Item: IBM Cognos Analytics
Rating: 7
Author: Verified User

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I use Cognos Analytics bi-weekly to report and analyze time spent of employees from external working time tracking software. I look for more detailed information about billable vs non-billable hours and find possible trends from it. If the time spent is non-billable, what are the reasons for that, is it for example warranty work or possible prospects for new opportunities.

Pros and Cons

Dashboard
Multi-page reporting
Report distributing
Data connectivity options
AI assistant

Easier ways to manage very complex reports
Prompts should be more dynamic and way to make dynamic pre-select for example based on the current calendar year.
Dimensional reporting

Return on Investment

After the reports are done the sharing and scheduled distributing is great
KPI dashboarding is a fast way to see what is happening and it's easy to drill through to more detailed information
Company controllers can easily produce all dashboard for users

Self-Service

Dashboarding is very easy to start for beginners. It's very user-friendly and drags n drop works well with AI assistant because it automatically recognizes data which is the best visualization for it. Cognos Analytics front page is customizing itself with the reports I use most.

Data Security and Quality

Securing data is the best part. It's only one reporting source for all users, but you can many ways to limit data visibility for users and groups. For example company lead can see every data aspect, area controllers can see only their own region, the project manager can see their projects, etc. Many ways and customization options for data security.

Reporting

All that is true if you are familiar with Cognos report studio, but for first-time users, it is almost impossible to create pixel-perfect and complex multi-page reports. To achieve that needs the help of Cognos BI consult or a lot of self-training.

Other Software Used

IBM Planning Analytics with Watson, IBM CPLEX Optimization Studio, Microsoft SQL Server

Key Insights

Do you think IBM Cognos Analytics delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with IBM Cognos Analytics's feature set?

Yes

Did IBM Cognos Analytics live up to sales and marketing promises?

I wasn't involved with the selection/purchase process

Did implementation of IBM Cognos Analytics go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy IBM Cognos Analytics again?

Yes

Likelihood to Recommend

For beginner users making very complex reports are hard and time-consuming. But with the help and training of a good consultant, the results can be awesome. On the other hand, dashboards are easy to create also for beginners. The dashboard is more of drag n drop and doesn't need in-depth knowledge. AI assistant helps a lot because it will automatically recognize straight from data what is the best visualization for that.

Cognos Analytics is great tool, but creating complex reports requires time and competence

Modules Used

Overall Satisfaction with IBM Cognos Analytics with Watson