SAP Crystal Reports Other Advice

MVD Prasad - PeerSpot reviewer
Assistant General Manager at Soma Enterprise

If someone inquires about it, I would unequivocally recommend SAP Crystal Reports. It is the ultimate ERP solution, and there's no better alternative. On a scale from one to ten, I would rate SAP Crystal Reports a perfect 10.

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Pralhad Yesare - PeerSpot reviewer
Microsoft Dynamics GP Consultant at Deloitte

We have also been using Microsoft Dynamics CP for the last 12 years. It is also running smoothly. We get all the data of the crystal reports. Microsoft Identity Suite provides its releases if there is any requirement, a new setup, or any new customization.

I recommend the crystal record because It is user-friendly.
Our technical team does the initial setup and installation part. We are doing customization. We do the customization part if there is any modification, new requirements, or new fields in the report.

Overall, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.

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Alain Vanhaeght - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Project leader at a construction company with 10,001+ employees

Since it's a visual tool, what you design on your screen is what you get on your paper. The solution is really paper-oriented. SAP Crystal Reports is really a tool where the output is either a PDF or a printout.

We have two steps. The first step is to send all commercial documents to customers, including quotations, order confirmation, invoices, and credit notes based on SAP Crystal Reports. The second step is to use SAP Crystal Reports to generate all delivery listings for the commercial division or the logistics department.

We used to have some backloading reporting, but that has been removed. Integrating SAP Crystal Reports with other systems in our environment is quite easy.

Overall, I rate SAP Crystal Reports an eight out of ten.

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Buyer's Guide
SAP Crystals
March 2024
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MohammadShafiullah - PeerSpot reviewer
MANAGER - IT SYSTEMS at Fabtech

For those planning to use the solution, I would urge them to look at the extensive documentation that SAP has provided on SAP Crystal Reports. Then, it can be used for creating reports and all.

In the category of reporting tools, I rate the overall solution an eight out of ten.

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AB
Software Development Head at a retailer with 11-50 employees

I find SAP Crystal Reports to be a good solution, even though it may not be easy to use. Overall, it is a complicated solution that doesn't work with certain frameworks. SAP has issues functioning with Microsoft .NET Core, and because of this, I would like to see if any alternate solutions are available in the market.

I am satisfied with the overall performance of the solution.

The only suggestion I have for others is to check whether it would be compatible with future releases of other products since certain platforms do not support SAP Crystal Reports.

I find the solution comprehensive and complex since I have successfully achieved everything I have tried to do with SAP Crystal Reports. The only thing my company wants is for SAP Crystal Reports to be compatible with the latest frameworks of Microsoft.

I rate the overall product an eight out of ten.

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NR
IT Manager at AE POWER

I rate the overall solution an eight out of ten. 

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it_user448413 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Application Analyst at a healthcare company with 1,001-5,000 employees

If your company has a reporting need which almost all do, then I would highly recommend Crystal Reports. I use the product so much in the past 15 years that I ended up becoming a CRCP as well.

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it_user185778 - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Specialist - Crystal Reports / SQL Server at a construction company with 10,001+ employees

You should fully understand your business needs and work to integrate all of the applicable programs available as part of the Business Objects suite. It can be a complicated process with all of the available tools.

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Patryk Golabek - PeerSpot reviewer
CTO at Translucent Computing Inc

At this point, I would just go with something that is matched with Power BI. It's coming from the Microsoft world, and the users will be comfortable with it.

I would say that its suitability depends on who you speak with. For a front-end developer, they are not going to like Crystal Reports. On the other hand, if you're a back-end developer and you understand the architecture then you're going to be okay with it. Again, it really depends on the client's use cases, the skillset, and the resources.

If your organization does not have many users, the traffic is low, and doesn't have any compliance issues, then you can get away with open-source solutions. They are going to be much faster to implement, easier to deploy, easier to manage, and have a low overhead. With the Google Chart Library, for example, you have all of the charts that you need.

I would rate this solution a seven out of ten.

