SAS vs. Halo BI

Business intelligence (BI) solutions such as SAS and Halo BI can give business owners insight into how their business is performing through reports, dashboards, data visualization, and analytics.

SAS is a distinguished BI software used by countless businesses and organizations. Users specifically like the analytics feature of this software. Halo is a long-standing BI software that has thousands of satisfied users for its data visualization designs.

We’ll compare the features of SAS and Halo BI to help you understand how each software approaches similar capabilities and decide which software is the better choice for you.

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A quick look into SAS vs. Halo BI

SAS Visual Analytics, or SAS, was created by the SAS Institute. The development of the software has been continuous since the release of its first version in 1972. SAS has an extensive set of features including data management, data discovery, analytics, forecasting, dashboards, reports, self-service analytics, visualizations, collaboration, and mobile access. SAS has high prices that can become impractical for small businesses; thus, this BI software is better suited for mid-sized to large enterprises.

Halo BI was founded in 1985 and was acquired by Logility, Inc., in 2017. Although the software was initially designed for the supply chain industry, it has many users from various business sectors. This award-winning BI software has features for supply chain analytics, reporting, visualization, data warehouse, automation, self-service analytics, and mobile access. Halo BI is best for mid to large-scale businesses. It has average-priced plans.

Features comparison

Both SAS and Halo BI have features for reports, dashboards, and mobile access.

Reports

SAS users can create reports by dragging an Excel file, CSV, or SAS data set onto their workspace. SAS reports are automatically optimized for viewing on any device. Images such as logos and web content can be added to reports. Users can change the calculation parameters and display rules using controls and filters in the SAS report and also set refresh rates for individual objects, pages, or entire reports.

Users of Halo BI can select from the software’s selection of pre-built dashboards for sales, finance, operation planning, and inventory. Create custom scheduled reports and automated alerts to notify you when key thresholds are not being met. Automated reports are shared as a link to the original view or in a downloadable Excel or PDF format.

Dashboards

With SAS, users can create interactive dashboards. The software offers pre-designed dashboards for different purposes, such as the Telesales dashboard and Marketing Analysis dashboard. Key performance metrics can be quickly summarized and shared via the web and mobile devices. SAS dashboards can be played when put in slideshow mode. Get the latest data as SAS dashboards show near real time information for monitoring system health and key activities.

Halo BI offers a wide range of pre-made dashboards, too. Choose from Supplier Management Dashboard, Customer Profitability Dashboard, Inventory Stock Dashboard, Supplier Performance Dashboard, and numerous dashboard templates to present your data. Alternatively, you can create a fully-customized dashboard from scratch, since Halo BI has a self-service dashboard customization feature that lets you tailor the dashboard to your taste using its drag-and-drop interface.

Mobile access

SAS is accessible from mobile devices thanks to its mobile applications for Android and iOS users. With the app, you can view reports and insights whenever and wherever. Navigate dashboards and view charts, graphs, gauges, tables, and other report objects. Filter and drill down into important data. Interactively explore vast amounts of data and collaborate with others. Get real-time updates through the app.

Like SAS, Halo BI has mobile applications for Android and iOS devices. The Halo BI app lets you access critical reports and dashboards on the move. Intuitive visualizations that highlight trends, patterns, and relationships are accessible, too. Monitor complex comparison analysis and what-if modelling with predictive analytics and forecasting tools. Find out more about your data through the slice ‘n’ dice and drill functionality. Halo BI mobile app has enterprise-grade security, so business information remains private.

Integrations

SAS has native integration with all MS Office tools, such MS Outlook, MS PowerPoint, and MS Word. Any additional integration with the system should be done via the SAS Integration Technologies.

Halo BI integrates with various platforms and tools for customer relationship management, enterprise resource planning, accounting, analytics, and social media:

• Google Analytics
• Microsoft Dynamics CRM
• SAP Business One
• QuickBooks
• Facebook

The BI for your business

Both SAS and Halo BI have their own strong points to take advantage of and use for your company’s benefits.

SAS could be the better suited software for your business if you already use MS Office tools since SAS seamlessly integrates with these tools. This software is also the better choice if you want your dashboards and reports to be displayed correctly on any device (desktop, smartphone, or tablets) without the need for manual optimization. 

On the other hand, you might find Halo BI to be more compatible with your business if you’re in the supply chain management field as the software was created for this particular industry. Additionally, you’ll love Halo BI if you want a broader selection of ready-to-use dashboards.

There are many other BI solutions to explore — simply use our Product Selection Tool to get a free list of respected BI software products to check out.