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Databricks vs IBM Planning Analytics comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
6.6
Organizations benefit from Databricks' cost-effectiveness and efficiency, though some find evaluating immediate gains challenging due to specific contexts.
Sentiment score
6.8
IBM Planning Analytics boosts budgeting productivity but faces challenges from rising costs, prompting some companies to explore alternatives.
For a lot of different tasks, including machine learning, it is a nice solution.
Senior Data Engineer at a logistics company with 51-200 employees
When it comes to big data processing, I prefer Databricks over other solutions.
Head CEO at bizmetric
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.1
Databricks customer service is praised for responsiveness and expertise, despite occasional delays and communication issues via Microsoft.
Sentiment score
6.0
IBM Planning Analytics support is positive, yet response times vary; documentation, training, and multi-level support are valued.
Whenever we reach out, they respond promptly.
Senior Data Engineer at a logistics company with 51-200 employees
As of now, we are raising issues and they are providing solutions without any problems.
Data Platform Architect at KELLANOVA
I rate the technical support as fine because they have levels of technical support available, especially partners who get really good support from Databricks on new features.
Data Engineer at CRAFT Tech
We have a multi-level support system, with the initial level handled by the company we bought the license from and subsequent support from IBM.
Responsable B.I at a retailer with 51-200 employees
Instead, we rely on third-party partners recognized by IBM, who provide cost-effective support.
Financial Performance Manager at a retailer with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.4
Databricks provides excellent scalability, supporting diverse data sizes and sectors with high-performance cloud infrastructure and cost-effective management.
Sentiment score
7.5
IBM Planning Analytics excels in scalability and real-time data, though complexity and pricing pose challenges for some users.
The patches have sometimes caused issues leading to our jobs being paused for about six hours.
Senior Data Engineer at a logistics company with 51-200 employees
Databricks is an easily scalable platform.
Data Platform Architect at KELLANOVA
I would rate the scalability of this solution as very high, about nine out of ten.
Data Engineer at CRAFT Tech
Scalability is quite hard to implement in TM1, largely since the on-premise installation chosen back in 2014.
Responsable B.I at a retailer with 51-200 employees
Scalability is straightforward but it is pricey since it's a SaaS model priced per user.
Financial Performance Manager at a retailer with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
Databricks is stable and reliable, with high performance and robustness, despite occasional minor issues resolved quickly.
Sentiment score
7.7
IBM Planning Analytics is stable and reliable, praised for robustness, supporting budgeting in various industries with few issues.
They release patches that sometimes break our code.
Senior Data Engineer at a logistics company with 51-200 employees
Although it is too early to definitively state the platform's stability, we have not encountered any issues so far.
Data Platform Architect at KELLANOVA
Databricks is definitely a very stable product and reliable.
Data Engineer at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees
This stability is really important as we use it for budget calculation, which is time-consuming.
Responsable B.I at a retailer with 51-200 employees
 

Room For Improvement

Databricks users desire advanced visualization, better integration, enhanced documentation, predictive analytics features, and improved user experience and tools.
IBM Planning Analytics needs improved integration, pricing, visualization, user interface, functionality, automation, design, speed, and predictive analytics support.
Adjusting features like worker nodes and node utilization during cluster creation could mitigate these failures.
Data Engineer at a engineering company with 1,001-5,000 employees
We prefer using a small to mid-sized cluster for many jobs to keep costs low, but this sometimes doesn't support our operations properly.
Senior Data Engineer at a logistics company with 51-200 employees
We use MLflow for managing MLOps, however, further improvement would be beneficial, especially for large language models and related tools.
Solution Architect at Mercedes-Benz AG
The abundance of features results in complexity, requiring strict guidelines for developers to ensure simplistic approaches are adhered to.
Responsable B.I at a retailer with 51-200 employees
IBM's visualization needs significant improvement.
Financial Performance Manager at a retailer with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Setup Cost

Databricks' pricing is seen as high for large data volumes but competitive for batch processing on cloud platforms.
Enterprise IBM Planning Analytics has setup costs from consulting fees and varied licensing, offering market-standard ROI and compatibility.
It is not a cheap solution.
Data Platform Architect at KELLANOVA
TM1 is quite expensive, and I'd rate the pricing as an eight out of ten.
Responsable B.I at a retailer with 51-200 employees
While IBM's solutions were costly before, the introduction of SaaS models has reduced prices significantly.
Financial Performance Manager at a retailer with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Valuable Features

