IBM Cognos Analytics vs. Microsoft Dynamics AX, discontinued

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
IBM Cognos Analytics
Score 8.2 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.
$10
per month per user
Microsoft Dynamics AX, discontinued
Score 8.0 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations (or Dynamics AX) was an ERP product in the Dynamics family. It has been split into separate Dynamics 365 products to provide more flexibility to customers, allowing users to pay only for the functionality they need. Microsoft Dynamics AX will reach end of support in 2021, and end of extended support in 2023. Financial tracking and budgeting features are now found in the newly launchedN/A
Pricing
IBM Cognos AnalyticsMicrosoft Dynamics AX, discontinued
Editions & Modules
On Demand - Standard
$10.00
per month per user
On Demand - Premium
$40.00
per month per user
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
IBM Cognos AnalyticsMicrosoft Dynamics AX, discontinued
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesNo
Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
IBM Cognos AnalyticsMicrosoft Dynamics AX, discontinued
Considered Both Products
IBM Cognos Analytics
Chose IBM Cognos Analytics
IBM Cognos is a separate product but it allows us to connect to any databases and databases from Microsoft Analysis Services as well. This feature made me choose Cognos.
Microsoft Dynamics AX, discontinued

No answer on this topic

Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
IBM Cognos AnalyticsMicrosoft Dynamics AX, discontinued
BI Standard Reporting
Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of Product A and Product B
IBM Cognos Analytics
7.9
103 Ratings
4% below category average
Microsoft Dynamics AX, discontinued
-
Ratings
Pixel Perfect reports8.594 Ratings00 Ratings
Customizable dashboards7.8101 Ratings00 Ratings
Report Formatting Templates7.498 Ratings00 Ratings
Ad-hoc Reporting
Comparison of Ad-hoc Reporting features of Product A and Product B
IBM Cognos Analytics
8.1
105 Ratings
0% below category average
Microsoft Dynamics AX, discontinued
-
Ratings
Drill-down analysis8.1103 Ratings00 Ratings
Formatting capabilities8.1104 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with R or other statistical packages7.873 Ratings00 Ratings
Report sharing and collaboration8.4101 Ratings00 Ratings
Report Output and Scheduling
Comparison of Report Output and Scheduling features of Product A and Product B
IBM Cognos Analytics
8.3
105 Ratings
1% below category average
Microsoft Dynamics AX, discontinued
-
Ratings
Publish to Web8.327 Ratings00 Ratings
Publish to PDF8.799 Ratings00 Ratings
Report Versioning8.626 Ratings00 Ratings
Report Delivery Scheduling8.0102 Ratings00 Ratings
Delivery to Remote Servers8.112 Ratings00 Ratings
Data Discovery and Visualization
Comparison of Data Discovery and Visualization features of Product A and Product B
IBM Cognos Analytics
8.1
95 Ratings
0% above category average
Microsoft Dynamics AX, discontinued
-
Ratings
Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)8.090 Ratings00 Ratings
Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization8.287 Ratings00 Ratings
Predictive Analytics8.183 Ratings00 Ratings
Pattern Recognition and Data Mining8.022 Ratings00 Ratings
Access Control and Security
Comparison of Access Control and Security features of Product A and Product B
IBM Cognos Analytics
8.3
100 Ratings
4% below category average
Microsoft Dynamics AX, discontinued
-
Ratings
Multi-User Support (named login)8.497 Ratings00 Ratings
Role-Based Security Model8.396 Ratings00 Ratings
Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)8.296 Ratings00 Ratings
Report-Level Access Control8.425 Ratings00 Ratings
Single Sign-On (SSO)8.378 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile Capabilities
Comparison of Mobile Capabilities features of Product A and Product B
IBM Cognos Analytics
7.3
83 Ratings
9% below category average
Microsoft Dynamics AX, discontinued
-
Ratings
Responsive Design for Web Access7.977 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile Application7.368 Ratings00 Ratings
Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile8.174 Ratings00 Ratings
Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding
Comparison of Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding features of Product A and Product B
IBM Cognos Analytics
7.5
62 Ratings
5% below category average
Microsoft Dynamics AX, discontinued
-
Ratings
REST API7.359 Ratings00 Ratings
Javascript API7.658 Ratings00 Ratings
iFrames8.39 Ratings00 Ratings
Java API6.911 Ratings00 Ratings
Themeable User Interface (UI)7.110 Ratings00 Ratings
Customizable Platform (Open Source)7.87 Ratings00 Ratings
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
IBM Cognos Analytics
-
Ratings
Microsoft Dynamics AX, discontinued
8.8
8 Ratings
20% above category average
Pay calculation00 Ratings9.07 Ratings
Benefit plan administration00 Ratings9.05 Ratings
Direct deposit files00 Ratings8.05 Ratings
Customization
Comparison of Customization features of Product A and Product B
IBM Cognos Analytics
-
Ratings
Microsoft Dynamics AX, discontinued
7.0
13 Ratings
3% below category average
API for custom integration00 Ratings5.013 Ratings
Plug-ins00 Ratings8.912 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
IBM Cognos Analytics
-
Ratings
Microsoft Dynamics AX, discontinued
6.0
14 Ratings
30% below category average
Single sign-on capability00 Ratings5.113 Ratings
Role-based user permissions00 Ratings7.014 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
IBM Cognos Analytics
-
Ratings
Microsoft Dynamics AX, discontinued
8.3
14 Ratings
18% above category average
Dashboards00 Ratings9.012 Ratings
Standard reports00 Ratings7.014 Ratings
Custom reports00 Ratings9.014 Ratings
General Ledger and Configurable Accounting
Comparison of General Ledger and Configurable Accounting features of Product A and Product B
IBM Cognos Analytics
-
Ratings
Microsoft Dynamics AX, discontinued
8.2
15 Ratings
7% above category average
Accounts payable00 Ratings7.015 Ratings
Accounts receivable00 Ratings7.014 Ratings
Global Financial Support00 Ratings8.06 Ratings
Primary and Secondary Ledgers00 Ratings9.07 Ratings
Journals and Reconciliations00 Ratings7.010 Ratings
Configurable Accounting00 Ratings9.08 Ratings
Standardized Processes00 Ratings8.99 Ratings
Inventory Management
Comparison of Inventory Management features of Product A and Product B
IBM Cognos Analytics
-
Ratings
Microsoft Dynamics AX, discontinued
8.7
13 Ratings
10% above category average
Inventory tracking00 Ratings8.013 Ratings
Automatic reordering00 Ratings9.011 Ratings
Location management00 Ratings9.011 Ratings
Order Management
Comparison of Order Management features of Product A and Product B
IBM Cognos Analytics
-
Ratings
Microsoft Dynamics AX, discontinued
7.6
13 Ratings
2% below category average
Pricing00 Ratings8.012 Ratings
Order entry00 Ratings9.011 Ratings
Credit card processing00 Ratings3.09 Ratings
Cost of goods sold00 Ratings8.010 Ratings
Order Orchestration00 Ratings9.05 Ratings
Subledger and Financial Process
Comparison of Subledger and Financial Process features of Product A and Product B
IBM Cognos Analytics
-
Ratings
Microsoft Dynamics AX, discontinued
8.7
10 Ratings
16% above category average
Billing Management00 Ratings8.99 Ratings
Cash and Asset Management00 Ratings8.010 Ratings
Travel & Expense Management00 Ratings8.97 Ratings
Budgetary Control & Encumbrance Accounting00 Ratings8.97 Ratings
Period Close00 Ratings8.07 Ratings
Project Financial Management
Comparison of Project Financial Management features of Product A and Product B
IBM Cognos Analytics
-
Ratings
Microsoft Dynamics AX, discontinued
8.9
7 Ratings
16% above category average
Budgeting and Forecasting00 Ratings9.06 Ratings
Project Costing00 Ratings8.06 Ratings
Cost Capture00 Ratings8.05 Ratings
Capital Project Management00 Ratings9.05 Ratings
Customer Contract Compliance00 Ratings9.03 Ratings
Project Revenue Recognition00 Ratings8.95 Ratings
Project Execution Management
Comparison of Project Execution Management features of Product A and Product B
IBM Cognos Analytics
-
Ratings
Microsoft Dynamics AX, discontinued
8.8
5 Ratings
25% above category average
Project Planning and Scheduling00 Ratings8.95 Ratings
Task Insight for Project Managers00 Ratings9.04 Ratings
Project Mobile Functionality00 Ratings6.04 Ratings
Definable Resource Pools00 Ratings9.04 Ratings
Grants Management
