All IBM Cognos Analytics Reviews

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User Profile

Joseph

Verified reviewer

Computer Software, 501-1,000 employees

Used weekly for more than 2 years

Review Source: Capterra
This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered

OVERALL RATING:

5

EASE OF USE

5

VALUE FOR MONEY

5

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

5

FUNCTIONALITY

5

Reviewed May 2023

Agrxis Review on IBM Cognos Analytics

My experience with IBM Cognos Analytics has been great. I have used the platform and discovered it to be exceptionally robust and user-friendly. I can navigate and access the many features and functionalities with ease because to the user-friendly UI. The excellent reporting and analytics tools allow me to easily derive insightful conclusions from my data. The platform's powerful collaboration tools have also significantly increased our team's effectiveness and productivity. IBM's customer service has been outstanding, with quick responses and useful advice whenever needed. In general, IBM Cognos Analytics has changed the game for our company by enabling us to make data-driven decisions that are both effective and efficient. Anyone in need of a complete and dependable analytics solution should definitely consider it.

PROS

In my experience using IBM Cognos Analytics, I discovered a number of features that I genuinely valued. One of the features I enjoyed the most was how capable and thorough the reporting was. I was able to show data in a relevant and interesting way thanks to the software, which offered a variety of possibilities for designing visually appealing and interactive reports. The customization and flexibility features in IBM Cognos Analytics were very appealing to me. I was able to add my own branding and layouts to reports and dashboards to match my own business demands. The capability to smoothly link to diverse data sources was another noteworthy feature. I was able to access and analyze a variety of datasets with ease because to IBM Cognos Analytics' support for integration with various databases and file types. Additionally, the software offered robust collaboration and sharing features, enabling me to collaborate with team members and stakeholders efficiently. 

CONS

In my experience with IBM Cognos Analytics, there were a few aspects that I found challenging and could be improved upon. One of the areas that I liked least was the learning curve associated with the software. It took some time and effort to become familiar with the platform and its features. The complexity of certain functionalities and the lack of intuitive user interfaces made it a bit difficult for me to navigate and utilize the tool effectively at first.

Anonymous

1,001-5,000 employees

Used daily for more than 2 years

Review Source: GetApp
This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you.

OVERALL RATING:

4

EASE OF USE

4

VALUE FOR MONEY

4

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

3

FUNCTIONALITY

5

Reviewed October 2020

Enterprise Reporting and Analytics Tool

It has been a solid tool for our company for last so many years. IT meets out current needs in terms of performance and capabilities. However, as we start exploring more cutting edge technologies like cloud, SAAS and Advanced Analytics, we see the tool is not in the top 3.

PROS

Well established took with huge user base and support. Being IBMs main BI tool, it comes with a lot of Support and Knowledge Base. There are tons of supporting products for Advanced Analytics, Visualization and AI/ML which makes the tool both powerful and versatile. It fits into both departmental BI as well as for Enterprise wide reporting.

CONS

IBM should increase the support the provide for their products. It is difficult to get quick help from IBM.Self service features of the tool and not as easy as other contemporary tools like Tableau and Qlikview. IBM has catching up to do in this area. Also cloud based SAAS is not yet advanced for COGNOS.

Reason for choosing IBM Cognos Analytics

IBM support. We have been an IBM shop since early 200s and continued with that

User Profile

Justin

Verified reviewer

Higher Education, 201-500 employees

Used daily for more than 2 years

Review Source: Capterra
This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you.

OVERALL RATING:

2

EASE OF USE

2

VALUE FOR MONEY

2

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

3

FUNCTIONALITY

3

Reviewed February 2019

Used to be good, showing age

General business intelligence tool that is showing its age and needs to be geared more for agile. Not a great solution for small user numbers or more towards hardcore analyst/data scientist.

PROS

The latest versions have improved the report writer experience by consolidating a few of the modules. Generally robust at connecting to single data sources.

CONS

Steep learning curve for writing reports and setting up Framework Manager packaging is way too time consuming. The end user interface got more complicated and less easy to use in their attempt for more flashiness. The latest versions have been extremely buggy. Data blending and quick turnarounds are not its strong point.

User Profile

Sally April

Verified reviewer

Semiconductors, 1,001-5,000 employees

Used daily for less than 2 years

Review Source: Capterra
This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you.

