IBM Cognos Analytics vs. Sigma Computing

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
Sigma
Score 9.0 out of 10
N/A
Sigma Computing headquartered in San Francisco provides a suite of data services such as code free data modeling, data search and explorating, and related BI and data visualization services.N/A
Pricing
IBM Cognos AnalyticsSigma Computing
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 AnalyticsSigma
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesNo
Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalOptional
Additional DetailsContact us for pricing.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
IBM Cognos AnalyticsSigma Computing
Considered Both Products
IBM Cognos Analytics
Chose IBM Cognos Analytics
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 …
Chose IBM Cognos Analytics
Cognos Analytics provides wide range for reporting, data visualization, and self service analytics. Cognos has strong security and governance features. Sigma Computing is purely cloud native approach and has spreadsheet like interface and doesn't provide many customization …
Sigma
Chose Sigma Computing
Much better than IBM Cognos. However, I prefer Tableau over Sigma due to its robust optionality. Sigma's only leg up on Tableau is its ease of use and speed of producing visuals and iterating tables.
Chose Sigma Computing
Sigma Computing was our top choice due to the ease of use of the platform for end users doing self-exploration of data. The structure of the platform for how datasets are created and access provisioned was much better than other products we considered. Sigma Computing may not …
Chose Sigma Computing
Most legacy BI tools are just that--built in and for a time that has mostly passed. Each tool seems to have strengths in certain areas, but can be overly complex to take full advantage of and can make some of the most basic tasks difficult to discover and use. Sigma Computing …
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
IBM Cognos AnalyticsSigma Computing
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
Sigma Computing
7.2
157 Ratings
13% below category average
Pixel Perfect reports8.593 Ratings7.0100 Ratings
Customizable dashboards7.8100 Ratings7.7155 Ratings
Report Formatting Templates7.497 Ratings7.1127 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
Sigma Computing
7.8
160 Ratings
4% below category average
Drill-down analysis8.1102 Ratings8.5150 Ratings
Formatting capabilities8.1103 Ratings7.3157 Ratings
Integration with R or other statistical packages7.872 Ratings7.35 Ratings
Report sharing and collaboration8.4100 Ratings8.2156 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
Sigma Computing
8.8
150 Ratings
5% above category average
Publish to Web8.327 Ratings9.299 Ratings
Publish to PDF8.798 Ratings8.1124 Ratings
Report Versioning8.626 Ratings9.4114 Ratings
Report Delivery Scheduling8.0101 Ratings9.2127 Ratings
Delivery to Remote Servers8.112 Ratings8.364 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
Sigma Computing
6.4
143 Ratings
23% below category average
Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)8.089 Ratings7.3141 Ratings
Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization8.286 Ratings5.626 Ratings
Predictive Analytics8.182 Ratings6.218 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
Sigma Computing
-
Ratings
Multi-User Support (named login)8.496 Ratings00 Ratings
Role-Based Security Model8.395 Ratings00 Ratings
Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)8.295 Ratings00 Ratings
Report-Level Access Control8.424 Ratings00 Ratings
Single Sign-On (SSO)8.377 Ratings00 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
Sigma Computing
-
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
Sigma Computing
-
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
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Score 9.9 out of 10
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User Ratings
IBM Cognos AnalyticsSigma Computing
Likelihood to Recommend
8.1
(127 ratings)
8.8
(164 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.8
(27 ratings)
7.9
(5 ratings)
Usability
8.0
(8 ratings)
7.3
(48 ratings)
Availability
8.6
(4 ratings)
8.2
(2 ratings)
Performance
9.0
(5 ratings)
9.1
(2 ratings)
Support Rating
10.0
(8 ratings)
8.9
(45 ratings)
In-Person Training
8.7
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
8.0
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
7.0
(7 ratings)
9.1
(2 ratings)
Configurability
8.0
(2 ratings)
7.3
(1 ratings)
Ease of integration
7.3
(3 ratings)
9.1
(1 ratings)
Product Scalability
8.3
(3 ratings)
8.2
(2 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
7.0
(1 ratings)
7.3
(1 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
7.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
IBM Cognos AnalyticsSigma Computing
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
Sigma Computing
Its a great tool to have. The ability to come in the morning and by using the report being able see how the day will go. Seeing the goal and the current inventory and also to be able to adjust as the day goes on. With the report updates the report as changes to the inventory happen live or if any issues arise. being able to see that live and being to react quickly.
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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
Sigma Computing
  • Allows end users to easily dive into the data without having direct access to the table in our database management software.
  • Can easily turnaround dashboards that are detailed and visually pleasing.
  • Sigma is intuitive and as new features are rolled out it is easy to adopt and incorporate them into new and existing dashboards.
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
Sigma Computing
  • Viewer level license is quite limited. These users can't download data or even add filters on datasets. Something to keep in mind.
  • Directly querying the underlying data warehouse will lead to increased usage. Not a big deal on something like Redshift, but your Snowflake consumption will increase, potentially by a lot.
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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
Sigma Computing
Sigma has helped us a lot and has become an integral part of our daily workflow. It would be difficult to switch to another platform and have to rebuild the numerous metrics and performance reports that we have already established
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
Sigma Computing
It has a clean and modern interface. However, it is not completely intuitive. I think it would be better and easier to navigate with more Windows style drop down menus and/or tabls. There is a significant learning curve, but that may be due in part to the technical nature of this type of software tool.
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
Sigma Computing
Yes, as long as you don’t conduct user error sigma is always up and running and waiting for you to complete your dashboards
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
Sigma Computing
It depends, it loads quickly for smaller dashboards but when loading larger amounts of data it takes more time to do so
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.
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Sigma Computing
Support team is helpful in answering questions and providing help with using the UI. There are knowledgeable people within the support team. There are also good online support tools. There are significant community support resources available. There is however lack of a live support. It would be useful to have live phone number or chat to use.
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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
Sigma Computing
No answers on this topic
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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Sigma Computing
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.
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Sigma Computing
Was not involved in implementation
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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.
Read full review
Sigma Computing
Sigma is by far the best. It is easiest to learn and easiest to use on a day to day basis. I never have to wait for dashboards to load and it's very easy to understand the variables that are going into my visualizations. Best of all I can manipulate the data within Sigma very easily. In these other platforms data manipulation is difficult or must be done in the data warehouse
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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.
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Sigma Computing
It is a cloud service offering that is able to expand based on your usage
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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
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Sigma Computing
  • Monitoring health of cloud platform has allowed the company to anticipate issues before they affect customers – Sigma prompted us building a canary monitoring process that provides customer container health.
  • Customer success has used an activity report to discover customers running runaway processes that they were unaware of, creating an alert to contact the customer and prevent an embarrassing situation.
  • Customer success uses the activity report to prompt conversations regarding increases or declines in behavior that led to increasing contract limits or addressing churn concerns.
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ScreenShots

Sigma Screenshots

Screenshot of Custom calculations that can be added to tables and visualizations – no SQL skills necessary.Screenshot of Visualization tableScreenshot of Custom bins to drive complex cohort analysis built without SQL code.Screenshot of Complex cohort analyses built without code.Screenshot of Lookups provide familiar spreadsheet functionality to business users.Screenshot of A Sigma Workbook, that brings together spreadsheets, charts, and data narratives onto a live, collaborative canvas.