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IBM Cognos vs Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Categories and Ranking

IBM Cognos
Ranking in Reporting
4th
Average Rating
8.0
Number of Reviews
134
Ranking in other categories
BI (Business Intelligence) Tools (7th)
Microsoft SQL Server Report...
Ranking in Reporting
6th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
8.0
Number of Reviews
18
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2024, in the Reporting category, the mindshare of IBM Cognos is 4.6%, down from 6.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services is 3.7%, down from 5.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Reporting
 

Featured Reviews

Carlos Larrad Salgado - PeerSpot reviewer
Improved the quality of our KPIs, while reducing calls to the IT department
I don't like that when we use Colab packages, we get less functionality. For example, you can make groups of data with Excel or with the data sets from the packages, but when you use the Colab packages directly, you can only group the data when you analyze it with Analysis Studio. I think Cognos needs to improve more on this functionality. The user experience is also very important. Cognos is not very easy to understand sometimes, especially when they change the layout but keep the functionality the same. The help is not very graphic and they have no examples. Cognos has to make a big effort to help with understanding the functionality by improving the documentation. There is a lot of documentation, but the examples are hard to find and they should make their help section easier to understand for non-technical users.
Gnanavel-Chakkarapani - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers useful templates but needs to improve the connectivity offered
In Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services, not much of the interface part is used. With Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services, its users face issues with the interface after they use Excel or create Microsoft SSIS Packages. The tool's interface is an area of concern requiring improvement. There needs to be an improvement in the product's connectivity so that the tool can connect easily with other third-party databases. In the dashboard, drag and drop functionality needs to improve, especially when compared to other tools like IBM Cognos Analytics and Qlik Sense. Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services is useful only for standard reports. In IBM Cognos Analytics, query studio can be used by users to drag the data and simply download the reports, so the user doesn't need to have any technical knowledge like developers. Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services is to be improved to offer features like query Studio, which is provided in IBM Cognos Analytics.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"A positive feature is Report Studio, where we create beautiful, complex reports."
"It is a stable product."
"Dashboarding, reporting, and ad hoc reporting are the valuable features of IBM Cognos."
"IBM Cognos is an excellent solution for tax, planning, budgeting, profit and loss statements and balance sheets."
"The initial setup was straightforward."
"IBM Cognos improves the effectiveness of the sales team."
"We use IBM Cognos for enterprise analytics and reporting."
"The basic platform comes with several meta-modelling tools."
"We can create quality reports in real time."
"The SQL Server Reporting Services makes it very easy to get the data whenever we need it."
"I'm very satisfied with the customer service. And usually, whenever we have any issue or details, we get to the person for the support. I'm really satisfied with the service. Within a few minutes or within a few hours, the support person will be available."
"The tool's valuable features are its drill-down feature, graphs, and charts."
"It is scalable."
"In Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services, the installation and configuration are easy."
"Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) is reliable for management dashboard and reporting purposes. It is helpful for user reporting and administrative tasks, such as monitoring progress. It is easy to use since it is lightweight and integrates well with the SQL Server database, making reporting straightforward. The visualization capabilities enhance our reporting needs with good pagination and KPI features. It integrates well with data servers and workbooks, allowing us to publish reports on mobile applications and tablets easily. Integrating other tools and platforms in our tech ecosystem is generally straightforward. However, if we need to perform something very specialized, we might have to use third-party tools rather than inbuilt options."
"I mainly use the solution for the ease of reporting and for executive dashboards."
 

