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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    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

    Sage CRM

    Score8.9 out of 10
    Mid-Size Companies (51-1,000 employees)
    Sage CRM is an SMB-oriented CRM platform offered in both SaaS and on-premise editions. Unlike the Sage SalesLogix product, the SaaS version is a true multi-tenant offering. The platform offers excellent integration with Sage ERP and accounting products. It is also a good global solution and is available in many languages and is used by over 12,000 customers worldwide, with many customers in Europe.

    $33

    per month

    Pricing
    IBM Cognos AnalyticsSage CRM
    Editions & Modules
    On Demand - Standard
    USD 11.25
    per month per user
    On Demand - Premium
    USD 44.90
    per month per user
    Sage CRM (cloud)
    $45
    Per User per Month
    Sage CRM (on premise)
    $0
    Lifetime License per Seat
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    IBM Cognos AnalyticsSage CRM
    Free Trial
    YesYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    YesYes
    Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalNo setup fee
    Additional Details—Tiered pricing is available for multiple users.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    IBM Cognos AnalyticsSage CRM
    Considered Both Products
    IBM
    No answer on this topic
    Sage
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    97%
    Would buy again
    93 Answers
    100%
    Would buy again
    8 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    94%
    Delivers good value for the price
    79 Answers
    86%
    Delivers good value for the price
    6 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    96%
    Happy with the feature set
    92 Answers
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    8 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    93%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    55 Answers
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    8 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    96%
    Implementation went as expected
    65 Answers
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    8 Answers
    Features
    IBM Cognos AnalyticsSage CRM
    BI Standard Reporting
    Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of IBM Cognos Analytics and Sage CRM
    Feature
    IBM Cognos Analytics
    7.7
    139 Ratings
    6% below category average
    Sage CRM
    -
    Ratings
    Pixel Perfect reports7.6130 Ratings00 Ratings
    Customizable dashboards8.0137 Ratings00 Ratings
    Report Formatting Templates7.5132 Ratings00 Ratings
    Ad-hoc Reporting
    Comparison of Ad-hoc Reporting features of IBM Cognos Analytics and Sage CRM
    Feature
    IBM Cognos Analytics
    7.9
    139 Ratings
    1% below category average
    Sage CRM
    -
    Ratings
    Drill-down analysis7.4137 Ratings00 Ratings
    Formatting capabilities8.3140 Ratings00 Ratings
    Integration with R or other statistical packages7.397 Ratings00 Ratings
    Report sharing and collaboration8.6134 Ratings00 Ratings
    Report Output and Scheduling
    Comparison of Report Output and Scheduling features of IBM Cognos Analytics and Sage CRM
    Feature
    IBM Cognos Analytics
    9.2
    137 Ratings
    11% above category average
    Sage CRM
    -
    Ratings
    Publish to Web9.837 Ratings00 Ratings
    Publish to PDF8.3133 Ratings00 Ratings
    Report Versioning9.834 Ratings00 Ratings
    Report Delivery Scheduling8.2135 Ratings00 Ratings
    Delivery to Remote Servers9.918 Ratings00 Ratings
    Data Discovery and Visualization
    Comparison of Data Discovery and Visualization features of IBM Cognos Analytics and Sage CRM
    Feature
    IBM Cognos Analytics
    7.4
    125 Ratings
    8% below category average
    Sage CRM
    -
    Ratings
    Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)7.9122 Ratings00 Ratings
    Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization8.0115 Ratings00 Ratings
    Predictive Analytics6.7111 Ratings00 Ratings
    Pattern Recognition and Data Mining6.948 Ratings00 Ratings
    Access Control and Security
    Comparison of Access Control and Security features of IBM Cognos Analytics and Sage CRM
    Feature
    IBM Cognos Analytics
    7.8
    131 Ratings
    8% below category average
    Sage CRM
    -
    Ratings
    Multi-User Support (named login)7.5130 Ratings00 Ratings
    Role-Based Security Model7.5128 Ratings00 Ratings
    Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)7.4128 Ratings00 Ratings
    Report-Level Access Control8.258 Ratings00 Ratings
    Single Sign-On (SSO)8.6112 Ratings00 Ratings
    Mobile Capabilities
    Comparison of Mobile Capabilities features of IBM Cognos Analytics and Sage CRM
    Feature
    IBM Cognos Analytics
    6.3
    109 Ratings
    21% below category average
    Sage CRM
    -
    Ratings
    Responsive Design for Web Access6.8104 Ratings00 Ratings
    Mobile Application6.390 Ratings00 Ratings
    Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile6.696 Ratings00 Ratings
    Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding
    Comparison of Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding features of IBM Cognos Analytics and Sage CRM
    Feature
    IBM Cognos Analytics
    9.2
    87 Ratings
    17% above category average
    Sage CRM
    -
    Ratings
    REST API7.683 Ratings00 Ratings
    Javascript API7.779 Ratings00 Ratings
    iFrames9.912 Ratings00 Ratings
    Java API10.013 Ratings00 Ratings
    Themeable User Interface (UI)9.915 Ratings00 Ratings
    Customizable Platform (Open Source)9.99 Ratings00 Ratings
    Sales Force Automation