Databricks simplifies large-scale analytics with user-friendly UI, powerful integrations, and scalable features for enhanced performance and collaboration.
IBM Planning Analytics enhances planning with flexible design, Excel integration, sandbox testing, machine learning, and user-friendly interface.
Databricks' capability to process data in parallel enhances data processing speed.
Data Engineer at a engineering company with 1,001-5,000 employees
The platform allows us to leverage cloud advantages effectively, enhancing our AI and ML projects.
Data Platform Architect at KELLANOVA
The Unity Catalog is for data governance, and the Delta Lake is to build the lakehouse.
Data Engineer at CRAFT Tech
Its stability helps controllers win time in their planning processes.
Responsable B.I at a retailer with 51-200 employees
It also integrates machine learning and AI engines, enabling us to use algorithms for inventory forecasting which optimizes our inventory and replenishment rates.
Financial Performance Manager at a retailer with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Categories and Ranking

Databricks
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
91
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Data Warehouse (9th), Data Science Platforms (1st), Data Management Platforms (DMP) (5th), Streaming Analytics (1st)
IBM Planning Analytics
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
25
Ranking in other categories
Business Performance Management (6th)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Business Intelligence solutions, they serve different purposes. Databricks is designed for Cloud Data Warehouse and holds a mindshare of 9.2%, up 6.7% compared to last year.
IBM Planning Analytics, on the other hand, focuses on Business Performance Management, holds 4.9% mindshare, down 9.2% since last year.
Cloud Data Warehouse Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Databricks9.2%
Snowflake16.1%
Teradata8.5%
Other66.2%
Cloud Data Warehouse
Business Performance Management Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
IBM Planning Analytics4.9%
Anaplan7.4%
CCH Tagetik5.7%
Other82.0%
Business Performance Management
 

Featured Reviews

ShubhamSharma7 - PeerSpot reviewer
Data Engineer at a engineering company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Capability to integrate diverse coding languages in a single notebook greatly enhances workflow
Databricks offers various courses that I can use, whether it's PySpark, Scala, or R. I can leverage all these courses in a single notebook, which is beneficial for clients as they can access various tools in one place whenever needed. This is quite significant. I usually work with PySpark based on client requirements. After coding, I feed the Databricks notebooks into the ADF pipeline for updates. Databricks' capability to process data in parallel enhances data processing speed. Furthermore, I can connect our Databricks notebook directly with Power BI and other visualization tools like Qlik. Once we develop code, it allows us to transform raw data into visualizations for clients using analysis diagrams, which is very helpful.
reviewer1517922 - PeerSpot reviewer
Responsable B.I at a retailer with 51-200 employees
Ensured functionality meets user needs, yet complexity remains a challenge
Since I'm using TM1 as an old version of Planning Analytics, it wouldn't be fair to specify what needs improvement because it's possible these issues have already been addressed in newer versions. If we talk only about the TM1 engine, it's quite rich and possibly too rich, making it complex to perform simple tasks. The abundance of features results in complexity, requiring strict guidelines for developers to ensure simplistic approaches are adhered to. This complexity makes it hard to maintain and evolve developments.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
18%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Healthcare Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Retailer
9%
Insurance Company
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business25
Midsize Enterprise12
Large Enterprise56
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business16
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise9
 

Questions from the Community

Which do you prefer - Databricks or Azure Machine Learning Studio?
Databricks gives you the option of working with several different languages, such as SQL, R, Scala, Apache Spark, or Python. It offers many different cluster choices and excellent integration with ...
How would you compare Databricks vs Amazon SageMaker?
We researched AWS SageMaker, but in the end, we chose Databricks. Databricks is a Unified Analytics Platform designed to accelerate innovation projects. It is based on Spark so it is very fast. It...
Which would you choose - Databricks or Azure Stream Analytics?
Databricks is an easy-to-set-up and versatile tool for data management, analysis, and business analytics. For analytics teams that have to interpret data to further the business goals of their orga...
What do you like most about IBM Planning Analytics?
The most valuable features of IBM Planning Analytics for streamlining planning processes include a unified database where all data are centralized.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Planning Analytics?
While IBM's solutions were costly before, the introduction of SaaS models has reduced prices significantly. Comparatively, IBM rates may be better than those of competitors, such as Hyperion ( /pro...
What needs improvement with IBM Planning Analytics?
IBM is behind competitors like Tableau ( /products/tableau-reviews ) and Power BI in terms of visualization. Their visuals are less innovative and practical with fewer varieties. IBM's visualizatio...
 

Also Known As

Databricks Unified Analytics, Databricks Unified Analytics Platform, Redash
Cognos TM1, IBM Cognos TM1
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Elsevier, MyFitnessPal, Sharethrough, Automatic Labs, Celtra, Radius Intelligence, Yesware
ManpowerGroup, Convergys, AIG, Orchard Brands, Citibank, InterGen, Northwestern University, EF Education First, Ironside, Bazan Group, CSOB Insurance, Macquarie Group, Charles Stanley, SATO, Government of Sint Maarten, BMW Financial Services
Find out what your peers are saying about Snowflake Computing, Microsoft, Teradata and others in Cloud Data Warehouse. Updated: December 2025.
879,768 professionals have used our research since 2012.