IBM Cognos Analytics Reviews

IBM Cognos Analytics

4.2 (139)
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Business intelligence suite

Overall rating

4.2 /5
(139)
Value for Money
3.9/5
Features
4.2/5
Ease of Use
3.8/5
Customer Support
3.8/5
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139 Reviews

Verified Reviewer
Overall rating
  • Industry: Information Technology & Services
  • Company size: 1,001–5,000 Employees
  • Used Daily for 1+ year
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 9.0 /10

Cognos- All in one tool for data analytics

Reviewed on 3/2/2022

Pros

decreases support because of complete report inclusion and a zero-impression climate.
abbreviates detailing time because of consistent reconciliation and versatile composing.
Further developed independent direction reports and dashboards present information in handily gotten designs.

Cons

Investment in Cognos R&D by IBM is declining.
Won't work smoothly with large data sets having many parameters.
Cross-browser compatibility is often problematic.

Verified Reviewer
Overall rating
  • Industry: Government Administration
  • Company size: 201–500 Employees
  • Used Daily for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 9.0 /10

Business Intellegnce Software with Standard Reporting And Self Service BI

Reviewed on 16/10/2018

Overall it is a great product to use

Overall it is a great product to use

Pros

Cognos Analytics is a flexible software for Standard Business Intelligence Reporting as well as for Self Service Data Visualization capability. You have the option to connect to a variety of the Data Sources as well as Multi-Dimensional Cubes. The new invention of Cognos Analytics software provides a greater flexibility for enterprise deployments and upgrades. It has the new feature of NLP (natural language processing) for predictive analytics by IBM Watson.

Cons

Too many modelling tools (Cognos FrameWork Manager, Dynamic Cube Designer, Cognos Transformer) for modelling the content. Too many studios (Report Studio, Query Studio, Analysis Studio and Event Studio) for report development. Maintainence and cost is huge

Verified Reviewer
Overall rating
  • Industry: Information Technology & Services
  • Company size: 1,001–5,000 Employees
  • Used Daily for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Ease of Use
  • Likelihood to recommend 6.0 /10

IBM Cognos Report Studio

Reviewed on 28/3/2019

I would recommend for company reporting, works great with a big database

I would recommend for company reporting, works great with a big database

Pros

Complex reports can be achieved with IBM Cognos Report studio, great for setting up scheduled reports.

Cons

Interface is not user friendly, certain features are not logically placed.Charts are not great when downloaded into Excel.

Verified Reviewer
Overall rating
  • Industry: Electrical/Electronic Manufacturing
  • Company size: 10,000+ Employees
  • Used Weekly for 6-12 months
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 9.0 /10

Effective Tool for Customer Management

Reviewed on 6/11/2022

Great tool for Sales & Marketing Function

Great tool for Sales & Marketing Function

Pros

- Provides great Dashboards- Provides effective Reports- Helps in Data Visualization

Cons

- Requires training to understand it effectively- Not very intuitive

Verified Reviewer
Overall rating
  • Industry: Banking
  • Company size: 10,000+ Employees
  • Used Daily for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 7.0 /10

One Of The Best Self-service BI Software

Reviewed on 10/1/2020

one of the best complete solution for delivering insights from data at enterprise level

one of the best complete solution for delivering insights from data at enterprise level

Pros

the powerful framework manager, allow us to implement complicated logic into model and deliver a package to end user, business user can do ad-hoc report easily.

Cons

steep learning curve for beginners. not mention people who doesn't have BI experience, Had a few new team members from tableau background. the FM package complexity is much more than they have done in the tableau data source.

Verified Reviewer
Overall rating
  • Industry: Higher Education
  • Company size: 10,000+ Employees
  • Used Daily for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Ease of Use
  • Likelihood to recommend 9.0 /10

Great Analytics Tool

Reviewed on 24/10/2019

Overall, I would recommend using Cognos Analytics for data analysis. My whole company uses it from...

Overall, I would recommend using Cognos Analytics for data analysis. My whole company uses it from daily reporting to more advanced analyses.

Pros

IBM Cognos Analytics is a great data analytics tool. It can handle a lot of data and makes it easy for users to create reports to view their data. I like that it allows for a variety of output formats.

Cons

Cognos Analytics can be hard to learn how to use. You have to really understand your data first so that you can figure out how to make the tool do what you need it to do.

Verified Reviewer
Overall rating
  • Industry: Higher Education
  • Company size: 10,000+ Employees
  • Used Daily for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Ease of Use
  • Likelihood to recommend 9.0 /10

Good Tool for Data Reporting

Reviewed on 14/2/2019

IBM Cognos Analytics is a great enterprise tool for data reporting. There are a lot of report...

