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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

    SAP Analytics Cloud

    Score8.1 out of 10
    N/AThe SAP Analytics Cloud solution brings together analytics and planning with integration to SAP applications and access to heterogenous data sources. As the analytics and planning solution within SAP Business Technology Platform, SAP Analytics Cloud supports trusted insights and integrated planning processes enterprise-wide to help make decisions without doubt.

    $36

    per month per user

    Pricing
    IBM Cognos AnalyticsSAP Analytics Cloud
    Editions & Modules
    On Demand - Standard
    USD 11.25
    per month per user
    On Demand - Premium
    USD 44.90
    per month per user
    SAP Analytics Cloud for Business Intelligence
    $36.00
    per month per user
    SAP Analytics Cloud for Planning
    Price upon request
    per month per user
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    IBM Cognos AnalyticsSAP Analytics Cloud
    Free Trial
    YesYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    YesNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalNo setup fee
    Additional DetailsA 30-day trial with SAP Analytics Cloud is available, supporting analytics enterprise-wide. A trial can be extended up to 90 days on request.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    IBM Cognos AnalyticsSAP Analytics Cloud
    Considered Both Products
    IBM
    Chose IBM Cognos Analytics
    We looked at Qlik Sense, SAP Analytics Cloud, and IBM Cognos Analytics for our financial brand's needs. Qlik Sense is super user-friendly, great for quick data digging. SAP Analytics is perfect when we're working with other SAP stuff; it just clicks. But for our big project, …
    Incentivized
    SAP
    Chose SAP Analytics Cloud
    SAP Analytics Cloud stacks better with SAP ERP and this has improved its workability and accuracy.
    Incentivized
    Chose SAP Analytics Cloud
    SAP roadmap tells us to move to SAP Analytics Cloud … but the product is not there yet.
    Incentivized
    Chose SAP Analytics Cloud
    Single tool to have all built in capabilities of reporting, planning & prediction. Ease of usage to business users as no need to sign in on different tools for different kind of analytics. Easy integration with SAP Source systems for importing data. Natural Language Querying …
    Incentivized
    Chose SAP Analytics Cloud
    In my opinion, if your company uses most of SAP ecosystem, it is better to choose an analytical tool from SAP such as the Analytics Cloud. It will provide seamless integration with the ERP as well as a clear evolution from our BO.
    Incentivized
    Chose SAP Analytics Cloud
    Interface and integration with existing products is better than microstrategy, however, lacks behind MicroSoft.
    Incentivized
    Chose SAP Analytics Cloud
    • SAP SAC is better mobile capabilities
    • Cognos does not have financial reporting
    Incentivized
    Chose SAP Analytics Cloud
    SAC is best for integration with SAP S4 HANA and BW4 HANA, so we decided to go with what we know to be best.
    Incentivized
    Chose SAP Analytics Cloud
    SAP Analytics Cloud is simple to use and you can access it using even a mobile device. On top of that its affordable and comes in two differentiated enterprise plans that are geared to helping the organization attain its goals. SAP Analytics Cloud is also popular in the market …
    Incentivized
    Chose SAP Analytics Cloud
    When we talk about SAP, what you are looking for is not the best price but a complete integration with the other products of the brand. But even in the same brand, their updates are more frequent and allow the addition of several improvements that are not yet found in other …
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    97%
    Would buy again
    92 Answers
    94%
    Would buy again
    313 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    94%
    Delivers good value for the price
    79 Answers
    96%
    Delivers good value for the price
    266 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    96%
    Happy with the feature set
    91 Answers
    90%
    Happy with the feature set
    300 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    93%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    55 Answers
    85%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    178 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    96%
    Implementation went as expected
    64 Answers
    85%
    Implementation went as expected
    221 Answers
    Features
    IBM Cognos AnalyticsSAP Analytics Cloud
    BI Standard Reporting
    Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of IBM Cognos Analytics and SAP Analytics Cloud
    Feature
    IBM Cognos Analytics
    7.7
    138 Ratings
    6% below category average
    SAP Analytics Cloud
    7.6
    357 Ratings
    7% below category average
    Pixel Perfect reports7.6129 Ratings7.4302 Ratings
    Customizable dashboards8.0136 Ratings7.9345 Ratings
    Report Formatting Templates7.5131 Ratings7.4319 Ratings
    Ad-hoc Reporting
    Comparison of Ad-hoc Reporting features of IBM Cognos Analytics and SAP Analytics Cloud
    Feature
    IBM Cognos Analytics
    7.9
    138 Ratings
    1% below category average
    SAP Analytics Cloud
    7.5
    358 Ratings
    6% below category average
    Drill-down analysis7.4136 Ratings7.9348 Ratings
    Formatting capabilities8.3139 Ratings7.3345 Ratings
    Integration with R or other statistical packages7.397 Ratings6.9256 Ratings
    Report sharing and collaboration8.6133 Ratings8.1334 Ratings
    Report Output and Scheduling
    Comparison of Report Output and Scheduling features of IBM Cognos Analytics and SAP Analytics Cloud
    Feature
    IBM Cognos Analytics
    9.2
    136 Ratings
    11% above category average
    SAP Analytics Cloud
    7.4
    339 Ratings
    10% below category average
    Publish to Web9.836 Ratings7.7290 Ratings
    Publish to PDF8.2132 Ratings7.8321 Ratings
    Report Versioning9.833 Ratings7.5282 Ratings