    Comparison of Sales Force Automation features of IBM Cognos Analytics and Sage CRM
    Feature
    IBM Cognos Analytics
    -
    Ratings
    Sage CRM
    8.8
    17 Ratings
    12% above category average
    Customer data management / contact management00 Ratings9.017 Ratings
    Workflow management00 Ratings8.616 Ratings
    Territory management00 Ratings8.517 Ratings
    Opportunity management00 Ratings8.917 Ratings
    Integration with email client (e.g., Outlook or Gmail)00 Ratings9.016 Ratings
    Contract management00 Ratings8.614 Ratings
    Quote & order management00 Ratings9.016 Ratings
    Interaction tracking00 Ratings9.216 Ratings
    Channel / partner relationship management00 Ratings8.716 Ratings
    Customer Service & Support
    Comparison of Customer Service & Support features of IBM Cognos Analytics and Sage CRM
    Feature
    IBM Cognos Analytics
    -
    Ratings
    Sage CRM
    8.1
    16 Ratings
    5% above category average
    Case management00 Ratings8.016 Ratings
    Call center management00 Ratings8.215 Ratings
    Help desk management00 Ratings8.214 Ratings
    Marketing Automation
    Comparison of Marketing Automation features of IBM Cognos Analytics and Sage CRM
    Feature
    IBM Cognos Analytics
    -
    Ratings
    Sage CRM
    8.7
    16 Ratings
    12% above category average
    Lead management00 Ratings8.816 Ratings
    Email marketing00 Ratings8.715 Ratings
    CRM Project Management
    Comparison of CRM Project Management features of IBM Cognos Analytics and Sage CRM
    Feature
    IBM Cognos Analytics
    -
    Ratings
    Sage CRM
    9.0
    17 Ratings
    16% above category average
    Task management00 Ratings9.016 Ratings
    Billing and invoicing management00 Ratings9.015 Ratings
    Reporting00 Ratings9.113 Ratings
    CRM Reporting & Analytics
    Comparison of CRM Reporting & Analytics features of IBM Cognos Analytics and Sage CRM
    Feature
    IBM Cognos Analytics
    -
    Ratings
    Sage CRM
    8.6
    17 Ratings
    12% above category average
    Forecasting00 Ratings8.716 Ratings
    Pipeline visualization00 Ratings8.416 Ratings
    Customizable reports00 Ratings8.717 Ratings
    Customization
    Comparison of Customization features of IBM Cognos Analytics and Sage CRM
    Feature
    IBM Cognos Analytics
    -
    Ratings
    Sage CRM
    8.6
    17 Ratings
    12% above category average
    Custom fields00 Ratings8.517 Ratings
    Custom objects00 Ratings8.516 Ratings
    Scripting environment00 Ratings9.016 Ratings
    API for custom integration00 Ratings8.314 Ratings
    Security
    Comparison of Security features of IBM Cognos Analytics and Sage CRM
    Feature
    IBM Cognos Analytics
    -
    Ratings
    Sage CRM
    8.7
    17 Ratings
    4% above category average
    Single sign-on capability00 Ratings8.717 Ratings
    Role-based user permissions00 Ratings8.813 Ratings
    Social CRM
    Comparison of Social CRM features of IBM Cognos Analytics and Sage CRM
    Feature
    IBM Cognos Analytics
    -
    Ratings
    Sage CRM
    9.4
    13 Ratings
    22% above category average
    Social data00 Ratings9.513 Ratings
    Social engagement00 Ratings9.313 Ratings
    Integrations with 3rd-party Software
    Comparison of Integrations with 3rd-party Software features of IBM Cognos Analytics and Sage CRM
    Feature
    IBM Cognos Analytics
    -
    Ratings
    Sage CRM
    9.0
    14 Ratings
    18% above category average
    Marketing automation00 Ratings9.114 Ratings
    Compensation management00 Ratings8.912 Ratings
    Platform
    Comparison of Platform features of IBM Cognos Analytics and Sage CRM
    Feature
    IBM Cognos Analytics
    -
    Ratings
    Sage CRM
    7.8
    16 Ratings
    2% above category average
    Mobile access00 Ratings7.816 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    IBM Cognos AnalyticsSage CRM
    Small Businesses
    Cyfe
    Score4 out of 10
    Salesflare
    Score10 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Qlik Cloud Analytics (Qlik Sense)
    Score8.1 out of 10
    Kintone
    Score9.7 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Sisense
    Score6.9 out of 10
    Oracle Sales
    Score8.9 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    IBM Cognos AnalyticsSage CRM
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.0
    (159 ratings)
    8.9
    (28 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    8.4
    (31 ratings)
    5.1
    (11 ratings)
    Usability
    7.3
    (10 ratings)
    8.9
    (11 ratings)
    Availability
    8.6
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    9.0
    (5 ratings)
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    1.0
    (9 ratings)
    7.9
    (8 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    8.7
    (4 ratings)
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    Online Training
    8.0
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    7.0
    (7 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Configurability
    7.0
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Data Sharing and Collaboration
    8.6
    (40 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Data Sources
    8.3
    (40 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    5.5
    (6 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    6.4
    (5 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 AnalyticsSage CRM
    Likelihood to Recommend
    IBM
    In our environment, we used to use a reporting tool called Crystal Reports and we replaced this tool with Cognos. I would recommend this switch for any one who's using a report tool that can be replaced with Cognos. This eliminates any JDBC or ODBC connections and User setups within any databases which was needed so the users can gain access to the report. Cognos makes logging in and fetching any report much easier.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Sage
