BusinessObjects Reviews & Pricing

by SAP, Inc. | Founded 1972, Weinheim, Germany

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What is BusinessObjects?

Industry Specialties: Serves all industries

BusinessObjects is a suite of business intelligence (BI) tools that helps organizations collect, analyze, and visualize data to make better decisions. It's most suited for large enterprises with complex data needs, as it offers a wide range of features and capabilities. Key benefits include improved data visibility, enhanced decision-making, and increased productivity. Popular features include data modeling, reporting, ad hoc querying, and dashboards. User experiences highlight its ease of use, robust functionality, and scalability, though some note its potential for complexity and higher learning curve. Compared to similar products, BusinessObjects often stands out for its comprehensiveness and integration capabilities. Pricing is typically based on a per-user or per-named-user basis, with annual subscription fees.

Pros

Easy to use
Robust features
Scalable
Comprehensive
Integrates well

Cons

Can be complex
Steeper learning curve
Costly
May require training
Can be resource-intensive

PRICE

COMPANY SIZE

DEPLOYMENT

PLATFORM

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User Sentiment

Based on 1869 reviews:

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Product Screenshots and Videos

BusinessObjects Pricing

Based on our most recent analysis, BusinessObjects pricing starts at $5,000 (Annual).

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Starting From: $5,000
Pricing Model: Annual
Free Trial: No

Training Resources

BusinessObjects is supported with the following types of training:

Documentation
In Person
Live Online
Videos
Webinars

Support

The following support services are available for BusinessObjects:

Email
Phone
Chat
FAQ
Forum
Help Desk
Knowledge Base
Tickets
Training
24/7 Live Support

BusinessObjects Benefits and Insights

Why use BusinessObjects?

Key differentiators & advantages of BusinessObjects

Real-Time Analysis: Connects to a range of data sources, including other SAP applications, to deliver real-time data and up-to-the-minute updates, so users are never behind the times.
High-Volume Delivery: Distributes content over a large organization to ensure all users have real-time access to data, visualizations and collaboration.
Extensive SAP Ecosystem: Integrates and connects seamlessly with other SAP tools through built-in APIs. This extends usability and draws data directly from a range of SAP systems.
Self Service: Users of all technical levels can manipulate data, explore trends, create visualizations and share them with others without waiting for a data scientist to deliver insights.
Enterprise-Grade: As one of the largest software providers in the world, it offers a robust solution that can handle the largest, most complex data sets for any size enterprise.
Intuitive Visualizations: Create a variety of intuitive visualizations from data, making patterns and trends more apparent and transferring information more efficiently than numbers or text reports.
Better Business Decisions: Historical patterns and data tracking helps identify trends and make accurate predictions for the future. Make data-driven business decisions and implement proven best practices.

Industry Expertise

SAP serves a huge and diverse customer base, but they specialize in energy, natural resources, financial services, consumer industries, public services, service industries and discrete industries.

BusinessObjects Reviews

Average customer reviews & user sentiment summary for BusinessObjects:

1869 reviews

81%

of users would recommend this product

Synopsis of User Ratings and Reviews

Based on an aggregate of BusinessObjects reviews taken from the sources above, the following pros & cons have been curated by a SelectHub Market Analyst.

Pros

Ease of Use: It is a straightforward and easy to use platform, as noted by over 65% of reviewers who mention ease of use.
Flexible Reporting: Around 84% of the reviewers who specify reporting state that it offers a flexible reporting feature to fit individual needs.
Integration: It enables integration with SAP products and third-party software, as observed by 89% of the users referring to integration.
Customization: It provides highly customizable tools and options, as noted by 88% of reviewers who specify customization.

Cons

Learning Curve: It involves a steep learning curve for beginners, as stated by 80% of the users mentioning the learning curve.
Implementation: Over 80% of reviewers who discussed implementation report that the process is cumbersome.
Pop-ups: Error messages and pop-ups are technical and hard to decipher, as observed by 100% of reviewers who refer to pop-ups.
Performance: Around 86% of the users who specify performance report that it becomes slow and crashes at times when multiple prompts are opening.