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Syed Fahad Anwar - PeerSpot reviewer
Principal System Developer at HHRC

Study your requirements carefully, map them into this product, and if you think it fulfills the requirements, you should go for it.

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it_user581817 - PeerSpot reviewer
Founder & CEO at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

Hire experts for a fixed period of time while longer term employees shadow until they learn how to use it. Otherwise a new reporting endeavour will take too long. The end users need their reports.

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it_user435318 - PeerSpot reviewer
Database Administrator/Application Manager at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
  • Document views or report models to make it easy for users to choose their data sources.
  • Point novice users to the crosstab report. It is fairly easy to use.
  • For moderate to heavy users, you should send them for training.
  • Users with programming or scripting skills can create really complex reports.
  • Saberlogic Logicity provides free Crystal Viewer software. Users who only need to run reports can use this free of charge, so you can save license costs.
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DS
Senior Manager at a tech company with 1,001-5,000 employees

The tool can be incredibly powerful and flexible for generating reports. However, there is a somewhat steep learning curve to get beyond writing “basic” reports.

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it_user269151 - PeerSpot reviewer
Business Integration Manager at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees

This is a good product with good visuals.

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it_user432762 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Business Intelligence Tools Administrator at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees

Test your installation prior to upgrading to a production environment.

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it_user5802 - PeerSpot reviewer
BI Expert at a healthcare company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Use Windows Servers if you can afford the licensing. If not be prepared to battle ODBCs, fonts, memory issues, and more. In the end, Cognos, Informatica, Business Objects, SQL Reporting Services require someone to know and understand the database structure. Good database structure results in good performance if the developers know what they are doing. If your databases are poor, you just amplify the problems with these kind of tools. These all simply provide an interface where someone has to define the table and data relationships. Finding the right person to do that is the key. Give them the tool that best suits the needs of the company. View full review »
it_user448308 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Reports Programmer at a university with 10,001+ employees

In general, Crystal Reports 2008 is a very robust reporting tool. It is definitely geared toward the professional user. There is a learning curve and I would definitely take a class to learn all the functionalities.

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it_user456375 - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Senior Programmer Analyst at a transportation company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Make sure you have at least one person (preferable two), who know how to use the product before implementing it corporate wide. The problem at my company is there are 100 licenses out there and we have only 1 person who is an SME (Subject Matter Expert): Me. Everyone else uses it, but they have not had any real training or don’t use it full time.

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it_user448305 - PeerSpot reviewer
Programmer / Reports Designer at a printing company with 1,001-5,000 employees

It is an excellent product. Having used other report writers, the only one that comes close is the one in MS Access but that is not a stand-alone product and can only be used with MS Access. Crystal Reports has a great deal of flexibility in how you display your company data. The designer has the ability to create formulas or conditions for almost every feature of the report including suppression and formatting.

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it_user432603 - PeerSpot reviewer
Town Clerk's Office: General IT, Crystal Reports, Laserfiche Admin, Granicus Admin at a local government with 501-1,000 employees

I can't live without it. I wish it could do a few more things, such as better hyperlink functionality. I have an older version, so I have no idea if a newer version has the features I would wish for.

It is quite a bit to take in at once. Just start with something that is meaningful to you.

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it_user449409 - PeerSpot reviewer
Corporate Trainer/Consultant at a tech consulting company with 51-200 employees

It's a great product that works with many data sources. I highly recommend it.

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it_user434991 - PeerSpot reviewer
Manager Data Sciences at a tech company with 5,001-10,000 employees

It's the most reasonable solution available. If you are looking for a SQL-only product, then this one is not it – go look at SQL Analyzer, or Squirrel. If you want a full package of collecting, analyzing and presenting, then this is the package for you. However, you do need to have a programming angle to really understand the capabilities and power.

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it_user446937 - PeerSpot reviewer
Manager, Development at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees

The only advice I can give is to just make sure that you are very familiar with the products and the services that they offer. Ensure there is someone involved who is familiar with the product and its features for the implementation of the SAP Business Objects Enterprise Software solution.