    Report Delivery Scheduling8.2134 Ratings7.5278 Ratings
    Delivery to Remote Servers9.918 Ratings6.758 Ratings
    Data Discovery and Visualization
    Comparison of Data Discovery and Visualization features of IBM Cognos Analytics and SAP Analytics Cloud
    Feature
    IBM Cognos Analytics
    7.4
    124 Ratings
    8% below category average
    SAP Analytics Cloud
    7.4
    343 Ratings
    8% below category average
    Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)7.9121 Ratings7.8325 Ratings
    Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization8.0114 Ratings7.5312 Ratings
    Predictive Analytics6.7110 Ratings7.2312 Ratings
    Pattern Recognition and Data Mining6.947 Ratings7.099 Ratings
    Access Control and Security
    Comparison of Access Control and Security features of IBM Cognos Analytics and SAP Analytics Cloud
    Feature
    IBM Cognos Analytics
    7.8
    130 Ratings
    8% below category average
    SAP Analytics Cloud
    8.2
    349 Ratings
    3% below category average
    Multi-User Support (named login)7.5129 Ratings8.2323 Ratings
    Role-Based Security Model7.5127 Ratings8.0331 Ratings
    Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)7.4127 Ratings8.1324 Ratings
    Report-Level Access Control8.257 Ratings8.2134 Ratings
    Single Sign-On (SSO)8.6111 Ratings8.5327 Ratings
    Mobile Capabilities
    Comparison of Mobile Capabilities features of IBM Cognos Analytics and SAP Analytics Cloud
    Feature
    IBM Cognos Analytics
    6.4
    109 Ratings
    19% below category average
    SAP Analytics Cloud
    7.4
    294 Ratings
    4% below category average
    Responsive Design for Web Access6.8104 Ratings7.5283 Ratings
    Mobile Application6.390 Ratings6.8247 Ratings
    Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile6.696 Ratings7.0274 Ratings
    Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding
    Comparison of Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding features of IBM Cognos Analytics and SAP Analytics Cloud
    Feature
    IBM Cognos Analytics
    9.2
    87 Ratings
    17% above category average
    SAP Analytics Cloud
    7.1
    66 Ratings
    9% below category average
    REST API7.683 Ratings7.156 Ratings
    Javascript API7.779 Ratings7.049 Ratings
    iFrames9.912 Ratings7.143 Ratings
    Java API10.013 Ratings7.142 Ratings
    Themeable User Interface (UI)9.915 Ratings7.451 Ratings
    Customizable Platform (Open Source)9.99 Ratings6.843 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    IBM Cognos AnalyticsSAP Analytics Cloud
    Small Businesses
    Cyfe
    Score4 out of 10
    Cyfe
    Score4 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Qlik Cloud Analytics (Qlik Sense)
    Score8.2 out of 10
    Qlik Cloud Analytics (Qlik Sense)
    Score8.2 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Jaspersoft Community Edition
    Score7 out of 10
    Jaspersoft Community Edition
    Score7 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    IBM Cognos AnalyticsSAP Analytics Cloud
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.0
    (158 ratings)
    8.1
    (382 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    8.4
    (31 ratings)
    8.7
    (22 ratings)
    Usability
    7.3
    (10 ratings)
    7.7
    (307 ratings)
    Availability
    8.6
    (4 ratings)
    5.0
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    9.0
    (5 ratings)
    4.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    1.0
    (9 ratings)
    6.3
    (73 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    8.7
    (4 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Online Training
    8.0
    (4 ratings)
    5.1
    (2 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    7.0
    (7 ratings)
    6.3
    (9 ratings)
    Configurability
    7.0
    (3 ratings)
    5.0
    (1 ratings)
    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Data Sharing and Collaboration
    8.6
    (40 ratings)
    8.0
    (61 ratings)
    Data Sources
    8.3
    (40 ratings)
    8.1
    (61 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    5.5
    (6 ratings)
    6.0
    (1 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    6.3
    (5 ratings)
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    Professional Services
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    IBM Cognos AnalyticsSAP Analytics Cloud
    Likelihood to Recommend
    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
    Read full review
    SAP
    >> Using SAC predictive analytics capabilities for inventory management in a Production line setup has helped generate Purchase Requisitions and Purchase Orders for raw or semi-finished goods without much head-banging into Demand management rules. It does it beautifully with seamless integration with HANA core MM and PP modules, along with BI integration. It has resulted in 30% greater warehouse storage capacity, thereby saving revenue from piled-up inventory and associated manpower costs. >> SAC sometimes shows latency in working out a large data set, thus giving a poor user experience compared to its competition. Also, it may occasionally show misinterpretations when embedding data from 3rd-party systems into the HANA core dataset.
    Incentivized
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    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
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    SAP
    • It makes it easier yo analyse order and related records easily.
    • We can easily maintain and track the performance of employees in organisation.
    • Can easily track various aspects for the growth of an organisation thus allowing real time analysis and tracking of organisation's growth and performance.
    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
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    SAP
    • Complexity in Data Modeling
    • SAC supports various data sources, but improvements in the ease of connecting to and integrating with certain data repositories, especially non-SAP databases, would enhance the platform's versatility and integration capabilities.
