However, all of the data must flow through the Azure cloud, which can be a negative for those who chose Crystal Reports for its on-premise capabilities.
The software, priced at $9.99 per month, integrates with many other types of software and offers access to both on-site and cloud-based data. Microsoft’s data visualization tool includes a suite of tools for working with data. Top 5 + 1 Alternatives to SAP Crystal Reports 1. With all that in mind, what are some of the alternatives to Crystal Reports? Here we take a look at five, plus we have one bonus option to take a look at below.
Most Crystal Report users have databases housed on private networks, and the third-party cloud-based storage requirements of many modern BI tools don’t work for many organizations using Crystal Reports - they want software they can install and manage on their own servers. Additionally, many users we spoke to do not want to move to a cloud-based BI platform. It must be affordable, which Crystal Reports is and many competitors are not. With so many obstacles in place, more and more users have told us they are seeking to replace Crystal Reports and are searching for Crystal Reports alternatives.īecause of its focus on specific use cases, though, the Crystal Reports replacement must also fit those use cases. And SAP, while still supporting Crystal Reports, has not made it a priority in its extensive product lineup therefore the pace of development is slow.įor more direct access to data and the ability to access self-service features, SAP users must move to Business Objects, which is considerably more expensive and doesn’t necessarily meet the specific use cases users often turned to Crystal Reports for in the first place.
In many cases, upgrading requires a hardware update and in some cases, existing legacy reports need rework - at which point, many users may find themselves exploring alternatives since even the updated versions don’t offer many of the benefits of more modern software.Īs SAP has put its resources into its many other software products, even the newer versions of Crystal Reports look and feel like a legacy application hard to navigate and operate, with a much clunkier user interface than much of the newer software on the market. Unlike many other, more modern tools, there is a cost for upgrading from older versions, and even for those that are willing to pay, there is not a simple migration path from older versions. Unfortunately, for several reasons, many businesses are using older versions of Crystal Reports. Top Reasons Businesses Are Looking To Replace Crystal Reports As a tool for analyzing the mountains of data even smaller businesses produce, BI is invaluable for a complete understanding of business and customer data, and to track it, many businesses of all sizes turn to tools like SAP’s Crystal Reports. Business Intelligence (BI) has become a must-have for most companies.