
- Industry: Information Technology & Services
- Company size: 51-200 Employees
- Used Daily for 2+ years
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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 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

- Industry: Information Technology & Services
- Company size: 11-50 Employees
- Used Daily for 2+ years
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Value for Money
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support
- Likelihood to recommend 8.0 /10
Powerful, Reliable, Expensive
Reviewed on 28/11/2018
I've been working with IBM Cognos since version 8.4
I like this product and see how IBM is improving it.
Pros
It's been a long on the market.
It's offered by IBM
It has a great integration with many databases
Cons
New version (CA 11) has some inconvenient UI changes (new side panel which does not allow to easily navigate and see all properties)
Many things need to be done manually instead of integrating as best practices (security, deployments, testing, version control, etc.)
New studios are not that intuitive / transparent
- Industry: Management Consulting
- Company size: 51-200 Employees
- Used Daily for 1+ year
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Value for Money
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support
- Likelihood to recommend 3.0 /10
Powerful but complicated
Reviewed on 12/11/2020
Implementing the tool is painful but once is running is great.
Pros
Being a IBM product it pack quality. great functionalities and features that defeat the competition.
Cons
It's hard to setup.
Installation and configuration process is a pain.
The space usage for this software is to high.
The IBM Windows services is slow on startup and service errors can be very difficult to diagnose due to bad log structure or description.
- Used Daily for 2+ years
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Value for Money
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support
This report writer is linked to our accounting software.
Reviewed on 29/03/2018
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.
- Industry: Primary/Secondary Education
- Company size: 11-50 Employees
- Used Weekly for 1+ year
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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 8/06/2018
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
- Industry: Real Estate
- Company size: 1,001-5,000 Employees
- Used Daily for 6-12 months
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Value for Money
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support
- Likelihood to recommend 9.0 /10
Reviewing IBM Cognos Analytics
Reviewed on 16/09/2019
I have a pretty decent experience with cognos with some of the new inbuilt features but there is always a scope of improvement
Pros
I love the fact that Cognos Analytics is so flexible as we deal with a lot of reports which needs to be emailed to the higher authorities as and when they run. Cognos has this inbuild feature, where it can also write the reports to the internal file system. This helps us to keep a track of the recipients of the reports.
Cons
The Cognos 10 version was a little laid back on the visualization side as it did not had much interactive visuals available for reporting. But they have overcome it in Cognos 11 version.
- Company size: 51-200 Employees
- Used Weekly for 6-12 months
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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 5/04/2018
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
- Industry: Computer Software
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support
- Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10
I am a BI developer
Reviewed on 3/03/2015
Pros
I like its functionality and different features. I also like the ease of use.
Cons
Cognos's support sometimes is not as it should be. The support should be quick and accurate, and Cognos should have more error details to track down the solution. The majority of time, the error doesn't provide meaningful info, so it is always difficulty to track down the solution.
- Industry: Banking
- Company size: 1,001-5,000 Employees
- Used Daily for 1+ year
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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
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

- Industry: Higher Education
- Company size: 201-500 Employees
- Used Daily for 2+ years
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Value for Money
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support
- Likelihood to recommend 4.0 /10
Used to be good, showing age
Reviewed on 14/02/2019
General business intelligence tool that is showing its age and needs to be geared more for agile. Not a great solution for small user numbers or more towards hardcore analyst/data scientist.
Pros
The latest versions have improved the report writer experience by consolidating a few of the modules. Generally robust at connecting to single data sources.
Cons
Steep learning curve for writing reports and setting up Framework Manager packaging is way too time consuming. The end user interface got more complicated and less easy to use in their attempt for more flashiness. The latest versions have been extremely buggy. Data blending and quick turnarounds are not its strong point.
- Industry: Financial Services
- Company size: 501-1,000 Employees
- Used Weekly for 1+ year
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Value for Money
- Ease of Use
- Likelihood to recommend 9.0 /10
Intuitive BI and Reporting Software
Reviewed on 10/05/2018
Good enterprise product for business intelligence and trend analysis
Pros
We have used IBM Cognos to create customer insights and patterns to help in our marketing and targeting campaigns. The dashboards and graphs have multiple styles and formats and can be scheduled to be generated at specific times
Cons
Larger reports tend to be slow to generate from the report studio. Installation can also be challenging and may require purchase of vendor support
- Industry: Machinery
- Company size: 201-500 Employees
- Used Weekly for 1+ year
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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 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

