Appen vs. Azure Databricks vs. IBM Cognos Analytics

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Appen
Score 7.0 out of 10
N/A
The Appen platform combines human intelligence from over one million people all over the world with models to create training data for ML projects. Appen users can upload data to the Appen platform, and they provide the annotations, judgments, and labels needed to help create ground truth for models.N/A
Azure Databricks
Score 8.6 out of 10
N/A
Azure Databricks is a service available on Microsoft's Azure platform and suite of products. It provides the latest versions of Apache Spark so users can integrate with open source libraries, or spin up clusters and build in a fully managed Apache Spark environment with the global scale and availability of Azure. Clusters are set up, configured, and fine-tuned to ensure reliability and performance without the need for monitoring. The solution includes autoscaling and auto-termination to improve…N/A
IBM Cognos Analytics
Score 7.5 out of 10
N/A
IBM 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
AppenAzure DatabricksIBM Cognos Analytics
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
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
AppenAzure DatabricksIBM Cognos Analytics
Free Trial
NoNoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNoYes
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup feeOptional
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
AppenAzure DatabricksIBM Cognos Analytics
Features
AppenAzure DatabricksIBM Cognos Analytics
Platform Connectivity
Comparison of Platform Connectivity features of Product A and Product B
Appen
-
Ratings
Azure Databricks
7.3
4 Ratings
13% below category average
IBM Cognos Analytics
-
Ratings
Connect to Multiple Data Sources00 Ratings6.04 Ratings00 Ratings
Extend Existing Data Sources00 Ratings7.84 Ratings00 Ratings
Automatic Data Format Detection00 Ratings7.44 Ratings00 Ratings
MDM Integration00 Ratings8.03 Ratings00 Ratings
Data Exploration
Comparison of Data Exploration features of Product A and Product B
Appen
-
Ratings
Azure Databricks
6.8
4 Ratings
22% below category average
IBM Cognos Analytics
-
Ratings
Visualization00 Ratings6.04 Ratings00 Ratings
Interactive Data Analysis00 Ratings7.63 Ratings00 Ratings
Data Preparation
Comparison of Data Preparation features of Product A and Product B
Appen
-
Ratings
Azure Databricks
8.6
4 Ratings
5% above category average
IBM Cognos Analytics
-
Ratings
Interactive Data Cleaning and Enrichment00 Ratings8.24 Ratings00 Ratings
Data Transformations00 Ratings9.04 Ratings00 Ratings
Data Encryption00 Ratings9.44 Ratings00 Ratings
Built-in Processors00 Ratings7.84 Ratings00 Ratings
Platform Data Modeling
Comparison of Platform Data Modeling features of Product A and Product B
Appen
-
Ratings
Azure Databricks
8.0
4 Ratings
5% below category average
IBM Cognos Analytics
-
Ratings
Multiple Model Development Languages and Tools00 Ratings6.44 Ratings00 Ratings
Automated Machine Learning00 Ratings8.64 Ratings00 Ratings
Single platform for multiple model development00 Ratings8.44 Ratings00 Ratings
Self-Service Model Delivery00 Ratings8.44 Ratings00 Ratings
Model Deployment
Comparison of Model Deployment features of Product A and Product B
Appen
-
Ratings
Azure Databricks
8.3
4 Ratings
3% below category average
IBM Cognos Analytics
-
Ratings
Flexible Model Publishing Options00 Ratings8.04 Ratings00 Ratings
Security, Governance, and Cost Controls00 Ratings8.64 Ratings00 Ratings
BI Standard Reporting
Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Appen
-
Ratings
Azure Databricks
-
Ratings
IBM Cognos Analytics
7.6
131 Ratings
7% below category average
Pixel Perfect reports00 Ratings00 Ratings7.5121 Ratings
Customizable dashboards00 Ratings00 Ratings7.8127 Ratings
Report Formatting Templates00 Ratings00 Ratings7.5123 Ratings
Ad-hoc Reporting
Comparison of Ad-hoc Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Appen
-
Ratings
Azure Databricks
-
Ratings
IBM Cognos Analytics
7.5
131 Ratings
7% below category average
Drill-down analysis00 Ratings00 Ratings6.9128 Ratings
Formatting capabilities00 Ratings00 Ratings7.7130 Ratings
Integration with R or other statistical packages00 Ratings00 Ratings7.493 Ratings
Report sharing and collaboration00 Ratings00 Ratings8.2124 Ratings
Report Output and Scheduling
Comparison of Report Output and Scheduling features of Product A and Product B