    as it is a very flexible software that can be adapted to any business model, other functions human resource management, manufacturing and supply chain planning, all these functions are housed in a highly technological interface. I liked this system because it made automating accounts payable so much easier.the control of the basic accounting of any type of company
    Read full review
    Pros
    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
    Sage
    • When in client profile, it is very intuitive, allowing you to easily transcribe notes in the clients profile.
    • Sage allows 3rd party plugins, so if you utilize a particular phone services or would like to import something as simple as google drive, its compatible.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    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
    Sage
    • Reliance on Apache Tomcat causes a lot of headaches. There are common issues trying to start up the server, resulting from Apache Tomcat misconfigurations, or Java. Some forum posts on Sage City address common issues, but digging into server logs seems to be an often occurrence.
    • Support is somewhat lacking, less user install base means error messages are sometimes hard to find quick answers for. Most of the knowledge found on the internet is in the Sage City forum.
    • Integration with Microsoft 365 causes you to have to turn off some security features. This will result in your 365 tenants running lower security standards than recommended, it may put you at risk for targeted attacks.
    Incentivized
    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
    Sage
    There are really no other words to say, it is a very easy to use application that is more straightforward and has provided better results with the bulk of features that appeal to a very broad amount of users. There may be other CRM platforms out there that are more prevalent, but I have found them to be much more clunky and less intuitive than Sage CRM.
    Incentivized
    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
    Sage
    Excellent integration with the most important social networks (LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter) to get leads. The mobile app is quite useful for speeding up the tasks at hand and not relying on the computer or being in the office to get them done.
    Incentivized
    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
    Sage
    No answers on this topic
    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
    Sage
    Sage works very quickly based on the network you are using it on. It is internet based so if your network is slow, it will perform slowly. Reports seem to run reasonably fast, if there is too much information it is trying to populate that could slow it down a little. When Sage CRM is integrated with a Sage ERP product it doesn't tend to slow down either system at all
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Sage
    Support team is really slow and they need to work on this really. Sometimes it takes days to resolve a simple query and there is no way to get it expedited. Rest the product is is amazing but the team should look into the costumer support and get it working
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    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
    Sage
    Most training would come after a upgrade. Otherwise we would self teach new employees. Training was with a Sage Software partner SWK technologies.
    Incentivized
    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
    Read full review
    Sage
    No answers on this topic
    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
    Sage
    The implementation and upgrades were rather quick and straight forward. Attempting to link Sage CRM with Sage 100 ERP however was a nightmare and will be avoided by us in the future due to numerous issues.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    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
    Read full review
    Sage
    Whilst SAGE CRM was selected around 10 years ago and we became a partner, the main contenders would have been at the time Sales Logix and MS CRM 4.0. However, we had extensive experience of the mid-market CRM's and decided on SAGE CRM since it had a clean, easy to understand interface and importantly offered both workflow automation and Self Service capability, all of which across both the Case and Sales and Marketing functionality was seamless and saved time. As it was pure browser based, access was from anywhere we wanted. In my view, SAGE CRM still stacks up well against all the other mid-market CRM systems and offers good value for money, but more importantly, it is an easy to operate and customisable solution which user like. Again, we can teach administration users very quickly to support and customise themselves since the admin. function are clear as well.
    Read full review
    Scalability
    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
    Read full review
    Sage
    No answers on this topic
    Return on Investment
    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
    Sage
    • It is very affordable in pricing, compared to competitors
    • Lead management and convertion into prospects is also a very easy process
    • Lead capture from web pages should be available, and better ways to capture leads from tradeshows by uploading directly from scanned business cards
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    IBM Cognos Analytics Screenshots

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