SAP BEx vs Webi Vs Crystal Vs Dashboard

Differences in SAP-BI (BEx) and BO Reports

Here  I have discussed few main differences in the WEBI, DESKI, CRYSTAL, XCELCIUS and BEx.

Comparison Between BEx and BOBI

SNO	TYPE OF REPORT	SAP TOOL	BO TOOL
1.	ADHOC REPORT	WEB ANALYZER	WEBI/DESKI
2.	OLTP/REAL TIME REPOSITORY	REPORT DESIGNER	CRYSTAL REPORTS
3	DASHBOARDS	WAD	XCELSIUS

PORTAL

SNO	SAP	BO
1.	ENTERPRISE PORTAL	INFOVIEW

Differences between SAP and BO

SNO	SAP	BO
1.	Characteristic, Key Figure, Display attribute	Dimension, Measure, Detail
2.	Characteristic Catalogue	Dimension Class
3.	Key Figure Catalogue	Key Figure Class
4.	Restrictions or Filters	Global Static Condition
5.	Variables	Dynamic Prompt
6.	Calculated Key Figure	Measures with Calculations
7.	Restricted Key Figure	Measure with Dimension Restriction
8.	Attribute Level Hierarchies	Default Hierarchy
9.	Node Level Hierarchies	Custom Hierarchy
10.	Exceptions	Alerts
11.	Conditions	Report Level Restrictions

Differences between WEBI and DESKI

SNO	WEBI(InfoView)	DESKI
1.	It is a thin client/ half client	It is a thick client/full client
2.	InfoView supports only for the universes which are exported to the server( does not support for offline mode)	DeskI supports for the universes which are in the Local as well as which are present in the server.
3.	WebI  supports personal data files	DeskI also supports personal data files.
4.	Extension for WebI is (.WID)	Extension for DeskI is (.REP)
5.	The report created in the WebI cannot be saved in the Local system	The report created in the DeskI can be saved in the Local system
6.	We cannot hide the column in the report created in WebI	We can hide the column in the report
7.	Partially supports for Scope of Analysis	Fully supports for Scope of Analysis
8.	Slice and Dice is not possible is WebI	Slice and Dice is possible in DeskI
9.	Creation, modification, distribution, scheduling through web is possible.	Creation and modification from DeskI tool. Distribution and scheduling from Infoview.
10.	Drill across is not possible in WebI	Drill across is possible in DeskI

Difference between WEBI and Crystal Reports.

SNO	WEBI	CRYSTAL REPORTS
1.	No need for any software installation in the Developer system	Software installation of client version of Crystal reports is a must in the Developer system
2.	Need not install  to install any integration kit to publish reports into the BO server.	Integration kit is mandatory to publish reports into the BO server.
3.	WebI supports only for Universe and personal files.	Supports all the data sources.
4.	WebI supports for ADHOC features	Crystal does not support ADHOC features
5.	WebI supports for dynamic aggregation	Does not support dynamic aggregation
6.	Dynamic drilling is possible	Dynamic drilling is not possible
7.	Creation, modification, scheduling, distribution from web portal (i.e Infoview) is possible.	Distribution, scheduling is possible from web portal. But creation and modification in Crystal reports client.
8.	Reports can be exported in PDF and Excel formats	Reports can be exported in Excel, PDF, Word, .CSV, Text, XML, Etc.
9.	Supports upto 90,000 records in the report	There is no specific limit for the number of records in the report

Differences between WEBI and XCELSIUS

SNO	WEBI	XCELCIUS
1.	Supports only for Universe and personal data files	Supports for Universe, WebI, Crystal, XML, BEx
2.	Developer need not install any software	Mandatory installation of client version in the Local system
3.	Does not support for interaction features	Supports for interaction features
4.	Supports for very few charts	Has many charts and components
5.	Supports for up to 90,000 detailed records	Supports only 512 summarized records
6.	Supports for ADHOC features and allows us to modify through web	Does not support for any ADHOC features
7.	Creation, modification, scheduling, distribution from web portal (i.e Infoview) is possible	Creation and modification from Xcelcius. Distribution from Infoview