Appen
-
Ratings
Azure Databricks
-
Ratings
IBM Cognos Analytics
8.2
129 Ratings
0% below category average
Publish to Web00 Ratings00 Ratings8.327 Ratings
Publish to PDF00 Ratings00 Ratings7.7123 Ratings
Report Versioning00 Ratings00 Ratings8.626 Ratings
Report Delivery Scheduling00 Ratings00 Ratings8.3125 Ratings
Delivery to Remote Servers00 Ratings00 Ratings8.112 Ratings
Data Discovery and Visualization
Comparison of Data Discovery and Visualization features of Product A and Product B
Appen
-
Ratings
Azure Databricks
-
Ratings
IBM Cognos Analytics
7.0
118 Ratings
13% below category average
Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)00 Ratings00 Ratings7.6113 Ratings
Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization00 Ratings00 Ratings7.6108 Ratings
Predictive Analytics00 Ratings00 Ratings6.5104 Ratings
Pattern Recognition and Data Mining00 Ratings00 Ratings6.241 Ratings
Access Control and Security
Comparison of Access Control and Security features of Product A and Product B
Appen
-
Ratings
Azure Databricks
-
Ratings
IBM Cognos Analytics
7.4
123 Ratings
14% below category average
Multi-User Support (named login)00 Ratings00 Ratings7.1120 Ratings
Role-Based Security Model00 Ratings00 Ratings7.2119 Ratings
Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)00 Ratings00 Ratings6.7118 Ratings
Report-Level Access Control00 Ratings00 Ratings7.948 Ratings
Single Sign-On (SSO)00 Ratings00 Ratings8.2102 Ratings
Mobile Capabilities
Comparison of Mobile Capabilities features of Product A and Product B
Appen
-
Ratings
Azure Databricks
-
Ratings
IBM Cognos Analytics
6.4
103 Ratings
19% below category average
Responsive Design for Web Access00 Ratings00 Ratings6.797 Ratings
Mobile Application00 Ratings00 Ratings6.687 Ratings
Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile00 Ratings00 Ratings6.793 Ratings
Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding
Comparison of Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding features of Product A and Product B
Appen
-
Ratings
Azure Databricks
-
Ratings
IBM Cognos Analytics
7.4
83 Ratings
4% below category average
REST API00 Ratings00 Ratings7.280 Ratings
Javascript API00 Ratings00 Ratings7.477 Ratings
iFrames00 Ratings00 Ratings8.39 Ratings
Java API00 Ratings00 Ratings6.911 Ratings
Themeable User Interface (UI)00 Ratings00 Ratings7.110 Ratings
Customizable Platform (Open Source)00 Ratings00 Ratings7.87 Ratings
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User Ratings
AppenAzure DatabricksIBM Cognos Analytics
Likelihood to Recommend
10.0
(1 ratings)
9.8
(3 ratings)
7.6
(146 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
8.1
(30 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
7.3
(9 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
8.6
(4 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(5 ratings)
Support Rating
-
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
1.0
(9 ratings)
In-Person Training
-
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
8.7
(4 ratings)
Online Training
-
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
8.0
(4 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
7.0
(7 ratings)
Configurability
-
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
7.0
(3 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
5.7
(5 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
2.7
(4 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
-
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
7.0
(1 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
-
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
7.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
AppenAzure DatabricksIBM Cognos Analytics
Likelihood to Recommend
Appen
It is well suited for the users and potential employee who are free of any job perspective and need their free time to be utilized. Users can use their free time to be used for submission of interesting tasks.
Whereas the number of tasks are very less and processing time is also very extensive and recruitment takes time more.
Read full review
Microsoft
Centralised notebooks are out directly into production. This can lead to poorly engineered code. It is very good for fast queries and our data team are always able to provide what we ask for. It is a big cost to our business so it is important it runs efficiently and returns on our investment.
