InetSoft vs. SAP Lumira Comparison
Choosing the right solution for business intelligence and automated reporting can be daunting. InetSoft's StyleBI and SAP Lumira are two solutions which give robust visual analytics software for organizations to improve their operations.
In a recent match up compiled by user review aggregator G2 Crowd, InetSoft won higher ratings than SAP Lumira in 83% of categories.
InetSoft's ratings outscored SAP Lumira's in Meets Requirements, Ease of Use, Ease of Admin, Quality of Support, Ease of Doing Business with and even Product Direction.
InetSoft's software can run on various types of platforms such as Windows, Mac, and Linux, which can be accessed remotely from your workplace. InetSoft exceeded SAP Lumira on Sandbox/Test Environments due to its software's excellent protection from untested code.
The Self-Service BI Alternative to SAP Lumira
InetSoft's product suite allows complex data operations such as Calculated Fields and Data Column Filtering to be performed with an intuitive drag and drop interface, with only basic Excel skills required.
InetSoft won over SAP Lumira in Calculated Fields, Data Column Filtering, Data Discovery, Search, and Collaboration/Workflow. Since InetSoft's software is user friendly and easy to use, a one person team can operate the program, reducing labor and employee costs.
InetSoft's software can create many types of reports that users can utilize to develop their management priorities. This includes a library of chart types as well as tables and scorecard options, which can all help provide an easier understanding of organizational data.
InetSoft's perfectly paginated reports got a higher rating in the categories of Reports Interface, Steps to Answer, Score Cards and Dashboards.
InetSoft StyleBI's Top Ranking Categories
The detailed list of categories where InetSoft StyleBI scored over SAP Lumira is presented below. Please click here or the G2 logo to go over the individual reviews.
- Meets Requirements
- Ease of Use
- Ease of Admin
- Quality of Support
- Ease of Doing Business With
- Product Direction (% Positive)
- Data Visualization
- Big Data Services
- Reports Interface
- Steps to Answer
- Score Cards
- Dashboards
- Data Transformation
- Data Modeling
- WYSIWYG Report Design
- Integration APIs
- Calculated Fields
- Data Column Filtering
- Data Discovery
- Search
- Collaboration/Workflow
- Sandbox/Test Environments
- Customization
- User, Role, and Access Management
- Performance and Reliability
- Internationalization
According to G2 Crowd's review data, SAP Lumira has a lower rating than InetSoft in Data Transformation, Data Modeling, WYSIWYG Report Design and Integration APIs.
Data Visualization and Big Data Services were another two categories in which InetSoft outperformed its competitor. The rich options of graphs, dashboards and charts help users implement their data effortlessly with these tools, which will provide visual models to increase understanding of the data.
InetSoft's proprietary Data Mashup is the integration of multiple data sets into a single graphical interface. Data mashup is a central capability of InetSoft's StyleBI BI software.
InetSoft is a platform focusing on operational BI with an intuitive user interface that accelerates usage of BI across an organization. Requirements as diverse as reporting, OLAP, scorecards, dashboards, visualization, and ad hoc analysis are all met in a unified application.
About StyleBI
StyleBI is a data intelligence platform that enables data transformation and mashups for delivery in dashboards and reports. End-users get visually compelling, highly interactive access to data, and IT gets a highly customizable, easy to learn and quick to deploy business intelligence toolset and information delivery platform. Data mashup capabilities allow for the integration of disparate data sources, enabling agile development and providing maximum self-service, while the application's SOA architecture and open standards-based technology make for an ideal embedding and integration-ready application for dashboards, production reporting, and visualizations.
User Complaints About SAP Lumira
Steep learning curve & lack of self-service
Numerous users report that Lumira is powerful but not intuitive for business users. Considerable time and training are often required before non-technical staff can create meaningful dashboards without IT assistance.
- Onboarding and UX are seen as weak compared with modern BI alternatives.
- Significant IT involvement is frequently needed to prepare data and publish dashboards.
- Reports of users feeling lost or unsure what parts of the UI do — reducing adoption and self-service uptake.
Performance, scalability & feature limitations
Performance problems surface repeatedly, especially with large datasets or complex visualizations. Memory consumption, slow renders, and occasional crashes diminish user confidence.
- High memory usage and slow dashboard execution on larger datasets.
- Limited data-preparation and ETL capabilities compared with specialized tools.
- Missing or constrained features: fewer custom visualizations, reduced export options, and restricted formula/function support.
- Specific frustrations include lost export functionality (for example, difficulties exporting cross-tab data to Excel) and constrained calculation flexibility.
Integration, ecosystem & roadmap concerns
While integration with SAP backends (HANA, BW) is a strength, connecting to non-SAP or newer third-party sources can be more cumbersome. Uncertainty about product investment and roadmap direction also discourages long-term commitments.
- Good SAP-native connectivity but weaker support for diverse, modern data sources.
- Perceptions that active development has slowed or that SAP is shifting focus to SAP Analytics Cloud.
- Statements from users that Lumira may be approaching end-of-life create risk aversion for new projects built on the platform.
Usability, visualization quality & competitive positioning
Lumira is often compared unfavorably to tools like Tableau and Power BI. Criticisms cover both interaction smoothness and the visual polish of delivered dashboards.
- Drag-and-drop and general interactivity feel less refined than leading competitors.
- Smaller community and marketplace for custom visuals, making unique or cutting-edge visual designs harder to achieve.
- Recruiting experience: fewer analysts and designers know Lumira compared with more popular BI platforms, increasing onboarding cost and time.
Cost and value concerns
Some organizations feel licensing and total cost of ownership are high relative to the delivered usability and feature set, especially when compared with alternatives available at similar or lower price points.
- Perception that licensing costs are not matched by modern self-service capabilities.
- Organizations with mixed or non-SAP ecosystems often question ROI when choosing Lumira.
Representative user sentiments
- “Not very user friendly and not very useful for promoting self-service analytics.”
- “Uses a lot of memory resources, so execution of dashboards is slow.”
- “Limitations on formulas and export options hinder real-world use cases.”
- “Lumira is dead technology — SAP Analytics Cloud is the successor.”
Summary of major themes
The most common complaint clusters are:
- Usability: Not as intuitive or self-service friendly as many modern BI tools.
- Performance & scaling: Struggles with large datasets and complex dashboards.
- Feature gaps: Limited custom visuals, export options, and data-prep functionality.
- Roadmap risk: Concern about SAP prioritizing other products (notably SAP Analytics Cloud), reducing Lumira’s long-term viability.
- Value proposition: Best suited to SAP-centric environments; less compelling for broader or cloud-first organizations.
These themes indicate why many organizations consider alternatives for new BI initiatives while maintaining Lumira for legacy SAP-focused deployments.