Databox vs IBM Cognos Analytics | TrustRadius

What users are saying about

Score 8.4 out of 10

Based on 13 reviews and ratings

Score 7.5 out of 10

Based on 440 reviews and ratings

Feature Rating Comparison

Databox

IBM Cognos Analytics

Pixel Perfect reports

Customizable dashboards

Report Formatting Templates

Databox

IBM Cognos Analytics

Drill-down analysis

Formatting capabilities

Integration with R or other statistical packages

Report sharing and collaboration

Databox

IBM Cognos Analytics

Publish to Web

Publish to PDF

Report Versioning

Report Delivery Scheduling

Delivery to Remote Servers

Databox

IBM Cognos Analytics

Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)

Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization

Predictive Analytics

Databox

IBM Cognos Analytics

Multi-User Support (named login)

Role-Based Security Model

Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)

Single Sign-On (SSO)

Databox

IBM Cognos Analytics

Responsive Design for Web Access

Dedicated iOS Application

Dedicated Android Application

Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile

Databox

IBM Cognos Analytics

REST API

Javascript API

iFrames

Java API

Themeable User Interface (UI)

Customizable Platform (Open Source)

Pros

Create dashboards from a variety of data sources.
Set & track goals based on the data and metrics provided.
Send alerts and scorecard updates to Slack and email automatically.

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Content Marketer

ConvertFlowComputer Software, 1-10 employees

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What IBM Cognos does really well is provide precise data that may otherwise be hard to retrieve from your primary accounting software. While doing so, it organizes this data such that it becomes much more meaningful to analyze.
IBM Cognos also does a fantastic job through the Query Studio module to give certain users the ability to create simple reports and modify existing reports, this allows the flexibility a user needs in getting the intended data.
IBM Cognos also provides the ability to utilize a BI tool for complicated reporting requirements or in cases when there are many data dependencies that exist. This BI tool enables Cognos to tackle many organizational and data challenges that companies face in the industry.

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Finance Manager, Project Accounting Group

Salient CRGTInformation Technology and Services, 1001-5000 employees

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Cons

Some types of data can only be reported on for 1-2 months back. Unless I'm misunderstanding the function of the software this seems really weird. I can't figure out how to report on Activities more than 2 months ago

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Verified User

Strategist in Sales

Computer Software Company, 51-200 employees

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With the upgrade from Cognos 10 to Cognos 11, there were a lot of features, like run schedule once, weren't brought over to the newest version of Report Studio.
I felt like they were trying to chase Tableau and Qlik with dashboarding rather than focusing on their bread and butter of Report Studio or which other Business Intelligence tools don't do very well.

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Verified User

Analyst in Information Technology

Hospital & Health Care Company, 10,001+ employees

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Likelihood to Renew

No score

No answers yet

No answers on this topic

IBM Cognos Analytics 7.9

Based on 23 answers

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.

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Technical Lead

MindCraft Software Pvt. Ltd.Automotive, 10,001+ employees

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Usability

Databox 9.0

Based on 1 answer

Databox is an intuitive, well-designed platform that can be used by non-technical marketers. It is easy to learn, and while set up takes time, usability is high and the team has enjoyed creating custom dashboards and clients have also given us great feedback regarding its usability and value. While other BI tools are much more complex to navigate, Databox is a breeze.

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Verified User

Director in Marketing

Marketing and Advertising Company, 11-50 employees

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IBM Cognos Analytics 7.5

Based on 6 answers

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.

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Director, Business Intelligence & Analytics

Georgetown University5001-10,000 employees

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Reliability and Availability

No score

No answers yet

No answers on this topic

IBM Cognos Analytics 8.6

Based on 8 answers

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

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Senior Analytics Consultant

Datamensional, LLC1-10 employees

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Performance

No score

No answers yet

No answers on this topic

IBM Cognos Analytics 9.0

Based on 10 answers

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.

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Meghdeep Raval, PMP

Manager, Data Architecture

Hess CorporationOil & Energy

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Support Rating

Databox 9.8

Based on 3 answers

I have really enjoyed using Databox and have seen the value of it in many ways. They also continue to improve the functions of it and grow their integrations and templates. I look forward to continuing to use Databox in the future, potentially even finding ways to incorporate it into other departments to help them with reporting as well.