IBM Cognos Analytics is a great enterprise tool for data reporting. There are a lot of report options and it is easy to collaborate and share reports with colleagues.

Pros

IBM Cognos Analytics is a great tool for data reporting. It is easy to use and easy to see data relationships. It has a lot of reporting options and the folder structure is nice.

Cons

It can be kind of hard to learn and there are not a ton of helpful resources online.

Verified Reviewer
Overall rating
  • Industry: Information Technology & Services
  • Company size: 1,001–5,000 Employees
  • Used Daily for 1+ year
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 9.0 /10

Complete Package for your Analytical Solution

Reviewed on 11/9/2019

It is good software but requires a learning curve

It is good software but requires a learning curve

Pros

The best thing about this software is that it is a complete package for your BI Solution. The software is good for Standard Reporting as well as Adhoc Reporting. The new Analytics software has dashboarding as well as storytelling.

Cons

Too Many client tools for the same purpose Like Transformer, FM, Dynamic Query Analyser, Data Manager and Decision Stream. Maintenance is the biggest thing.

Verified Reviewer
Overall rating
  • Company size: 51–200 Employees
  • Used Weekly for 6-12 months
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 9.0 /10

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

Reviewed on 5/4/2018

uses multidimensional and relational data source transforming data into metadata, Cognos is a...

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

Verified Reviewer
Overall rating
  • Industry: Nonprofit Organisation Management
  • Company size: 11–50 Employees
  • Used for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Ease of Use
  • Likelihood to recommend 9.0 /10

Invaluable Business Intelligence

Reviewed on 6/9/2019

Data is extremely vital to any organization and the ability to generate useful reports and...

Data is extremely vital to any organization and the ability to generate useful reports and dashboards on demand across multiple sources is invaluable.

Pros

Scheduling reports, configuring prompt pages on reports for users to run a standardized report with custom filters are both fantastic features that I used hundreds of times across all reporting.

Cons

Report building was intuitive for a power user but average users found it overwhelming. This just meant a bit more training from my department.

Robert
Overall rating
  • Industry: Construction
  • Company size: 10,000+ Employees
  • Used Weekly for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Likelihood to recommend 7.0 /10

Full-featured, slightly behind the curve.

Reviewed on 26/11/2021

It brings a lot of functionality all under one roof. Our team found the "visualization" a little...

It brings a lot of functionality all under one roof. Our team found the "visualization" a little easier in Cognos vs Power BI, but the paginated reporting better in SSRS/PBIRS. We ended up transitioning entirely from Cognos to the MS stack and the broad consensus by the team is it was an overall welcomed upgrade. We're starting to consider Tableau or Looker, but returning to Cognos isn't on our horizon.

Pros

The ability to visualize data in many way all using the same utility is beneficial so we don't have to worry about multiple deployment/support patterns. Having an in-memory OLAP option made performance less of an issue compared to hitting an on-prem database directly for everything. The ability to add custom code allows for some really creative solutions to unique business problems in reporting.

Cons

We felt the interface and functionality was a little dated - our more technical employees were fine but the more analyst-type developers preferred something "prettier"/"friendlier" like Tableau/Power BI. It also got expensive for us which was one of the two the primary reasons we transitioned. This is obviously dependent on the number of users, so consider your own environment of course.

pavan
Overall rating
  • Industry: Information Technology & Services
  • Company size: 51–200 Employees
  • Used Daily for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 6.0 /10

Cognos - A good Enterprise Reporting Tool

Reviewed on 12/12/2016

I used Cognos as an analytical tool by linking our ERP (Microsoft Dynamic NAV) to it. All the...

I used Cognos as an analytical tool by linking our ERP (Microsoft Dynamic NAV) to it. All the financial data would be mapped & a lot of customized reports were taken out like Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA). The user interface is pretty good. The CUBEs are little confusing but once you get the grip they work very well. The ability to drill down the reports to very basic level is a plus point
A little tough to learn & customize. It's a little slow when dealing with a medium amount of data.

Pros

Easily integrating with most of the ERPs, very good for customizing reports, very detailed reporting

Cons

Tough to learn & not many resources available, you will get the value of the money invested in it only if you are able to get the most out of it

Alvaro
Overall rating
  • Industry: Management Consulting
  • Company size: 11–50 Employees
  • Used Daily for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10

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

Reviewed on 11/6/2017

TM1 allows you to build business models that display online results available to all authorized...

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.

