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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    IBM Apptio

    Score8.6 out of 10
    N/AThe IBM Apptio platform is a technology business management solution that enables organizations to make better decisions about technology investments. It connects technology spend to business value so organizations can adapt to changing market conditions.N/A

    Microsoft Excel

    Score9 out of 10
    N/AMicrosoft Excel is a spreadsheet application available as part of Microsoft 365 (Office 365), or standalone, in cloud-based and on-premise editions.

    $6.99

    per month

    Pricing
    IBM ApptioMicrosoft Excel
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    Excel with Microsoft 365
    $6.99
    per month
    Excel for 1 PC or Mac
    $139.99
    perpetual license
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    IBM ApptioMicrosoft Excel
    Free Trial
    NoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoYes
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    YesNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeRequiredNo setup fee
    Additional Details
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    IBM ApptioMicrosoft Excel
    Considered Both Products
    Apptio an IBM Company
    Chose IBM Apptio
    I would say IBM Apptio has a more complex background for all the data and can show the visuals well, other issue is that it is not as easy to show to a broad audience.
    Incentivized
    Chose IBM Apptio
    None
    Incentivized
    Chose IBM Apptio
    We did not evaluate anything else.
    Incentivized
    Chose IBM Apptio
    I thought the demo was quicker than Apptio, better graphs.
    Incentivized
    Chose IBM Apptio
    We formerly used Digital Fuel until it was purchased by Apptio. We transitioned to Apptio because Digital Fuel did not have adequate budgeting and forecasting tools. We always could see that Apptio investment would be prioritized to its base product over Digital Fuel. We …
    Incentivized
    Microsoft
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    98%
    Would buy again
    247 Answers
    99%
    Would buy again
    78 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    98%
    Delivers good value for the price
    195 Answers
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    70 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    97%
    Happy with the feature set
    244 Answers
    96%
    Happy with the feature set
    76 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    94%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    144 Answers
    96%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    46 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    84%
    Implementation went as expected
    155 Answers
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    54 Answers
    Best Alternatives
    IBM ApptioMicrosoft Excel
    Small Businesses
    No answers on this topic
    Stackby
    Score8.8 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    No answers on this topic
    Google Sheets
    Score8.9 out of 10
    Enterprises
    No answers on this topic
    Google Sheets
    Score8.9 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    IBM ApptioMicrosoft Excel
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.7
    (218 ratings)
    9.0
    (78 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    8.8
    (21 ratings)
    9.9
    (7 ratings)
    Usability
    7.2
    (45 ratings)
    8.5
    (23 ratings)
    Availability
    9.1
    (3 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    Performance
    8.1
    (3 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    Support Rating
    8.6
    (196 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    9.1
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Online Training
    5.5
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    7.3
    (3 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Configurability
    7.3
    (1 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    7.3
    (1 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    7.3
    (2 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    IBM ApptioMicrosoft Excel
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Apptio an IBM Company
    We use IBM Apptio exclusively for application TCO reporting. It compiles data from different sources then export to Excel to customize report for the user. Our intention is to start a TCO dashboard within IBM Apptio, so Excel is no longer required and leadership can drill down. We are also trying to fully automate our cloud billing.
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    I don't really know another program as powerful as Excel. I've used Google Doc programs but do not feel they come close. So far, anytime I've needed a table of some sort for data, whether it's budget oriented or information off a survey, the best system has been Excel. We do web audits on occasion and we create an Excel worksheet featuring every URL of the pages we're auditing, notes, data about the content, information about files attached to the page and other information to help us determine what pages need updating, deleting or otherwise. We also use Excel primarily to export our Google Analytics to in order for us to create reports for clients that need to see specific information about their traffic.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Apptio an IBM Company
    • Does very well at handling complex allocations and automation. Also great at bringing in data automatically, manipulating that data, and allowing you to feed that data into a complex model. So all the behind-the-scenes stuff works really well. It's also pretty good at visualization. It has some similar capabilities like a Power BI and Tableau, but generally provides most of the visualization technology that somebody would need with the tool.
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    • It is very good at embedded formulas and tying cells to one another
    • It allows me to compare deals terms on a side-by-side basis and talk my clients through it easily.
    • It is very helpful as well in terms of allowing me to filter/sort results in many different ways depending on what specific information I am most interested in prioritizing.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Apptio an IBM Company
    • For Validation purpose, if possible, enable the JavaScript code so we can the hide the Tab based on current period and more validation we can perform on client side.
    • Sometimes we are faced the data load issue
    • Improvement the performance tunning
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • Excel offers collaboration features that allow multiple users to work on the same spreadsheet, but managing changes made by different users can be challenging. Excel could improve its features by offering more granular control, better tracking of changes, and more robust conflict resolution tools.
    • Itcan be a barrier to productivity when importing and exporting data from other applications or file formats. To improve its features, it should offer better support for standard file formats and more robust error handling and reporting tools.
    • Excel can be challenging for finance students and working professionals, but it can be improved by offering more robust tutorials, better documentation, and more user communities and support forums.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Apptio an IBM Company
