IBM Cognos Reviews, Competitors and Pricing

it_user544752

Business Intelligence Consultant at a construction company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Mar 5, 2017

Download

Allows authors to adapt and elaborate dashboards. I would like to see a more centralized environment.

What is most valuable?

Report design
Very flexible
Intuitive
Prompts capabilities, variables, and calculations
Easy for authors to adapt and elaborate professional dashboards

How has it helped my organization?

It includes a dashboard developed for use in all branches across the country. This has improved their time to acquire the proper information to make decisions on a daily basis.

What needs improvement?

Nowadays, the finance team doesn't use Cognos as they should. They extract a bunch of data and create their spreadsheets all over the place.

With TM1 coming on board next year, this dirty job is going to be replaced by a centralized environment.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using the solution for four years in my current job.

Buyer's Guide

IBM Cognos

January 2025

Free Report: IBM Cognos Reviews and More

Learn what your peers think about IBM Cognos. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: January 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

831,158 professionals have used our research since 2012.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We have not encountered any stability issues.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have not encountered any scalability issues.

How are customer service and support?

The technical support is good.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I am not aware of any previous solutions.

How was the initial setup?

The setup is a little bit complex with regard to the IT procedures, but the installation is quite easy.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The price is a bit expensive.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I am not aware of any other evaluated solutions.

What other advice do I have?

If you have the budget to implement, then do it.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: We are an IBM partner.

it_user552831

Business Intelligence Specialist / Information - Business Analyst / Cognos BI Specialist at a local government with 1,001-5,000 employees

Feb 23, 2017

Download

Connects to data sources to create business decision reports.

What is most valuable?

The solution connects to all data sources easily. There is an express and an enterprise version.

How has it helped my organization?

As a consultant, I build complete business decision reports with Cognos.

What needs improvement?

For the current dashboard, it would be nice to have a better layout and more functions.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using this solution for fifteen years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Each product that I have worked with has bugs, and Cognos is no exception. There will be new releases that will fix these bugs.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Scalability is fine. I never came across any major issues

How is customer service and technical support?

IBM has a complete knowledge base and support setup.

How was the initial setup?

The installation was straightforward.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Pricing and licensing have many forms and possibilities. Take a good look at the number of users and the profiles needed. This will increase or decrease the price accordingly.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I worked with several BI products. The choice depends on the business size and preferences.

What other advice do I have?

Check all BI products, such as Microsoft, Oracle, and Cognos. Check the pros and cons before making the choice.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: As consultants, our firm is a partner of IBM

Buyer's Guide

IBM Cognos

January 2025

Free Report: IBM Cognos Reviews and More

Learn what your peers think about IBM Cognos. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: January 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

831,158 professionals have used our research since 2012.

it_user174621

Cognos Consultant at a insurance company with 51-200 employees

Jan 15, 2015

The Dashboards feature is almost a challenge to other BI tools

In the market, there are new cutting edge technologies that analyze data in a better way. Cognos is a tool where we can view the data in a more understanding way. In the new version, Cognos 10.2.1, there are new features to analyze the data, and this enables you to take better business decisions.

Active reports are available to see the data offline and can be integrated to view the report outputs on an iPhone as well in an animated feature.
Visualization feature is in the new version, 10.2.1, and can be compared with other BI tools such as Tibco, Spotfire, and Tabulae.
Dashboards feature is almost a challenge to other BI tools to show the reports in the same way, i.e. a summary analysis.
Other reporting options are almost complete compared to the other BI tools and offers more sophisticated performing.

We can say that it’s a very successful BI tool and it has gained acceptance with business users and hopefully will be in the market for a long time.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

it_user164865

BI Expert at a consultancy with 51-200 employees

Dec 4, 2014

Download

Highly visual and interactive control without long waits; allows us to use the tool in an interactive and easy way.

What is most valuable?

- The ease of use and ability to create things.

- The security provided by IBM Cognos compared to other tools.

- Reduced time for answers on business panels; highly visual and interactive control without long waits.

How has it helped my organization?

Users used to have to wait long times to see information but can now view their information quickly and easily with IBM Cognos and also given the availability you can create your own reports.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using IBM Cognos for about two years.

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

No, deployment is all right.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

No, no problems were found.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

No, no problems were found.

How are customer service and technical support?

Customer Service:

We were given good service, fulfilling all the requirements that were requested.

Technical Support:

The technical support provided by IBM is good, helps you with any problems with the tool.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

No.

What other advice do I have?

IBM Cognos is a good tool for viewing reports, allows us to use the tool in an interactive and easy way, with the option to display it on various mobile devices.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

it_user505653

Principal Consultant at a tech company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Mar 22, 2017

Download

Reporting and dashboard capabilities are the product’s most valuable features.

What is most valuable?

Reporting and dashboard capabilities are the product’s most valuable features.

How has it helped my organization?

It provides enterprise-level reporting across all departments.

What needs improvement?

ETL features have room for improvement.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have used it for nine years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

When we have more than 1000 users logged in to the system, we can see slowdown in terms of performance.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I have not encountered any scalability issues.

How are customer service and technical support?

Technical support is 8/10.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I did not previously use a different solution. We have always used IBM Cognos product suites.

How was the initial setup?

Initial setup was pretty much straightforward.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We certainly looked at other BI products such as SAP BusinessObjects, OBIEE, Oracle Discoverer, WebFOCUS, Argos, and MicroStrategy but Cognos was our unanimous choice.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.