IBM Cognos Controller vs Workiva Wdesk comparison

IBM and Workiva are both solutions in the Financial Close Software category. IBM is ranked #11 with an average rating of 8.0, while Workiva is ranked #2 with an average rating of 6.8. IBM holds a 2.0% mindshare in FCS, compared to Workiva’s 6.5% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 71% of Workiva users who would recommend it.

IBM Cognos Controller

Read 2 IBM Cognos Controller reviews

198 Views
86 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Workiva Wdesk

Read 7 Workiva Wdesk reviews

420 Views
251 Comparison Views

71% willing to recommend

IBM Cognos Controller

Workiva Wdesk

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between IBM Cognos Controller and Workiva Wdesk based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Financial Close Software solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM Cognos Controller vs. Workiva Wdesk Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

IBM Cognos Controller vs. Workiva Wdesk

April 2025

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Helped 850,028 peers since 2012

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

IBM Cognos Controller

Ranking in Financial Close Software

11th

Average Rating

7.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Workiva Wdesk

Ranking in Financial Close Software

2nd

Average Rating

7.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Business Performance Management (12th), GRC (4th)

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Financial Close Software category, the mindshare of IBM Cognos Controller is 2.0%, up from 1.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Workiva Wdesk is 6.5%, up from 3.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Financial Close Software

Featured Reviews

Pauli Leppänen

Group Controller at Eleda Group

A tool useful for areas like reporting and group consolidation

Scalability-wise, I rate the solution an eight out of ten. My company hasn't faced any issues regarding scalability, which we can't overcome. Regarding the scalability, there is some work required in the product. A user should also have some knowledge to be able to operate the tool's scalability feature. Sometimes, my company has to contact our support partner to figure out how to do certain things in the product. So far, my company hasn't encountered any issues with the tool where we have to deal with volumes even though we have to deal with a lot of leasing contracts, like over 2,000. My company expects the product to offer more scalability. My company has around 70 licenses.

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Phillip Gough

Partner, Financial Services at Deloitte TT

The solution is easy to deploy and enables collaboration, but it must improve its speed and enable users to create pivot tables

I rate the ease of setup an eight out of ten. The initial setup was straightforward. The solution is cloud-based. We deployed the product along with Wdata in six months. It was for a lot of use cases. To deploy the tool, we designed the use cases and developed them. Then, we went through unit tests, integration tests, and user acceptance tests. It was an Agile delivery cycle.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"The most valuable feature of the solution stems from the fact that it is a properly working solution... The functionalities and package offered by the product seem to be the right fit for our company."

"If there's already a scheduled report and we want a subset of that report, that can also be created. So we do not have to schedule a new report or create a new subscription for that. At this rate, we can create a subset out of one report itself."

"The most valuable feature is its ability to easily upload and update financial results, creating a dynamic data sheet."

"It makes the compliance process more efficient and more effective."

"Workiva Wdesk has a flow diagram that is standardized, making it easy for people to file documents on ECDAs, which are in HTML format."

"Workiva Wdesk is pretty good in terms of getting the data from the system, automating the reporting schedules...It has a very good integration with ERP tools."

"The cross-functionality between connectivity, whether through API connections between different software platforms or the connection of data collection to the actual written ESG report, is highly valuable. The connectivity of all these aspects significantly aids in data assurance, which I consider a bonus."

"It helps you to maintain a backup of your data, including the connectivity with the tables, which provides a user-friendly way to handle and access your files."

"The collaboration within the platform is valuable."

Cons

"IFRS 16 functionality is something that is not embedded in IBM Cognos Controller."

"IBM should work on a little flexibility and user-friendliness, in the current interface. It looks very rigid and hard to read. We need to give flexibility to the user in the current situation."

"The speed must be improved."

"The tool's script encoding needs to be updated to make it more user-friendly and less of a manual process when changes are made to a company's program. Those changes happen frequently due to mandatory or voluntary reporting requirements, leading to lost linkage connections that must be manually reset each time a change is made. This aspect is not functional now, and I see it as an opportunity for improvement."

"Regarding the solution, reporting has certain areas that can be considered for improvement."

"One area where Workiva Wdesk could improve is by ensuring that its cloud-based system is fully compatible with the most current versions of PowerPoint and Excel."

"At this point, I don't see a compelling reason to invest in Workiva. It may be necessary for compliance and controlling the version of SCC, but not everyone needs its high-end capabilities."

"The most critical issue is the need to shift between uppercase and lowercase."

"With this product, it's more about the integrated data model where you can have a one-to-many/many-to-one relationship between your policies and processes, risks, and controls. They need to showcase how you can put those pieces together."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product is expensive, but compared to its other alternatives in the market, I feel that IBM Cognos Controller is a reasonably priced tool."

"Our clients in Asia think that the solution is too expensive."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

No data available

Financial Services Firm

19%

Educational Organization

11%

Computer Software Company

Insurance Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about IBM Cognos Controller?

The most valuable feature of the solution stems from the fact that it is a properly working solution... The functionalities and package offered by the product seem to be the right fit for our company.

See all answers

What needs improvement with IBM Cognos Controller?

IFRS 16 functionality is something that is not embedded in IBM Cognos Controller. My company uses a good built-in functionality in the tool, which was made by our support partner. IBM Cognos Contro...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for IBM Cognos Controller?

I use the solution for reporting and group consolidation.

See all answers

What do you like most about Workiva Wdesk?

The most valuable feature is its ability to easily upload and update financial results, creating a dynamic data sheet.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Workiva Wdesk?

Wdesk is affordable and as far as I'm aware, there were no additional costs beyond the standard license increase. We didn't have to make any other changes; it primarily involved accessing the platf...

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What needs improvement with Workiva Wdesk?

The tool's script encoding needs to be updated to make it more user-friendly and less of a manual process when changes are made to a company's program. Those changes happen frequently due to mandat...

See all answers

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Financial Close Software

April 2025

Download IBM Cognos Controller product report

Buyer's Guide

Workiva Wdesk

April 2025

Download Workiva Wdesk product report

Also Known As

No data available

Wdesk

Overview

IBM Cognos Controller supports the close, consolidation and reporting process with the agility and affordability of a cloud-based solution. It enables finance teams to automate and accelerate the financial close with minimal IT support. It also helps finance teams deliver financial results, create informative financial and management reports and provide the chief financial officer (CFO) with an enterprise view of key financial ratios and metrics.

IBM

Wdesk is used across the enterprise to support hundreds of data collaboration, reporting, and compliance processes. Use Wdesk to:

Optimize your structured and composite reports
Improve trust in your data, reports, and presentations
Transform processes to enable insight

Workiva

Sample Customers

Emirates National Oil Company

Noodles Company, eBay, Winnebago, American Assets Trust, AmericanEnterprise, Calpian, Capstone Infrastructure, Cascades, Circor International, Coeur Mining, Davey, Dr Pepper Snapple

Buyer's Guide

IBM Cognos Controller vs. Workiva Wdesk

April 2025

Free Report: IBM Cognos Controller vs. Workiva Wdesk

Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Cognos Controller vs. Workiva Wdesk and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.

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