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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Db2

    Score8.6 out of 10
    N/ADB2 is a family of relational database software solutions offered by IBM. It includes standard Db2 and Db2 Warehouse editions, either deployable on-cloud, or on-premise.

    $0

    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
    Db2IBM Cognos Analytics
    Editions & Modules
    Db2 on Cloud Lite
    $0
    Db2 on Cloud Standard
    $99
    per month
    Db2 Warehouse on Cloud Flex One
    $898
    per month
    Db2 on Cloud Enterprise
    $946
    per month
    Db2 Warehouse on Cloud Flex for AWS
    2,957
    per month
    Db2 Warehouse on Cloud Flex
    $3,451
    per month
    Db2 Warehouse on Cloud Flex Performance
    13,651
    per month
    Db2 Warehouse on Cloud Flex Performance for AWS
    13,651
    per month
    Db2 Standard Edition
    Contact Sales
    Db2 Advanced Edition
    Contact Sales
    On Demand - Standard
    USD 11.25
    per month per user
    On Demand - Premium
    USD 44.90
    per month per user
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Db2IBM Cognos Analytics
    Free Trial
    YesYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    YesNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    YesYes
    Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalOptional
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Db2IBM Cognos Analytics
    Considered Both Products
    IBM
    No answer on this topic
    IBM
    Chose IBM Cognos Analytics
    MS BI: A lot of times we meet customers who are dealing with an MS BI maintenance nightmare and we try to ease their pain by implementing Cognos BI and their reporting and analysis system. Cognos BI is better than MS BI from ease of implementation to production support and …
    Incentivized
    Chose IBM Cognos Analytics
    I myself have been exposed to Microstrategy, Business Objects, and Microsoft BI. While I do find strenghts in all of these tools, one area I do believe that IBM Cognos has distinct advantages when deployed in an environment where integration with other IBM products (AIX, DB2, …
    Incentivized
    Chose IBM Cognos Analytics
    • SpagoBI
    • Qlikview
    • Tableau
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    96%
    Would buy again
    103 Answers
    97%
    Would buy again
    92 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    97%
    Delivers good value for the price
    95 Answers
    94%
    Delivers good value for the price
    79 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    96%
    Happy with the feature set
    103 Answers
    96%
    Happy with the feature set
    91 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    96%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    66 Answers
    93%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    55 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    99%
    Implementation went as expected
    89 Answers
    96%
    Implementation went as expected
    64 Answers
    Features
    Db2IBM Cognos Analytics
    BI Standard Reporting
    Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of Db2 and IBM Cognos Analytics
    Feature
    Db2
    -
    Ratings
    IBM Cognos Analytics
    7.7
    138 Ratings
    6% below category average
    Pixel Perfect reports00 Ratings7.6129 Ratings
    Customizable dashboards00 Ratings8.0136 Ratings
    Report Formatting Templates00 Ratings7.5131 Ratings
    Ad-hoc Reporting
    Comparison of Ad-hoc Reporting features of Db2 and IBM Cognos Analytics
    Feature
    Db2
    -
    Ratings
    IBM Cognos Analytics
    7.9
    138 Ratings
    1% below category average
    Drill-down analysis00 Ratings7.4136 Ratings
    Formatting capabilities00 Ratings8.3139 Ratings
    Integration with R or other statistical packages00 Ratings7.397 Ratings
    Report sharing and collaboration00 Ratings8.6133 Ratings
    Report Output and Scheduling
    Comparison of Report Output and Scheduling features of Db2 and IBM Cognos Analytics
    Feature
    Db2
    -
    Ratings
    IBM Cognos Analytics
    9.2
    136 Ratings
    11% above category average
    Publish to Web00 Ratings9.836 Ratings
    Publish to PDF00 Ratings8.2132 Ratings
    Report Versioning00 Ratings9.833 Ratings
    Report Delivery Scheduling00 Ratings8.2134 Ratings
    Delivery to Remote Servers00 Ratings9.918 Ratings
    Data Discovery and Visualization
    Comparison of Data Discovery and Visualization features of Db2 and IBM Cognos Analytics
    Feature
    Db2
    -
    Ratings
    IBM Cognos Analytics
    7.4
    124 Ratings
    8% below category average
    Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)00 Ratings7.9121 Ratings
    Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization00 Ratings8.0114 Ratings
    Predictive Analytics00 Ratings6.7110 Ratings
    Pattern Recognition and Data Mining00 Ratings6.947 Ratings
    Access Control and Security
    Comparison of Access Control and Security features of Db2 and IBM Cognos Analytics
    Feature
    Db2
    -
    Ratings
    IBM Cognos Analytics
    7.8
    130 Ratings
    8% below category average
    Multi-User Support (named login)00 Ratings7.5129 Ratings
    Role-Based Security Model00 Ratings7.5127 Ratings
    Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)00 Ratings7.4127 Ratings
    Report-Level Access Control00 Ratings8.257 Ratings
    Single Sign-On (SSO)00 Ratings8.6111 Ratings
    Mobile Capabilities
    Comparison of Mobile Capabilities features of Db2 and IBM Cognos Analytics
    Feature
    Db2
    -
    Ratings
    IBM Cognos Analytics
    6.4
    109 Ratings
    19% below category average
    Responsive Design for Web Access00 Ratings6.8104 Ratings
    Mobile Application00 Ratings6.390 Ratings
    Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile00 Ratings6.696 Ratings
    Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding
    Comparison of Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding features of Db2 and IBM Cognos Analytics
    Feature
    Db2
    -
    Ratings
    IBM Cognos Analytics
    9.2
    87 Ratings
    17% above category average
    REST API00 Ratings7.683 Ratings
    Javascript API00 Ratings7.779 Ratings
    iFrames00 Ratings9.912 Ratings
    Java API00 Ratings10.013 Ratings
    Themeable User Interface (UI)00 Ratings9.915 Ratings
    Customizable Platform (Open Source)00 Ratings9.99 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Db2IBM Cognos Analytics
    Small Businesses
    Amazon RDS
    Score8.1 out of 10
    Cyfe
