Looking for alternatives to MicroStrategy? Many users crave user-friendly and feature-rich solutions for tasks like Data Management, Reporting, and Data Transformation. Leveraging crowdsourced data from over 1,000 real Business Intelligence Tools selection projects based on 400+ capabilities, we present a comparison of MicroStrategy to leading industry alternatives like Cloudera, Sisense, InsightSquared, and Mathematica.
Analyst Rating
User Sentiment
MicroStrategy is a data visualization and reporting platform that deploys on-premise and on the web. The cloud version runs on AWS or Microsoft Azure. MicroStrategy Library is the web edition, while Workstation is the desktop version.
It reigns supreme as the top analytics tool in our product directory and provides 91% of the required features out of the box. Regarding source data integration, it leaves very little to chance, winning our best-in-class award for connectivity. With over 200 connectors, there’s a high chance it’ll satisfy your data needs.
If not, you can build one using a software development kit. SDKs are also the force behind REST and embedding APIs, HyperIntelligence and data visualization. Plus, the semantic layer enables automating data prep and analysis and generating visualizations on cue.
Dossiers in MicroStrategy are like books; they have chapters further divided into pages, and each page has one or more visualizations. Every view is free-form — you can move charts around and organize them as you like. With write-back capability, you can update underlying databases from visualizations.
The vendor launched its unified cloud AI analytics platform, MicroStrategy One, with GPT-4o in September 2024. It’s twice as fast, digging into the selected data to produce dashboard summaries and answer user queries in seconds. Update 12 has auditing capabilities and shows details of active licenses, including their compliance status.
Its heart and soul is an Intelligence Server that manages metadata and processes queries. A mobile app is available. There’s a 30-day trial, but access to group permissions, KPIs and subscriptions requires a paid upgrade.
User reviews mentioned that the solution was effective, but the ecosystem and pricing were complex.
among all Business Intelligence Tools
MicroStrategy has a 'great' User Satisfaction Rating of 84% when considering 973 user reviews from 5 recognized software review sites.
Cloudera has a 'great' User Satisfaction Rating of 82% when considering 216 user reviews from 4 recognized software review sites.
Sisense has a 'great' User Satisfaction Rating of 88% when considering 1979 user reviews from 5 recognized software review sites.
InsightSquared has a 'great' User Satisfaction Rating of 89% when considering 797 user reviews from 4 recognized software review sites.
Mathematica has a 'excellent' User Satisfaction Rating of 92% when considering 305 user reviews from 2 recognized software review sites.
MicroStrategy is a patchwork quilt of products on the web, desktop and mobile. There’s MicroStrategy Library where you can access published content and Auto Express for dashboarding and bot creation. Anyone with basic data skills can feed information to a bot and gain insights in seconds.You don’t need a credit card to sign up for the free trial, but you won’t be able to publish content to the server without a paid upgrade. As for choosing which edition to use, there’s the web and the desktop instance. Which one will suit you? Maybe both?MicroStrategy Workstation is for developers and data analysts and is more robust for manipulating data. It provides administrative control, even when offline, and helps prototype content before it goes live. Combining multiple visualizations on a single page provided me with more context for the same data.On the other hand, the Workstation version lacks the same level of natural language processing as the web version.MicroStrategy Web is for delivering content to your clients. Being online, it’s open to seamless upgrades and customization, and identity management and collaboration are built in. If you have a small organization, the web version might suffice, but you might want to consider going for both if you deal with large data volumes.Metadata mapping was immensely useful to me when designing a bot using MicroStrategy Auto Express. All I needed to do was feed it the data, and it generated a slew of questions I might want to ask.With a semantic layer, Microstrategy is among the BI tools that work best with large data warehouses. If you’ve just started in business or haven’t got large data volumes yet, you might want to consider a simpler tool.An oft-repeated sentiment in user reviews was that this motley crew of products — web, desktop and mobile — didn’t always sync. The vendor positions MicroStrategy One as a unified solution that’ll, hopefully, eliminate these annoyances.On the flip side, quite a few users said it could be clunky for inexperienced users. Also, some reviewers said it slowed on occasion. Most people said the solution was expensive and found its learning curve quite steep.In summary, MicroStrategy is worth considering, especially if you’re a medium or large-sized company looking for a web reporting tool with a user-friendly interface.
