That is only for reporting and dashboard, which is the purpose for which I'm mainly using SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform.

The most valuable function of SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform is the universe, so customers can build their own reports without programming skills.

The main benefits that SAP solutions provide include saving time and visualizing data more easily.

Functional wise, I'm satisfied with interactive dashboards and visualizations from SAP. It's okay. It's also helpful with interactive dashboards.

The platform is totally separated; SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform is not easy to integrate with third parties or inside the SAP environment.

The initial setup for SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform is too complex from my perspective.

SAP can make SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform better by simplifying the installation and configuration.

In the functionality part, it would be great to see some new functions, maybe some AI or something similar, but I'm not sure whether this should be done by such a reporting platform; perhaps other tools or technologies would be more suitable.

I've been working with SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform for ten years.

It's quite stable; I would rate it an eight or nine for stability.

That's also good regarding scalability, the ability to scale and expand.

I have experience with SAP technical support and have contacted them.

That's one thing I've complained quite a lot about, and recently I saw some improvement, but I would rate them a number five.

Neutral

We are evaluating some other alternatives, for example, open source software; that's my experience with competitors.

The SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform serves as a BI tool. I am not working with predictive analytics capabilities from SAP. I am an SAP real user, not a partner. I would rate this solution a 7 out of 10.

On-premises

The usual use cases for my customers involve developing reports based upon the financial model from the SRM system as well as the finance and transactions system.

The most valuable features of SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform that I have found are the table widget, SQL functions, calculations, scheduling part, and the server management, which I frequently use.

SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform supports my decision making with its reporting tools greatly, especially from the Business Intelligence point of view, particularly in the financial module. The Business Intelligence tools lack any planning options, which is why the SAP SCC tool and SAP Analytics Cloud tool are essential for planning, but for calculations, SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform outperforms all other tools such as Power BI and Tableau, showing more accuracy, reliability, and flexibility compared to all other BI tools worldwide.

We need to speed up the performance of our tool because it is slower compared to the SAP Analytics Cloud tool. We need to improve the optimizing areas, and I frequently face these optimizing areas, but other than that, the visual, the UI, and everything else is good.

I believe they should optimize the pricing.

I have been working with SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform for more than four years.

I rate the scalability of SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform as a nine due to performance issues related to optimizing parts.

I have communicated with the technical support of SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform. My impression of the support is good so far. Sometimes, they forward my ticket to the technical team, especially when my issue involves technical aspects that basis people may not be familiar with. There have been some hierarchy confusions, but other than that, it is good, and I rate them 8.5.

Positive

I did not use a different solution before SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform for these use cases because SAP Analytics Cloud tool is not reliable enough for calculations based on business requirements. I have also used Power BI and have some experience with Tableau, but in comparison, SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform is significantly ahead of all those tools.

The initial setup of this tool was very easy, rating a ten. The deployment took me within 30 minutes.

For the deployment process, I need to take a backup of all the reports using the Business Intelligence compression or archive files for all users, servers, access levels, and the auditing DB, taking all the files as a BCMBR file. Then, I can deploy or upgrade from the existing system to the latest version, or alternatively, create a new server node. Ensuring backups for updating and deployment is essential, and either installing or upgrading the existing system or creating a new node for deploying all updated latest features in the Business Intelligence system is an easy task.

For the deployment, I need two people: one from the basis and one from the technical side.

For maintenance, I have managed just one person for all user level access, server management, report side, and promotion side for the past four years based upon the system landscape. I have developed more than 130 reports in the Business Intelligence tools, so we typically need one person for maintenance, one for the basis side, one for technical tasks, and one for server-side maintenance, which totals to four to five people being more than enough for maintenance activities.

I have seen a return on investment so far in the form of saved time and resources.

I rate the pricing for SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform as a seven or eight.

I have installation experience with these solutions. I use SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform, and I am a consultant for this tool.

The data analysis capability that I experience with SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform is that we are using the table format widget frequently while rarely using other widgets such as charts and timeline charts. The most impressive aspect of the tool is the ability to perform all levels of complex calculations, date-level calculations, and operator-level calculations. This ability to handle calculations is a significant highlight when compared to other Business Intelligence tools from SAP.

SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform integrates with AI for data analytics, which is promising. After the latest patch update, they've mentioned enhancements in the data analytics part, which has become more involved with AI, similar to what is found in SAP Analytics Cloud.

I have an average of about 150 users day to day for SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform. I might have plans to increase the usage of this tool in the future in my company.

I rate this solution nine out of ten.

On-premises

As a BusinessObjects Administrator, I work to deploy the solution, handle new installations, security setup, user management, and all of those tasks. Later, I started report development and became a BI developer, and then I did some data warehousing.

With the SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform, we build financial reports such as P&L and income statements for financial reporting, and we also build dashboards for top management.

Through interacting with top management in our business, I have been able to meet their needs through ad-hoc reporting capabilities.

Empowering business users means they should be able to work independently without depending on the developer. One advantage of SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform is self-service capabilities, allowing users to do drag and drop to build their own reports and perform analyses without needing technical know-how.

The platform has many drivers that I can use to connect to virtually all available databases, making it easy to integrate with Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, and many others. With the cloud version, I can fetch data on-premises and to the cloud for analysis easily. It is so flexible that I can make choices for fetching data. For authentication in an SAP environment, I can choose to integrate with SAP logon for SSO or use AD authentication for convenience, along with the flexible integration options.

There are areas of SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform that need improvement, particularly in licensing, which can make it complex and expensive for users. If SAP could split the analytics side from financial analytics, it would become more affordable and easier to learn for technicians.

The integration of the cloud product needs improvement, as I have faced challenges fetching data from SuccessFactors, which isn't as seamless compared to on-premises solutions. I expect improvements over time, and SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform is still superior compared to other reporting tools.

I have been working with the SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform for over 15 years now.

I have experience with SAP technical support and have supported customers, including those in financial services. I continue to assist old clients while supporting my colleagues as well.

Positive

Setting up SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform is one of the easiest things I've done. Having started my career as an SAP BusinessObjects administrator, I find it still easy due to my foundational knowledge.

For most of my clients using the on-premises version of SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform, the return on investment is positive due to its affordability and ability to handle diverse reporting needs while automating information distribution.

Using Power BI as an example, most customers choose it instead of SAP, primarily due to the cost, acquisition cost, and maintenance. People choose other products because of the flexibility, though I am not sure whether any other reporting tool is as flexible as SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform. Users often complain about the interface of SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform, saying it is not as aesthetic as Power BI, but SAC is addressing that issue. In terms of performance, other BI tools cannot compare with SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform, as those reports are not as fast as those built on SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform, and other tools are not as robust for financial reporting.

Based on my years of experience with the SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform, I have worked with all the products, starting from Analysis for Microsoft Excel, then SAP Web Intelligence, and then the BusinessObjects dashboards, which graduated to Lumira. From Lumira, I moved to SAC, which is now the current product that SAP is positioning for reporting, and that is the cloud solution.

Currently, the organization I work for, Dangote, has close to 9,000 users in an SAP environment. We utilize SAP for our ERP, CRM, and SuccessFactors, and we also implement Power BI to enhance reporting aesthetics for specific users.

I am currently using Microsoft products for analysis and Power BI fabrics while fetching data from SAP ERP, SAP HANA, and BW, but I have not necessarily had any AI-driven projects within BusinessObjects.

I work on both the cloud and on-premises versions of SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform. While the cloud version isn't popular yet in this part of the world due to costs, some users still prefer the perpetual license of the on-premises version.

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

Hybrid Cloud

Other

I am not sure about how it supports my compliance and data governance requirements.

I am working as an IT manager.

It integrates well with BW and HANA, which demonstrates strong data integration capabilities.

The solution is reliable, which is the main feature for creating insightful reports.

It helps in decision-making, which impacts ROI, especially in terms of efficiency.

The solution is performing well, and I don't think any improvement is needed.

I would appreciate integration with Outlook as an additional feature in the future to make it closer to a perfect score.

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

I am satisfied with the technical support provided by SAP.

I would rate their technical support as excellent.

Positive

I am using SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform exclusively.

It helps in decision-making, which impacts ROI, especially in terms of efficiency.

