BusinessObjects vs Dundas BI

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Our analysts compared BusinessObjects vs Dundas BI based on data from our 400+ point analysis of Business Intelligence Tools, user reviews and our own crowdsourced data from our free software selection platform.

BusinessObjects Software Tool
Dundas BI Software Tool

Product Basics

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
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Dundas BI is a self-service analytics solution with a keen focus on embeddability. With an eye on the end-user experience, the vendor provides options to design and embed dashboards into applications. Ranked five on our leaderboard, Dundas BI is a user favorite. The platform supports standard file formats and connects to cloud storage and enterprise systems.

Report templates and interactive visualizations make data accessible to all users. Some available graphics include bar and line graphs, scattergrams, pie charts, scorecards and maps. The system also suggests visualizations that fit the analyzed data.

Besides a long list of connectors, the platform has built-in ETL. You can switch from a data warehouse to live sources with the click of a button and write back to the warehouse from the interface.

The vendor, insightsoftware, offers it under the Logi Symphony umbrella, but Dundas BI remains a distinct product, and support is available. It supports multi-tenancy, and you can manage multiple clients with assured data security.

Roles include developers, power users and report consumers. The vendor provides shared concurrent licenses to keep pricing within reach. Unlimited data refreshes at no extra cost make it an attractive option.

Reviews praise its visual capabilities and ease of use, though most users say there’s a steep learning curve and performance can lag sometimes. Pricing starts from $2,500 monthly.

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$5,000 Annual
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$2,500 Monthly, Quote-based
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Product Assistance

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Knowledge Base
24/7 Live Support
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24/7 Live Support

Product Insights

  • 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. 
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  • Gain Insight: Dundas BI wins our top honors for advanced analytics with a score of 92. You can write Python scripts within the platform and build clusters for customer segmentation. Forecast trends using regression and extract sentiment from buyer reviews.
  • Visualize Data: Dundas BI excels at dashboarding and visualization, earning our top award and a score of 100 in our JumpStart App. Its polished visuals embed perfectly into websites, apps and mobile devices. The vendor provides a lot of control over data displays. You can remove overwhelming menus and place navigation and selection options on dashboards. Animate icons to show data changes or display dashboards on a large screen in your office — the vendor has thought of it all. Though it can't compare with Qlik's associative power, Dundas BI remains an outstanding choice for professional dashboards.
  • Build Reports: Create paginated and pixel-perfect reports or design scorecards — the vendor offers many options to present data. Paginated reports have fixed page layouts for printed output, while pixel-perfect reports focus on precise design for a polished look. Version control lets you go back to the previous report and avoids the need to create local copies. The vendor’s focus on reporting UX and customization earns Dundas BI a top score of 100 in our rankings.
  • Manage Data: Define how datasets relate and apply joins during ETL. Explore new datasets without building a data model or generate data models with one click. Profile, correct and enrich data with simple selections. Analyze data from OLAP sources, such as Microsoft SSAS, Azure Analysis Services and Microsoft PowerPivot. Our analysts give it a 100 score for data management.
  • Embed Insight: Apply transformations, design dashboards and mashups, and analyze reports where you work. Embed the entire application or a screen into your business systems. Dundas BI is API-enabled and embeds without iframes. The vendor provides server and client APIs, SSO and authentication methods. It scores 100 in our rankings along with Power BI. But Power BI Embedded is priced separately from Premium and doesn't have the same customization levels.
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  • 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. 
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  • Data Visualization Sandbox: Create and test data visualizations before using them in dashboards. Experiment with different chart types, color schemes and data combinations without risk. It's an excellent learning tool for teams that want to start using data for decisions.
  • Pattern Identification: The Identify Clusters button is a tool within Dundas BI that examines your dataset. It helps you find patterns in your data by clicking a button rather than manually sorting it. The tool puts similar data into groups that can help spot trends or unusual patterns.
  • Small Multiples: They allow you to compare values on the same scale and axes but in separate charts and graphs. One example is comparing the prices of hotels on an aggregator site.
  • Mobile Insight: Collaborate with your teams through an HTML5 browser, whatever the device. Leave comments and annotations for colleagues on visualizations and share them as a PDF or link. Double-tap to zoom into views, and pinch in and out to see maps and charts.
  • Content Scheduling: Share content by setting a schedule or trigger. Dundas BI offers scheduled sharing via the notifications option. Select the content type from among Excel, CSV, PDF, PowerPoint and PNG formats. Choose from email or file delivery. More distribution methods are available if you install Dundas BI extensions.
  • Administrator Privileges: Create, edit and delete projects and configure security settings. Share projects among tenants and assign or revoke permissions as required. Set up and manage user accounts and view login history. Monitor system and warehouse performance and keep tabs on memory storage with application logs.
  • DundasScript: Do more with your data. Write custom formulas and expressions that aren’t possible with standard connectors or visualization tools. Apply conditional formatting and define how users should interact with visual elements, such as setting up drill downs and tooltips.
  • Contextual Views: View only the information that matters to your role. Dundas BI has a data connector override function that switches to a different data source or schema based on who’s viewing the content.
  • Architecture: Dundas BI has JavaScript, HTML and CSS on the back end with a patented in-memory engine. It’s a C#, Asp.NET application hosted on Microsoft IIS for Windows, systemd for Linux or a Docker or Kubernetes container. The platform is available in hosted and managed versions. Supported databases include Microsoft SQL or PostgreSQL. All screens, including dashboards and report designers, are built on a public API with JavaScript or a REST interface. It makes it easy to customize and embed. Tiers include the user, application and data layers. End users get a smooth user experience with drag-and-drop and select actions. It's open to plugins for adding new functions, formulas, controls, and security and tenant and export providers.
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Product Ranking

