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IBM Cognos vs Mode Enterprise comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 27, 2025

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
Ranking in BI (Business Intelligence) Tools
8th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
134
Ranking in other categories
Reporting (6th)
Mode Enterprise
Ranking in BI (Business Intelligence) Tools
25th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the BI (Business Intelligence) Tools category, the mindshare of IBM Cognos is 3.1%, down from 4.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Mode Enterprise is 0.5%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
BI (Business Intelligence) Tools
 

Featured Reviews

AMOL JAJU - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers ad hoc analysis reports and good for operational dashboarding
There used to be many valuable features, but in the last three or four years, whatever IBM is doing with enhancements, it has taken a lot of time to build and develop. But the best usage of Cognos is the ad hoc analysis reports. I really like that. Our customers also like that. But now the usage of Cognos and OBIE is reduced by various business users because people and business users are now more focused on analytics, slice and dice, and the dashboard, and the widgets.
Yoeri Samwel - PeerSpot reviewer
Helps to run Python-based scripts but needs enhancement in user experience
The most important feature of the solution is the ability to run Python-based scripts.  Mode Analytics needs to improve the overall user experience.  I have been working with the solution for two years.  I rate the solution's stability a ten out of ten.  I rate the tool's scalability a seven…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The dashboarding offered by this solution is very valuable to us."
"Self-service is possible through the use of dashboards, which are also very intuitive. Stories can be used to pin snapshots, tell the story for meetings, etc."
"In terms of stability, I think that Cognos is more stable than Tableau and Power Bi because of its framework manager concept that allows us to import metadata and store it in the framework manager."
"If they want dashboarding, storytelling, and analyzing why KPIs are met or not, then Cognos is a better candidate than Qlik Sense."
"A drag-and-drop interface for selecting creating ad hoc reports makes this product very easy to use."
"The initial setup is quite straightforward."
"This solution allows you to input a wide range of file formats."
"IBM Cognos offers tools so that you can design and develop your own test queries and reporting solutions."
"The most valuable feature I would say is the flexibility in editing."
"The solution is simple for people from a viewing perspective, not a coding perspective."
"The most important feature of the solution is the ability to run Python-based scripts."
"The tool helps to catch results and review them."
 

Cons

"I need improvements, particularly with the Framework Manager, which has an outdated user interface from older versions like IBM Cognos 10 or 8. Additionally, the Event Studio, which offered great flexibility in previous versions, is no longer available in IBM Cognos Analytics 12. These are areas that could be improved to enhance the product."
"Cognos is quite slow - it's missing the performance of the PowerPlay cubes."
"Compared to Tableau and PowerBI, the IBM interface is easier to use. However, the drag-and-drop functionality isn't as straightforward. Formatting is also more challenging in the cloud than in other applications, like Power BI. Also, if you encounter an issue, it takes more time to resolve it on the formatting side."
"There are many problems with the product's stability part, making it an area where improvements are required."
"Cognos charts are not as fast as those of the other tools, even with DQM (dynamic query mode)."
"There are some small features that are missing. It would be nice if the graphics were better. You can use external sources for charts, but it's quite complex to use and not easy to implement. If you want a new chart, you can download it from multiple tools and implement it into IBM Cognos."
"I would like for the platform to become more standard. If we make a development on our report and our dashboard, it will not be used in another solution. That means there is no portability for the developers."
"Extending features on dashboards so it becomes a real dashboard building application, not only a data exploration tool."
"I think in terms of User Interface, I would say it can be better."
"Mode Analytics needs to improve the overall user experience."
"The data visualization is cumbersome in Mode Analytics. I want the solution to add a map that has an easy interface. The UI is slow sometimes."
"The solution could run faster."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"My company uses IBM Cognos with another IBM product, so I think only one license is used."
"Pricing should be improved."
"The licensing costs are a little bit higher for IBM Cognos. I don't think there is any additional cost apart from the licensing charges."
"It's more expensive than similar solutions like Tableau and Power BI."
"There is a standard license required to use this solution. There are some additional tools but I am not sure if they are an extra cost."
"I rate the product price as four or five on a scale from one to ten, where one is a low price, and ten is a high price."
"It is my understanding that the cost is very low. It's not very expensive."
"It is averagely priced."
"The pricing is per user."
"Mode Analytics is cheap compared to other tools."
"My decision-maker found the pricing expensive, but it is okay for me."
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Comparison Review

it_user79932 - PeerSpot reviewer
Feb 4, 2015
Comparison of SAP BO, Tableau, QlikView, Cognos, Microsoft, OBIEE and Pentaho
1. SAP BO/BI Enterprise scalability Security Ease of use Semantic layer 2. Tableau Visualization Data discovery Turnaround time 3. IBM Cognos Enterprise scalability Security In-memory feature 4. MS BI - Flexibility 5. Pentaho - Open source but still enterprise grade 6. QlikView Data…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
15%
Insurance Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
8%
Computer Software Company
20%
Media Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Insurance Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

Seeking lightweight open source BI software
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 Enter...
What do you like most about IBM Cognos?
The solution's most valuable feature is its ease of use, which makes it easily compatible with other tools.
What needs improvement with IBM Cognos?
There is room for improvement in self-service analytics and predictiveness.
What do you like most about Mode Analytics?
The solution is simple for people from a viewing perspective, not a coding perspective.
What needs improvement with Mode Analytics?
The solution could run faster. You just sit there, waiting during the load times, especially for the large ones. And if you're doing a presentation, no one likes awkwardly waiting for it to load. L...
What is your primary use case for Mode Analytics?
I was put in charge of creating a lot of the dashboards, so it was very much that there weren't people at the company that knew how to use the solution. I was just handed the solution when I transf...
 

Also Known As

Cognos, Cognos Analytics, IBM Cognos Analytics
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

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.
Lyft, Zenefits, Twitch, Trello, Clover, Grovo, CrowdFlower, Segment, Everlane, Pocket, Highfive
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Cognos vs. Mode Enterprise and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
865,384 professionals have used our research since 2012.