TrustRadius: an HG Insights company

Save this comparison

Save this comparison

Add Product

Recommended Comparisons

    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Alteryx Platform

    Score9 out of 10
    N/AThe Alteryx AI Platform gives organization automated data preparation, AI-powered analytics, and machine learning with embedded governance and security. Its self-service functionality, with self-service data prep, machine learning, and AI-generated insights, gives enterprise teams with a simplified user experience allowing everyone to create analytic solutions that improve productivity, efficiency, and the bottom line. Alteryx Designer can be used to automate every analytics step…

    $14,850

    per year 3 users (minimum), cloud edition

    Anaplan

    Score8.7 out of 10
    Enterprise companies (1,001+ employees)
    Anaplan is a scenario planning and analysis platform designed to optimize decision-making in complex business environments so that enterprises can outpace their competition and the market. By building connections and collaboration across organizational silos, the Anaplan platform surfaces key insights.N/A

    IBM Cognos Analytics

    Score7.7 out of 10
    N/AIBM Cognos is a full-featured business intelligence suite by IBM, designed for larger deployments. It comprises Query Studio, Reporting Studio, Analysis Studio and Event Studio, and Cognos Administration along with tools for Microsoft Office integration, full-text search, and dashboards.

    $11.25

    per month per user

    Pricing
    Alteryx PlatformAnaplanIBM Cognos Analytics
    Editions & Modules
    Designer Desktop
    starting at $5,195
    per year per user
    Designer Cloud Professional Edition
    Starting at $4,950
    per year per user (minimum of 3 users)
    No answers on this topic
    On Demand - Standard
    USD 11.25
    per month per user
    On Demand - Premium
    USD 44.90
    per month per user
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Alteryx PlatformAnaplanIBM Cognos Analytics
    Free Trial
    YesNoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    YesYesYes
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeOptionalOptional
    Additional Details———
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Alteryx PlatformAnaplanIBM Cognos Analytics
    Considered Multiple Products
    Alteryx
    Chose Alteryx Platform
    Other comparable tools to Alteryx would be SAS, R, Python and Microsoft Azure Data Science Virtual Machines.
    Incentivized
    Chose Alteryx Platform
    We did not do any comparison of Alteryx with other tools, but before Alteryx we used Sandbox tables in our databases. It caused a lot of issues in terms of data consistency, workflow automation, and patient data privacy and security. Using Alteryx resolved a lot of the issues.
    Incentivized
    Chose Alteryx Platform
    • Alteryx is your own pocket BI tool, that means it's easy to implement and easy to learn
    • You can avoid several trips to your IT department if you start using Alteryx
    • Alteryx is a time-tested application and has a big community of users to support your queries
    Incentivized
    Anaplan
    Chose Anaplan
    Cognos TM1 is an On-Prim tool, compared to Anaplan, the implementation time is more. Also, visualization is more powerful in Anaplan than Cognos TM1.
    Incentivized
    Chose Anaplan
    Anaplan vs Oracle Hyperion - Anaplan is far better calculation engine and way more modern. However, Anaplan still struggles to provide reporting, especially adhoc reporting in excel based off a data model.

