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IBM Cognos vs QlikView comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 4, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
6.2
Organizations benefit from IBM Cognos by saving costs, reducing delivery times, enhancing productivity, and improving data insights and decision-making.
Sentiment score
6.4
QlikView ROI appears through time savings, decision-making improvements, and efficient deployment, despite licensing complexity impacting perception.
I have seen a return on investment with time savings and productivity gains, as we have consistent, governed data models that reduce the risk of errors by eliminating manual data entry.
Senior Software Engineer at McKinsey and Company
I have seen a return on investment, as I mentioned earlier about time saving and productivity gains, with a consistent governed data model that reduces the risk of errors.
Sr. Project Manager at GlaxoSmithKline
The biggest return on investment is the time saving for the customer.
Managing Director at Hurricnae
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.4
IBM Cognos support varies; online resources and knowledgeable staff assist, but complex issues lead to frustration with resolution times.
Sentiment score
6.1
QlikView's customer support is highly rated, with quick responses, a helpful community, and generally strong availability despite geographic factors.
Our systems team, operating on a lot of Red Hat Enterprise Linux and maintaining long-term relations with IBM, benefits from good support coverage.
EDW Manager at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
they are slow to respond to my queries
Senior Software Engineer at McKinsey and Company
I would love them to be proactive and responsive twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
Sr. Project Manager at GlaxoSmithKline
I would rate the customer support a solid 10.
Managing Director at Hurricnae
I am totally satisfied with technical support from Qlik.
Financial Controller with task of Business Intelligence Implementation at a wholesaler/distributor with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.4
IBM Cognos is praised for its scalability, though it requires correct hardware and configuration to optimize performance fully.
Sentiment score
7.0
QlikView scales well with efficient resource management, but superior scalability features are found in Qlik Sense, requiring robust infrastructure.
The scalability of IBM Cognos is very good, as it has continued growing with my organization's needs, allowing us to analyze and store a significant amount of data and handle our organization's growth efficiently.
Sr. Project Manager at GlaxoSmithKline
It can be scaled out to other teams, but requires building cubes and implementing policies.
head of commercial at Assimil8 Ltd.
If you want better performance with a larger volume of data, you can simply add an additional server.
Financial Controller with task of Business Intelligence Implementation at a wholesaler/distributor with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.2
IBM Cognos is reliable with correct setup, but complex tasks and high loads may cause occasional performance slowdowns.
Sentiment score
7.7
Users rate QlikView's stability highly, with issues mainly due to infrastructure or large data, resolved with hardware tweaks.
Even though we deal with a huge amount of data, it is capable of handling it, making it very stable.
Senior Software Engineer at McKinsey and Company
I rate the stability of this solution as nine out of ten, indicating it is highly stable.
head of commercial at Assimil8 Ltd.
 

Room For Improvement

IBM Cognos needs better data visualization, user interface, and integration improvements to compete effectively with Tableau and Power BI.
QlikView needs a more intuitive interface, better scalability, integration, predictive analytics, and cost-effective licensing for improved user experience.
Integration with Azure login makes trouble.
Sr. Project Manager at GlaxoSmithKline
One area where IBM Cognos falls short is that sometimes the application breaks for no reason many times and is fixed on restart.
Senior Software Engineer at McKinsey and Company
Since IBM Cognos is a futuristic platform with many robust features, it takes time to grasp all the features and how they work, so there is a learning curve.
Senior Data Engineer at LTI LATAM and Toubro Improtech
AI features are already available in Qlik Sense, so you would need to migrate to that platform.
Financial Controller with task of Business Intelligence Implementation at a wholesaler/distributor with 1,001-5,000 employees
In QlikView, I believe the improvement that should be made is to bring the costs down, as you'll have to be competitive with Power BI, aiming for at least a 30% reduction to stop the hemorrhaging to Power BI.
Managing Director at Hurricnae
 

Setup Cost

IBM Cognos offers comprehensive features with competitive pricing, making it cost-effective for enterprises despite perceived high costs.
QlikView pricing is variable and can be costly, but strategic planning can maximize ROI for organizations.
I believe the pricing is affordable and pocket-friendly for every organization.
Senior Software Engineer at McKinsey and Company
I rate pricing as a four, meaning it is more expensive compared to other solutions.
head of commercial at Assimil8 Ltd.
The license cost per user or per year for QlikView is about 500 Euros annually.
Managing Director at Hurricnae
I would rate the pricing for QlikView as not cheap, but it is reasonable.
Financial Controller with task of Business Intelligence Implementation at a wholesaler/distributor with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Valuable Features