Verified Reviewer
Overall rating
  • Industry: Banking
  • Company size: 1,001–5,000 Employees
  • Used Daily for 1+ year
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 8.0 /10

Excellent data source

Reviewed on 13/11/2018

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

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

Verified Reviewer
Overall rating
  • Used Daily for 6-12 months
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Ease of Use

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

Reviewed on 27/12/2017

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.

Michelle
Overall rating
  • Used Daily for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support

This report writer is linked to our accounting software.

Reviewed on 29/3/2018

Pros

You can write your own reports and pull out the data you need from our accounting software. You have the ability to create advanced reports and format in multiple ways.

Cons

Sometimes the fields that are in Cognos do not match exactly or have different names from the actual software so it is a guess at what field you are pulling. The report studio portion is advanced report writing and in order to create these reports it is recommended to have additional training in order to make reports be beneficial for your company.

Verified Reviewer
Overall rating
  • Industry: Health, Wellness & Fitness
  • Company size: 10,000+ Employees
  • Used Daily for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Ease of Use
  • Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10

Love it!

Reviewed on 15/4/2019

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.

Matt
Overall rating
  • Industry: Construction
  • Company size: 10,000+ Employees
  • Used Daily for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 9.0 /10

Cognos pulls meaning out of any data

Reviewed on 1/9/2018

It gives big data meaning and helps us answer business question so we can make smart decisions and...

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
Overall rating
  • Industry: Primary/Secondary Education
  • Company size: 11–50 Employees
  • Used Weekly for 1+ year
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 8.0 /10

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

Reviewed on 8/6/2018

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

Kristin
Overall rating
  • Used Daily for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use

Cognos is a very easy to use application for most areas of the business's finances

Reviewed on 7/6/2017

Pros

Easy to use, easily connects to many ERP softwares.
Houses budgeting and planning, financial reporting and dashboarding and metrics all in one suite.

Cons

Requires in-house administration, is not an out of the box software and requires monthly maintenance on the reports and the planning applications.

Derek
Derek
Overall rating
  • Industry: Oil & Energy
  • Company size: 1,001–5,000 Employees
  • Used Monthly for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Ease of Use
  • Likelihood to recommend 8.0 /10

Good send User Experience

Reviewed on 28/2/2020

My limited experience and exposure has been good. Works well for a casual user (assuming an admin...

My limited experience and exposure has been good. Works well for a casual user (assuming an admin did a good job setting up and maintaining)

Pros

Once set up, the end user can easily get into advanced reports and simply navigate as needed to get information in a repeatable manner.

Cons

There are some odd, not intuitive quirks; however, I presume that’s a consequence of an organizations configuration and less about the software

Brian
Overall rating
  • Industry: Hospital & Health Care
  • Company size: 10,000+ Employees
  • Used Weekly for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Ease of Use
  • Likelihood to recommend 8.0 /10

Tons of Features, very powerful, not for a novice

Reviewed on 5/12/2019

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

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.

worapot
Overall rating
  • Industry: Utilities
  • Company size: 10,000+ Employees
  • Used Daily for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Likelihood to recommend 9.0 /10

Good product for BI Tools.

Reviewed on 12/5/2017

Pros

I like the ability to create reports its has many functions ( Explore, Analysis, Report Studio, Event Studio).

Cons

I dislikes its. Because of so hard of setting page or design report page when it set wide and height.

Kathy
Overall rating
  • Industry: Mining & Metals
  • Company size: 201–500 Employees
  • Used Weekly for 1+ year
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Ease of Use
  • Likelihood to recommend 1.0 /10

Not easy to Use

Reviewed on 27/8/2019

This is the reporting system our payroll company provides us with for weekly reports, its not easy...

This is the reporting system our payroll company provides us with for weekly reports, its not easy to use and is frustrating. They do have a lot of options for running the report but its difficult to get the report to run.

Pros

If you can figure out how to make the reports run you can create nice reports with lots of information.

Cons

Not easy to create a report, some reports will stop working for no reason, they just will spin and not generate. Difficult to change the layout and information.

Dawn
Overall rating
  • Industry: Machinery
  • Company size: 201–500 Employees
  • Used Weekly for 1+ year
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 6.0 /10

Cognos Review

Reviewed on 8/12/2016

I utilize Cognos for dashboard and custom reports and the ease of creating and storing reports is...

I utilize Cognos for dashboard and custom reports and the ease of creating and storing reports is fairly simple. The organization of files is a bit confusing and the ability of seeing other employee folders tends to be complication for sharing. The availability to send out reports is much easier though.

Pros

The ability to create custom reports makes it user friendly for anyone to figure out

Cons

the cubes tend to be confusing for file storage