    Anaplan vs Pigment - Anaplan is a more proven product, however, Pigment …
    Incentivized
    Chose Anaplan
    Definitely a leader in the space. Far ahead in terms of capabilities. On the high end in terms of end user experience.
    Incentivized
    Chose Anaplan
    The tools generally fill different niches, Anaplan is the best for corporate and enterprise planning, OneStream's strengths are in Consolidations and working with large data sets by IT, and Pigment is a strong contender for finance teams at small organizations with less-defined …
    Incentivized
    Chose Anaplan
    The only platform with the flexibility that matches Anaplan is Excel. However, excel is not scalable. There are also many great point solutions out there that can do one thing well, but I have not seen anything else that can do as much as Anaplan can, and do it well.
    Incentivized
    Chose Anaplan
    Anaplan has the advantage of multidimensionality and fast calculation engine which is lacking in most of the above. Scenario planning is easier using Anaplan. Anaplan is not an off the shelf tool like most softwares that have been prebuilt to address specific problems/ issues. …
    Incentivized
    Chose Anaplan
    I used other competitors, and I think, overall, Anaplan is a much better solution. It's younger and not a result of older generation solutions that have been adapted over the years and that are much more difficult to learn and customise.
    Incentivized
    Chose Anaplan
    Anaplan works well where you have a requirement for complete flexibility, such as in business structure, or in calculation methodology that is bespoke. You can tailor the system to your exact requirements, whereas some products come with pre-built modules that you might …
    Incentivized
    Chose Anaplan
    Anaplan is a superior product for planning purposes. Ease of use is key and intuitive UX makes driving adoption less difficult
    Incentivized
    Chose Anaplan
    I feel that Anaplan really has no competition when it comes to implementing connected planning. The biggest reason being that with other solutions, you need consultants to develop. If you know how to develop in Excel and understand the concept of dimensions, then you can …
    Incentivized
    Chose Anaplan
    Anaplan can reduce modeling time from months to days. Our teams are able to now forecast multiple different scenarios quickly instead of having to tell our executive team that it will take us weeks to months to model out a specific scenario that they have questions on. We are …
    Incentivized
    Chose Anaplan
    Anaplan logic and formula is easier to understand by end users so they can be more independent when they started to use the tool. Also the self training courses are detailed and practical enough to give end users a better understanding of the functions and what they can achieve …
    Incentivized
    Chose Anaplan
    Anaplan is one of the better cloud-based EPM solutions out there. While it doesn't come with a lot of features/modules out of the box, once you get it up and running it's really powerful. There is a steeper learning curve than some other EPM tools out there which are …
    Incentivized
    Chose Anaplan
    Anaplan handles use cases that involves hierarchy in a much more efficient manner compared to any platform. It is also simple to use and doesn't involve much to do with coding or configuration. From a scalability standpoint, Anaplan exceeds expectations in many ways compared to …
    Incentivized
    Chose Anaplan
    QlikView, I do admit, put complete power into the builder's hands. However it was really complex and script heavy. We just didn't have the expertise to deploy properly and it didn't seem as Finance friendly as it still relied heavily on servers sitting behind IT barriers. Qli…
    Incentivized
    Chose Anaplan
    We believed that Anaplan gave us much greater flexibility while still providing a source of data that we can trust. We were looking for not only a data warehouse with retrieve functionality, but a tool to help us calculate and report. We needed something more robust, so these …
    Incentivized
    Chose Anaplan
    Honestly, having implemented Anaplan at another company, I knew it would suit our needs here and convinced management to get the tool on that basis. We already use a mix of Cognos BI, Tableau, and Excel ... but our need was something apart from what those can provide.
    Incentivized
    Chose Anaplan
    Anaplan was simpler to use and more flexible.
    Incentivized
    Chose Anaplan
    We had been Cognos 10 and Powerplay users with similar multidimensional modeling capabilities. However, it required remote users to have VPN to access which was not always an optimal situation. Being cloud based, Anaplan allows all users to access it through their web browsers …
    Incentivized
    Chose Anaplan
    Anaplan is a quick study and people can build and develop models very rapidly where IBM Cognos TM1 can take much longer. Anaplan cannot handle larger dimensions and sparsely populated cubes and is not as customizable as TM1.
    Incentivized
    IBM
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    99%
    Would buy again
    90 Answers
    100%
    Would buy again
    258 Answers
    97%
    Would buy again