#14

among all
Business Intelligence Tools

#21

among all
Business Intelligence Tools

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User Sentiment Summary

Great User Sentiment 1869 reviews
Great User Sentiment 467 reviews
81%
of users recommend this product

BusinessObjects has a 'great' User Satisfaction Rating of 81% when considering 1869 user reviews from 4 recognized software review sites.

89%
of users recommend this product

Dundas BI has a 'great' User Satisfaction Rating of 89% when considering 467 user reviews from 5 recognized software review sites.

n/a
4.2 (14)
3.8 (237)
4.4 (137)
4.2 (158)
4.5 (122)
4.2 (722)
4.5 (118)
3.9 (752)
4.4 (76)

Synopsis of User Ratings and Reviews

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.
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Cost: Around 88% of reviewers mentioning pricing said the platform offered value for money.
Data Analysis and Visualization: Around 86% of users reviewing dashboards said they helped in decision-making.
Service and Support: Almost 83% of users praised support services for being prompt and said they got the help they needed.
Functionality: Around 75% of users praised the solution's rich feature set for helping them accomplish their tasks.
Ease of Use: Around 72% of users citing user friendliness said they could use it without much difficulty.
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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.
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Training: Around 86% of users citing learning said there was a steep learning curve and documentation was inadequate.
Speed: Around 75% of users who reviewed performance said it lagged when handling large data volumes.
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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.

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Dundas BI is a web application that stands out for placing the buyer first with built-in ETL, shared licenses and unlimited refreshes. It surpasses market leaders like Power BI and Qlik Sense in native functionality. It’s feature-rich, with 77% of capabilities available out of the box.About 72% of users reviewing the interface praised the platform, whereas others felt it was confusing. An open API architecture might be one reason for the UI's clutter, but the vendor offers a way out. You can make onboarding easier by removing components that seem complex.Usually, reporting is a loose term for dashboards and static reports and not much else. However, the vendor packs these tools into a neat package at no extra cost. Dashboards are usually static, single-screen views, but Dundas allows embedding reports in them to complement your KPIs. The support team is responsive with clear SOPs and quick responses, and the documentation is detailed.On the downside, many users felt it slowed when handling heavy workloads. Performance is critical in business, but every data tool has accompanying tradeoffs, and sadly, it’s often speed. That said, keep in mind that many factors are at play here — the hardware, internet speed, data complexity and database efficiency. Consider them for your use cases when evaluating performance, as they significantly impact how a program responds to user interactions.Ultimately, it boils down to this — how much lag can you accept before it impacts your business? A proof-of-concept or, even better, a trial would be your best bet to assess how the platform fares.Due to its rich scripting options, the learning curve can be steep. Users felt the feature documentation should cover more information on Javascript and APIs. Most reviewers were satisfied with the pricing, saying it offers value for money.In summary, Dundas BI is a powerful tool if you need a high degree of customization, scalability and flexibility. It can handle complex data environments and supports many users concurrently. It would be a good fit for mid to large-sized enterprises as they have diverse data needs and are open to investing in training.Organizations with simple data requirements may find the tool a bit over the top and the cost excessive. In such a case, opting for a tool with basic functionality might be a good start. One non-negotiable would be frequent, stable updates. It'll ensure the tool grows with your business over time.

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