Oracle Discoverer (discontinued) vs. SAS Visual Analytics

Discoverer is definitely well suited for a company that is working with a lot of data but does not have a large database knowledgeable team. It allows for basic database management while permitting users to access the data in a simple and efficient way. Reporting is easy to do and, again, does not require a lot of database know-how. If you are looking for more in-depth customization and multiple data sources from various vendors, though, you may want to look into a more robust platform.

Incentivized

SAS Business Intelligence is more suited to organizations which are already using SAS as the primary software for their analytics needs. Learning curve is relatively shorter for teams already skilled in BASE SAS. For organizations already working with open source software like Julia and Python, it doesn't make much sense to use SAS BI.

Incentivized

• Business Intelligence Discoverer helps with our Reporting team. We are able to run reports needed immediately using this tool.
• Business Intelligence Discoverer helps with getting analysis of monthly and yearly medical data from across the state.
• Business Intelligence Discoverer helps with web publishing and sending information to the trading partners.

Incentivized

• SAS BI makes it very easy to create interactive dashboards even for someone who is not from an IT background. For some specific requirements, basic knowledge of SQL is good enough.
• A lot of functions have been predefined which makes it very convenient to create dashboards and reports. One doesn't need to be from an IT or a programming background to understand and create dashboards.
• It supports other programming languages like R and also has a seamless API integration with various data management platforms.

Incentivized

• It would be useful if users could be allowed to write subqueries.
• It would be helpful if there was a way for users to download the reports on their PC.
• Most of the functionality is awesome and I would like to see more graphics in the reports.

Incentivized

• Business Objects should provide a more consistent mobile/desktop interface so operation between the two is seamless
• Business Objects needs to make it easier to query across disparate data sets such as Oracle to SQL to Mongo DB
• Our installation of Business Objects does not natively allow the export of XLSX documents, only XLS

Incentivized

There is no other product that can match SAS. There are some products that can compare to ETL but lack the analytics that SAS has. Others can perform a limited set of analytical procedures but lack the data processing that comes with SAS. Using thin client allows users to access data whenever they have an internet connection.

SAS BI is good for creating reports and dashboards and then sharing it with the users. It also has ability to manage access to the reports and dashboards but somehow with most of the world moving to open source languages R, Python and Julia, SAS BI feels to be archaic in terms of feature set and integrations it allow[s]. Also, comparing it with other Business Intelligence tools like Tableau and Microsoft BI, the functionality of SAS BI is very limited and doesn't justify the pricing.

Incentivized

When you call tech support, you are immediately routed to a person who can answer your question. Often they can answer on the spot. However, if they cannot, you are given a track number and then followed up with. There have been times when I have had multiple track numbers open and they will actually TRACK YOU DOWN to ensure that your problem has been resolved. Issues do not fall into black holes with SAS. They are also willing to do a WebEx with you to diagnose the problem by seeing your environment, which is always helpful.

Discoverer is more of a departmental BI tool. OBIEE is much more expensive compared to Discoverer. OBIEE needs an ETL and Reporting team to develop reports. OBIEE involves complex modelling of RPD whereas it is much simpler with Discoverer. With Discoverer, it is as simple as importing database tables, defining joins and running the queries. Discoverer stacks very well on top of ERP systems directly. Users can run reports on ERP tables using Discoverer. To perform similar jobs through OBIEE, one has to either use Noetix or another transactional model.

Incentivized

I have chosen SAS Visual Analytics because one of my colleagues suggests using the software for the same for our work. As earlier, we use to take a lot of time in analyzing the data but after using the SAS Visual Analytics software our work has improved and time has decreased. It's very helpful for us.

Incentivized

• We have used Discoverer to respond to state sales and use tax audits and saved the company more than the cost of the product. Discoverer has thus assisted in our objective of managing costs.
• Discoverer is used to provide reports for EEOC reporting assisting our goal of complying with all government requirements.

Incentivized

• SAS Visual Analytics licensing cost should be reduced to enable users to use it in mass scale.
• More statistical and mathematical equations and theories should be converted into SAS functions for reusing.
• Because of enriched ETL and reporting capabilities SAS Visual Analytics is most preferred by business users.

Incentivized