    93 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    99%
    Delivers good value for the price
    78 Answers
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    236 Answers
    94%
    Delivers good value for the price
    79 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    91 Answers
    99%
    Happy with the feature set
    256 Answers
    96%
    Happy with the feature set
    92 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    66 Answers
    96%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    192 Answers
    93%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    55 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    97%
    Implementation went as expected
    65 Answers
    96%
    Implementation went as expected
    236 Answers
    96%
    Implementation went as expected
    65 Answers
    Features
    Alteryx PlatformAnaplanIBM Cognos Analytics
    BI Standard Reporting
    Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of Alteryx Platform and Anaplan and IBM Cognos Analytics
    Feature
    Alteryx Platform
    -
    Ratings
    Anaplan
    7.2
    244 Ratings
    4% below category average
    IBM Cognos Analytics
    7.7
    139 Ratings
    6% below category average
    Pixel Perfect reports00 Ratings6.47 Ratings7.6130 Ratings
    Customizable dashboards00 Ratings7.5244 Ratings8.0137 Ratings
    Report Formatting Templates00 Ratings7.96 Ratings7.5132 Ratings
    Ad-hoc Reporting
    Comparison of Ad-hoc Reporting features of Alteryx Platform and Anaplan and IBM Cognos Analytics
    Feature
    Alteryx Platform
    -
    Ratings
    Anaplan
    9.1
    8 Ratings
    16% above category average
    IBM Cognos Analytics
    7.9
    139 Ratings
    1% below category average
    Drill-down analysis00 Ratings9.18 Ratings7.4137 Ratings
    Formatting capabilities00 Ratings9.18 Ratings8.3140 Ratings
    Report sharing and collaboration00 Ratings9.18 Ratings8.6134 Ratings
    Integration with R or other statistical packages00 Ratings00 Ratings7.397 Ratings
    Report Output and Scheduling
    Comparison of Report Output and Scheduling features of Alteryx Platform and Anaplan and IBM Cognos Analytics
    Feature
    Alteryx Platform
    -
    Ratings
    Anaplan
    8.2
    251 Ratings
    3% above category average
    IBM Cognos Analytics
    9.2
    137 Ratings
    11% above category average
    Publish to Web00 Ratings8.67 Ratings9.837 Ratings
    Publish to PDF00 Ratings8.3248 Ratings8.3133 Ratings
    Report Versioning00 Ratings8.0219 Ratings9.834 Ratings
    Report Delivery Scheduling00 Ratings7.98 Ratings8.2135 Ratings
    Delivery to Remote Servers00 Ratings00 Ratings9.918 Ratings
    Data Discovery and Visualization
    Comparison of Data Discovery and Visualization features of Alteryx Platform and Anaplan and IBM Cognos Analytics
    Feature
    Alteryx Platform
    -
    Ratings
    Anaplan
    8.2
    8 Ratings
    11% above category average
    IBM Cognos Analytics
    7.4
    125 Ratings
    8% below category average
    Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)00 Ratings9.17 Ratings7.9122 Ratings
    Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization00 Ratings9.17 Ratings8.0115 Ratings
    Predictive Analytics00 Ratings6.43 Ratings6.7111 Ratings
    Pattern Recognition and Data Mining00 Ratings00 Ratings6.948 Ratings
    Access Control and Security
    Comparison of Access Control and Security features of Alteryx Platform and Anaplan and IBM Cognos Analytics
    Feature
    Alteryx Platform
    -
    Ratings
    Anaplan
    9.1
    260 Ratings
    8% above category average
    IBM Cognos Analytics
    7.8
    131 Ratings
    8% below category average
    Multi-User Support (named login)00 Ratings9.18 Ratings7.5130 Ratings
    Role-Based Security Model00 Ratings8.9260 Ratings7.5128 Ratings
    Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)00 Ratings9.18 Ratings7.4128 Ratings
    Report-Level Access Control00 Ratings9.2110 Ratings8.258 Ratings
    Single Sign-On (SSO)00 Ratings9.18 Ratings8.6112 Ratings
    Mobile Capabilities
    Comparison of Mobile Capabilities features of Alteryx Platform and Anaplan and IBM Cognos Analytics
    Feature
    Alteryx Platform
    -
    Ratings
    Anaplan
    7.1
    245 Ratings
    3% below category average
    IBM Cognos Analytics
    6.3
    109 Ratings
    21% below category average
    Responsive Design for Web Access00 Ratings7.6235 Ratings6.8104 Ratings
    Mobile Application00 Ratings6.7222 Ratings6.390 Ratings
    Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile00 Ratings7.1230 Ratings6.696 Ratings
    Budgeting, Planning, and Forecasting
    Comparison of Budgeting, Planning, and Forecasting features of Alteryx Platform and Anaplan and IBM Cognos Analytics
    Feature
    Alteryx Platform
    -
    Ratings
    Anaplan
    8.9
    358 Ratings
    10% above category average
    IBM Cognos Analytics
    -
    Ratings
    Long-term financial planning00 Ratings9.5333 Ratings00 Ratings
    Financial budgeting00 Ratings9.5337 Ratings00 Ratings
    Forecasting00 Ratings9.3346 Ratings00 Ratings
    Scenario modeling00 Ratings8.9347 Ratings00 Ratings
    Management reporting00 Ratings7.3347 Ratings00 Ratings
    Consolidation and Close