    We absolutely love it at the State of Kansas. It is very user-friendly, which helps us explain the information to those who are not as into the budgets. We consult out with Marysville, and they are super helpful in helping us with the behind the scenes stuff, like creating new tabs and uploading the reports for us to filter through. It is very simple to use and that helps us be able to teach others in our department how to use it properly.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    Excel remains the industry standard for spreadsheets and has maintained simple and straight-forward formula writing methods. Although there is a learning curve to do more complex calculations, there are countless help sites and videos on the Internet for almost any need.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    Apptio an IBM Company
    We use this currently where I work and we have the consultant Maryville helping us with our Apptio reports and data. I originally used Apptio a few years back and since then I have switched employment, and I was able to talk to the leadership team about what we did at my previous job, and now we are building the reports here at my new place of employment
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    I'm giving it a 7 because it is my go to. But the fact other prefer Google Sheets when working with a team does get irritating. I've used the online version of Microsoft Excel that other teams can get into and it still seems behind Google Sheets. It's a little clanky and slow? If that's even a term.
    Incentivized
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    Reliability and Availability
    Apptio an IBM Company
    Excellent, so far. SaaS-based...assuming effective data links and connectivity
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    I have rarely, if ever, had issues with its availability.
    Incentivized
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    Performance
    Apptio an IBM Company
    No issues that i know of
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    Excel load and performs calculations immediately. It integrate well with all Microsoft Office applications and does not slow them down.
    Incentivized
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    Support Rating
    Apptio an IBM Company
    I have not been directly involved with the post sales support team. However, that team has provided training materials and recommended practices that have been very helpful in coming up to speed on how to more fully use the product. My understanding from both vendor management and our upline stakeholders is that our relationship with Apptio is strong.
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    I have not had to use it often, but it is good.
    Incentivized
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    In-Person Training
    Apptio an IBM Company
    Was awesome to have been taught by legendary Debbie Hagan for Cost Transparency in person. Her knowledge is extensive and she is an excellent trainer. Her years of experience really shined.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Online Training
    Apptio an IBM Company
    The all talented training organization crosses all the T's and dots all the I's. I am constantly learning and often refer to training documentation for post training real life issues.
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation Rating
    Apptio an IBM Company
    Well, so far. Apptio Consulting covered specific model architecting areas particularly. Most of the heavy lifting is being done in-house with support from Apptio as it relates to tool impacts and needs. Some administrative tasks were redundant
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    Apptio an IBM Company
    So we've used Proven Optics, which is an add-on to ServiceNow. Well at least use it with certain customers and Nicus. Nicus is probably the biggest competitor of Apptio. The trouble with Nicus is their SQL-based ingestion process. It's a little bit more difficult. So the reason why you'd go with Apptio is that it's very easy and very intuitive to bring in new data sources and being able to model a lot of the data once it's already in the system doesn't require a lot of coding experience.
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    Out of Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Power BI, IBM SPSS, and Google Sheets, Microsoft Excel is by far the most common tool used for anything data-related across organizations. Accordingly, our organization has also implemented Microsoft Excel as a first-step tool. We recently adopted Microsoft Power BI (the free version), and use it occasionally (mostly for creating dashboards), but it is less commonly understood by stakeholders across our organization and by our clients. Accordingly, Microsoft Excel is more user-friendly and because of its popularity, we can easily look up how to do things in the program online. Google Sheets is a comparable alternative to Microsoft Excel, but because it's cloud-based and we have sensitive data that needs to be protected, we chose against using this software. Finally, a few users (including myself) have access to and utilize IBM's SPSS. For my role, it's a helpful tool to do more rigorous analyses. However, because of its cost and limited functionality as a simple spreadsheet, we only use it for more complex analyses.
    Incentivized
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    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    Apptio an IBM Company
    I was not part of this process
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    N/A I was not involved in this process.
    Incentivized
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    Scalability
    Apptio an IBM Company
    I would say it has the capabilities to span across multiple departments, though i am not as familiar with all the capabilities.
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    Each user can use it to whatever level of expertise they have. It remains the same so users can contribute to another's work regardless of whether they have more or less expertise
    Incentivized
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    Return on Investment
    Apptio an IBM Company
    • It's delivered on a lot of those, especially the relationship between IT and financing that relationship's been a bit of a rollercoaster on that journey. We've come out the other end of it, and we're all friends now, which is a good thing. So they've accepted the Apptio output and are much more involved in providing the data and helping to use the tool, which is excellent. I think one of the downsides that are probably not talked about enough is the fact that, um, once you have trained and delivered a TMB skillset within your organization, they become very good at that. So if you've got any high-performing members in that team, they become extremely valuable elsewhere. And we've unfortunately suffered the case whereby one of our highest performers was immediately then poached and went off elsewhere for a much better opportunity. So we applaud that for them, but it's really hard to train other people. It's really hard to take them up to speed, and you have to sort of go through those picks and troughs every time. So that's just life, you know.
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    • Excel has positively impacted the business as it has increased our efficiency.
    • It also saves us the time that we would have spent on making the calculations that it does for us.
    • Since it works on all devices and is compatible with both Windows and Mac, we do not have to invest in any other alternative.
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    IBM Apptio Screenshots

    Screenshot of Industry BenchmarksScreenshot of Planning OverviewScreenshot of Billing - Main ViewScreenshot of Costing - Control OpEx and Cut CostsScreenshot of Spend Analytics