SSRS vs Birt Reporting

  • Hi,

    Two option was given to use to create Org level dashboard.

    1. Using Microsoft SQL BI

    2.BIRT

    Could you please tell me which option is better in which term and why.

    Thanks in Advance.

  • Hard to say without knowing the requirements.

    Do you already have SQL Server at your company?

    Need an answer? No, you need a question
    My blog at https://sqlkover.com.
    MCSE Business Intelligence - Microsoft Data Platform MVP

  • Yes we have .

    We created some reports over there.

  • prashant_kr (7/31/2014)


    Yes we have .

    We created some reports over there.

    Then why take on a new product with its own toolset and learning curve?

    Unless you have some exotic requirements for your dashboard, SSRS or Power View should be fine.

    Need an answer? No, you need a question
    My blog at https://sqlkover.com.
    MCSE Business Intelligence - Microsoft Data Platform MVP

  • This is came from top management to do the feasibility, whether we can migrate all the dashboard to BIRT or not and also which tool is better and in which term .

  • prashant_kr (7/31/2014)


    This is came from top management to do the feasibility, whether we can migrate all the dashboard to BIRT or not and also which tool is better and in which term .

    I guess someone saw a flashy sales demo 😉

    I have never worked with BIRT, so I'm afraid I can't help you.

    The points I stated earlier stay valid:

    * you already have SQL Server and the necessary skills to create reports with it

    * BIRT is probably new to you, so you need to go through the entire learning curve again, with its unevitable pitfalls as well

    * I'm pretty confident it will be easier to find people on the jobmarket with SSRS skills

    * I'm also confident SQL Server has a better and more mature development community you can turn to when you have questions (this site is a good example)

    Need an answer? No, you need a question
    My blog at https://sqlkover.com.
    MCSE Business Intelligence - Microsoft Data Platform MVP

  • But we need technical features comparison and also BIRT is the Open source so cost is also a factor.

  • prashant_kr (7/31/2014)


    But we need technical features comparison and also BIRT is the Open source so cost is also a factor.

    Contact a sales rep from BIRT (if they even have one) and ask them for the technical features.

    The same for Microsoft.

    You already have SQL Server, so SSRS is included in the license. Read: SSRS is free as long as it is on the same server.

    Need an answer? No, you need a question
    My blog at https://sqlkover.com.
    MCSE Business Intelligence - Microsoft Data Platform MVP

  • prashant_kr (7/31/2014)


    But we need technical features comparison and also BIRT is the Open source so cost is also a factor.

    Here's one blog post:

    http://rpbouman.blogspot.be/2005/12/reporting-for-masses-eclipsebirt.html

    The more I read about BIRT, the more I like SSRS 🙂

    One advantage of BIRT might be the JavaScript integration.

    Need an answer? No, you need a question
    My blog at https://sqlkover.com.
    MCSE Business Intelligence - Microsoft Data Platform MVP

  • This is the BIRT blog, there they mentioned about BIRT,not the comparison between these two.

  • prashant_kr (7/31/2014)


    This is the BIRT blog, there they mentioned about BIRT,not the comparison between these two.

    Did you read the blog post I linked to?

    Of course, there are also some differences between these products. Here are some obvious ones which do not directly impact the functionality of the report:

    BIRT is open source under the Eclipse Public License - Reporting Services is closed proprietary source software, subject to its own product license

    BIRT is based on java technology - Reporting Services is built on .NET technology

    BIRT has jdbc database connectivity - Reporting Services has ODBC and ADO .NET connectivity

    Syntactically, BIRT expressions are Javascript expression - Reporting Services expression are Visual Basic .NET expressions

    BIRT does *NOT* have crosstabs as of yet - Reporting Services has of course

    BIRT datasources are defined on the report level - Reporting Services datasources are defined on the Report Server and/or Project level (wich I think is much more convenient than in BIRT)

    A lot of output formats are available for Reporting Services - BIRT can only output HTML or PDF (I'm really missing an XML output format)

    Need an answer? No, you need a question
    My blog at https://sqlkover.com.
    MCSE Business Intelligence - Microsoft Data Platform MVP

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