    Comparison of Consolidation and Close features of Alteryx Platform and Anaplan and IBM Cognos Analytics
    Feature
    Alteryx Platform
    -
    Ratings
    Anaplan
    7.7
    305 Ratings
    1% below category average
    IBM Cognos Analytics
    -
    Ratings
    Financial data consolidation00 Ratings8.0283 Ratings00 Ratings
    Journal entries and reports00 Ratings7.7237 Ratings00 Ratings
    Multi-currency management00 Ratings7.312 Ratings00 Ratings
    Intercompany Eliminations00 Ratings7.39 Ratings00 Ratings
    Minority Ownership00 Ratings7.38 Ratings00 Ratings
    Local and consolidated reporting00 Ratings7.9272 Ratings00 Ratings
    Detailed Audit Trails00 Ratings8.5285 Ratings00 Ratings
    Financial Reporting and Compliance
    Comparison of Financial Reporting and Compliance features of Alteryx Platform and Anaplan and IBM Cognos Analytics
    Feature
    Alteryx Platform
    -
    Ratings
    Anaplan
    8.2
    327 Ratings
    1% above category average
    IBM Cognos Analytics
    -
    Ratings
    Financial Statement Reporting00 Ratings8.8302 Ratings00 Ratings
    Management Reporting00 Ratings8.3318 Ratings00 Ratings
    Excel-based Reporting00 Ratings8.2297 Ratings00 Ratings
    Automated board and financial reporting00 Ratings8.214 Ratings00 Ratings
    XBRL support for regulatory filing00 Ratings7.31 Ratings00 Ratings
    Analytics and Reporting
    Comparison of Analytics and Reporting features of Alteryx Platform and Anaplan and IBM Cognos Analytics
    Feature
    Alteryx Platform
    -
    Ratings
    Anaplan
    8.8
    348 Ratings
    15% above category average
    IBM Cognos Analytics
    -
    Ratings
    Personalized dashboards00 Ratings8.5342 Ratings00 Ratings
    Color-coded scorecards00 Ratings8.6326 Ratings00 Ratings
    KPIs00 Ratings9.120 Ratings00 Ratings
    Cost and profitability analysis00 Ratings8.8304 Ratings00 Ratings
    Key Performance Indicator setting00 Ratings8.7316 Ratings00 Ratings
    Benchmarking with external data00 Ratings9.114 Ratings00 Ratings
    Integration
    Comparison of Integration features of Alteryx Platform and Anaplan and IBM Cognos Analytics
    Feature
    Alteryx Platform
    -
    Ratings
    Anaplan
    8.2
    355 Ratings
    2% above category average
    IBM Cognos Analytics
    -
    Ratings
    Flat file integration00 Ratings9.2345 Ratings00 Ratings
    Excel data integration00 Ratings8.1321 Ratings00 Ratings
    Direct links to 3rd-party data sources00 Ratings7.4304 Ratings00 Ratings
    Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding
    Comparison of Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding features of Alteryx Platform and Anaplan and IBM Cognos Analytics
    Feature
    Alteryx Platform
    -
    Ratings
    Anaplan
    -
    Ratings
    IBM Cognos Analytics
    9.2
    87 Ratings
    17% above category average
    REST API00 Ratings00 Ratings7.683 Ratings
    Javascript API00 Ratings00 Ratings7.779 Ratings
    iFrames00 Ratings00 Ratings9.912 Ratings
    Java API00 Ratings00 Ratings10.013 Ratings
    Themeable User Interface (UI)00 Ratings00 Ratings9.915 Ratings
    Customizable Platform (Open Source)00 Ratings00 Ratings9.99 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Alteryx PlatformAnaplanIBM Cognos Analytics
    Small Businesses
    IBM SPSS Statistics
    Score8 out of 10
    No answers on this topic
    Cyfe
    Score4 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    JMP
    Score9.8 out of 10
    IBM Planning Analytics
    Score8.5 out of 10
    Qlik Cloud Analytics (Qlik Sense)
    Score8.1 out of 10
    Enterprises
    JMP
    Score9.8 out of 10
    Oracle Fusion Cloud Enterprise Performance Management
    Score7.1 out of 10
    Jaspersoft Community Edition
    Score7 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Alteryx PlatformAnaplanIBM Cognos Analytics
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.2
    (138 ratings)
    8.9
    (362 ratings)
    8.0
    (159 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    8.9
    (19 ratings)
    10.0
    (37 ratings)
    8.4
    (31 ratings)
    Usability
    9.1
    (53 ratings)
    8.8
    (94 ratings)
    7.3
    (10 ratings)
    Availability
    7.3
    (4 ratings)
    9.1
    (7 ratings)
    8.6
    (4 ratings)
    Performance
    9.0
    (45 ratings)
    9.1
    (7 ratings)
    9.0
    (5 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.3
    (52 ratings)
    4.2
    (27 ratings)
    1.0
    (9 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.1
    (6 ratings)
    8.7
    (4 ratings)
    Online Training
    8.5
    (2 ratings)
    8.6
    (7 ratings)
    8.0
    (4 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    8.0
    (5 ratings)
    8.1
    (27 ratings)
    7.0
    (7 ratings)
    Configurability
    7.3
    (2 ratings)
    9.1
    (5 ratings)
    7.0
    (3 ratings)
    Data Sharing and Collaboration
    8.4
    (30 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.6
    (40 ratings)
    Data Sources
    8.7
    (30 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.3
    (40 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    8.2
    (3 ratings)
    9.1
    (3 ratings)
    5.5
    (6 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    7.3
    (3 ratings)
    9.1
    (7 ratings)
    6.4
    (5 ratings)
    Professional Services