OVERALL RATING:

5

EASE OF USE

4

VALUE FOR MONEY

4

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

5

FUNCTIONALITY

5

Reviewed June 2022

Tool that improves decision making

PROS

It has a nice user interface, with multiple customization options, attractive panels and excellent performance. It has the useful drag and drop tool that makes it easy to manipulate data to create nice visualizations. Provides high quality and visually pleasing real-time reports. The mobile application works very well, giving the platform greater mobility.

CONS

I would like them to improve the documentation to start using the platform more easily and get the most out of all its functions. Its cost is considerably high.

User Profile

Nicolas

Verified reviewer

Financial Services, 201-500 employees

Used daily for less than 12 months

Review Source: Capterra
This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you.

OVERALL RATING:

5

EASE OF USE

4

VALUE FOR MONEY

4

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

4

FUNCTIONALITY

4

Reviewed June 2022

Robust BI tool

It provides a set of highly flexible and customizable features that help improve our analytics and positively impact our decision-making.

PROS

It allows you to connect the data thrown by different sources and create personalized reports that you can share in real time. It allows planning operations based on pre-established rules to model the entire business process and obtain the best results on the implemented strategies.

CONS

Its license has a high cost compared to similar platforms. It has a steep learning curve and its user interface has a lot of room for improvement.

Elaine

Used daily for more than 2 years

Review Source: Capterra
This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you.

OVERALL RATING:

4

EASE OF USE

2

VALUE FOR MONEY

3

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

1

FUNCTIONALITY

4

Reviewed March 2018

Great capabilities, but really difficult to use practically.

PROS

Cognos Analytics has really great capabilities. There is so much that you can do with the framework if you know what you're doing. Good security features. Good for enterprise level reporting.

CONS

If you're hoping this will replace a dedicated reporting team or IT team, it will not. The ease of use depends on several factors and be SURE that you have an experienced team built the framework. No support whatsoever from Cognos themselves for end users, and they take a long time to get back to us on issues. The new visualizations can be clunky, especially maps. They are unusable for detailed maps. Scheduling features slow down the system considerably.

Anonymous

51-200 employees

Used weekly for less than 12 months

Review Source: Capterra
This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you.

OVERALL RATING:

4

EASE OF USE

4

VALUE FOR MONEY

4

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

4

FUNCTIONALITY

4

Reviewed April 2018

I recommended this SW of BI to a company that had several departments to connect and collab together

uses multidimensional and relational data source transforming data into metadata, Cognos is a complete platform for data experts

PROS

It is a very complete software already from the basic version (it already offers the map graph). it allows real-time monitoring useful also for predictive analysis. It allows you to work anywhere even offline, producing interactive reports being able to consult them even without connection. It's easy to use even without having followed a specific training program. Charts that can be customized at the the maximum level (so complete from this point of view).

CONS

Not captivating and innovative graphics with the times (it seems like an office pack years 2000). when the graphics are very complex they are difficult to display on web pages, they do not always fit. there isn't a feature where you can search where a particular data field is located/stored. The scheduler it's not easy to use and automating the sending of static reports to users is not easy

Anonymous

1,001-5,000 employees

Used daily for less than 2 years

Review Source: Capterra
This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you.

OVERALL RATING:

4

EASE OF USE

4

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

4

FUNCTIONALITY

4

Reviewed November 2018

Excellent data source

Excellent, I really like the reports included and the accuracy of the data

PROS

It has a lot of reports included and providing the information needed

CONS

Some reports were not easy to run and I have to go to the home page to run a different report

Anonymous

Used daily for less than 12 months

Review Source: Capterra
This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you.

OVERALL RATING:

4

EASE OF USE

2

FUNCTIONALITY

3

Reviewed December 2017

Seems a bit archaic and was not easy to learn how to use

PROS

Once you have mastered the learning curve and know exactly where to click and what to type to querie your data, you are able to get what you need

CONS

Not intuitive and knowing where to go or click for different queries/reports/data searches and you really need a colleague who has done it before to show you how.

User Profile

Gerson

Verified reviewer

Used more than 2 years

Review Source: Capterra
This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you.

OVERALL RATING:

5

EASE OF USE

5

VALUE FOR MONEY

4

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

4

FUNCTIONALITY

5

Reviewed February 2018

A great solution for your financial planning

Take your time and implement it right and the rewards will be very good.

PROS

It has integration with with other IBM products like business intelligence. The excel functionality is great for finances. The product to meet our needs perfectly for all our needs.

CONS

Creating reports is overwhelming at the beginning but if you dedicate time and resources there will be the face of your deployment.