Researcher's Summary:

User reviews for BusinessObjects paint a picture of a powerful BI tool with both strengths and weaknesses. On the positive side, users praise its comprehensive features, enabling them to tackle complex data challenges. "It's like a Swiss Army knife for data analysis," one user says, "from basic reports to advanced modeling, it's got it all." This feature depth is often contrasted with simpler competitors, with users appreciating the ability to handle diverse needs without needing multiple tools. However, the learning curve can be steep, especially for non-technical users. "It's not exactly drag-and-drop for beginners," another user admits. This complexity can lead to frustration and require investment in training, which some users find less intuitive compared to competitors. Despite the learning hurdle, many users highlight BusinessObjects' scalability and integration capabilities as its main differentiators. "It seamlessly connects with our existing systems," one user notes, "saving us time and effort." This smooth integration is often lacking in competitors, making BusinessObjects a preferred choice for organizations with complex data ecosystems. Overall, user reviews suggest BusinessObjects is a powerful and versatile BI tool best suited for organizations with complex data needs and the resources to support its learning curve. Its comprehensive features and integration capabilities set it apart, making it a strong contender for those seeking a robust BI solution despite the initial investment required.

Key Features

Native Mobile Apps: Take visualization features like charts, reports and more on the go with native iOS and Android apps.
Pre-Built Data Connectors: Draw data from over 25 pre-set sources such as SAP HANA, Apache, Hadoop, Hive, Cloudera, Impala, Amazon, IBM and many more.
Integrations: Provides powerful integration capabilities with other applications such as CRM, ERP, web applications and more. Includes SAP tools and others like the Microsoft Suite.
Data Discovery: Collects, cleans and analyzes data from a variety of sources to help users identify trends and patterns.
Data Transformation: Converts data between formats and structures — organizes and structures unstructured data into usable information.
Visualizations: Generates graphical data visualizations such as bar charts, pie graphs, scattergrams, line plots, maps and more.
Secure Collaboration: Users can securely share visualizations with team members, clients and others through email, web embedding and other platforms.

Approach to Common Challenges

Data Silos: BusinessObjects unifies data from disparate sources through its data integration capabilities, creating a single, consistent view of information for analysis and reporting.
Data Quality Issues: Data quality tools within BusinessObjects help identify and address errors, inconsistencies, and missing values, ensuring the reliability of insights.
Manual Reporting Processes: Automated reporting features streamline report creation and distribution, reducing manual effort and freeing up time for analysis.
Limited Access to Data: Self-service BI tools within BusinessObjects empower users across departments to access and analyze data independently, fostering data-driven decision-making.
Lack of Visibility into Key Metrics: Customizable dashboards and visualizations highlight key performance indicators in real-time, enabling proactive monitoring and decision-making.

Limitations

User feedback indicates the following limitations of SAP BusinessObjects, as of the time of this review:

Requires a large number of hardware resources
Recovery is not easy in case of failure
Less flexible with newer formats of MS Office
Requires a lot of internal IT support and maintenance
Not flexible with data input methods or formats
Limited data visualization capabilities

Suite Support

Email: To request an email back, users should fill out the web form on the “contact us” tab at the right side of the website. They can also live chat with a representative.

Phone: Users can call support at 1-800-872-1727. They can also request a call back by selecting the “call me now” option on the “contact us” tab.

Training: It offers a vast online learning and enablement program offering various training programs. Some of these include openSAP, a free training resource, a learning hub, global certification courses, an education and course directory, and a learning framework. Visit the training section of their website to get in-depth training information.

Tickets: To create and submit a ticket, users should go to the support portal page. Next, click on “view my launchpad” and select “find a solution/report an incident.” They should type in their query to see if the issue has been resolved somewhere in the knowledge base. If they cannot find a solution this way, they can click on “contact SAP support” to begin an incident report.