    • An offline mode for SAC could be valuable for users who need to access and analyze data without an internet connection. Additionally, optimizing performance for large datasets and complex visualizations would contribute to a smoother user experience.
    Incentivized
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    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
    SAP
    We are planning to review the licensing as we have issues with SAC dealing with huge datasets. Analytics area is good for import models but when we have live connections in place that's when we have issue with SAC dealing with huge datasets in live be it BW or be it HANA models in the backend.
    Incentivized
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    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
    SAP
    I landed on a 7 out of 10 for a few key reasons. The tool is flexible in the sense that we are using very very very (very) little off the shelf solutions and customizing to our needs. Users enjoy having the customized data actions, key variance calculations, and easy to use headcount/salary planning in the same tool. One downside is that users are hard to please when they are used to excel. SAP Analytics Cloud simply is not excel, and the flexibility of excel in a crunch is not there.
    Incentivized
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    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
    SAP
    I would rate SAP Analytics Cloud an 8 out of 10 for scalability. It offers a flexible, cloud-based architecture that supports expansion across departments and geographies. The platform adapts well to growing data volumes and user needs, making it a strong choice for organizations looking to scale analytics capabilities efficiently.
    Incentivized
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    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
    SAP
    I would rate SAP Analytics Cloud’s performance an 8 out of 10. Pages generally load quickly, and reports run within a reasonable time frame, even with complex datasets. Integration with other systems is smooth and doesn’t noticeably affect performance. Overall, it’s a responsive and efficient tool for business analytics. But
    Incentivized
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    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
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    SAP
    Since the implementation stage, the support team has been very helpful and assisting. Even in the later stages, the tech team had quite a rapid response. In general, SAP has provided us with great customer support, let it be for a specific product of SAP or for integration of different modules.
    Incentivized
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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
    SAP
    Good videos and reference material available in SAP Portal.
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    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
    SAP
    In hindsight, it would have been easier to have someone there in person. Questions were answered, but with 11 participants, it got a bit chaotic online
    Incentivized
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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
    SAP
    SAC is a simple solution ad it works fine when connecting it to other SAP tools. On the other hand, connecting it to third party solutions brings difficulties when there's no previous design and the objetives are not clear. It is really important to integrate Business users from the start to provide with valuable business insights
    Incentivized
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    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
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    SAP
    SAP Analytics Cloud and Power BI are both tools that help businesses understand their data, but they have some differences. SAC, made by SAP, works well if your company already uses other SAP products. It's in the cloud, easy to use, and has features for analyzing data, getting insights, and planning for the future. Power BI, made by Microsoft, can be used in the cloud or on your own computers. It fits well with Microsoft tools, is easy to use, and can do advanced data analysis. SAC has built-in planning tools, while Power BI needs extra tools for detailed planning
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    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    SAP
    unit pricing
    Incentivized
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    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
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    SAP
    Is good for use across multiple locations. It allows users to access data and reports from anywhere, regardless of their location. Can consolidate data from various sources, including different SAP systems and external sources, which facilitates cross-location analysis. SAC enables access to data and models from SAP Datasphere to create new stories. Detailed permissions can be defined for cross-departmental use.
    Incentivized
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    Professional Services
    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    SAP
    very simple
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    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
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    SAP
    • Many manual data manipulations and exports in Excel have been replaced by the tool, providing management with improved insight into the amount of time spent at each stage of an invoice's lifetime, allowing bottlenecks to be discovered.
    • We now have more insight into the data, and people with little technical experience can easily build stories.
    Incentivized
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    ScreenShots

    IBM Cognos Analytics Screenshots

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