Read full review
IBM
Well suited: Financial reporting - It can handle complex, pixel perfect, muti-page reports with scheduled delivery to stakeholders (like sales report by region on quarterly periodicity) Operational dashboard across departments - It can combine multiple data sources (ERP, CRM, excels etc) with filters, and embedded AI insights Less appropriate: Live dashboards - As stated earlier as well, IBM Cognos Analytics doesn't suit well for live dashboards or event driven data. For ex: live web traffic data or IOT device data, etc Data science - Although IBM Cognos Analytics is great tool for data exploration but it should not be used as a substitute for Python or R, which has edge over advanced modelling and stats based workflows like predictive modelling or clustering
Read full review
Pros
Appen
  • Project listing
  • Hiring of the potential and qualified users
  • Tracking of the projects
Read full review
Microsoft
  • Data Processing and Transformations based on Spark
  • Delta Lakehouse when clubbed with an external cloud storage
  • Governance using Unity Catalog to unify IAM
  • Delta Live Tables is a product, which although relatively newer, has a great potential with the visuals of a pipeline.
Read full review
IBM
  • We can make dozens of dispatchers all focusing on different types of workloads.
  • Friendly user interface, without the need for coding or complicated editing.
  • Highly functionality reporting tools.
  • We can easily create trigger when a certain threshold are met sending reports or alerts to needed parties.
Read full review
Cons
Appen
  • Selection procedure is bit .
  • The questionnaire need to be reviewed.
Read full review
Microsoft
  • Intuitive interface
  • Ease of use
  • Providing FAQ or QRGs
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.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
Appen
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
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
Appen
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
The developers are able to switch between Python and SQL in the Notebook which allows the collaboration of SQL analyst and Data scientist. The integration of Mosaic AI allows users to write complex codes in natural languages. Unity catalog has centralized the security and governance features and simplified the process of maintaining it
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
Appen
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
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
Appen
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
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
Appen
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
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.
Read full review
In-Person Training
Appen
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
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
Appen
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
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
Appen
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
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
Appen
Appen offers projects mostly related to my native language and also according to my expertise . It offers very interesting projects to be completed , which requires not very expertise and less time to be completed for each task. It is also very convenient to use after selection for the task and also well rewarding against the time consumed for the task completion.
Read full review
Microsoft
I have found Azure Databricks to be much better than Snowflake for handling bigger, diverse data types. Snowflake is much simpler and better for smaller warehousing. The real time processing is much better in Azure Databricks and we have much more language options. Snowflake is more expensive but simpler to use. Both are great for different needs.
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.
Read full review
Scalability
Appen
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
IBM
The Cognos architecture is well suited for scalability. However, the architecture must be designed with scalability in mind from day one of the implementation. We recently upgraded from 10.1 to 10.2.1 and took the opportunity to revamp our architecture. It is now poised for future growth and scalability.
Read full review
Return on Investment
Appen
  • It has Positive impact as it provides opportunity for new jobs in my area of expertise.
Read full review
Microsoft
  • The support team is amazing, they help you at every stage of the projects, from sales to delivery.
  • On a framework level, it has had an amazing impact and has reduced the clients overall data platform costs by a staggering 65%
  • There has been a 40% Manual work requirement on average for the clients when they move to Azure Databricks Data Platform
Read full review
IBM
  • We use the tool for data modeling as it helps in predictive data analysis for complex data, which is very similar to real-life scenarios.
  • Options of customizing & scheduling reports as per our requirements basis.
  • Has mobile application which works seamless.
  • API integration is not upto the mark with very limited options.
  • Licensing & Maintenance can go from cheap to expensive depending on the scope.
Read full review
ScreenShots

IBM Cognos Analytics Screenshots

Screenshot of A natural language query, used in IBM Cognos Analytics to get AI-powered insights from data.Screenshot of AI-generated insights and forecasts that can be added with just a click of a button.Screenshot of A dashboard that can be generated automatically using IBM Cognos Analytics by uploading or selecting data.Screenshot of An AI-generated dashboard from a spreadsheet that was just uploaded. This offers a great starting point for the creative process.Screenshot of Where to import data to IBM Cognos Analytics from CSV files and spreadsheets. Users can connect to cloud or on-premises data sources, including SQL databases, Google BigQuery, Amazon, and Redshift.