Alteryx vs IBM Cognos comparison

Cancel
You must select at least 2 products to compare!
Alteryx Logo
2,259 views|1,344 comparisons
IBM Logo
2,086 views|1,221 comparisons
Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Alteryx and IBM Cognos based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Predictive Analytics solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.
To learn more, read our detailed Alteryx vs. IBM Cognos Report (Updated: March 2020).
765,234 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"I like that I can merge data from different sources into one place.""The most valuable feature for me is integration.""Alteryx makes it easy for the end customer to see clean data in a structured form.""Alteryx has made us more agile and increased the speed and effectiveness of decision making.""It allows for manipulation and automation, which has greatly reduced the amount of time required per project.""The most valuable feature of Alteryx is its performance. It is a powerful solution.""The value add of Alteryx is the agility for making changes, and speed of deployment.""Alteryx has helped us spend more time identifying results instead of performing analysis manually. It has helped us in our loading process, including scrubbing data and identifying data elements that need to be corrected. It enables us to understand our data sets a lot better."

More Alteryx Pros →

"The basic platform comes with several meta-modelling tools.""The initial setup is quite straightforward.""Report Studio: This is the most powerful and sophisticated tool for professional reporting.""A positive feature is Report Studio, where we create beautiful, complex reports.""The most valuable feature is developing reports from different data sources, making it a reliable data source.""IBM Cognos is an excellent solution for tax, planning, budgeting, profit and loss statements and balance sheets.""The solution's initial setup process is easy.""If they want dashboarding, storytelling, and analyzing why KPIs are met or not, then Cognos is a better candidate than Qlik Sense."

More IBM Cognos Pros →

Cons
"From a commercial standpoint, more options should be available for pricing. The licensing model needs to be specific.""I honestly can't think of anything that needs to be improved.""I think they should really work on integrating or have a capacity to integrate some algorithmic code. I think that's one of the most important things they need to be doing.""I mostly used it for flat files, but I have many colleagues who reported that to tune a query, in case they want to directly connect to the database, there is no option to optimize the performance of the query, as we have in Informatica.""It would be great if Alteryx could take third party tools and incorporate them.""Its most valuable feature lies in its functionality.""The solution could work on the BI side of the tool to make it a bit better.""All of the reports are migrated or exported in an Excel file, and most of the time, a business intelligence tool is required. They could have better reporting. The aesthetic could be improved."

More Alteryx Cons →

"It would be better if it is was easier to implement without extensive training for it.""I think the GIS pieces maybe not as good as we would like.""I would like to have predictive and forecasting capabilities in Cognos. It's one thing to do reporting, and another thing to easily predict or forecast certain data points, which is very important for all the clients.""One key area for improvement is the need to improve the self-service nature and functionality of the product in terms of visual analytics.""It would be nice to offer free online training on the tool for end-users.""IBM Cognos's error messages seem to be a bit ambiguous. An error will be encountered and a message will be sent out very ambiguous and after investigating the error message it could be any number of issues. There was never a direct answer to the question or a direct answer to the error messages. Sometimes it would be a generic error message for 21 different solutions. It wasn't very specific, which required a lot of digging around and trial and error trying to fix the problem. The messaging in their error messaging is something needing improvement.""Extending dynamic cubes aggregate awareness with calculated measures.""It could have more options for themes."

More IBM Cognos Cons →

Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "A designer and scheduler for $13K/year in total is pretty much earning you the money back in time and in other resources."
  • "​Very transparent.​"
  • "The seat is too expensive."
  • "It can be a bit pricey, especially after the first year."
  • "The pricing is $5000 per year per production license."
  • "We have a yearly cost that we pay for the licensing. We do not pay any costs in addition to the licensing fees."
  • "There are some implementation services and internal effort costs at the beginning but there is nothing else."
  • "The price for Alteryx Designer is reasonable but the price for Alteryx Server for universal collaborations is too expensive."
  • More Alteryx Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "There is need to assess the purchase license accordingly so as to avoid audit penalties."
  • "The pricing and licensing policies are comparatively cheaper than other products in the market ."
  • "IBM Cognos offers competitive pricing similar to other BI vendors in the market."
  • "Pricing should be improved."
  • "The pricing of this product is meant for medium to large-scale enterprises."
  • "It is my understanding that the cost is very low. It's not very expensive."
  • "Cognos is super expensive compared to Tableau ($70/month) and Power BI ($20/month) — I think Cognos is roughly $200 a month."
  • "It is quite pricy. I think Microsoft BI is cheaper. Tableau might also be cheaper, but it also depends on the usage. If you have very many users, Cognos can be a problem. It could be cheaper than Tableau but not for so many users. If you have a few thousand users, Tableau, which is generally quite expensive, can be cheaper than Cognos."
  • More IBM Cognos Pricing and Cost Advice →