Users should enter their customer number and S-User ID. Make sure to include the following information in the request:

State the issue or problem
Provide the step by step explanation
Include examples
Identify Business Impact
Attach full screenshots, not cropped images

Top Competitors

Here are the other software most often considered with SAP BusinessObjects in actual selection project*

*Data derived from SelectHub's Jumpstart & Decision Platforms

Cost of Ownership

Frequently asked questions regarding BusinessObjects pricing include:

Q: How is BusinessObjects priced?
A: BusinessObjects typically uses a per-user licensing model, with pricing varying based on factors like the number of users, deployment model (on-premise or cloud), and selected features. Annual subscriptions are common.
Q: What are the typical cost ranges for BusinessObjects?
A: While specific pricing can vary, recent estimates suggest annual costs ranging from $10,000 to $150,000 for on-premise deployments and $5,000 to $40,000 for cloud-based options. These figures can fluctuate depending on organization size, usage needs, and negotiated terms.
Q: What factors can impact the overall cost of ownership for BusinessObjects?
A: Beyond initial licensing fees, consider additional costs like hardware/infrastructure (for on-premise), ongoing maintenance and support, potential training and implementation services, and potential customization or integration expenses.

License/Subscription Cost	On-Premise: Pricing depends on business size and the CPU/roles/tools required. There is also option of Named User Licenses (a non-shareable license for a single person that provides guaranteed access to the software) and Concurrent User Licenses (a single log-on that can be used by anyone. This is limited by availability of free sessions in the session pool). The Named User license provides access to all desktop software. The Concurrent User Licenses are not supported for most desktop software, except for SAP BusinessObjects Analysis edition for Office. Cloud-based/SaaS: Depends on the number of users
Maintenance Cost	On-Premise: Support licenses are charges over and above the license cost Cloud-based/SaaS: Included in license/subscription cost
Installation/Implementation Cost	On-Premise: Included in the license cost Cloud-based/SaaS: No installation cost
Customization Cost	Will vary depending on the functional requirements such as configurable dashboards, type of data elements required for tracking, complexity of workflows, etc
Data Migration Cost/Change Management/Upfront Switching Cost	Dependent on your current software, amount of data to be migrated, availability of migration tools, complexity of data and gaps between the existing system and the new system
Recurring/Renewal Costs	On-Premise: Will depend on the type of license purchased – named user or concurrent user, Enterprise or Small Business Cloud-based/SaaS: Renewal cost is equivalent to the fees paid monthly or annually, based on number of users

Pricing Details

Category	Description	Price/Details
BusinessObjects Enterprise Premium – License (For large enterprises)	Dashboard layout capabilities Interactive visual analytics, including the added ease of displaying BusinessObjects Web Intelligence Crystal reports BusinessObjects Xcelsius Enterprise visualizations through a dashboard view Full content creation and developer interfaces for reporting, query and analysis (using Crystal Reports, Web Intelligence, BusinessObjects Voyager and BusinessObjects Desktop Intelligence)
BusinessObjects BI, Edge edition – License (For medium sized business)	5 concurrent sessions Comprehensive business intelligence (BI), information management and performance management
SAP Analytics Cloud: Business Plan	Business Intelligence functionality only Up to 20 users Basic data source connections (Excel, CSV and Google Sheets) Enterprise-level data source connections (SAP HANA,SQL, OData Services and more) 1-on-1 training with a product coach Team collaboration features 24/7 SAP Support	Billed quarterly or annually
SAP Analytics Cloud: Enterprise Plan	All Business Plan features Unlimited users Optional upgrade for planning and predictive analytics Personal customer success manager	Pricing available on request only
Deployment Options	What options are available for product deployment?	On-premise Cloud-based/SaaS
Pricing Model	What is the pricing model?	Licensing model Subscription-based
Minimum commitment	Is there a minimum monthly or yearly commitment required for purchase?	On-premise: Minimum 10users and 1 year commitment Cloud-based/SaaS: Minimum 20 users and quarterly payment
Custom Quote	Is there an option for requesting a custom quote?	Available
Free Trial	Does the solution provide a free product trial option?	Available (for 30 days)