    Score4 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    SingleStore
    Score8.2 out of 10
    Qlik Cloud Analytics (Qlik Sense)
    Score8.1 out of 10
    Enterprises
    SAP IQ
    Score5.4 out of 10
    Sisense
    Score6.9 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Db2IBM Cognos Analytics
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.1
    (114 ratings)
    8.0
    (158 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    7.9
    (12 ratings)
    8.4
    (31 ratings)
    Usability
    8.5
    (9 ratings)
    7.3
    (10 ratings)
    Availability
    9.3
    (64 ratings)
    8.6
    (4 ratings)
    Performance
    9.1
    (12 ratings)
    9.0
    (5 ratings)
    Support Rating
    8.9
    (6 ratings)
    1.0
    (9 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    8.7
    (4 ratings)
    Online Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.0
    (4 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    5.6
    (3 ratings)
    7.0
    (7 ratings)
    Configurability
    9.1
    (2 ratings)
    7.0
    (3 ratings)
    Data Sharing and Collaboration
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    8.6
    (40 ratings)
    Data Sources
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    8.3
    (40 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    7.8
    (4 ratings)
    5.5
    (6 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    8.3
    (66 ratings)
    6.4
    (5 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Db2IBM Cognos Analytics
    Likelihood to Recommend
    IBM
    I have primarily used it as the basis for a SIS - but I have migrated more than a few systems from there database systems to DB2 (Filemaker, MySQL, etc.). DB2 does have a better structural approach, as opposed to Filemaker, which allows for more data consistency, but this can also lead to an inflexibility that can sometimes be counterintuitive when attempting to compensate for the flexibility of the work environment as Schools tend to have an all in one approach.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    IBM
    For Transaction monitoring, we build reports for executive management, providing insights into the number of alerts, the types or categories of detection scenarios, the risk profile, and a snapshot of high- or urgent-priority cases to be reported to AUSTRAC. Congos helps to build the report by ingesting alert data exported from SAS datasets. It joins with other data from Teradata and Customer Hub (Oracle).
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    IBM
    • While we query a large set of data, the results are generally available within a minute or so.
    • Always reliable - I have never experienced an application going down.
    • It is easy to write queries and find tables and columns.
    • We can log in smoothly without any headaches.
    Incentivized
    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
    IBM
    • Learning curve for DB resources - Improvements to UI or native command line built-ins can help with increasing efficiencies for DB resources
    • Better resource utilization monitoring and recommendations
    • Continue to adopt support for modern frameworks and languages making it easier for organizations to see making Db2 the easy first choice
    Incentivized
    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
    IBM
    The DB2 database is a solid option for our school. We have been on this journey now for 3-4 years so we are still adapting to what it can do. We will renew our use of DB2 because we don’t see. Major need to change. Also, changing a main database in a school environment is a major project, so we’ll avoid that if possible.
    Incentivized
    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
    IBM
    You have to be well versed in using the technology, not only from a GUI interface but from a command line interface to successfully use this software to its fullest.
    Incentivized
    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
    IBM
    I have never had DB2 go down unexpectedly. It just works solidly every day. When I look at the logs, sometimes DB2 has figured out there was a need to build an index. Instead of waiting for me to do it, the database automatically created the index for me. At my current company, we have had zero issues for the past 8 years. We have upgrade the server 3 times and upgraded the OS each time and the only thing we saw was that DB2 got better and faster. It is simply amazing.
    Incentivized
    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
    IBM
    The performances are exceptional if you take care to maintain the database. It is a very powerful tool and at the same time very easy to use. In our installation, we expect a DB machine on the mainframe with access to the database through ODBC connectors directly from branch servers, with fabulous end users experience.
    Incentivized
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    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
    IBM
    Easily the best product support team. :) Whenever we have questions, they have answered those in a timely manner and we like how they go above and beyond to help.
    Incentivized
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    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
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    In-Person Training
    IBM
    the material was very clear and all subjects have been handled
    Incentivized
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    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
    IBM
    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
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    Implementation Rating
    IBM
    db2 work well with the application, also the replication tool can keep it up
    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.
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    Alternatives Considered
    IBM
    DB2 was more scalable and easily configurable than other products we evaluated and short listed in terms of functionality and pricing. IBM also had a good demo on premise and provided us a sandbox experience to test out and play with the product and DB2 at that time came out better than other similar products.
    Incentivized
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    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
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    Scalability
    IBM
    By
    using DB2 only to support my IzPCA activities, my knowledge here
    is somewhat limited.