The price is very competitive and reliable.

Based on my experience, I would recommend SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform to others.

The solution currently lacks AI capabilities.

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

This platform is very important to us because it offers a dashboard and includes SAP Analytics Cloud for reporting. The analytics is a reporting platform with a separate license from the planning platform. We use this primarily for dashboarding.

The important features include a dashboard and reporting capabilities through SAP Analytics Cloud, which I consider to be a better version than the initial BusinessObjects platform. We use these tools primarily for reporting and dashboarding needs.

SAP BusinessObjects is expected to be phased out by 2027 as reports are moving to SAP Analytics Cloud. The creation of stories within the platform could be enhanced to be easier than it is currently.

I have eighteen years of experience working with this solution.

On a scale from one to ten, I would rate the stability a ten.

On a scale from one to ten, I would rate the scalability a ten.

On a scale from one to ten, I would rate the technical support as eight.

Positive

The initial setup is a straightforward process.

The return on investment from this solution is high, with the highest ROI observed.

The pricing of the solution is expensive.

While I recommend the SAP Analytics Cloud version, I do not recommend the on-premises version. If you are considering overall ratings, I would rate SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform as a nine.

On-premises

The situation is I'm working with a client who has a Citrix installation, which can be a bit unstable. I am a user as a developer for universes and reports, so I don't have any insight into the technical deployment of it. I'm not a systems engineer.

This is generally used for financial reporting.

Users tend to put everything into Excel, though I try to discourage this. The best feature about it for me, and for them, is the fact that you have a universe that is well made. This means you don't have those months that get assigned. You can just get to the point and get a report very quickly. Unfortunately, in some ways, it's a double-edged sword because it becomes more of a self-service ETL, even for the reporting team.

I have only ever used it because I've always been at the end user line, handling what I needed based on my sources, which was satisfactory.

Users tend to put everything into Excel, though I try to discourage this. The best feature about it for me, and for them, is the fact that you have a universe that is well made. This means you don't have those months that get assigned. You can just get to the point and get a report very quickly. Unfortunately, in some ways, it's a double-edged sword because it becomes more of a self-service ETL, even for the reporting team.

If you have a decent universe and you just want to quickly get something together, it's very usable. Compared to Click, you can drop those reports very quickly.

The foreground handling is disastrous. I tried moving a few columns, and that's not a task you want to do. I've worked with other tools, for example, Microsoft Power BI, which is visualization-wise very strong. The metrics layer is equivalent to the universe, nowhere near it.

I have been using SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform on and off for over 20 years.

I have very little vision on deployment as I work in a business area. When they say a report isn't working, I fix it for them, but regarding deployment, I have very limited visibility.

SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform seems to be slowly losing clients to competition. I don't know exactly why because people who use it seem to really appreciate it, especially those who have used its stability. I suspect it's something to do with the relationship that SAP has with the organization.

From what I've heard in conversations, when they tried upgrading from 4.2 to 4.3, they found it buggy in some reports, which was quite problematic.

I don't know how much it costs to implement. That's my issue. I don't focus on that because I've always been at the front end of development. Implementation is always handled by system engineers and business reports.

I've worked with Microsoft Power BI, which is visualization-wise very strong. The metrics layer is equivalent to the universe, nowhere near it.

I have been doing the equivalent in Power BI using Copilot, which isn't a big deal.

I have very little vision at my current client. I work in a business area where I fix reports when they aren't working. SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform seems to be slowly losing clients to competition, though people who use it appreciate its stability. I suspect it's related to the relationship between SAP and organizations.

I have heard anecdotal evidence that the relationship with SAP is not easy. However, as a tool for reporting and getting a stable data platform, I still think it's very good.

On a scale of one to ten, I rate SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform a seven.

We primarily used it for BI reporting and analytics, preparing dashboards, reports, and everything related to data analysis.

Dashboard and analytics are good features. Visualization is better than other tools. First of all, visualization tools, productivity, and predictive forecasting are much more mature. The tool is fully compatible. Visualization is tremendous or various, colorful, or objects. So, as per my recommendation,  visualization is a strong point.

Another thing is SAP is putting in the planning, or their features, so that it is very useful for each and every organization.

