Crystal Reports Vs. Tableau: A Full Examination

Finding the right management reporting tool is vital for the health of your company. It will allow you to boil down complex data and showcase it in a visually-appealing, easy-to-understand way.

Today, we’re looking through two popular management reporting and business intelligence options. Crystal Reports is a veteran reporting software (one of the first of its kind, actually), and Tableau is a web-based report visualization software that has taken off in recent years.

I’ve summarized the most important elements of both software options below to help you determine which (if either) product is a good fit for your organization.

Crystal Reports

Crystal Reports is a Windows-based business intelligence solution currently owned by SAP, a German software company. It was created in 1991 and has been acquired, merged, and rebranded multiple times. It’s important to note that Crystal Reports was one of the first products on the market that allowed business analysts to connect to databases and create reports simply by dragging and dropping the fields they wanted onto the report. Before this type of technology, the analysts would have to ask their IT team members to write SQL queries, etc. to access the data.

Over time, Crystal Reports became a well-known standard in reporting, and began to dominate the market. It is a widely considered to be a robust reporting tool, and is possibly the most popular reporting software in the world.

Crystal Reports allows you to:

• Create robust, visually-appealing reports.
• Integrate from databases and non-database sources.
• Mine data from multiple dimensions using online analytical processing (OLAP). This is a great feature because it allows you to find connections in your data that you may not have previously seen. Crystal Analysis—the OLAP application for analyzing this data using Crystal––allows for you to use this information and format it in a user-friendly way.
• Put your reports online in reader-friendly formats, if you want to showcase your data online. (This requires the help of Crystal Enterprise, their server-based delivery platform.)

Noteworthy

Albeit the most popular reporting option, Crystal Reports does have its downfalls. Gaëtan Voyer-Perrault, a software engineer who used Crystal Reports for years, notes: “To be meaningful, the report needs to be organized by a business expert, but a business expert typically only has knowledge of the end result and maybe some vague mental map of the data.” He believes that the core problem with Crystal Reports is that “any sufficiently advanced reporting requires that you be able to output a bunch of code-like statements.” His opinion is echoed by others as well––that the learning curve is difficult for many companies to handle, and the complexities may hinder the value you get from using Crystal Reports. (You can read more of Voyer-Perrault’s response on this Quora thread.)

Crystal Reports might be a good fit for you if you have a technical team that will be able to code in some of your needs as a strategy leader.

Tableau

Tableau was founded in 2003, and positioned itself as a data visualization and analytics software. Those who use Tableau mention its easy-to-understand user interface and the simple learning curve associated with the software. It’s been noted as one of the best reporting tools in regard to appealing visualization. The advanced tools allow you to view your data in unique ways (i.e. dots on a map), which makes for a compelling presentation. The software can automatically blend data sets or calculate conversion rates.

Tableau recently released version 9.0, which allows for:

• “Storytelling” visualization options.
• Instant analytics to better understand your data.
• Level of detail (LOD) expressions (calculation tools used for the analysis of averages or subgroups).
• Smart global mapping with a better navigation.
• Preparing and fixing messy data imported from Excel.

Check out this comparison between Tableau and Qlik Sense (another business intelligence software solution) for more information.

Noteworthy

Robert Morton, a self-proclaimed “data nerd” (who happens to be a senior software engineer at Tableau) noted in this Quora thread that “Tableau is not a great tool for cleaning or reshaping your data, nor does its relational model allow for procedural computations or offline algorithms, which is something both Python and R [programming languages] are well equipped to handle.” Morton adds that for this reason, Tableau focuses on interfacing with other programming languages and code bases, rather than trying to replace them.

Tableau might be a good fit for you if you need top-of-the-line graphics that allow your data to tell a story.

Bottom Line

Both Crystal Reports and Tableau have redeeming qualities as reporting software options. The important thing is to make sure you’ve done all of your research about the software and the vendor before you make your decision. Best of luck!

FAQ:

What are Crystal Reports used for?

Crystal Reports is a powerful reporting tool used to design and generate formatted reports from various data sources. It's commonly used for:

- Operational Reporting: Creating detailed reports on day-to-day business operations, such as sales, inventory, or production data.
- Financial Reporting: Generating financial statements, invoices, and other financial documents.
- Regulatory Compliance Reporting: Creating reports to meet regulatory requirements.
- Ad Hoc Reporting: Building custom reports to answer specific business questions.

How do you use Crystal Reports?

Using Crystal Reports typically involves the following steps:

- Connect to Data: Connect Crystal Reports to your data source (e.g., database, spreadsheet).
- Design Report: Use Crystal Reports' drag-and-drop interface to design the layout and format of your report.
- Add Data: Select the fields you want to include in your report and place them in the appropriate sections.
- Apply Formatting: Customize the appearance of your report with fonts, colors, and other formatting options.
- Preview and Export: Preview your report to ensure it looks as intended, then export it to a format like PDF or Excel.

What is Tableau used for?

Tableau is a data visualization and business intelligence tool that helps users see and understand their data. It's used for:

- Data Exploration: Analyzing and uncovering patterns in data through interactive visualizations.
- Dashboard Creation: Building interactive dashboards that provide a comprehensive overview of key metrics.
- Data Storytelling: Creating compelling presentations that communicate insights from data.

How does Tableau help business?

Tableau helps businesses in several ways:

- Improved Decision-Making: By visualizing data, Tableau helps users identify trends, patterns, and outliers that may not be obvious in raw data. This leads to more informed and effective decision-making.
- Increased Efficiency: Tableau's intuitive interface allows users to quickly and easily create visualizations, saving time and resources.
- Enhanced Communication: Tableau's interactive visualizations make it easier to communicate complex data insights to stakeholders.
- Competitive Advantage: By leveraging Tableau's powerful capabilities, businesses can gain a competitive edge by making data-driven decisions faster and more effectively.

Why are Crystal Reports used?

Crystal Reports remains popular for several reasons:

- Powerful Reporting Capabilities: It offers extensive features for designing and formatting complex reports.
- Integration with Existing Systems: It can easily integrate with various data sources, including databases and ERP systems.
- Familiarity: Many organizations have used Crystal Reports for years and have invested in training and resources.
- Cost-Effectiveness: Compared to some newer tools, Crystal Reports may be a more cost-effective option, especially for smaller businesses.

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