Alvaro

Management Consulting, 11-50 employees

Used daily for more than 2 years

OVERALL RATING:

5

EASE OF USE

3

VALUE FOR MONEY

5

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

4

FUNCTIONALITY

5

Reviewed June 2017

The best software for business forecasts with functionalities for creating scenarios and sandboxes for each user.

TM1 allows you to build business models that display online results available to all authorized users of the organization.

PROS

IBM Cognos TM1 facilitates the creation of business models with the participation and contribution of users throughout the organization regardless of their physical location. TM1 is a enterprise-level platform that allows an integral, flexible, rigorous and perfect control over the users that contribute with the creation of the budget. It allows building multidimensional models that incorporate the business rules that govern the financial processes of the company.

CONS

IBM Cognos TM1 needs to train personnel to administer the platform. The construction of the models requires specialized IT staff. The cost of the licenses is for medium and large companies.

Matt

Construction, 10,000+ employees

Used daily for more than 2 years

Review Source: Capterra
This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you.

OVERALL RATING:

4

EASE OF USE

4

VALUE FOR MONEY

4

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

4

FUNCTIONALITY

4

Reviewed September 2018

Cognos pulls meaning out of any data

It gives big data meaning and helps us answer business question so we can make smart decisions and provide relevant and cleanly formatted data to our customers.

PROS

It is straight-forward and feature-rich. We have combined dozens and dozens of queries into a single report without any issue before, so it has that advantage over most of the alternative solutions.

CONS

The version of Cognos we are running currently makes it difficult to pinpoint the bottle-neck of certain reports.

Felix

Primary/Secondary Education, 11-50 employees

Used weekly for less than 2 years

Review Source
This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you.

OVERALL RATING:

5

EASE OF USE

4

VALUE FOR MONEY

4

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

5

FUNCTIONALITY

4

Reviewed June 2018

Powerful tool for the good analysis of your data. can get quick information for quick decisions

PROS

Cognos is a very effective BI tool. you can create customized reports without having a very technical background ... It can be easily integrated with several data sources in a simple and consistent way and I find the interface to extract data on demand or send scheduled reports (Report Planner) excellent. good user experience with the drag and drop. . . versatility of the Live API to postgres, sql server and oracle databases. We use Cognos to deliver operational reports to all production units and great and very well presented reports and productivity indicators to senior managers

CONS

It is a very powerful tool but not as easy to understand quickly as other tools on the market for the same price .. The learning curve is broad. The initial configuration is not easy, the dashboard function does not have many options. Installation can also be a complicated issue and may require vendor support

Sagar

Used daily for more than 2 years

Review Source: Capterra
This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you.

OVERALL RATING:

4

EASE OF USE

4

VALUE FOR MONEY

4

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

3

FUNCTIONALITY

5

Reviewed July 2018

Great Reporting tool for your datawarehousing need

PROS

Cognos tool suite is perfect for your enterprise needs, with different tool available for different user level. The tool can handle all the reporting needs (charts, table, list, crosstab). With the addition of active reports and Cognos mobile it makes a complete solution

CONS

Enhancement of geographical reporting, current available option for Maps are very limited and should be extended.

Anonymous

10,000+ employees

Used daily for more than 2 years

Review Source: Capterra
This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you.

OVERALL RATING:

5

EASE OF USE

5

FUNCTIONALITY

5

Reviewed April 2019

Love it!

PROS

I love cognos. I can run any report, any time... past/present/future. So many options. Love the ability to create shortcuts to the reports I use on a daily basis as well. Quick & easy to use.

CONS

The only thing I don't like is the reports don't always give a good description before running them.

Kim

Used weekly for more than 2 years

Review Source: Capterra

OVERALL RATING:

3

EASE OF USE

2

VALUE FOR MONEY

2

FUNCTIONALITY

2

Reviewed June 2017

Almost unworkable product

A reporting framework that can be used to access back end data.

PROS

Unfortunately, there is not much to write in this section. The only possible "pro" in all cases would be the flexibility offered in the product as far as setting up the framework. Other than that, not much to like.

CONS

User interface was slow and clumsy. The user experience was not smooth at all. There was no ease of use whatsoever. The retrieval times from the back end were even worse. We had to retrofit an existing n-tier system to use the reporting side of this software and it was a disaster. There is no way I would recommend to anyone to purchase this system.