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    8.2
    (2 ratings)
    9.1
    (4 ratings)
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    7.3
    (1 ratings)
    9.0
    (4 ratings)
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Alteryx PlatformAnaplanIBM Cognos Analytics
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Alteryx
    I would 100% recommend Alteryx to a friend, for me its friendly interface is the best, it has all the tools I need without the headache that programming is. It can be used for simple or complex analysis, so honestly, I don’t see a scenario where it wouldn’t suit. I’ve used Alteryx to make simple things I could do in Excel, for example, but it was less complex and faster to do in Alteryx, so why not? Its a very versatile tool.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Anaplan
    With its versions and native time features Anaplan is well suited for all activities around planning in time and scenarios. Tasks involving calculating across multiple dimensions make Anaplan shine - the easiness to build complex calculation and present results on customizable pages. With its access restrictions it's well suited also for working with sensitive data (employee and customers personal data).
    Read full review
    IBM
    In our environment, we used to use a reporting tool called Crystal Reports and we replaced this tool with Cognos. I would recommend this switch for any one who's using a report tool that can be replaced with Cognos. This eliminates any JDBC or ODBC connections and User setups within any databases which was needed so the users can gain access to the report. Cognos makes logging in and fetching any report much easier.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Alteryx
    • Pulling data from multiple disparate data sources.
    • Allows users to see the data at every step of the workflow to be able to cleanse, analyze, and optimize the data.
    • Provides an analytics platform that is easy for users of all levels to thrive in whether they are just starting out in their analytics journey or they have a master's degree in Data Science.
    Read full review
    Anaplan
    • Anaplan removes the time consuming process of integrating the results of individual spreadsheets.
    • Anaplan facilitates the standardization of assumptions across all sub-processes
    • Anaplan provides full transparency of the calculations and source inputs
    • Anaplan allows us to automate certain planning processes that would have been impossible when relying on the computational capabilities of an individual computer.
    Read full review
    IBM
    • Enterprise reporting - Create, customise, and run reports on sales trends, consumer sentiment, etc.
    • Dashboard creation and data exploration & analysis - Using drag and drop feature to create ad-hoc visualisation. Additionally, using AI powered natural language query feature for data analysis and dashboard input (formation of pie, bar, line charts). It's useful for no-technical person to put queries around the spreadsheet data to get quick answers.
    • Building insights for accurate decision making - Package reports with data backed insights for stakeholders in pdf, and Excel format to support business ad-hoc cases, forecasting and strategic recommendations on relevant asks.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Alteryx
    • Steeper Learning Curve: Alteryx can have a steep learning curve for users who are new to the platform or have limited experience with data analytics. Enhancements to the user interface and user onboarding resources could help make the learning process more intuitive and accessible to a wider range of users.
    • Enhanced Data Visualization Capabilities: Alteryx offers basic data visualization capabilities, but there is room for improvement in terms of advanced visualizations and interactive dashboarding features. Adding more sophisticated chart types, interactive widgets, and customization options would enhance the data visualization capabilities within the platform.
    • Improved Error Handling and Debugging: Alteryx provides error handling mechanisms, but enhancing the error reporting and debugging capabilities would be beneficial. Improved error messages, better visibility into data flow, and debugging tools could help users troubleshoot and resolve issues more efficiently.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Anaplan
    • Some end users don't spend the required amount of time to familiar themselves with Anaplan.
    • Auditability, while good in theory, can be lacking and clunky when needed.
    • Model building can become convoluted over time, leading to confusion over the specific use of line items.
    Read full review
    IBM
    • IBM Cognos Analytics enables customer data segmentation, which is essential for marketing, improving and streamlining purchasing behavior and preferences. This helps companies create more targeted and effective marketing campaigns.
    • Our clients Through data analysis, we can identify and observe trends in the behavior of other clients, allowing us to anticipate needs and adjust strategies to avoid consequences.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Alteryx