    Anyway,
    from what I was able to understand, DB2 is extremely scallable.

    Maybe the information below could serve as an example of scalability.
    Customer have an huge mainframe environment, 13x z15 CECs, around
    80 LPARs, and maybe more than 50 Sysplexes (I am not totally sure about this
    last figure...)

    Today
    we have 7 IzPCA
    databases, each one in a distinct Syplex.

    Plans
    are underway to have, at the end, an small LPAR, with only one DB2 sub-system,
    and with only one database, then transmit the data from a lot of other LPARs,
    and then process all the data in this only one database.



    The
    IzPCA collect process (read the data received, manipulate it, and insert rows
    in the tables) today is a huge process, demanding many elapsed
    hours, and lots of CPU.

    Almost
    100% of the tables are PBR type, insert jobs run in parallel, but in 4 of the 7
    database, it is a really a huge and long process.



    Combining
    the INSERTs loads from the 7 databases in only one will be impossible.......,,,,



    But,
    IzPCA recently introduced a new feature, called "Continuous
    Collector"
    .
    By
    using that feature, small amounts of data will be transmited to the central
    LPAR at every 5 minutes (or even less), processed immediately,in
    a short period of time, and with small use of CPU,
    instead of one or two transmissions by day, of very large amounts of data and
    the corresponding collect jobs occurring only once or twice a day, with long
    elapsed times, and huge comsumption of CPU



    I
    suspect the total CPU seconds consumed will be more or less the same in
    both cases, but in the new method it will occur in small bursts
    many times a day!!
    Incentivized
    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
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    Return on Investment
    IBM
    • Negative: Difficult and manual deployment
    • Negative: Missing assistants from common monitoring metrics
    • Positive: Stability
    • Positive: Performance
    • Positive: Resiliency and high availability (HADR)
    • Positive: Data Replication (Q-Rep)
    • Positive: Interaction with storage subsystems for backups (TSM, SVC)
    • Positive: Gigantic monitoring features in the form of table functions
    Incentivized
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    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

    Db2 Screenshots

    Screenshot of Db2 - Data sharingScreenshot of Db2 - Machine LearningScreenshot of Db2 - Real time insights

    IBM Cognos Analytics Screenshots

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