IBM Cognos Analytics vs. Yellowfin

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
Yellowfin
Score 7.7 out of 10
Mid-Size Companies (51-1,000 employees)
Yellowfin is a cloud-based business intelligence and dashboarding platform.
$250
per month
Pricing
IBM Cognos AnalyticsYellowfin
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 AnalyticsYellowfin
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesYes
Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalOptional
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
IBM Cognos AnalyticsYellowfin
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
IBM Cognos AnalyticsYellowfin
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
Yellowfin
6.2
12 Ratings
28% below category average
Pixel Perfect reports8.594 Ratings5.85 Ratings
Customizable dashboards7.8101 Ratings6.212 Ratings
Report Formatting Templates7.498 Ratings6.511 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
Yellowfin
6.7
12 Ratings
19% below category average
Drill-down analysis8.1103 Ratings6.711 Ratings
Formatting capabilities8.1104 Ratings7.112 Ratings
Integration with R or other statistical packages7.873 Ratings6.38 Ratings
Report sharing and collaboration8.4101 Ratings6.511 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
Yellowfin
5.9
11 Ratings
34% below category average
Publish to Web8.327 Ratings6.411 Ratings
Publish to PDF8.799 Ratings6.211 Ratings
Report Versioning8.626 Ratings5.89 Ratings
Report Delivery Scheduling8.0102 Ratings5.711 Ratings
Delivery to Remote Servers8.112 Ratings5.55 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
Yellowfin
5.9
12 Ratings
31% below category average
Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)8.090 Ratings6.012 Ratings
Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization8.287 Ratings5.812 Ratings
Predictive Analytics8.183 Ratings5.810 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
Yellowfin
6.3
11 Ratings
31% below category average
Multi-User Support (named login)8.497 Ratings6.311 Ratings
Role-Based Security Model8.396 Ratings6.510 Ratings
Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)8.296 Ratings6.410 Ratings
Report-Level Access Control8.425 Ratings00 Ratings
Single Sign-On (SSO)8.378 Ratings5.94 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
Yellowfin
6.7
8 Ratings
18% below category average
Responsive Design for Web Access7.977 Ratings6.25 Ratings
Mobile Application7.368 Ratings6.48 Ratings
Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile8.174 Ratings6.28 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
Yellowfin
6.2
5 Ratings
24% below category average
REST API7.359 Ratings6.15 Ratings
Javascript API7.658 Ratings5.45 Ratings
iFrames8.39 Ratings6.05 Ratings
Java API6.911 Ratings6.35 Ratings
Themeable User Interface (UI)7.110 Ratings6.55 Ratings
Customizable Platform (Open Source)7.87 Ratings6.55 Ratings
Best Alternatives
IBM Cognos AnalyticsYellowfin
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 AnalyticsYellowfin
Likelihood to Recommend
8.1
(128 ratings)
6.3
(12 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.8
(27 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
8.0
(8 ratings)
6.4
(7 ratings)
Availability
8.6
(4 ratings)
9.1
(1 ratings)
Performance
9.0
(5 ratings)
8.2
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
10.0
(8 ratings)
5.7
(7 ratings)
In-Person Training
8.7
(4 ratings)
9.1
(1 ratings)
Online Training
8.0
(4 ratings)
8.2
(1 ratings)
Implementation Rating
7.0
(7 ratings)
9.1
(1 ratings)
Configurability
8.0
(2 ratings)
8.2
(1 ratings)
Ease of integration
7.3
(3 ratings)
9.1
(1 ratings)
Product Scalability
8.3
(3 ratings)
8.2
(1 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
7.0
(1 ratings)
9.1
(1 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
7.0
(1 ratings)
9.1
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
IBM Cognos AnalyticsYellowfin
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
Yellowfin
We can recommend this software without hesitation, as it has the ability to generate reports and data analysis, as well as process the data automatically, which saves time. It is ideal for small and medium-sized companies that wish to improve their services in the business world
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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
Yellowfin
  • Yellowfin’s Storyboard, Timeline and Collaborative tools make it easy to share data and insights across an organisation.
  • Strong Operational and Executive Dashboards that reflect the business KPIs and can send out prompts to people within the business based on rules.
  • Yellowfin makes it incredibly easy to create dynamic reports and dashboards which incorporate maps through locational intelligence functionality.
  • Yellowfin is a single license and all access is via a web browser making it perfect for both on-premise and cloud deployment. Mobile apps are also available.
  • User roles and source filtering allows Admin/IT to offer different functions/views by user group/role.
  • Mobile BI applications to support any device ..
  • API connectors ( YF 7.2 on the way in Mar16 ) for a range of third-party Web-based applications, data sources, Enterprises CRM/ERP apps & open data platform apps, including Salesforce, Google Analytics, Twitter, Youtube , Zoho CRM, XE.com & more coming to make endusers to integrate their applications for better benefits
  • Yellowfin Integration with Predictive analytical and Big Data processing tools like R, UDF, Spark to build rich applications for end users
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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
Yellowfin
  • The ability to predefine a colour for a specific graph as a selection option dynamically.
  • The ability to customise the label of a chart, especially with respect to performance related reporting graphs we need an increase in dynamic charting options to meet our more specialised requirements.
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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.
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Yellowfin
No answers on this topic
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.
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Yellowfin
As mentioned previously, if a newer company is looking for a strong, polished BI tool, Yellowfin would be a great software vendor to consider. Unfortunately, the high cost might be a barrier to these newer companies who dont have any legacy software/agreements such as an EA agreement with Microsoft.
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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
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Yellowfin
99.9% availability
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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
Yellowfin
No answers on this topic
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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Yellowfin
They have good support in what they provide. But what they provide is not what is promised. I would stay with them if I can. Be very careful before signing up with them. They are not what they seem in the sales pitches. Be very careful and make sure you test and test before you sign up.
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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
Yellowfin
Yellowfin provides 3 levels of training to support consumers, business analytics, developers and Administrations :
  1. Yellowfin BI Training - Level 1 (Exploration)
  2. Yellowfin BI Training - Level 2 (Advanced)
  3. Yellowfin BI Training - Level 3(Expert)
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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
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Yellowfin
Web-based training for large audiences for Level 1 and Level 2 I would suggest
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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.
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Yellowfin
Design the data model and views for each dashboard is very important and it is the success factor Configuration of cluster for large 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.
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Yellowfin
Yellow Fin platform is browser agnostic and is accessible from desktops as well as mobile devices. It is very simple and fast, it is integrated with Big Data, clients do not require a great training. It just works. But it’s easier to have things on the cloud, especially if you need to use different computers. Yellow Fin lacks the cloud feature.
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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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Yellowfin
- Tested 500 con-current users in Linux platform with 4 cores systems - Tested with cloud based VM - Tested with 1000 reads per minutes
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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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Yellowfin
  • Yellowfin gives us a BI tool that is incredibly sleek, which leads our data to be clean, concise, and in an "easy-to-digest" format.
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ScreenShots

Yellowfin Screenshots

Screenshot of Location IntelligenceScreenshot of Yellowfin DashboardScreenshot of Yellowfin SignalsScreenshot of Yellowfin MobileScreenshot of Yellowfin Sales KPIs