Comparison of Grants Management features of Product A and Product B
IBM Cognos Analytics
-
Ratings
Microsoft Dynamics AX, discontinued
8.7
4 Ratings
14% above category average
Award Lifecycle Management00 Ratings9.04 Ratings
Procurement
Comparison of Procurement features of Product A and Product B
IBM Cognos Analytics
-
Ratings
Microsoft Dynamics AX, discontinued
8.7
7 Ratings
22% above category average
Bids Analyzed and Compared00 Ratings9.05 Ratings
Contract Authoring00 Ratings9.03 Ratings
Contract Repository00 Ratings9.04 Ratings
Requisitions-to-Purchase Orders Integrated00 Ratings8.05 Ratings
Supplier Management00 Ratings8.06 Ratings
Risk Management
Comparison of Risk Management features of Product A and Product B
IBM Cognos Analytics
-
Ratings
Microsoft Dynamics AX, discontinued
8.8
2 Ratings
30% above category average
Risk Repository00 Ratings9.02 Ratings
Control Management00 Ratings9.02 Ratings
Control Efficiency Assessments00 Ratings9.02 Ratings
Issue Detection00 Ratings9.02 Ratings
Remediation and Certification00 Ratings9.02 Ratings
Logistics
Comparison of Logistics features of Product A and Product B
IBM Cognos Analytics
-
Ratings
Microsoft Dynamics AX, discontinued
8.5
6 Ratings
21% above category average
Transportation Planning and Optimization00 Ratings8.06 Ratings
Transportation Execution Management00 Ratings8.05 Ratings
Trade and Customs Management00 Ratings8.95 Ratings
Fulfillment Management00 Ratings8.04 Ratings
Warehouse Workforce Management00 Ratings10.05 Ratings
Manufacturing
Comparison of Manufacturing features of Product A and Product B
IBM Cognos Analytics
-
Ratings
Microsoft Dynamics AX, discontinued
7.7
6 Ratings
2% above category average
Production Process Design00 Ratings9.05 Ratings
Production Management00 Ratings8.05 Ratings
Configuration Management00 Ratings7.04 Ratings
Work Execution00 Ratings8.05 Ratings
Manufacturing Costs00 Ratings9.05 Ratings
Supply Chain
Comparison of Supply Chain features of Product A and Product B
IBM Cognos Analytics
-
Ratings
Microsoft Dynamics AX, discontinued
9.2
6 Ratings
24% above category average
Forecasting00 Ratings9.95 Ratings
Inventory Planning00 Ratings9.05 Ratings
Performance Monitoring00 Ratings9.04 Ratings
Product Lifecycle Management
Comparison of Product Lifecycle Management features of Product A and Product B
IBM Cognos Analytics
-
Ratings
Microsoft Dynamics AX, discontinued
9.0
3 Ratings
21% above category average
Proposal Management00 Ratings9.02 Ratings
Product Master Data Management00 Ratings9.03 Ratings
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IBM Cognos AnalyticsMicrosoft Dynamics AX, discontinued
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User Ratings
IBM Cognos AnalyticsMicrosoft Dynamics AX, discontinued
Likelihood to Recommend
8.1
(128 ratings)
8.0
(19 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.8
(27 ratings)
8.0
(4 ratings)
Usability
8.0
(8 ratings)
8.0
(3 ratings)
Availability
8.6
(4 ratings)
7.0
(1 ratings)
Performance
9.0
(5 ratings)
7.0
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
10.0
(8 ratings)
8.0
(3 ratings)
In-Person Training
8.7
(4 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Online Training
8.0
(4 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
Implementation Rating
7.0
(7 ratings)
7.3
(2 ratings)
Configurability
8.0
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
7.3
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
8.3
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
7.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
7.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
IBM Cognos AnalyticsMicrosoft Dynamics AX, discontinued
Likelihood to Recommend
IBM
Our first and most basic scenario was to automatize the creation and publication/sharing of business reports that used to be created manually by employees throughout our organization. Using Cognos for that first use case worked well. The advanced analytics functionalities we used on the aggregated data were also as expected. However, the user interface is not always intuitive, and there is a steep learning curve, so I would recommend Cognos only to large organizations where there is a need for the most advanced functionalities (AI analysis/prediction).
