IBM Cognos Analytics vs. SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence

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
SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
Score 8.1 out of 10
N/A
The SAP® BusinessObjects™ Business Intelligence Platform provides users with ad hoc queries, reporting, data visualizations, and analysis tools. Its integrated, unified infrastructure aims to offer scalability from one-to-many tools and interfaces on-premise, in the cloud, or as a hybrid approach.N/A
Pricing
IBM Cognos AnalyticsSAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
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 AnalyticsSAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
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 AnalyticsSAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
Considered Both Products
IBM Cognos Analytics
Chose IBM Cognos Analytics
One of the most important things to consider when choosing a BI platform is ease of use. This is especially true for self-serve BI projects. Organizations may look at how easy it is to create reports, dashboard customization, and the overall user experience when compared to …
SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
Chose SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
MicroStrategy Analytics and IBM Cognos Analytics is costlier compared to SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence (BI) Platform stacks. SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence (BI) Platform stacks is user friendly, easy to adapt, easy to train resources and get them …
Chose SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
When we did the implementation in 2005, BusinessObjects was by far the most advanced transactional level analytical query engine that was available.
Chose SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
Analysis Services and Oracle Discoverer are more developer oriented than true self service tools and their development capabilities as well as their content delivery is limited. The Symantec layer sets BO apart in that regard. Heavy development is also possible and custom …
Chose SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
The biggest advantage that SAP Business Objects has over these competitors are value and options. Value wise, it brings together a tool set that delivers a bit of something for everyone. With integration into Microsoft Office, additional options are available to for those …
Chose SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
We selected SAP Business Objects in the previous instance because we were implementing SAP ERP and the choice of Business Objects was favorable from an integration and cost perspective. We did not choose SAP Business Objects most recently because of the predicted long …
Chose SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
I have recently been evaluating Information Builders, MicroStrategy, and Cognos. IB had some nice dashboard and analytics, but was lacking on the scheduling side. We were looking for something more robust. MicroStrategy had a very impressive UI and the dashboards were among the …
Chose SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services is more dependent on IT for development.
We had issues with loger development time with Cognos.
Hyperion Essbase Smartview is a good discovery tool but not a good enterprise reporting tool. It is very business centric with the Excel …
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
IBM Cognos AnalyticsSAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
BI Standard Reporting
Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of Product A and Product B
IBM Cognos Analytics
7.9
102 Ratings
4% below category average
SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
7.7
49 Ratings
6% below category average
Pixel Perfect reports8.593 Ratings7.444 Ratings
Customizable dashboards7.8100 Ratings8.145 Ratings
Report Formatting Templates7.497 Ratings7.745 Ratings
Ad-hoc Reporting
Comparison of Ad-hoc Reporting features of Product A and Product B
IBM Cognos Analytics
8.1
104 Ratings
0% below category average
SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
8.2
46 Ratings
1% above category average
Drill-down analysis8.1102 Ratings9.045 Ratings
Formatting capabilities8.1103 Ratings8.345 Ratings
Integration with R or other statistical packages7.872 Ratings7.531 Ratings
Report sharing and collaboration8.4100 Ratings8.245 Ratings
Report Output and Scheduling
Comparison of Report Output and Scheduling features of Product A and Product B
IBM Cognos Analytics
8.3
104 Ratings
1% below category average
SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
8.7
46 Ratings
4% above category average
Publish to Web8.327 Ratings8.338 Ratings
Publish to PDF8.798 Ratings7.944 Ratings
Report Versioning8.626 Ratings9.140 Ratings
Report Delivery Scheduling8.0101 Ratings9.145 Ratings
Delivery to Remote Servers8.112 Ratings9.224 Ratings
Data Discovery and Visualization
Comparison of Data Discovery and Visualization features of Product A and Product B
IBM Cognos Analytics
8.1
94 Ratings
0% above category average
SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