    report
    Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Predictive Analytics solutions are best for your needs.
    765,234 professionals have used our research since 2012.
    Comparison Review
    Anonymous User
    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:One of the differences is that with Alteryx you can use it as an ETL and analytics tool. Please connect with me directly if you want to know more.
    Top Answer:Alteryx is an extremely easy and flexible data tool, flexible in terms of drag and drop toolset and also has python, R integrations if your team requires this It can handle over 2 billion rows of… more »
    Top Answer:I am not familiar with IBM SPSS Modeler, therefore, I cannot compare these two products Regarding Alteryx I can say the following: - An excellent desktop tool for Data Prep and analytics. -… more »
    Top Answer:It depends on the Data architecture and the complexity of your requirement Some great tools in the market are Qlik Sense, Power BI, OBIEE, Tableau, etc. I have recently started using Cognos… more »
    Top Answer:We use IBM Cognos for enterprise analytics and reporting.
    Top Answer:The technical support team’s response time is slow and needs to be improved.
    Ranking
    1st
    Views
    2,259
    Comparisons
    1,344
    Reviews
    27
    Average Words per Review
    520
    Rating
    8.3
    3rd
    out of 3 in Legacy BI Tools
    Views
    2,086
    Comparisons
    1,221
    Reviews
    11
    Average Words per Review
    433
    Rating
    8.2
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    Cognos, Cognos Analytics, IBM Cognos Analytics
    Learn More
    Overview

    Alteryx can be used to speed up or automate your business processes and enables geospatial and predictive solutions. Its platform helps organizations answer business questions quickly and efficiently, and can be used as a major building block in a digital transformation or automation initiative. With Alteryx, you can build processes in a more efficient, repeatable, and less error-prone way. Unlike other tools, Alteryx is easy to use without an IT background. The platform is very robust and can be used in virtually any industry or functional area.

    With Alteryx You Can:

    • Prep, blend, and analyze data
    • Deliver faster, better business outcomes
    • Automate analytics and data science
    • Embed intelligent decisioning
    • Deploy and share analytics in hours

    Alteryx Features Include:

    Some of the most valuable Alteryx features include:

    Scalability, stability, flexibility, fast performance, no-code analytics, data processing, business logic wrapping, scheduling, ease of use, data blending from different platforms, geo-referencing, good customization capabilities, drag and drop functionality, intuitive user interface, connectors, machine learning, macros, simple GUI, integration with Python, good data transformation, good documentation, multiple database merging, and easy deployment.

    Alteryx Can Be Used For:

    • Combining and manipulating data within spreadsheets: Alteryx can be used in situations where complex data manipulation occurs. It can handle large data quickly, and the process is much simpler to see and understand.

    • Database access and supplementing SQL development: Alteryx has several sets of database connectors and functions, including many functions that your average database does not. Alteryx can work with data from multiple databases or areas within a database. It allows users to filter, sort, calculate, etc. as they would commonly do in SQL or an ETL tool.
    • API, cloud, and hybrid access: Alteryx can read and write data in databases, files, REST APIs, and a myriad of other locations (with the correct permissions). When a workflow is published, you can also call a workflow through a REST API to start it.

    • Data science: Alteryx provides pre-built models that are extremely useful for data scientists who may have limited programming skills and also gives you the ability to add R or Python code directly within a workflow.

    • Geospatial analysis: Alteryx gives users drag-and-drop tools to geocode, plot, and map locations, customers, competitors, or anything that has a location (employee, truck, pipeline, etc.).

    • Reports and dashboards: Alteryx provides built-in tools that enable the building of reports and dashboards.

    Alteryx Benefits

    Some of the benefits of using Alteryx include
    :

    • Saves time: Alteryx helps shorten the time required to start analyzing data and looking for insights, minimizing the tasks that do not add value to the business and maximizing the analysis phase.

    • Clear tool configurations: Alteryx provides simple and concise tool configurations that are quick and easy to set.

    • Excellent workflow compatibility.

    • Reduced development time: Alteryx has an extensive gallery of user-developed analytic applications that helps to reduce development time.

    • Fast data loading: Alteryx has tools that make it very effective when working with big data sets.

    • No-code, low-code analytic building blocks: You can prep, blend, and analyze data to enable highly configurable and repeatable workflows.

    • Machine learning: Alteryx allows you to quickly create properly trained algorithms that are ready to deploy.

    Reviews from Real Users

    "Automation is the most valuable aspect for us. The ability to wrap business logic around the data is very helpful." - Theresa M., Senior Capacity Planner at a financial services firm

    "Alteryx has made us more agile and increased the speed and effectiveness of decision making." - Richard F., Director, Digital Experience & Media at Qdoba Restaurant Corporation

    "The scheduling feature for the automation is excellent." - Data Analytics Engineer at a tech services company

    "The product is very stable and super fast, five-star. It's significantly more stable than its nearest competitor." - Director at a non-tech company

    “A complete solution with very good user experience and a nice user interface.” - Solutions Consultant at a tech services company

    "There are a lot of good customization capabilities." - Advance Analytics PO at a pharma/biotech company





    IBM Cognos Business Intelligence provides a wide range of tools to help you analyze your organization's data. IBM Cognos BI allows businesses to monitor events and metrics, create and view business reports, and analyze data to help them make effective business decisions.

