IBM

IBM Cognos Analytics

Composite Score

7.4 /10

CX Score

7.5 /10

41 Reviews Write a Review

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What is IBM Cognos Analytics?

IBM Cognos Analytics offers smarter, self-service capabilities so you can quickly and confidently identify and act on insight. The engaging experience empowers business users to create and personalize dashboards and reports on their own - while providing IT with a proven and scalable solution that is available on-premises or in the cloud.

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Awards & Recognition

IBM Cognos Analytics won the following awards in the Business Intelligence & Analytics – Enterprise category

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0 Top Rated Capabilities

1 Top Rated Features

Latest Award, 2025

2 Top Rated Capabilities

3 Top Rated Features

2023

1 Top Rated Capabilities

1 Top Rated Features

2022

IBM Cognos Analytics Ratings

Real user data aggregated to summarize the product performance and customer experience.
Download the entire Product Scorecard to access more information on IBM Cognos Analytics.

Product scores listed below represent current data. This may be different from data contained in reports and awards, which express data as of their publication date.

86 Likeliness to Recommend

1
Since last award

88 Plan to Renew

1
Since last award

78 Satisfaction of Cost Relative to Value

2
Since last award

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Emotional Footprint Overview

Product scores listed below represent current data. This may be different from data contained in reports and awards, which express data as of their publication date.

+82 Net Emotional Footprint

The emotional sentiment held by end users of the software based on their experience with the vendor. Responses are captured on an eight-point scale.

How much do users love IBM Cognos Analytics?

4% Negative

5% Neutral

91% Positive

Pros

Enables Productivity
Continually Improving Product
Includes Product Enhancements
Reliable

Feature Ratings

Average 78

Data Exploration and Visualization

Dashboard

Operational Reporting Capabilities

BI Platform Administration

Spatial Analysis

BI Security

Real-Time Visualization

Advanced Analytics and Data Science

Data Modelling Tools

Collaboration

Metadata Management

Vendor Capability Ratings

Average 77

Breadth of Features

Vendor Support

Usability and Intuitiveness

Product Strategy and Rate of Improvement

Ease of Data Integration

Ease of IT Administration

Business Value Created

Availability and Quality of Training

Quality of Features

Ease of Implementation

Ease of Customization

Also Featured in...

Business Intelligence & Analytics - Midmarket

Score 8.1

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IBM Cognos Analytics Reviews

John O.

Role: Information Technology
Industry: Finance
Involvement: End User of Application

Validated Review

Verified Reviewer

Submitted May 2025

An Enterprise BI Tool That Excels in Governance

Likeliness to Recommend

9 /10

What differentiates IBM Cognos Analytics from other similar products?

Offers advanced, highly formatted reports for operational and regulatory use—something many modern BI tools lack. AI Assistant helps users generate visualizations and insights by asking questions in plain language, making analytics more accessible. Combines dashboards, ad hoc analysis, enterprise reporting, and data modeling in a single, integrated solution. Seamless compatibility with IBM products like Watson, SPSS, and Planning Analytics for advanced AI, predictive modeling, and financial planning.

What is your favorite aspect of this product?

It excels at delivering highly formatted, pixel-perfect reports that meet strict regulatory and operational requirements—making it ideal for finance, compliance, and audit-heavy environments. My favorite aspect of IBM Cognos Analytics is its robust, enterprise-grade reporting and governance capabilities.

What do you dislike most about this product?

What I dislike most about IBM Cognos Analytics is its steep learning curve and outdated user interface, especially for business users accustomed to the more intuitive drag-and-drop experiences in tools like Tableau or Power BI.

What recommendations would you give to someone considering this product?

I recommend ensuring your team has a clear need for enterprise-grade reporting, strong data governance, and secure, centralized analytics—and that you're prepared to invest in training and administration to manage its complexity effectively.

Pros

Continually Improving Product
Enables Productivity
Efficient Service
Inspires Innovation

Himanshu V.

Role: Information Technology
Industry: Technology
Involvement: IT Development, Integration, and Administration

Validated Review

Verified Reviewer

Submitted Sep 2024

"Powerful analytics with a steep learning curve.”

Likeliness to Recommend

9 /10

What differentiates IBM Cognos Analytics from other similar products?

IBM Cognos Analytics is so profoundly robust in data integration, AI-driven insights, and user-friendly interface. Advanced analytics, customizable dashboards, and strong governance features are some of the major benefits that characterize this application as suitable for any organization that seeks comprehensive data visualization and reporting solutions

What is your favorite aspect of this product?

The favorite features of IBM Cognos Analytics are the AI-powered analytics capabilities, which enable a user to easily get to insightful discovery. This intuitive interface and customizable dashboards empower non-technical users to build meaningful reports without demanding education

What do you dislike most about this product?

IBM Cognos Analytics may be not so easy for people with no experience to access and have not been as easy to learn, especially in the usage of some of its more advanced features. Licensing costs may also be too high for smaller organizations

What recommendations would you give to someone considering this product?

