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IBM Planning Analytics vs SAP Analytics Cloud comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Categories and Ranking

IBM Planning Analytics
Average Rating
8.6
Number of Reviews
23
Ranking in other categories
Business Performance Management (4th)
SAP Analytics Cloud
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
69
Ranking in other categories
BI (Business Intelligence) Tools (4th), Predictive Analytics (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Business Intelligence solutions, they serve different purposes. IBM Planning Analytics is designed for Business Performance Management and holds a mindshare of 9.6%, up 8.3% compared to last year.
SAP Analytics Cloud, on the other hand, focuses on BI (Business Intelligence) Tools, holds 5.3% mindshare, down 6.1% since last year.
Business Performance Management
BI (Business Intelligence) Tools
 

Featured Reviews

Gnanavel-Chakkarapani - PeerSpot reviewer
Can easily create dashboards and helps businesses improve forecasting accuracy
The product has improved our company's forecasting accuracy since it serves as a very useful tool for our sales and controller teams as they easily get to enter the inputs using views in TM1, which gets loaded into our main database. If there are sales team members in different parts of the world, like in Hong Kong and Singapore, they may prefer to use IBM Planning Analytics, which is easy to use when compared to the Excel tool. Speaking about planning analytics and data analysis, I would say that our company used to use IBM Cognos Analytics for reporting, where we used to use Cognos Dynamic Cubes so that users can easily use its drag and drop features while getting to see the data for which the users had to wait for two to three minutes prior to its use. In our company, tons of data are loaded into the memory, and users can use Cognos Dynamic Cubes to analyze data and understand it. The AI capabilities of IBM have benefited our planning strategy as they are very useful for business. The tool allows the easy creation of dashboard reports using AI capabilities. No technical knowledge is required for business use cases. It is possible to integrate the product in scenarios where some new integrations are available. I remember that my company used Azure Data Factory to connect Azure, Oracle, and IBM WebSphere Application Server. When it comes to IBM Planning Analytics, it is complex to integrate it with LDAP and or any other authentication tool offered by Microsoft. In our company, some users like to integrate IBM Planning Analytics with the common LDAP or Microsoft AD, which we currently use for all our applications. The authentication part is difficult to configure with IBM Planning Analytics. The maintenance of the product is easy. My company has scheduled maintenance on the product every week, especially during forecast times, so that memories automatically lapse and users can freely access their servers. The use of the tool has had an impact on collaboration within our company's planning team since everyone knows how to easily access the data and publish the results. I recommend the product to those who plan to use it. I rate the tool a nine out of ten.
RamasamyTelungupalayam - PeerSpot reviewer
Seamless integration, collaborative features, and enhances data exploration
There are several areas for improvement in SAP Analytics Cloud. Firstly, features available in SAP Lumira are missing in SAP Analytics Cloud. Secondly, the predictive analytics functions, although promising, are currently only suitable for Proof of Concepts (POCs) and not for industrial-scale use. Lastly, the pricing model for the planning functionality is quite high and presents an entry barrier.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It's a very stable, robust product."
"The ease of use is valuable. The fact that it's plugged into Excel spreadsheets is also valuable. It provides additional functionality where you can slice and dice the information in a way that you can't do with spreadsheets"
"The flexibility of IBM Planning Analytics is a great feature of this solution. The design flexibility with data rules and defining calculations The ability to combine online and offline calculations are a benefit. Additionally, the forecasting features and predictive analytics is very good."
"The tool is flexible."
"The most valuable feature is that it is able to slice and dice the data."
"The product's stability is good."
"All the different platforms are well integrated."
"Planning Analytics' best features include automatic updates and slicing."
"The tool's most valuable features are the BI and planning functionalities. I value being able to integrate smart planning with BI for analysis. The solution is user-friendly."
"The ability to collaborate and plan together is great."
"One feature I've found most valuable is discovery."
"Offers both business intelligence as well as inbuilt AI and machine learning capabilities."
"Planning is the most valuable feature of the product because it's integrated and that means we don't need to rely on an independent planning environment."
"The most valuable features of SAP Analytics Cloud are its native integration with SAP data and the ability to leverage SAP artifacts."
"I like the product's capabilities. The clarity and scenarios are the main features that allow us to forecast using machine learning algorithms and make decisions."
"All of the modules that we used to have separately in our on-premises solution are now integrated into one platform."
 