8.3
41 Ratings
3% above category average
Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)8.089 Ratings8.339 Ratings
Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization8.286 Ratings7.737 Ratings
Predictive Analytics8.182 Ratings8.936 Ratings
Pattern Recognition and Data Mining8.021 Ratings00 Ratings
Access Control and Security
Comparison of Access Control and Security features of Product A and Product B
IBM Cognos Analytics
8.3
99 Ratings
4% below category average
SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
9.4
46 Ratings
9% above category average
Multi-User Support (named login)8.496 Ratings8.946 Ratings
Role-Based Security Model8.395 Ratings9.144 Ratings
Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)8.295 Ratings9.843 Ratings
Report-Level Access Control8.424 Ratings00 Ratings
Single Sign-On (SSO)8.377 Ratings9.927 Ratings
Mobile Capabilities
Comparison of Mobile Capabilities features of Product A and Product B
IBM Cognos Analytics
7.3
83 Ratings
8% below category average
SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
8.8
32 Ratings
10% above category average
Responsive Design for Web Access7.977 Ratings8.431 Ratings
Mobile Application7.368 Ratings9.026 Ratings
Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile8.174 Ratings9.128 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
SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
7.5
22 Ratings
5% below category average
REST API7.359 Ratings7.319 Ratings
Javascript API7.658 Ratings7.217 Ratings
iFrames8.39 Ratings8.116 Ratings
Java API6.911 Ratings7.520 Ratings
Themeable User Interface (UI)7.110 Ratings7.319 Ratings
Customizable Platform (Open Source)7.87 Ratings7.418 Ratings
Best Alternatives
IBM Cognos AnalyticsSAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
Small Businesses
BrightGauge
BrightGauge
Score 8.9 out of 10
BrightGauge
BrightGauge
Score 8.9 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Reveal
Reveal
Score 9.9 out of 10
Reveal
Reveal
Score 9.9 out of 10
Enterprises
TIBCO Jaspersoft Community Edition
TIBCO Jaspersoft Community Edition
Score 9.7 out of 10
TIBCO Jaspersoft Community Edition
TIBCO Jaspersoft Community Edition
Score 9.7 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
IBM Cognos AnalyticsSAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
Likelihood to Recommend
8.1
(127 ratings)
7.7
(71 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.8
(27 ratings)
8.3
(24 ratings)
Usability
8.0
(8 ratings)
9.0
(14 ratings)
Availability
8.6
(4 ratings)
10.0
(5 ratings)
Performance
9.0
(5 ratings)
9.0
(10 ratings)
Support Rating
10.0
(8 ratings)
8.6
(16 ratings)
In-Person Training
8.7
(4 ratings)
10.0
(4 ratings)
Online Training
8.0
(4 ratings)
9.0
(2 ratings)
Implementation Rating
7.0
(7 ratings)
9.0
(8 ratings)
Configurability
8.0
(2 ratings)
9.0
(2 ratings)
Ease of integration
7.3
(3 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Product Scalability
8.3
(3 ratings)
9.0
(2 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
7.0
(1 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
7.0
(1 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
IBM Cognos AnalyticsSAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
Likelihood to Recommend
IBM
Well suited: 1. We use the tool for data modeling as it helps in predictive data analysis for complex data, which is very much in line with real-life scenarios. 2. Options
of customizing & scheduling reports as per our
requirements basis. 3. Has a mobile application that works seamlessly. Less Appropriate: 1. API integration with minimal options is not up to the mark. Laptops get overheated when using the tool, from moderate to heavy use. 2. Also, there is a lag in the tool times. 3. There is a lot of scope to improve customer support & it's not up to industry standards. 4. Licensing
& Maintenance can go from cheap to expensive depending on the scope.
Read full review
SAP
The proper management of SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards requires an expert on the team to manage and build reports. If an organization does not have the proper expertise on board to build and deploy reports it will fail. Data analytics, dropping into excel, and broadcasting of information are major bonuses for the use of SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards.
Read full review
Pros
IBM
  • It provides statistical analysis and predictive modeling which helps to forecast sales trends based on data and other factors.
  • It provides user friendly interface which helps users to explore data without extensive IT support. Like sales and marketing teams can use self service BI to analyze customer data and personalize campaigns for marketing.
  • It integrates well with IBM products and also with third party which enables organization to integrate with different products for better results and growth.
  • It provides security and governance features which maintains confidentiality, and compliance of data. It impose HIPAA compliance by providing role based access and encryption to protect sensitive data.
Read full review
SAP
  • This software is easy to initially learn, and very powerful in producing reusable reports.