Cons

"The technical support team’s response time is slow and needs to be improved."
"It is a costly product; it is comparatively expensive."
"This product could use improvement in terms of usability for those with less technical know how."
"The data uploads that we do, such as Excel files, have a lot of restrictions. If we can make it a bit more user-friendly, allowing us to have more flexibility it would be a great help."
"The high cost of a license makes it hard to scale up on a budget."
"I would like for the platform to become more standard. If we make a development on our report and our dashboard, it will not be used in another solution. That means there is no portability for the developers."
"Cognos is quite slow - it's missing the performance of the PowerPlay cubes."
"They should provide improved visual reporting."
"Technical support is in minor need of improvement so that they can solve problems in a more timely manner."
"The setup is difficult because you have to install different servers."
"The solution's interface is old."
"It doesn't have quite the flexibility of a Tableau or something like that. Many users are more comfortable with Tableau and I'm not quite sure why that is right now, but it seems to be the case."
"The complex tuning for report performance is complicated. There is a lack of native support for source code control. We often need to use separate tools like VS Code or other software to manage version control and changes in the database. It would be beneficial if source code management were integrated directly into SSRS, thus eliminating the need to rely on external tools. While CLI-based operations are exemplary, the trend is towards GUI for a better user experience. Integrating both visualization and source code management within SSRS would simplify the process for users."
"There is room for improvement in the pricing model."
"We encounter some barriers while trying to build a report."
"Sometimes, we need to make sure that the configuration stays consistent across the reporting instances. They all connect to the same database. So, it shares that same backend, but the reporting services itself can also be configured. On the application level, for reporting level. And it is, based on my own experience, it is a manual effort to make sure that the reporting servers are configured the same across the environment."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is pretty expensive."
"IBM Cognos offers competitive pricing similar to other BI vendors in the market."
"It is my understanding that the cost is very low. It's not very expensive."
"My company uses IBM Cognos with another IBM product, so I think only one license is used."
"Cognos is super expensive compared to Tableau ($70/month) and Power BI ($20/month) — I think Cognos is roughly $200 a month."
"The pricing of this product is meant for medium to large-scale enterprises."
"I don't know the exact cost, but I believe Cognos is quite expensive, especially when it comes to the support consultants and the procedures that need to be applied."
"The solution is affordable."
"The pricing is high."
"The solution is cheaper than its alternatives."
"The product pricing is reasonable in terms of suitable features for business."
"The solution is expensive."
"The solution is free to use for developers."
"The tool's licensing costs are expensive."
"Value-wise, the solution's pricing is good for the price that we pay."
"The price is pretty good."
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Comparison Review

it_user79932 - PeerSpot reviewer
Feb 4, 2015
Comparison of SAP BO, Tableau, QlikView, Cognos, Microsoft, OBIEE and Pentaho
1. SAP BO/BI Enterprise scalability Security Ease of use Semantic layer 2. Tableau Visualization Data discovery Turnaround time 3. IBM Cognos Enterprise scalability Security In-memory feature 4. MS BI - Flexibility 5. Pentaho - Open source but still enterprise grade 6. QlikView Data…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
55%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Computer Software Company
4%
Government
4%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Government
12%
Computer Software Company
10%
Healthcare Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

Seeking lightweight open source BI software
It depends on the Data architecture and the complexity of your requirement. Some great tools in the market are Qlik Sense, Power BI, OBIEE, Tableau, etc. I have recently started using Cognos Enter...
What do you like most about IBM Cognos?
The solution's most valuable feature is its ease of use, which makes it easily compatible with other tools.
What needs improvement with IBM Cognos?
I need improvements, particularly with the Framework Manager, which has an outdated user interface from older versions like IBM Cognos 10 or 8. Additionally, the Event Studio, which offered great f...
What do you like most about Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services?
I mainly use the solution for the ease of reporting and for executive dashboards.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services?
Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services should be okay if you're within the budget. We're just using open-source solutions if you're not within the budget. Sometimes, we use MySQL or something simi...
What needs improvement with Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services?
QL Server can support the customer language in the long term, so we can use another language to build some components.
 

Also Known As

Cognos, Cognos Analytics, IBM Cognos Analytics
SQL Server Reporting Services, Microsoft SSRS, SSRS, MS SQL Server Reporting Services
 

Learn More

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

More than 23,000 leading organizations across multiple industries use Cognos. Some examples of Cognos customers include BMW Financial Services, Quinte Health Care, Troy Corporation, Michigan State University, and GKN Land System.
CMS Wire, The New York Times
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Cognos vs. Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services and other solutions. Updated: December 2024.
824,053 professionals have used our research since 2012.