Read full review
Microsoft
It integrates fully with the other Microsoft software we use daily, and this coordination speeds up our work and gives us the agility to run easily. For example, in a purchase inquiry, the customer, after submitting a request, identifies the teams that should work on the project, and if they need further review by other people, they are added to the process, and everything is managed seamlessly rather than the sales process. Get the result as fast as possible.
Read full review
Pros
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.
Read full review
Microsoft
  • Microsoft Dynamics AX's scalability to meet our regional office needs provide flexibility to the team's requirements.
  • Combined with Citrix Xenapp, the application offers seamless access for users on high latency unreliable network connection to the application.
  • Application maintenance and updates are easy which makes it possible for us to manage remotely considering the servers are located in a remote Asia site.
Read full review
Cons
IBM
  • Sometimes there might be performance issues when dealing with large and complex data.
  • Although IBM provides full documentation but sometimes it's difficult to find answers to questions and connect with their customer support.
  • It relies on external tools for data cleaning, transformation and also for some integration tasks. It can also improve on providing wider range of data sources for integration.
Read full review
Microsoft
  • MRP can be slow to adapt to changes in actual production or supply chain transactions.
  • Setting up number sequences seems a trivial matter, but these numbers ID transactions once they are in the ledger and are key--easy to miss this point in the implementation process.
  • Bank rec being easily automated and able to quickly plug into a bank back end to get data is not the best.
  • Payment processing can be 'clunky' based on checks, ACH, Wires...as some of these items are not triggered out of the box in AX, bur are easily added --talking ACH and Wires specifically.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
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
Microsoft
Microsoft Dynamics continues to evolve by bringing more functionality to the customer. Also there are several independent software providers that offer a wide range of solutions for vertical markets.
Read full review
Usability
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
Microsoft
Overall the product does what we need it to do in order for us to function as a company. While there are some concerns over ongoing costs, the belief is, once we have it fully acclimated to our business the cost should settle into alignment with our original expectations. The new features that are consistently being added do add value to the product as they are usually customer request directed.
Read full review
Reliability and Availability
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
Microsoft
Some integration and high volume ramping challenges, particularly with BizTalk and SQL Server, but getting sorted out. Outages over time appeared to be more dependent on integration complexity than AX MES.
Read full review
Performance
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
Microsoft
Some integration and high volume ramping challenges, particularly with BizTalk and SQL Server, but getting sorted out. Outages over time appeared to be more dependent on integration complexity than AX MES.
Read full review
Support Rating
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
Microsoft
We use a 3rd-party Microsoft Partner for the system. They are responsive and very knowledgeable. While costs have been mentioned several times in this review they are very aware of costs and have developers who are more economical they use to help offset the level of work required to meet our changes and fix our issues.
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In-Person Training
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
Microsoft
It took a lot of work, but Microsoft ultimately did a good job with in-person training, including being onsite in multiple global locations for extended periods.
Read full review
Online Training
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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Microsoft
Our solution deviated from a number of key out-of-the-box standards that were included in Online training. We just used that for introduction to the general functionality.
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Implementation Rating
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
Microsoft
Some rough spots, but ultimately worked out. The contract didn't appear to be structured to support the level of overlapping facility deployments required to meet timeline commitments. Merging cultures on the program was also challenging. Overall, not an easy implementation by any stretch. Everyone did the best they could.
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Alternatives Considered
IBM
In the past Management had used Excel and Workiva capabilities to create the reporting dashboards that were being used to make decisions. Since switching to IBM Cognos Analytics the Company has been much more efficient and decision making has been streamlined. IBM Cognos Analytics was chosen due to its reputation and data visualization capabilities and neither have been wrong.
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Microsoft
I was not part of the decision making process to select Microsoft Dynamics AX, however, I do know that an exhaustive search was done and many options were considered alongside Microsoft Dynamics AX and I feel that the right decision was made in choosing this solution.
Read full review
Scalability
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
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
IBM
  • High ROI with well designed solutions. Supported by scalable deployment, robust security model and ability to create valuable content.
  • High ROI where well designed data models can be deployed with a common metadata layer to a variety of users and use cases.
  • High ROI in an environment that includes a variety of vendors and best of breed products within the overall platform
Read full review
Microsoft
  • With the robust built-in reporting we were able to drop an external reporting platform that costed about $40,000.
  • API integrations have saved manual entry and reduced having to hire 2-3 people to manage data.
  • Several administrators and developers are required for this which costs about 200-300 thousand in employee costs.
Read full review
ScreenShots