  • It is much faster than my company's internal manual queries. The ability to build off of a saved query and share queries to other users is a great positive.
  • My favorite part is that you can run queries in the background and it does not interfere with your current work or slow your computer down.
Read full review
Cons
IBM
  • Uses a lot of the CPU of PC and can be only item running on computer sometimes
  • The error descriptions could be worded differently to help users find out what is exactly wrong with the report they are trying to write
  • Missing third party integration functionality that works succinctly
Read full review
SAP
  • The installation can be very complex and time-consuming, it requires a lot of planning and foresight as to what role the software will play in the organization.
  • The software has a relatively large learning curve that takes dedicated users months to get comfortable with, the UI is a bit intimidating for new users.
  • SAP could organize their help better, it can be difficult to find dependable solutions to issues via their website and support channels.
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
SAP
The institution has decided to move in a different direction, and will be using MSBI for reporting. I have been very happy with the Business Objects suite of tools, and will continue to use them heavily until we make the transition.
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
SAP
From a server and client side perspective. the Business Intelligence Platform provides a foundation for all aspects of content development, distribution, analysis, collaboration and self service. Ease of use from targeted content delivery through controlled accessibility. Content exporting in the format of the users choice. Scheduling for internal or external delivery. Public and private folders for secure content access when requied. Web based for viewing on the users device of choice without the need to download additional applications.
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
SAP
When we implemented 3.1, we had a tough time managing the system: It took almost a year to stabilize.

With 4.0, we want to roll out to more users, and are holding back because of fears about the performance issue
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
SAP
Overall, the tool (Web Intelligence 4.2) is fast and solid. One issue is a dependability on JAVA for a full feature report creation/edit capabilities (as opposed to limited HTML option). Second, planned end of JAVA support by major browsers (Chrome is already not supporting JAVA applet).
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
SAP
SAP has released various versions of SAP BO BI. starting from 3.1 and going to 4.0,4.1,4.2 and latest being 4.3. SAP provides support to these new versions. As new versions keep on coming, support for the very old software goes out of scope from SAP. it is when the different organization plans to get their BO content migrated from a lower version to a newer version. The newer version had definitely added functionality and features which ease the work of users.
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
SAP
SAP authorized training is best, Please go ahead with it. Even lot of online training options/videos available for self learning
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
SAP
I haven't used it or got feedback from the end user.

Content looks to be pretty detailed. Focused on SQL but not BW.
Read full review
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
Hire specialists and experienced staff. Mix some beginners so that everyone is not a leader but a learner too. Plan well; architect well; break down implementation in small steps and move towards larger steps. Create a centralized and authorized SAP Business Objects implementation team.
Read full review
Alternatives Considered
IBM
I like the cloud native character and ease of deployment with Sigma and ThogthSpot, I also like the metadata modelling capabilities of Power BI. I prefer the ability of Cognos to create and publish a metadata model that provides both ad hoc access and managed reporting and everything in between
Read full review
SAP
We selected SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence (BI) based on price. It can stack up against others in terms of price and honestly, that's about it. Salesforce Commerce does a hell of a better job at handling it. However, in the space of Business Intelligence, SAP can do more, and that's why at the end we went with it
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
SAP
SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence (BI) Platform supports SOA Service Oriented Architecture. You can start/restart/enable/disable all the servers. You can seamless do load balancing and clustering. It supports all leading application and web server. Supports LDAP SSO integration. People who can work on excel with training they can work on SAP Business Objects Web Intelligence, dashboard, Lumira, Information design tool product suite. Tool is very user friendly and easy to learn and implement
Read full review
Return on Investment
IBM
  • I've rebuilt a few metadata models to make the associated reports run at around a fifth of the time.
  • I was able to write and sell an IBM Cognos Analytics with Watson extension pack to add additional functionality and to make report author's lives easier.
Read full review
SAP
  • By generating and distributing reports in a timely manner, we were able to save millions of dollars for the company which otherwise would not have been visible.
  • Almost realtime dashboard, saved the company a huge amount by showing the outages and kept the company from buying a tool to do just that.
  • It showed the customers who were not paying the bills and were missing in the system due to some loophole. This was visible by doing reporting on the theft usage of electricity.
Read full review
ScreenShots