    We've developed a working partnership with Alteryx. As an enablement suite, we're continuing to innovate and deliver great products with use of Alteryx in our solutions. Alteryx use expands to our global product development teams and is in use in multiple parts of our organization. Alteryx also delivers Experian demographic content to other clients in their product offering. We're highly likely to renew, but that decision is way above my pay grade.
    Read full review
    Anaplan
    Anaplan is a very strong multi-dimensional modeling tool that provides a calculation engine to empower a complex planning process. It is fairly easy to learn for those with experience in similar tools, or excel. It forces structure and auditability that spread sheets do not have, along with extensive security capabilities
    Read full review
    IBM
    For an existing solution, renewing licenses does provide a good return on investment. Additionally, while rolling out scorecards and dashboards with little adhoc capabilities, to end users, cognos is very easily scalable. It also allows to create a solution that has a mix of OLAP and relational data-sources, which is a limitation with other tools. Synchronizing with existing security setup is easy too.
    Read full review
    Usability
    Alteryx
    I've found that while some things might take a little longer to create, the flexibility of Alteryx allows you to perform any function needed. I haven't found a use that was not available in Alteryx yet. APIs and XMLs can be created to perform certain functions. In addition, CMD line commands can be sent using Alteryx to perform certain functions as well.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Anaplan
    Anaplan's usability is dependent on who is implementing the project and how clear business processes are at the beginning of the implementation. Complex business processes with many inputs and reviews will still be complicated in Anaplan; however, the UX is very flexible in how to help people through the process and there are also other items such as Workflow that can help people move through the system.
    Read full review
    IBM
    We have a strong user base (3500 users) that are highly utilizing this tool. Basic users are able to consume content within the applied security model. We have a set of advanced users that really push the limits of Cognos with Report and Query Studio. These users have created a lot of personal content and stored it in 'My Reports'. Users enjoy this flexibility.
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Alteryx
    I use many programs and compared to others, Alteryx virtually never goes down, freezes up or gives an application error. Over a 4 year time period that I have used this program, any of these may have happened 3 times. It is an incredibly stable program that I feel completely confident in.
    Read full review
    Anaplan
    There are very few outages. Maintenance is scheduled on two or three Saturdays per month, so as not to affect businesses. When there is an outage, users are kept informed of progress to restore the platform and typically this takes no more than an hour. Anaplan customer support is very responsive if we ever have questions about platform issues
    Read full review
    IBM
    Reports can typically be viewed through any browser that can access the server, so the availability is ultimately up to what the company utilizing it is comfortable with allowing, though report development tends to be more picky about browsers and settings as mentioned above. It also has an optional iPad app and general mobile browsing support, but dashboards lack the mobile compatibility. What keeps it from getting a higher score is the desktop tools that are vital to the development process. The compatibility with only Windows when the server has a wide range of compatibility can be a real sore point for a company that outfits its employees exclusively with Mac or Linux machines. Of course, if they are planning on outsourcing the development anyways, it's a rather moot point
    Read full review
    Performance
    Alteryx
    I already gave the example of journal entries created in less than a second. What else can I tell you about.... I can tell you those 2 journal entries have historically had to be split into separate accounting systems so the outputs had to be very different (D365 vs Intacct) such that they are exactly ready for uploading. I can tell you I used to have some tire and battery queries hitting a line item detail table and they took hours to run UNTIL I asked IT for a view in SQL and now they're ready in about 5 minutes total. I guess I'd say if anything does take a long time - do some research with others and figure out what would speed them up
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Anaplan
    Everything is calculated in memory in the cloud. It's nearly instantaneous updates when you make changes. The only time things get a little slow is when you have a massive model with very intricate calculations...but "slow" for Anaplan is not what I would call "slow" for something like Hyperion. We used to have Hyperion calcs that ran for 60 mins before you could use data. The equivalent would be 60 seconds in Anaplan.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    IBM