Katherine

51-200 employees

Used daily for more than 2 years

Review Source
This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you.

OVERALL RATING:

5

EASE OF USE

5

VALUE FOR MONEY

5

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

5

FUNCTIONALITY

5

Reviewed June 2018

Cognos is it!

PROS

Cognos has such great data available and we use it through our HRIS - it has changed the way we report out on data

CONS

The only hard thing is getting used to the reporting, but once you learn then it is smooth sailing!!

Sue

Used daily for less than 2 years

Review Source: Capterra
This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you.

OVERALL RATING:

3

EASE OF USE

3

VALUE FOR MONEY

3

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

3

FUNCTIONALITY

3

Reviewed May 2018

Ok tool

PROS

I had used the IBM Cognod Sales Compensation tool while working a global high tech company. It took a while to learn the system but once you figure it out then it was easy to use and configure the plans.

CONS

The only issue I had at the time was the very long time it would take to run a calculations. Average was an hour.

Brian

Hospital & Health Care, 10,000+ employees

Used weekly for more than 2 years

Review Source
This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you.

OVERALL RATING:

4

EASE OF USE

2

FUNCTIONALITY

5

Reviewed December 2019

Tons of Features, very powerful, not for a novice

I have been very pleased with it since getting over the giant hurdle that is learning how to do anything at all in the product.

PROS

It can handle enormous amounts of data and allows a user to create extremely complex data models from almost any number of disparate sources

CONS

Super complex and difficult to learn. The least intuitive software I have ever used, and the help documentation is pretty much useless.

Tanzeela

Computer Software, 51-200 employees

Used daily for less than 12 months

Review Source: Capterra
This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered

OVERALL RATING:

4

EASE OF USE

5

VALUE FOR MONEY

5

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

5

FUNCTIONALITY

4

Reviewed February 2021

One of the most recommended Software for Dashboarding

PROS

I would definitely recommend this to people who want to create effective dashboards and reports. It has user friendly interface. I is good alternative for tableau or power BI.

CONS

It needs to upgrade a little bit to give features like Power BI

Kinjal

Computer Software

Used more than 2 years

OVERALL RATING:

4

EASE OF USE

4

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

3

FUNCTIONALITY

4

Reviewed March 2015

I am a BI developer

PROS

I like its functionality and different features. I also like the ease of use.

CONS

Cognos's support sometimes is not as it should be. The support should be quick and accurate, and Cognos should have more error details to track down the solution. The majority of time, the error doesn't provide meaningful info, so it is always difficulty to track down the solution.

Deb

Primary/Secondary Education, 501-1,000 employees

Used weekly for less than 2 years

Review Source
This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you.

OVERALL RATING:

4

EASE OF USE

3

VALUE FOR MONEY

3

FUNCTIONALITY

4

Reviewed July 2018

Expensive but Good

PROS

This product will do just about anything you want it to do. It does take more of a skilled employee in order to create things. However, anyone can run things once they are created.

CONS

This product is pricey, especially for a mid range company. It takes a lot of training and setup to get the product going as one would like.

Girish

Civic & Social Organization

Used more than 2 years

OVERALL RATING:

4

EASE OF USE

4

FUNCTIONALITY

5

Reviewed February 2015

Robust product with more options for customization. SDK should be free

PROS

Customization and more options to tune performance improvements. Many ways to connect databases like FM. Direct datasource, usage of stored procedure, and usage of database trigger is good.

CONS

SDK has to be bought as separate package, whereas it should be given free.

Mark

Legal Services, 51-200 employees

Used daily for free trial

Review Source: Capterra

OVERALL RATING:

5

EASE OF USE

5

VALUE FOR MONEY

3

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

4

FUNCTIONALITY

5

Reviewed January 2017

Cognos Review

My prior firm switched from the other software to Cognos to leverage the data contained in our Pivotal database. This software was far easier to use to create reports on the fly.

PROS

I like the ability to create reports on the fly.

CONS

I do not have any dislikes other than the staged rollout of pieces of my prior firm's datamart.

Ric

Computer Software

Used less than 2 years

OVERALL RATING:

3

EASE OF USE

2

FUNCTIONALITY

3

Reviewed April 2015

IBM Cognos Business Power

PROS

This software is very flexible and extensive enough to meet almost any of your needs. The reporting engine allows for complex queries and views that far surpass standard reporting methods.

CONS

While I was not involved in the purchase of the software it is my understanding the cost was a little high and this is not designed for novice users.

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