Ad hoc reporting is very good.

The workflow is easy to get with SAP. In terms of SAP, some other, in other domains, just like other than SAP tools, maybe some technical skills are required for the integration parts.  

As per my opinion, because SAP is a very worldwide product or very useful product, I'm not talking about improvement, because I just think that SAP can focus on the pricing factor. 

The cost of this product, so every company is not suitable to use it. Because of the very huge amount of integrations, every organization can not use it. So, it is a very costly product. 

Secondly, from an educational point of view, So, it is not easy to adapt to each and every IT person because some, most, in India, most cities, such as Delhi, Bangalore, or Chennai, only metro support the educational platform for that. 

So, just my suggestion is SAP should focus on every user; it should be easy to pick the product and, easy to carry, easy to use in every life. So, SAP must try to improve in this part.

I have been using it for three to four years. 

I would rate the stability an eight out of ten.

I would rate the scalability an eight out of ten. It is a pretty scalable product. 

I would recommend it for enterprise level companies. 

We used various SAP products in my previous company, including SAP SuccessFactors, SAP BusinessObjects, and others. Currently, we use SuccessFactor and are moving towards the SAP HANA Cloud Platform.

The initial setup is very simple. It's just functional. The installation part is very easy to use.

Our vendor, Accenture, or PwC, and other valuable vendors support me. So, for most of the integration part, they are looking at it.  

I just handle the front end or user support.

Comparing just for the price segment, it is very high, so that is why not each and every company uses SAP.  

As a competitor for Power BI, it's easy to use. Power BI click or Tableau are use it more mature than SAP BI. Because SAP BI is basically properly guided, if fields are required. So, not each and every person can use this. 

As per my suggestion, SAP should be easy to use, maybe easier than Power BI. An old user can pick up and adopt.  

It is a very good and reliable product from SAP's perspective, especially compared to other products. It offers a comprehensive set of BI reporting features, and SAP regularly improves the product. Before I left my previous company, they were transitioning to the SAC platform for analytics due to its capabilities in planning, predictive analytics, and forecasting.

Overall, I highly recommend this tool as it is very helpful and improves productivity.

I would rate the product a seven out of ten. 

Hybrid Cloud

What I like the most about SAP BusinessObjects BI Platform is that it has significantly improved our decision-making process by automating data injection, eliminating manual preparation, and reducing associated costs. The user-friendly interface allows for quick analysis, while robust security ensures controlled access to sensitive information.

While SAP BusinessObjects BI Platform offers powerful reporting features, I believe there is room for improvement in providing more user-friendly and versatile reporting options. Currently, users might face limitations and complexities in developing specific use cases within SAP. Unlike other business intelligence tools such as Power BI, SAP could enhance flexibility, allowing users to seamlessly integrate data from various sources like CRM systems, providing a more dynamic and adaptable reporting environment for users.

In terms of stability, SAP BusinessObjects BI Platform has been good. It is a reliable solution, especially for injecting and integrating data from sources like SAP, Microsoft Azure, or AWS. The platform's partnerships with major systems like SAP and Oracle contribute to its overall stability.

SAP BusinessObjects BI Platform is highly scalable. You can easily upgrade the account to accommodate your specific needs. The platform's cloud capabilities allow for seamless integration of advanced analytics like machine learning or AI. Currently, we have over 20 customers using it.

Setting up SAP BusinessObjects BI Platform can vary in complexity depending on the customer's specific use case. For us, the process was generally straightforward. We identified the tables the customer wanted data from and extracted and injected the data accordingly. Visualization and analytics were then tailored to their specific needs. The deployment process, from development completion to implementation, involved collaboration with staff and followed a systematic approach.

The licensing cost for SAP BusinessObjects BI Platform can be significant due to its complexity. It is crucial for customers to carefully assess the value they expect to derive from the implementation. Start with a basic version before opting for more advanced options like SAP HANA to manage initial expenses wisely.

My advice for new users is to consider SAP BusinessObjects BI Platform, especially if they're dealing with complex organizational structures. It is beneficial for centralizing data from various departments into a unified system, providing a robust solution for analysis and decision-making. Overall, I would rate it as a nine out of ten.