IBM Cognos excels in reporting, integration, security, and analytics, providing essential tools for data-driven enterprise decision-making.
QlikView offers powerful data analysis with dynamic dashboards, intuitive interface, and rapid visualization for enhanced business performance and insights.
We have been able to save about 60% of our time from IBM Cognos Analytics, which helps us to make data decisions easily while also saving a lot of time.
Senior Software Engineer at McKinsey and Company
The AI features in IBM Cognos helped me gain deeper insights into our business processes, enabling me to make data-driven decisions easily and understand which points need our attention and which areas of our business are performing well.
Senior Data Engineer at LTI LATAM and Toubro Improtech
We have been able to save forty to fifty percent of our time with its auto-scheduling and report generation functionality.
Sr. Project Manager at GlaxoSmithKline
Building metrics using simple language, similar to what you have in Excel, is what I have found most valuable in QlikView.
Financial Controller with task of Business Intelligence Implementation at a wholesaler/distributor with 1,001-5,000 employees
The best features in QlikView are rapid development, the fact that I can do what I want in QlikView, and full control along with ease of use.
Managing Director at Hurricnae
 

Categories and Ranking

IBM Cognos
Ranking in Reporting
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
138
Ranking in other categories
BI (Business Intelligence) Tools (7th)
QlikView
Ranking in Reporting
7th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
163
Ranking in other categories
Embedded BI (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Reporting category, the mindshare of IBM Cognos is 3.2%, down from 4.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of QlikView is 4.0%, up from 3.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Reporting Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
IBM Cognos3.2%
QlikView4.0%
Other92.8%
Reporting
 

Featured Reviews

Christine Wanjiru - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr. Project Manager at GlaxoSmithKline
Reporting workflows have become faster and data-driven decisions are made confidently
The best features IBM Cognos offers include seamless data integration, AI-powered insights, and user-friendly dashboards that really make my job easier. The AI-powered insights help me automatically identify patterns and insights where they enhance analysis depth effortlessly, and this feature has been very instrumental in uncovering variable insights that might have otherwise gone unnoticed. When it comes to seamless data integration, I love the seamless and efficient data integration capability of IBM Cognos Analytics, where it allows us easy merging of data from various sources such as customer feedback and sales figures. The smooth integration process streamlines workflow efficiency and enhances overall data management practice. I also really love the user-friendly and intuitive dashboards where IBM Cognos Analytics enables quick creation of custom dashboards and an easy understanding of visual data presentation, allowing us to identify trends at a glance and enhance our analytical capabilities. IBM Cognos has positively impacted my organization since implementing this tool, as it has been very helpful with a particularly strong data analysis capability that helps us in business planning. Its strong data analysis capability helps us for business planning, and the great reporting capacity helps update all the leadership management about the business in one report. Auto-scheduling and report generation is a good feature that saves a significant amount of time. Specific outcomes that show how IBM Cognos has helped my organization include saving time, as we have been able to save forty to fifty percent of our time with its auto-scheduling and report generation functionality.
MA
Managing Director at Hurricnae
Rapid development and flexibility transform commercial decision-making processes
In QlikView, I believe the improvement that should be made is to bring the costs down, as you'll have to be competitive with Power BI, aiming for at least a 30% reduction to stop the hemorrhaging to Power BI, considering that you're losing a lot of customers to Power BI. Reducing costs is the main improvement needed, as this is the biggest burden currently faced in the South African market, with Microsoft converting QlikView customers due to the perceived cost reduction. I am aware of several big corporations, such as Sanofi and Aspen Pharmacare, which have left QlikView due to cost issues.
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Reporting solutions are best for your needs.
881,455 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Comparison Review

it_user79932 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Manager - BI Head with 5,001-10,000 employees
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
13%
Insurance Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Marketing Services Firm
8%
Computer Software Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business34
Midsize Enterprise23
Large Enterprise88
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business73
Midsize Enterprise36
Large Enterprise76
 

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?
Since IBM Cognos is a futuristic platform with many robust features, it takes time to grasp all the features and how they work, so there is a learning curve. The more I use this platform, the more ...
What do you like most about QlikView?
If you correctly use the product for your use cases, it provides value for money.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for QlikView?
I would rate the pricing for QlikView as not cheap, but it is reasonable.
What needs improvement with QlikView?
We are not using analytics features and possibly predictive analytics and forecasting features in QlikView, although they are available. QlikView is very flexible, but we are currently using only t...
 

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.
Canon, Gatorade, Amcor, Panasonic, Fila, Cambridge University Hospitals, Global Retail Bank, North Yorkshire Police department, Lanoo Group Publishers, and AonGroep Nederland.
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Cognos vs. QlikView and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,455 professionals have used our research since 2012.