    Overall no major complaints but it doesn't handle DMR (Dimensionally Modeled for Relational) very well. DMR modelling is a capability that IBM Cognos Framework Manager provides allowing you to specify dimensional information for relational metadata and allows for OLAP-style queries. However, the capability is not very efficient and, for example, if I'm using only 2 columns on a 20-column model, the software is not smart enough to exclude 18 columns and the query side gets progressively larger and larger until it's effectively unusable.
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Alteryx
    Stellar, bar-none. Some of the best support folks of any vendor. The Alteryx Community is the most responsive and supportive. On the rare occasion of a release issue or bug, we've been able to get quick help to solve the core problem. Alteryx does not play the blame game. They genuinely help the users solve their issues or respond to questions
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Anaplan
    Support quality has dropped since Thoma Bravo has taken over. I think some serious re-focus needs to happen here -- part of the beauty of being in the Anaplan community was how involved you felt in it before. Before I didn't dread sending a support ticket, now I am starting to.
    Read full review
    IBM
    Why is their web application not working as fast as you think it should? They never know, and it is always a a bunch of shots in the dark to find out. Trying to download software from them is like trying to find a book at the library before computers were invented.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    In-Person Training
    Alteryx
    1st level of trainings which I've attended in Paris was easy and I was already knowing %90, that learning could have been an e-learning instead of in-person
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Anaplan
    In my opinion, in-person training is always the best if you have the option to do so. This allows real-time interactions with the instructions, whereas the online training I took required me to write-down questions, email them, and wait for responses. This slows down the process, as you can imagine. That said, in-person training is an extra cost and it likely isn't needed for everyone. I would suggest selecting a small number of people to take in-person training and then having them act as mentors to the rest of your team. That way, as the rest of the team takes the online training, they have a resource to help them in real time.
    Read full review
    IBM
    Onsite training provided by IBM Cognos was effective and as expected. They did not perform training with our data which was a bit difficult for our end-users.
    Read full review
    Online Training
    Alteryx
    Very good, detailed online trainings which you can take at your own pace, and strong certifications exists, certifications are extremely detailed and hard...
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Anaplan
    Anaplan training materials are clear, simple, easy to understand and to follow. Visuals are excellent. The vendor is good at updating training materials in a timely manner and encouraging users and administrators to keep coming back to Academy site for refresher courses or new feature courses. I really like their interactive diagrams
    Read full review
    IBM
    The online courses they offer are thorough and presented in such a way that someone who isn't already familiar with the general design methodologies used in this field will be capable of making a good design. The training environments are provided as a fully self contained virtual machine with everything needed already to create the environments. We've had some persisting issues with the environments becoming unavailable, but support has been responsive when these issues arise and straightening them out for us
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    Alteryx
    There is really not much to it (the installation, that is). Once you get it installed, along with any of the add-ons (demographics, R, etc.), you are up and running almost immediately. There is really no additional setup. You can immediately begin blending data, running demographics, performing spatial queries, running predictive analysis, etc. And for many of these functions, the learning curve is quite easy.
    Read full review
    Anaplan
    One key insight from implementing Anaplan is that success comes from focusing on designing the process, not just building the model. Anaplan is extremely flexible—there are very few planning scenarios it cannot support—but that flexibility means the project needs strong governance, clear ownership of requirements, and a well-defined data model. When those foundations are in place, implementations are fast, iterations are easy, and users can quickly see value.
    In our projects, both Financial Planning and Integrated Business Planning models were adopted smoothly because we involved business users early, kept the model design intuitive, and leveraged Anaplan’s Excel-like syntax and user-friendly dashboards. The result was more efficient day-to-day work, reduced manual tasks, and increased collaboration across teams. In short: when you combine Anaplan’s flexibility with a structured implementation approach, adoption and value realization happen quickly.