- Industry: Oil & Energy
- Company size: 1,001-5,000 Employees
- Used Monthly for 2+ years
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Ease of Use
- Likelihood to recommend 8.0 /10
Good send User Experience
Reviewed on 28/02/2020
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
- Industry: Entertainment
- Company size: Self Employed
- Used Daily for 1-5 months
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Ease of Use
- Likelihood to recommend 9.0 /10
Data at your fingertips
Reviewed on 19/08/2020
Overall I'm pretty happy with Cognos. It's a pretty phenominal tool for engineers and developers.
Pros
I like that Cognos is incredibly intuitive. I can easily navigate through the program to finish coding and changing anything I need.
Cons
I sometimes struggle with coordinating upgrades and running up against other software/products. Some of that though is me.
- Industry: Computer Software
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support
- Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10
Excellent product with new and improved features every release
Reviewed on 30/01/2015
Pros
Active Reports, Dynamic Cubes and Prompt APIs are some of the features that are helping a lot for meeting visualization. Latest introduction of RAVE added a lot of visualization that helped streaming and better visualization.
Cons
Workspace needs to be more integrated and advanced as of today. Flashy UI and customization needs to be provided within the tool itself.
- Used Weekly for 1+ year
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Value for Money
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support
- Likelihood to recommend 5.0 /10
Before leaving their Web version, they had a very good desktop application
Reviewed on 22/05/2018
with it we can visualize in a more comfortable way our information of DW and cubes
Pros
Before leaving their Web version, they had a very good desktop application, but they discontinued it. is a powerful tool, with ease for the reporter
Cons
it is traumatic for its administration, it depends on the active directory, which can be an advantage, but in other cases it makes it cumbersome
- Industry: Computer Software
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Ease of Use
- Likelihood to recommend 7.0 /10
Ease of integration
Reviewed on 2/03/2015
Pros
The thing I like most about the product is its integration with other custom APIs.
Cons
I didn't like that fact that it can't integrate with the Oracle database.
- Industry: Information Technology & Services
- Company size: 51-200 Employees
- Used Weekly for Free Trial
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Value for Money
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support
- Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10
Cognos is quite good tool
Reviewed on 2/05/2017
Pros
I like it because of its visualization, 3D graphs wich is not available in Tableau. With the help of Cognos, we have created a lot of dashboards.
Cons
I don't have any concern with Cognos. Thanks, Cognos, I really like the features of Cognos.... Thanks to being a such a nice tool Cognos team.
- Industry: Computer Software
- Company size: 201-500 Employees
- Used Weekly for 1-5 months
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Value for Money
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support
- Likelihood to recommend 6.0 /10
Beauty is in details
Reviewed on 22/02/2018
In overall, it is one of the best reporting tools.Definitely in the top 3.
Pros
What I like about IBM Cognos is that it has so many features implemented in both reporting and analysis topics.
You can pretty much do anything thanks to its strong flexibility.
Cons
Complicated and its ability to build reports from its smallest details will land some heavy consequences: Creating a report will take longer than expected and also some features such as linking 2 reports are really hard to implement.

- Industry: Management Consulting
- Company size: 10,000+ Employees
- Used Monthly for 1+ year
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Value for Money
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support
- Likelihood to recommend 7.0 /10
Cognos Controller
Reviewed on 1/11/2018
Pros
The user access review is easily performed in cognos application
Cons
The technical details are not very clear
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Value for Money
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support
Cognos Review
Reviewed on 5/01/2017
Cognos is a very powerful tool but can be difficult depending on the structure of your data and how you set it up to run. If you're looking for a data visualization tool there may be better options out there depending on how your much data you have and how it's structured. The inflexibility of the tool is one of the hardest things to deal with and requires experts to be present in order to modify simple queries or analysis.
- Industry: Computer Software
- Company size: 2-10 Employees
- Used Weekly for 1-5 months
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Value for Money
- Ease of Use
- Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10
IBM/Cognos SaaS v.11
Reviewed on 21/10/2016
This product / release is a great self administered SaaS BI tool. Great for the creation of modules , reports and visual dashboards.
Pros
Price- Subscription base. SaaS. Easy to use
- Industry: Information Technology & Services
- Company size: 1,001-5,000 Employees
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Value for Money
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support
Best BI tool
Reviewed on 9/03/2016
IBM Cognos maintain huge data and so many new features are in new versions.Easy to understand the structure of cognos.It is suitable for medium and large projects .
Pros
Performance wise good
Cons
Licence cost is high
- Industry: Food & Beverages
- Company size: 1,001-5,000 Employees
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Review Source
Overall rating
Reviewed on 25/09/2017

- Used Other for 2+ years
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Value for Money
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support
- Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10
A great solution for your financial planning
Reviewed on 22/02/2018
Take your time and implement it right and the rewards will be very good.
Pros
It has integration with with other IBM products like business intelligence. The excel functionality is great for finances. The product to meet our needs perfectly for all our needs.
Cons
Creating reports is overwhelming at the beginning but if you dedicate time and resources there will be the face of your deployment.