Avoiding Crystal Reports End of Life Gaps with Pentaho+

As SAP Crystal Reports for Enterprise (CR4E) phases out, many organizations face the decision of how to maintain and evolve their reporting and analytics infrastructure. This transition can feel daunting if your business relies heavily on Crystal Reports or SAP BusinessObjects (BOBJ) for essential reporting. However, this change also opens doors to newer, more powerful platforms that can ensure continuity while future-proofing your data strategy. 

The good news? Transitioning doesn’t mean starting over or losing the work you’ve already put in. With Pentaho+, you can retain the reporting systems that work while benefiting from a more flexible, scalable, and future-ready platform. 

Understanding the Transition from Crystal Reports

SAP has already announced the end of mainstream support for Crystal Reports 2016 as of December 2022, with full support ending in 2024. While Classic Crystal Reports will remain, the phase-out of CR4E is an opportunity to rethink and optimize your reporting infrastructure. 

Continuing with outdated versions of Crystal Reports poses risks, including: 

• High licensing costs that make it difficult to scale. 

• Limited real-time data integration, leading to slower, manual reporting processes. 

• Limited cloud and hybrid support, restricting your ability to adapt to modern infrastructure needs. 

• Desktop-only application for report creation, which can be complex to deploy across large teams. 

As your business grows, these limitations can hold you back. But this transition doesn’t have to mean abandoning everything you’ve built—it’s a chance to upgrade strategically. 

A Simple and Powerful Transition with Pentaho+

Moving from Crystal Reports to Pentaho+ ensures that your organization retains the reporting functionality you rely on while upgrading to a more modern, capable platform. Here’s how Pentaho+ simplifies the transition: 

1. Familiar Tools, Easier Transition: If your team is familiar with Crystal Reports, the transition to Pentaho+ will be seamless. Pentaho Business Analytics offers a familiar interface, minimizing the learning curve and making it easy to migrate existing reports and data. Your team can continue to work as they have, only with greater flexibility and efficiency. This isn’t starting over—it’s building on your existing reporting infrastructure and giving you additional flexibility with multiple deployment options (desktop or web-based, on-prem, or within your AWS/Azure environment). 
2. Maintain Your Pixel-Perfect Reports: One of the main concerns when moving away from Crystal Reports is the potential loss of the precise, pixel-perfect reports your business depends on. Pentaho+ not only preserves the quality of these reports but enhances them with additional customization options and flexibility.
3. Future-Proof with Real-Time Data Integration: Where Crystal Reports falls short with its static data reporting, Pentaho+ excels with real-time data integration. This allows you to make decisions based on up-to-the-minute insights rather than relying on outdated, manual reports. It’s not just a replacement – it’s a significant upgrade. 
4. Advanced Analytics with AI and Machine Learning: The future of business intelligence is AI. Pentaho+ comes fully equipped to support AI and machine learning workflows, preparing your organization for the next generation of data-driven decision-making.  

Read more in our Solution Profile

A Smooth Migration = Business as Usual, Only Better

Unlike many other platform transitions, moving from Crystal Reports to Pentaho+ is a smooth process. With robust migration tools and ongoing support, Pentaho+ ensures minimal downtime and disruption to your daily operations. Additionally, the transition gives you immediate access to a suite of advanced analytics tools that deliver: 

• Real-time insights that drive faster, more accurate decision-making. 

• Scalability that grows with your business without incurring high additional costs. 

• Advanced security features such as row-level security and customizable policies to ensure your data remains safe. 

Dive in deeper and download the Comparison Sheet

Don’t Let the End of CR4E Hold You Back—Leverage It to Advance

The phase-out of Crystal Reports for Enterprise (CR4E) doesn’t need to be a setback—it can be a strategic turning point. With Pentaho+, you not only preserve the work you’ve put into your reporting system, but you also unlock a new level of potential with real-time insights, AI integration, and scalable analytics that evolve with your business. 

Don’t fall behind as the data landscape evolves – stay ahead with Pentaho+. 

Ready to Make the Transition?

If you’re ready to start your journey to more advanced, flexible reporting, schedule a personalized demo today and see firsthand how Pentaho+ can empower your business to grow without missing a beat.