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it_user161895 - PeerSpot reviewer
Database Expert at a financial services firm with 51-200 employees

Buy it! I’ve seen the alternatives and they pale in comparison. There are third-party add-ins that have helped, but nothing else comes close out-of-the-box.

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it_user224157 - PeerSpot reviewer
AVP at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees

Analyze it first as to whether it is a good fit for your needs. There are other good products available for analytical needs, which Crystal Reports doesn't yet provide.

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JC
Senior MIS Project Manager at a tech services company with 5,001-10,000 employees

My advice for anybody who is implementing this product is to learn the dimensions that are needed for the reports. There are some measures or formulas that are needed, and you have to organize your templates. With practice, it becomes easy to use.

I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.

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it_user174756 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Data Analyst at a healthcare company with 1,001-5,000 employees

There are many suggestions but the first would be to develop a template of how you would like your reports to look. Consistent layout helps users focus on the data rather than figuring out how to view a report, e.g., this report shows drill down links blue and underlined like the Web, but the other shows them in boxes with a note at the top that you can click on boxed items for more info.

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it_user456381 - PeerSpot reviewer
Consultant on Health Care Reporting and Analytics at a tech company with 501-1,000 employees

I found Crystal Reports to address the issue of data integration, and hence utilized Crystal Reports 2013. Crystal Reports is an excellent dedicated reporting tool, and I invested time into advanced training. I would say Crystal Reports is great tool, and has been in the business intelligence arena for a while. Hence, it's an excellent choice.

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it_user463368 - PeerSpot reviewer
Crystal Reports Developer at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees

The product is easy to learn for the basics. However, some features are difficult to learn and use (e.g., cross-tab tables). Documentation is minimal.

The product makes assumptions with table/view/stored procedure links, which can create unpredictable results.

The option settings (especially font settings) are global. I work with many customers who use different fonts and sizes. It is annoying to have to reset the option settings based on which client report I’m working.

The page footer reserves space; if you use a page footer on only the first page, it wastes real estate on subsequent pages.

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it_user446715 - PeerSpot reviewer
Consultant Commercial & ShipConnect / VRS at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees

It does what it does have to do, but seems development has stuck for several years now. Many things are not possible either. Complex queries are impossible, you need to make SQL statements. Sub report in a sub report is impossible.

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it_user628023 - PeerSpot reviewer
Microsoft Nokia Service Manager at a comms service provider with 501-1,000 employees

If you are looking for a cheap operational tool, the Crystal Reports family is the correct decision.

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it_user173745 - PeerSpot reviewer
Data Analyst at a healthcare company with 51-200 employees

It's a great product that can be used out of the box, however it's always good to invest in training.

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it_user431850 - PeerSpot reviewer
Director at a tech consulting company with 51-200 employees

Crystal Reports is a great little reporting tool for a myriad of data sources that provides the user a nice user-friendly GUI, which means that your report creation can be achieved quickly.

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it_user142782 - PeerSpot reviewer
Data Analytics and Integration at a wellness & fitness company with 501-1,000 employees

Lean on the vendor for the initial implementation and follow their steps to ensure independence down the road.

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it_user448395 - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr BOBJ/HANA Consultant at a manufacturing company with 501-1,000 employees

Perform analysis the purpose of the solution when selecting as oppose to select the solution and define the process.

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it_user448683 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Programmer - DB Mgt & Crystal Reports at a computer software company with 51-200 employees

Be aware that SAP Crystal Reports support is practically none existent so be aware that you will need to gather information from other sources.

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it_user449433 - PeerSpot reviewer
Team Lead - Report Development at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees

It was very good, but now the competition is overtaking, and SAP seems to use it as a cash cow.

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it_user186273 - PeerSpot reviewer
Crystal Reports Developer / DBA at a non-profit with 51-200 employees

I don't really have any advice since we didn't test any other reporting software. I like Crystal Reports. I think it's very easy to use and there are numerous forums I can look to when I need help.

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Buyer's Guide
SAP Crystals
March 2024
Learn what your peers think about SAP Crystal Reports. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2024.
765,386 professionals have used our research since 2012.