Is Cloudera the answer to your data management woes, or is it just a bunch of hot air? User reviews from the past year paint a mixed picture of Cloudera. While some users praise its flexibility and ability to handle large datasets, others find it cumbersome and expensive. Cloudera's hybrid cloud approach, allowing users to deploy on-premises or in the cloud, is a major selling point for many. However, some users find the platform's complexity a barrier to entry, especially for those without extensive experience in data management. Cloudera's integration with other tools, such as Apache Hadoop, is a key differentiator, but some users report issues with compatibility and performance. Cloudera is best suited for large enterprises with complex data needs and a dedicated team of data engineers. Its robust features and scalability make it a powerful tool for organizations that require a comprehensive data management solution. However, smaller businesses or those with limited technical resources may find Cloudera's complexity and cost prohibitive.
Users appreciate how Sisense creates large datasets from constantly evolving data sources to be seamlessly streamlined into actionable data, and presented easily in the form of graphs, bar and pie charts, scattergrams, line graphs, interactive maps and many more visualization types. Regarding customer support, users praise their prompt and informative responses - from implementation to handling subsequent queries — as high quality customer service that comes neatly packaged with pricing plans. Users mention that the implementation of this solution, though easy for basic setup, can be quite demanding in terms of scripting and configuration setup, especially for advanced analytics. Non-technical users might find it challenging to set up the data objects - ElastiCubes - without strong IT support. On the front-end, dashboard customization and formatting of visualizations can be tricky as these require basic knowledge of CSS, Javascript and development. Though a large number of users find this solution to be cost-effective, smaller businesses and startups that only need a limited number of licenses might find it expensive. Overall, Sisense is a strong BI solution with strong data capabilities, and its drill-down functionality empowers users to glean insightful and actionable analytics that drive business strategy by aiding in decision-making processes. To maximize its potential, businesses may require strong IT support for implementation and formatting of visualizations. It is certainly worth considering for enterprise BI needs, if the price is right!
InsightSquared is a powerful sales analytics platform that helps users drive sales pipelines and access self-service data analytics through robust features and interactive data visualizations. According to many users who discussed data integration, the tool interacts seamlessly with other applications and data sources to enable predictive analytics that help forecast future trends. Most of the users who mentioned support said that they are responsive and knowledgeable. A majority of the users who reviewed the interface said that it’s user-friendly and easily navigable, though some users said that the versatility of the platform makes it complex to learn. Many users who discussed the platform’s visualization capabilities said that it provides a wide range of interactive and intuitive out-of-the-box dashboards. A majority of the users who discussed data analytics said that the platform excels in analyzing historical data to better forecast future trends, though some users said that the scope of predictive analytics should be wider to provide better insights. According to many users who mentioned functionality, the solution provides many ways to explore data-based insights through deep-dive and pivoting on key metrics, though some users said that the platform is not easily customizable. Many users who mentioned reporting said that the solution provides a plethora of out-of-the-box reports that can be customized and exported easily, though some users said that there is limited flexibility in report customization. On the flip side, a majority of the users who reviewed speed said that the platform is slow when moving between templates and can become CPU-intensive with large dashboards, though some users said that it can slice and dice data to present relevant information in seconds. Many users who mentioned pricing said that necessary customization modules add to the cost of the software, which makes adoption difficult for small businesses. Many users said that though training is needed to maximize the tool’s potential, lack of adequate documentation makes the learning curve steep. In summary, InsightSquared is a self-service revenue intelligence tool that provides a single source of truth for sales analytics and forecasting pipeline management. It boosts productivity across the organization, though its pricing can be cost-prohibitive for small businesses.
Let's crunch some numbers and see what users have to say about Mathematica! Mathematica has garnered a reputation as a powerful computational tool, particularly in academic and research settings. Users frequently praise its symbolic computation capabilities, allowing them to manipulate and solve complex mathematical expressions and equations with ease. This strength sets Mathematica apart from competitors like MATLAB, which primarily focuses on numerical computation. Mathematica's notebook interface also receives positive feedback for its ability to combine code, visualizations, and text in a single document, facilitating reproducible research and clear communication of findings. However, Mathematica's steep learning curve and high price point are often cited as drawbacks. Users transitioning from other programming languages may find Mathematica's syntax and functional programming paradigm challenging to grasp initially. Additionally, the cost of a Mathematica license can be prohibitive for individual users or small businesses. Overall, Mathematica is best suited for researchers, scientists, and engineers who require a comprehensive tool for symbolic and numerical computation, data analysis, and visualization. Its extensive functionality and ability to handle complex mathematical problems make it an invaluable asset in these fields. However, individuals or organizations with limited budgets or those seeking a more user-friendly option may want to explore alternative software solutions. Keep in mind that software is constantly evolving, so it's always a good idea to check for the latest updates and user reviews to make an informed decision.
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