Cons

"Adding predefined templates could be beneficial."
"It's highly competitive right now, and all the vendors are in a race to put out new versions with additional features. IBM comes out with new versions too often, and it has an impact on quality."
"Extracting data is a little slow."
"The tool should include features for prediction. It can also improve the scalability."
"The dashboard is very poor and needs a lot of improvement."
"Planning Analytics could be improved by adding automation features."
"The new frontend Planning Analytics Workspace is not very good, it could be improved. I like the Planning Analytics functionality but it would be helpful if it could be more customizable. You can create a prediction and receive information but you cannot do feature engineering regarding the predictive models. If this was added it would be helpful."
"It is a bit expensive, but it does the job."
"Sometimes we have difficulty connecting to a SharePoint list."
"The technology used by the tool is old, making it an area where improvements are required."
"Connection and integration with other applications have a lot of restrictions at the moment."
"However, there are areas of improvement, particularly in terms of visualization. The front-end interface of SAP Analytics Cloud is not as impressive as Tableau and Power BI. The charts in other solutions have a more visually appealing and customizable look, while in SAP Analytics Cloud, there's a lack of alignment between numbers and charts. This graphical aspect, especially concerning charts, is not as satisfactory in SAP Analytics Cloud compared to its counterparts."
"When it comes to planning there is a concern about the ability to match the exact requirements of the customer with what the product offers."
"There should be more features for the time series charts."
"We need to know that we are using the latest and greatest, and SAP appears as if it has lost some credit in the market.​"
"Statistical analysis should be a bit more profound than it is."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Compared with the other tools in the market, IBM Planning Analytics is a bit expensive."
"The license of this solution is paid annually. Most of my customers choose a license that includes support."
"IBM Planning Analytics is priced well, and licensing costs are yearly."
"It is a bit expensive, but you get what you are paying for."
"I would rate the tool's pricing a nine out of ten since it's expensive."
"Our licensing cost is approximately $50,000.00 per year."
"IBM Planning Analytics is not the cheapest solution, but it's priced per the market standard for this type of solution. I rate the price at seven out of ten."
"It's quite expensive and costs a lot to maintain, especially with licensing."
"Compute and storage features should be sold separately."
"Its licensing is on a monthly basis."
"The product is expensive."
"This solution is pricey."
"I don't have the exact price for SAP Analytics Cloud, but it could be improved and made cheaper, especially when compared to Power BI."
"It Wasn't directly involved in the pricing discussions, but when I joined the organization, they had already purchased the SAP Analytics Cloud solution. The organization faced challenges due to its perceived expense, leading to restrictions on granting access to many users."
"The price is competitive. There is a power user license and normal user license, but the normal user license is reasonable."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
47%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Computer Software Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Educational Organization
24%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Computer Software Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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?
The cost of IBM Planning Analytics is not cheap, considering the amount of money involved. However, it offers good ROI for customers.
What needs improvement with IBM Planning Analytics?
The workspace API should be improved and documented so we know better which objects and tier-one objects are used.
Which would you choose - Tableau or SAP Analytics Cloud?
Tableau is easy to set up and maintain. In about a day it is possible for the entire platform to be deployed for use. This relatively short amount of time can make all the difference for companies ...
What do you like most about SAP Analytics Cloud?
In the data warehouse, you're free to make changes. You can make everything text, meaning it's always a string. Even numbers appear as text, giving you the flexibility to work with all columns.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SAP Analytics Cloud?
The pricing model for SAP Analytics Cloud is quite competitive, but the cost for the planning functionality is high and can be a barrier to entry. The overall cost can be managed with better billin...
 

Also Known As

Cognos TM1, IBM Cognos TM1
SAP BusinessObjects Cloud
 

Learn More

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

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
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Find out what your peers are saying about Anaplan, Oracle, IBM and others in Business Performance Management. Updated: October 2024.
816,192 professionals have used our research since 2012.