    IBM Cognos applies techniques to describe, summarize, and compare data, and draw conclusions. This allows users to see trends and discover anomalies or variances that may not be evident by simply reading data. Data sources that contain information from different areas of a business can be stored in separate packages. Users can see only information that they have been granted access to, based on their group or role.

    IBM Cognos BI consolidates the following business intelligence functions into a single web-based solution:

    • IBM Cognos Insight: Create personal and managed workspaces for data analysis. Using these interactive workspaces, you can share insight results with managers. Cognos Insight supports write-back, and you can also use these workspaces to capture and integrate management goals, commitments, and forecasts.

    • IBM Cognos Workspace: With IBM Cognos Workspace, you can create rich, interactive workspaces using IBM Cognos content as well as data from external sources. You can view and open your favorite workspaces and reports, edit content in your workspaces, and share your workspaces via email.

    • IBM Cognos Analytics: IBM Cognos Analytics utilizes built-in AI and intuitive searches which helps users to quickly create the visualizations and a wide range of reports. Cognos Analytics provides cognitive and managed self-service, enabling you to gain insights from controlled and trusted data.

    • IBM Cognos Report Studio and IBM Cognos Query Studio: Easily create structured and query reports. IBM Cognos allows users to create application and report templates. In addition, report authors can reuse report objects to apply filters, fields, and styles to reports. Users can set the language of the user interface and report content according to the user's native language.

    • IBM Cognos Event Studio: Receive notifications of events that occur within your organization in real time. Event Studio enables the creation of agents that detect the occurrence of business events, failures, or anomalies, based on the change of specific events or data conditions. Notification can be sent via email, publication in the portal, or by triggering reports.

    • IBM Cognos Connection: This is the Web portal for IBM Cognos BI and is the central area for accessing all the IBM Cognos functions. In the web portal, users can schedule and distribute reports, create tasks, administer the server and the access permissions, and more.

    Reviews from Real Users

    IBM Cognos stands out among its competitors for a number of reasons. Two major ones are its powerful analysis tool and its reporting capabilities.

    Prasad B., a senior software engineer at a financial services firm, notes, “The product is a very good reporting tool and is very flexible. It allows for the users to get a scheduled report. We can receive automated reports as well. They are easy to schedule on a weekly or monthly basis. It is very fast. I mean in means of report output, it's very fast compared to the actual clients involved.”

    Sample Customers
    AnalyticsIq Inc., belk, BloominBrands Inc., Cardinalhealth, Cineplex, Dairy Queen
    More than 23,000 leading organizations across multiple industries use Cognos. Some examples of Cognos customers include BMW Financial Services, Quinte Health Care, Troy Corporation, Michigan State University, and GKN Land System.
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Computer Software Company15%
    Manufacturing Company11%
    Financial Services Firm11%
    Healthcare Company9%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Financial Services Firm22%
    Manufacturing Company10%
    Computer Software Company9%
    Retailer6%
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm15%
    Computer Software Company11%
    Healthcare Company9%
    Insurance Company9%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Educational Organization57%
    Financial Services Firm7%
    Computer Software Company5%
    Government5%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business33%
    Midsize Enterprise15%
    Large Enterprise52%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business16%
    Midsize Enterprise10%
    Large Enterprise75%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business24%
    Midsize Enterprise15%
    Large Enterprise61%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business8%
    Midsize Enterprise61%
    Large Enterprise31%
    Buyer's Guide
    Alteryx vs. IBM Cognos
    March 2020
    Find out what your peers are saying about Alteryx vs. IBM Cognos and other solutions. Updated: March 2020.
    765,234 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Alteryx is ranked 1st in Predictive Analytics with 74 reviews while IBM Cognos is ranked 3rd in Legacy BI Tools with 129 reviews. Alteryx is rated 8.4, while IBM Cognos is rated 8.0. The top reviewer of Alteryx writes "Feature-rich ETL that condenses a number of functions into one tool". On the other hand, the top reviewer of IBM Cognos writes "Improved the quality of our KPIs, while reducing calls to the IT department". Alteryx is most compared with KNIME, Databricks, Dataiku Data Science Studio, RapidMiner and Qlik Sense, whereas IBM Cognos is most compared with Microsoft Power BI, Tableau, Oracle OBIEE, SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform and Oracle Hyperion. See our Alteryx vs. IBM Cognos report.

    We monitor all Predictive Analytics reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.