| Min. OS Requirement | Windows XP |
| Language | 7 languages (EN, FR, JP, DE, ES, CN, KR) |
| Add-In | Requires Excel |
| Available for Mac | No, requires Parallels Emulation |
| Price includes 1st year maintenance | No |
| Requires other Software? | Requires Microsoft Excel to run |
| Scripting Support | Built In |
| Simulation | Monte Carlo |
| VBA Support | Built In |
| CSV Support | Yes |
| XML Support | Yes |
| Distribution Fitting | Built In |
| User Defined Distributions | Yes |
| Distribution Gallery | 22 Base distributions + Advanced Custom Parameters |
| Monte Carlo Sampling | Yes |
| Latin HyperCube Sampling | Yes |
| Process Capability (6 Sigma) | Yes |
| Sensitivity Analysis | Yes |
| Tornado Analysis | Yes |
| Precision Control | Yes |
| Probability calculations functions | Yes |
| Correlation | Yes |
| Correlation Methods | Normal Copula Only (Iman- Conover) |
| SIP Math Support | Crystal Ball is SIPMath compatible because it allows for sequential sampling of datasets (SIPs). SIP Libraries can be exported using a 3rd Party Macro. |
| Decision Trees | We recommend : Palisade PrecisionTree |
| Stats Tools | 3rd party option. We recommend Minitab, Analyse-it and Palisade StatsTools |
| MS Project Support | Requires free Crystal Ball Project Macro to be installed |
| Charting | Built In |
| Charts can be customized | Yes |
| Automated Reporting | Yes |
| Multi-Core Support | Yes |
| Developper Kit | Yes |
| Example Models | Yes |
| Network Licensing Available | No |
| Data Base Integration | 30+ Data Sources with CDATA Connectors |
| Supported DBs | Standard ODBC sources from Excel + 3rd party connectors |
| User Defined Distribution Library | Distributions can be generated and saved to shared network drive and can be made available to other Crystal Ball users on the network |
| Linear Optimization Methods | Yes |
| Non-Linear Optimization Methods | Yes |
| Requirements / Soft Constraints | yes |
| Max Requirements | Unlimited |
| Max Decision Variables | Unlimited |
| PSI support | yes |
| Solution Filtering | yes |
| Efficient Frontier | yes |
| Scenario Analysis Support | Ability to create stochastic decision matrices using Decision Optimizer |
| Convergence Testing | yes |
| Genetic Algorithims | yes |
| Ranges for Decision Variables | yes |
| Main Solver Engine | OptQuest |
| Optimize multiple statistics | Optimization can be done on 11 different statisics (Mean, Variance, Standard Deviation, Skewness, Kurtosis, Percentile, Min/Max, Mode, Range, Coef. Variation, Probability, Certainty ) + 15 SigSigma Capability Metrics |
| Optimization Goal Types | Minimize, Maximize & Set Target |
| Static Optimization Support | yes |
| Dynamic Optimization Support | no |
| Stochastic Optimization Support | yes |
| Time Series as distributions | Yes |
| Time Series Fitting | Yes |
| Time Series Methods | 5 Non-Seasonal Methods + 6 Seasonal Methods, Complete ARIMA (1500 Models) and Stochastic Multiple Linear Regression |
| Multiple Linear Regression | Stochastic Linear Regression (Forecast Independent Variables and recombine into a simulated dependant variable using the regression equation) |
| Seasonal Methods | Seasonal Multiplicative, Seasonal Additive, Holt-Winter's Additive, Holt-Winter's Multiplicative, Damped Trend Additive, Damped Trend Multiplicative |
| Non-Seasonal Methods | Double Moving Average, Single Exponential Smoothing, Double Exponential Smoothing, Single Moving Average, Damped Trend |
| GBM Support | No |
| Cubic Spline | For Outlier Adjustments. Option can be set to neighbour interpolation also |
| Heteroscedastic Models | No |
| ARIMA Support | Yes, Full ARIMA Model (1331 Non-Seasonal + 27 Seasonal Methods) |
| AutoARIMA | Yes |
| Data Sensoring | Outlier Detection Methods: Mean and Standard Deviation, Median Absolute Deviations, Interquartile Deviation |
| Time-Series Event Support | Yes |
| Define Time Series | No |
| Markov Chains | No |
| Automatic Data Transform | Yes |
| Manual Data Transform Methods | No |
| Manual Deseasonalization | No |
| Manual Detrending | No |
| Visualize Simulated Output | Yes |
| Exception Reporting | Yes |
| Time Series Scenario Analysis | No |
| Error Measures | RMSE, MSE, MAD, MAPE, Theil's U, Durbin-Watson |
| Time Series Fit Criteria | BIC, AIC, RMSE, MSE, MAD, MAPE, Theil's U, Durbin-Watson |
