BusinessObjects vs Oracle Business Intelligence

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Our analysts compared BusinessObjects vs Oracle Business Intelligence 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
Oracle Business Intelligence 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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Oracle Business Intelligence (BI) is a robust suite designed to empower users by providing comprehensive capabilities, including data integration, analytics, and reporting. This is a product that's most suited for medium to large enterprises which have complex data environments and require in-depth insights into their operations. Its important benefits are scalability, advanced analytics, data visualization, and a strong support infrastructure that Oracle is known for. An important feature set includes self-service analytics, ad-hoc analysis, mobile analytics, and robust dashboard capabilities. This sophistication lends itself to comparison with other enterprise-grade BI tools, where users often highlight Oracle BI's extensive integration facilities and powerful back-end capabilities as differentiators. However, given its depth and complexities, it can also present a steep learning curve for new users. Pricing considerations are important as Oracle BI is viewed as a premium offering. Typically, it's priced on a per-user basis, with payment frequencies ranging from monthly to annual licensing. Prospective buyers should note that the total cost of ownership may include additional expenses for implementation, customization, and training. In summary, Oracle Business Intelligence serves as a comprehensive data suite that leans towards the higher end of the market in both capability and price.

Pros
  • Powerful data warehousing
  • Scalable for large organizations
  • Wide range of features
  • Integrates with other Oracle products
  • Large user and developer community
Cons
  • High cost of ownership
  • Complex setup and management
  • Steep learning curve
  • Limited non-Oracle platform support
  • Less user-friendly than some alternatives
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Knowledge Base
24/7 Live Support
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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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  • Interactive Visualizations: Users have access to a wide selection of interactive dashboards, charts, graphs and other data visualization tools. They can filter, drill down or pivot data directly from the dashboard while prompts and suggestions from the system guide them through the exploration process to uncover additional insights.
  • Oracle Exalytics: Using Oracle Exalytics, users can analyze massive datasets efficiently and without the need for a technical professional such as a data analyst.
  • Self-Service: Even non-technical users will be able to explore, organize and interpret data using this analysis system. The intuitive visualizations make the information easy to understand and share for employees at any level of data literacy.
  • Actionable Intelligence: By analyzing data and identifying trends, users are more prepared to make decisions about business practices, quotas, forecasting and much more.
  • Proactive Alerts: Users can set predefined alerts that send users real-time updates when the system is triggered or scheduled. These alerts are sent via a preferred channel, including email, internal file storage and text message based on the severity of the alert.
  • Mobile Access: Everything in the solution is presented with a consistent interface on the mobile device of the user’s choosing. This includes multitouch and gestural interactions with map graphics and other advanced features.
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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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  • Dashboards: The rich dashboard feature lets users see and interact with personalized dashboards based on their predefined role. They can explore the data freely along a guided navigation path that leads them to new insights.
  • Report Types: The system can create a variety of report types including ad-hoc analysis, interactive reports, custom reports and a selection of pre-built reports.
  • Big Data: The in-memory processing power of this solution allows users to incorporate big data sets without needing to integrate another solution. It can draw from large databases such as Hadoop, HIVE, Google Analytics, etc.
  • Augmented Analytics: The inclusion of machine learning and AI in the analytics process enhances the user experience by streamlining every aspect of it. The system remembers previous searches, offers natural language search queries and provides intelligence suggestions for the ideal visualization for each individual dataset.
  • Enterprise Reporting: This feature refers to the creation of simple reports in the most efficient, organized manner possible. This analytics tool facilitates the creation of files from templates such as checks, flash reports, tables and more.
  • Spatial Visualizations: The visualization tools aren’t limited to two dimensions; the system also offers a map view in which the data is projected on a fully interactive map. This graphic can include color fill, adjustable size markers, customizable image markers, multiple forms of binning and continuous color-fill features.
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Product Ranking

#14

among all
Business Intelligence Tools

#50

among all
Business Intelligence Tools

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User Sentiment Summary

Great User Sentiment 1869 reviews
Great User Sentiment 508 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.

83%
of users recommend this product

Oracle Business Intelligence has a 'great' User Satisfaction Rating of 83% when considering 508 user reviews from 3 recognized software review sites.

3.8 (237)
3.3 (11)
4.2 (158)
4.1 (89)
4.2 (722)
4.2 (408)
3.9 (752)
n/a

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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User-friendly interface: Oracle BI is lauded for its intuitive and easy-to-use interface, making it accessible to users with varying technical expertise. Drag-and-drop functionality and self-service reporting empower users to analyze data independently.
Robust data integration: Oracle BI seamlessly integrates with diverse data sources, including relational databases, cloud applications, and flat files. This eliminates data silos and provides a unified view of critical business information.
Powerful data visualization: Oracle BI offers a comprehensive library of interactive visualizations, including charts, graphs, maps, and dashboards. These visuals help users identify trends, patterns, and insights within their data.
Flexible deployment options: Oracle BI offers both on-premise and cloud deployment models, catering to various organizational needs and preferences. This flexibility ensures scalability and accessibility for users across different locations.
Extensive security features: Oracle BI prioritizes data security with role-based access control, data encryption, and auditing capabilities. This ensures authorized users can access relevant information while protecting sensitive data.
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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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High cost: Oracle BI can be expensive to purchase and implement, especially for small and medium-sized businesses. The initial investment and ongoing maintenance costs can be a significant barrier for some organizations.
Steep learning curve: While the interface is user-friendly, mastering the full potential of Oracle BI requires time and effort. This can be challenging for users who are not familiar with data analysis tools or who have limited technical experience.
Limited customization options: While Oracle BI offers a range of features, some users find the customization options to be restrictive. This can be limiting for organizations with specific needs or unique data analysis requirements.
Potential performance issues: Large datasets and complex queries can lead to performance slowdowns in Oracle BI. This can be frustrating for users who rely on real-time insights and data accessibility.
Vendor lock-in: As a proprietary platform, Oracle BI can lock users into Oracle's ecosystem. This can make it difficult to switch to other BI solutions in the future, limiting flexibility and potentially increasing costs.
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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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Oracle Business Intelligence (OBI) garners mixed reviews from users. Many praise its robust functionality and ability to handle large datasets, with one user noting, "OBI can handle almost anything I throw at it." Another highlights its insightful dashboards and reporting capabilities, stating, "OBI provides the perfect blend of data visualization and analysis tools." However, some users criticize OBI's steep learning curve and complex interface. One user lamented, "It took me months to feel comfortable using OBI effectively." Others point to its integration limitations, especially with non-Oracle products, with one user stating, "OBI shines within the Oracle ecosystem but struggles with others." When compared to competitors like Microsoft Power BI and Tableau, users often cite OBI's scalability and data-handling prowess as its main differentiators. One user highlighted, "OBI is the go-to solution for large-scale enterprise data analysis, leaving Power BI and Tableau behind when dealing with massive datasets." Additionally, users appreciate OBI's tight integration with other Oracle products, creating a seamless workflow within the Oracle ecosystem. However, users also acknowledge OBI's shortcomings in terms of user-friendliness and flexibility. One user stated, "Power BI and Tableau offer a more intuitive and user-friendly experience, making them more accessible to a broader range of users." Additionally, some users find OBI's reliance on Oracle technologies limiting, preferring the broader platform compatibility offered by competitors. Ultimately, the choice between OBI and its competitors depends on specific needs. For organizations requiring in-depth analysis and scalability, OBI remains a powerful contender. However, those prioritizing user-friendliness and integration flexibility may find alternatives like Power BI and Tableau more attractive.

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