    Read full review
    IBM
    Make sure that any custom tables that you have, are built into your metadata packages. You can still access them via SQL queries in Cognos, but it is much easier to have them as a part of the available metadata packages.
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    Alteryx
    Alteryx is MUCH more user friendly. both provide the ability to code within them, but Alteryx has much nicer interface. The formula tools have a more simple language that is easier to learn than formulae in SSIS. Alteryx is easy to read with multi colored tools identifying what each one does. It also allows for macros. You can build your own tool to process records of data or batch records together.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Anaplan
    Anaplan is more powerful than Pigment considering that it is an Enterprise class system and is able to manage bigger data sets. Anaplan allows for advanced scenario modeling and formula capabilities along with custom reporting functionalities. Anaplan has proven its capabilities and stability across various use cases and across bigger enterprises when compared to Pigment which is still in earlier phases of its development
    Read full review
    IBM
    Power BI is stronger for quick ad-hoc analysis and dashboards, but IBM Cognos Analytics is better when consistency, precision, and mass distribution matter. Tableau is best for interactive analysis, while IBM Cognos Analytics is better for standardized, repeatable enterprise reporting. Sigma shines for customizable dashboards and drill-down analysis while IBM Cognos Analytics holds an edge in data discovery and visualization.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Scalability
    Alteryx
    Individual analysts can quickly generate results using their own copy of Alteryx Designer. But using the Server and developing macros for more complex needs can be time consuming.
    Read full review
    Anaplan
    We have managed to leverage Anaplan for financial planning and forecasting across the business. It is now used by almost every department, with more than 50 users (but I know of companies that have hundreds of users) and still the platform is quick and reliable. It is easy to make changes to divisions and departments or add users and apply different user settings - the core part of the model is not affected and end users can continue their work without any disruption
    Read full review
    IBM
    We rate IBM Cognos Analytics a 9 out of 10 for overall scalability. The platform handles large numbers of users, reports, and analytical workloads very reliably. We have experienced strong performance even in demanding enterprise environments with substantial data volumes. Its architecture provides sufficient flexibility to scale resources according to demand, making it well suited for large, business-critical deployments.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Alteryx
    • Error handling - allows controls to be built into workflows easily and allows them to be isolated and spat into control reports that can be easily reviewed and audited, thanks to the ability to create multiple outputs in one go.
    • Time-saving - saved huge amounts of time, especially when moving Excel processes into Alteryx.
    • Product development - allowed my firm to create products that we have been able to market and sell to clients.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Anaplan
    • Anaplan's implementation led to a significant reduction in planning cycle errors and bugs, streamlining processes and improving overall accuracy in data inputs
    • Standardizing the planning process and enabling cross-functional collaboration through Anaplan enhanced our ability to adapt swiftly to changing business needs, resulting in improved agility in decision-making
    • The platform's capabilities, especially in Demand Planning and Supply Chain, positively impacted our ROI by optimizing resource allocation and solving complex business problems efficiently across multiple functions
    Read full review
    IBM
    • The platform can be pretty pricey.
    • Convoluted contracts and they fine you for any breach during audits.
    • Things are changed between releases without any warning and break.
    • It is second to none at being able to customize list and crosstab type reports.
    • You can easily set up a report to be emailed out every day and even have it export the report to a shared folder.
    • On-prem environments can be scaled up pretty much as much as you would like.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Alteryx Platform Screenshots

    Screenshot of Alteryx APA - Automating asset inputsScreenshot of Alteryx APA - Automating outcomesScreenshot of Alteryx APA - Data enrichment and insightsScreenshot of Alteryx APA - Data quality and preparationScreenshot of Alteryx APA - Data science and decisions

    Anaplan Screenshots

    Screenshot of a preview of the Anaplan login page.Screenshot of a preview of an Anaplan home page.Screenshot of a preview of an Anaplan board.

    IBM Cognos Analytics Screenshots

    Product screenshotProduct screenshotProduct screenshotProduct screenshotProduct screenshotProduct screenshot