrates with a wide variety of data sources, including spreadsheets, databases, and social media, and supports multiple data formats and types.
- The tool can process large datasets but may experience performance limitations with extremely high data volumes.
- It allows users to create data visualizations without programming knowledge, supports KPI tracking, and enables goal measurement. However, some custom metrics may require assistance from data analysts.
- Basic security mechanisms are provided as part of the cloud platform, but specific security requirements should be assessed individually.
- Core features are available, though detailed pricing and licensing options are not publicly disclosed.
- Domo features a user community for support and offers a free trial version; however, a steep learning curve should be anticipated.
- It integrates well with various enterprise systems and applications.
- The platform provides mobile access to data, though not all features are available in the mobile app.
- Being a cloud-based tool, Domo is continually evolving, with regular updates and innovation plans to enhance its functionality in the future.
Conclusion
Finding the right tool among the many available providers can be a challenging task. Decisions are generally best made based on your company’s existing system landscape, pricing structure, scope of use, and the prior knowledge of key users within the organization.
Most providers offer a free trial period, which is a valuable opportunity to evaluate the tool’s utility and compatibility firsthand. If the necessary knowledge to make full use of the trial period is lacking within the company, engaging an experienced external consultant can be a worthwhile investment.
In our view, SAP tools offer significant added value due to their seamless integration with other SAP systems. The full potential of these tools is realized when used in conjunction with other SAP solutions, as they are perfectly aligned and create synergy effects. This not only simplifies data management but also opens the door to advanced analytics, automation, and process optimization.
We see it as our mission to support our clients in exactly this area. With our expertise, we help businesses maximize the value of SAP tools and fully leverage their strengths. From conceptualization to implementation and optimal use, we guide companies at every stage with the goal of driving sustainable improvements and creating lasting value.
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Martina Ksinsik
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