Before implementation, you should carefully assess the data needs of your organization and the levels of skill of your users. This will be fully maximized only if comprehensive training investments relating to the tool in question become a necessity. Still, a pilot project would probably be necessary to initially assess its suitability for the actual needs

Pros

Helps Innovate
Continually Improving Product
Reliable
Performance Enhancing

Role: Finance
Industry: Apparel
Involvement: End User of Application

Validated Review

Anonymous Reviewer

Submitted Dec 2023

Great Software

Likeliness to Recommend

10 /10

Pros

Efficient Service
Caring
Respectful
Helps Innovate

IBM Cognos Analytics

What is IBM Cognos Analytics?

Company Details

Book a Free Demo Today!

Awards & Recognition

IBM Cognos Analytics Ratings

86 Likeliness to Recommend

1 Since last award

88 Plan to Renew

1 Since last award

78 Satisfaction of Cost Relative to Value

2 Since last award

Emotional Footprint Overview

+82 Net Emotional Footprint

How much do users love IBM Cognos Analytics?

Pros

Feature Ratings Average rating of all product features, some of which may not be shown below

Data Exploration and Visualization Ability to visually manipulate, interact with, and explore data, and perform basic descriptive statistics and pattern detection.

Dashboard Includes alerts and notifications, KPIs, visual analytics, and interactive features.

Operational Reporting Capabilities Real-time detailed reporting to support operational business processes.

BI Platform Administration Centralized console to manage BI portal administration. Management metrics and reports on usage, resource utilization, security, and other activities.

Spatial Analysis Ability to natively visualize and analyze spatial data out of the box tied to postcode, zipcode or spacial co-ordinates.

BI Security Data access control management, including access permissions management, user authentication and enforcement of access permissions via technology.

Real-Time Visualization Ability to analyze and visualize data as soon as it becomes available via data-streaming pipelines.

Advanced Analytics and Data Science Techniques including predictive, data and text mining, machine learning, forecasting, what-if analysis, sentiment analysis etc.

Data Modelling Tools Includes ability to model complex relationships between internal application sources and other parties.

Collaboration Includes ability to view, share and direct work between co-workers in real or near real-time.

Metadata Management A metadata layer makes reporting easy and eliminates the need for coding and SQL, allowing users to see and access information in simple business language.

Vendor Capability Ratings Average rating of all vendor capabilities, some of which may not be shown below

Breadth of Features Users prefer feature rich software that enables them to perform diverse series of tasks. This data expresses user satisfaction with the product's breadth of features.

Vendor Support The importance of vendor support will vary for each organization depending on internal capabilities, but there will always be issues that only the vendor can resolve.

Usability and Intuitiveness End user learning curves cost the organization money. Pay attention to your end users' technical ability to determine how important UX is in your purchase.

Product Strategy and Rate of Improvement Vendors who don't stay on top of emerging needs and trends won't enable you to meet your business goals. Use this data to separate innovators from imposters.

Ease of Data Integration Use this data to determine whether the product will cause headaches or make data integration easy.

Ease of IT Administration This data indicates whether IT personnel will be able to resolve issues and perform configurations efficiently and effectively.

Business Value Created Software needs to create value for employees, customers, partners, and, ultimately, shareholders. This data expresses user satisfaction - or lack thereof - with the product's business value.

Availability and Quality of Training Effective and readily available training enables users to get the most out of the software you've chosen. Use this section to make sure your vendor's training programs and materials measure up.

Quality of Features Feature quality is just as important as quantity. Use this data to determine if this product will do what you're purchasing it to do, easily, intuitively, reliably, and effectively.

Ease of Implementation Successfully implementing new software is necessary to realize its full value and promote end user adoption. This data indicates whether or not the product is easy to implement.

Ease of Customization Don't get bogged down in a difficult customization; use this data to make sure you can easily achieve the functionality you need for your particular situation.

Also Featured in...

Business Intelligence & Analytics - Midmarket

IBM Cognos Analytics Reviews

John O.

An Enterprise BI Tool That Excels in Governance

Likeliness to Recommend

Pros

Himanshu V.

"Powerful analytics with a steep learning curve.”

Likeliness to Recommend

Pros

Great Software

Likeliness to Recommend

Pros

Most Popular IBM Cognos Analytics Comparisons

Microsoft Power BI

Tableau

Qlik Sense

Logi Symphony

Oracle Analytics Cloud

SAP BusinessObjects

1
Since last award

1
Since last award

2
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Feature Ratings

Data Exploration and Visualization

Dashboard

Operational Reporting Capabilities

BI Platform Administration

Spatial Analysis

BI Security

Real-Time Visualization

Advanced Analytics and Data Science

Data Modelling Tools

Collaboration

Metadata Management

Vendor Capability Ratings

Breadth of Features

Vendor Support

Usability and Intuitiveness

Product Strategy and Rate of Improvement

Ease of Data Integration

Ease of IT Administration

Business Value Created

Availability and Quality of Training

Quality of Features

Ease of Implementation

Ease of Customization