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Heather Robinette, MBA

Marketing Manger

ConexlinkComputer Software, 11-50 employees

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IBM Cognos Analytics 7.0

Based on 14 answers

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.

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Jonathan Kyrlach

Business Intelligence Architect

Everything But The HouseConsumer Goods, 201-500 employees

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In-Person Training

No score

No answers yet

No answers on this topic

IBM Cognos Analytics 8.7

Based on 4 answers

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.

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Director, Business Intelligence & Analytics

Georgetown University5001-10,000 employees

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Online Training

No score

No answers yet

No answers on this topic

IBM Cognos Analytics 8.0

Based on 4 answers

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

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Senior Analytics Consultant

Datamensional, LLC1-10 employees

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Implementation Rating

No score

No answers yet

No answers on this topic

IBM Cognos Analytics 7.0

Based on 14 answers

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.

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HR Systems Analyst II

First Horizon Corp.Banking, 1001-5000 employees

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Alternatives Considered

Databox is unique in its ability to report from multiple data sources. Google Analytics is the standard when it comes to web metrics, but it's just one of the tools that integrates with Databox. Tableau is fantastic for data visualizations and reporting, but it's much more expensive than Databox, so it's not ideal for everyone. Tableau is also superior with customization

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SEO Strategy Specialist

Cheaper Than DirtMarketing and Advertising, 11-50 employees

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Although Tableau has certain advantages, mostly in its best in class visualization capabilities, Cognos is catching up. Most of the other advantages of Tableau Desktop have been addressed in more recent versions of Cognos, for instance the ability to ingest personal data sources, self-service modeling, and improved dashboarding/visualization features. Tableau still lacks a centralized metadata and governance model and requires a bit more effort to implement at the enterprise level. Also, Cognos is still best in breed for standardized reporting, which is always a crucial need for organizations. More requirements can be centrally addressed by Cognos, but it is unlikely any organization will have just one BI tool.

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Solutions Architect

SenturusComputer Software, 51-200 employees

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Scalability

No score

No answers yet

No answers on this topic

IBM Cognos Analytics 10.0

Based on 1 answer

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.

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Director, Business Intelligence & Analytics

Georgetown University5001-10,000 employees

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Return on Investment

Honestly, Databox has been a bit of a pain for us these last few months. There are some things it just can't provide us, and some of our clients don't like it. Sometimes it takes too much effort to create a Databoard than it's worth. And since we're a HubSpot partner agency, we're limited to making smart lists for a lot of what we're looking for.
On the other hand, high-level reporting is awesome. And they're always updating the tool with new templates/features to stay ahead of the game.

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Sales System Architect

Revenue RiverMarketing and Advertising, 1-10 employees

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(+) increased efficiency: Less time trying to figure out how to do something w/ another BI tool that may seem impossible -- Cognos will be able to do it 99% of the time
(-) increased training required: Training for Cognos had to be longer and more intensive than other BI tools. For example, my team members go through a week long 8-hour/day class and it was just enough to scratch the surface. A good base if required, but real world experience is the only way to become a Cognos pro.
(-) more end-user training: We do mostly canned reports with Cognos, so out end-users must be trainied. It is much harder to train them with Cognos than other BI tools. This is why I only turn to Cognos if I cannot accomplish my goal in another tool.

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Verified User

Analyst in Information Technology

Automotive Company, 10,001+ employees

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Pricing Details

General

Free Trial

—

Free/Freemium Version

—

Premium Consulting/Integration Services

—

Entry-level set up fee?

No

Databox Editions & Modules

—

Additional Pricing Details

—

General

Free Trial

Yes

Free/Freemium Version

—

Premium Consulting/Integration Services

Yes

Entry-level set up fee?

Optional

15.00

IBM Cognos Analytics Editions & Modules

On-premise Edition

On Demand Standard	$15¹
On Demand Plus	$35¹
On Demand Premium	$70¹

per authorized user/per month

SaaS Edition

On Cloud Hosted	Contact for quote

Additional Pricing Details

—

Rating Summary

Databox

IBM Cognos Analytics

Databox

IBM Cognos Analytics

Databox

IBM Cognos Analytics

Databox

IBM Cognos Analytics

Databox

IBM Cognos Analytics

Databox

IBM Cognos Analytics

Databox

IBM Cognos Analytics

Databox

IBM Cognos Analytics

Databox

IBM Cognos Analytics

Databox

IBM Cognos Analytics

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