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IBM Planning Analytics vs SAS Activity-Based Management comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 19, 2024

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 Planning Analytics
Ranking in Business Performance Management
4th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
27
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SAS Activity-Based Management
Ranking in Business Performance Management
19th
Average Rating
5.0
Reviews Sentiment
5.9
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2026, in the Business Performance Management category, the mindshare of IBM Planning Analytics is 4.2%, down from 10.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAS Activity-Based Management is 2.5%, up from 1.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Business Performance Management Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
IBM Planning Analytics4.2%
SAS Activity-Based Management2.5%
Other93.3%
Business Performance Management
 

Featured Reviews

Gladys Njeri - PeerSpot reviewer
Key Account Manager at DHL
Data-driven planning has transformed financial decisions and now saves major reporting time
IBM Planning Analytics helps with collaboration between teams by allowing us to gather data from various departments, analyze it, and collaborate on the data to make data-driven decisions between different departments easily. As I mentioned previously, I mainly use IBM Planning Analytics to visualize the existing data to generate meaningful report dashboards and use it during stakeholder meetings to arrive at the right decision. The best features IBM Planning Analytics offers include budgeting, forecasting, and what-if scenario analysis. The scenario modeling feature in IBM Planning Analytics is probably the most robust planning and forecasting solution we use, especially for what-if scenarios, where we are able to forecast using Watson Studio, which helps in better prediction. I really appreciate the Excel integration in IBM Planning Analytics because it keeps things familiar and adds more power.
it_user530763 - PeerSpot reviewer
CEO at a financial services firm with 1-10 employees
Helps to compare production costs across different departments. Try CostPerform from QPR.
Helps to compare production costs across different departments The data integration is very complex Visualization of the cost flow is not user-friendly It takes hours to build OLAP cubes to analyze the results of the model We have been using this solution for three years. I would rate the…

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 is that it is able to slice and dice the data."
"I don't think there are many tools out there that are as flexible as this solution."
"For most clients, they evaluate other similar software, but in general this software has more flexibility to make changes and adapt their business rules to the tool."
"It's a very stable, robust product."
"The scenario modeling capabilities are frequently used to create different scenarios, compare them, and see which action leads to which result."
"The tool is flexible."
"I would recommend Planning Analytics to other users as it's user-friendly, accessible, and flexible."
"Some of our customers previously used Excel spreadsheets for budget planning, and the process took more than two months, however, after switching to Planning Analytics, they could do it in a week."
"We use ABM as an expense allocation model and it has improved the awareness and accountability of the cost incurred due to the traceability feature."
"Helps to compare production costs across different departments."
"Cube generation is a valuable feature."
"The product allows us to calculate the distributed cost across activities."
"The product helped determine the organization's true cost of providing its products and services to customers."
 

Cons

"It's highly competitive right now, and all the vendors are in a race to put out new versions with additional features. IBM comes out with new versions too often, and it has an impact on quality."
"The workspace API should be improved and documented so we know better which objects are used."
"Extracting data is a little slow."
"The new frontend Planning Analytics Workspace is not very good, it could be improved. I like the Planning Analytics functionality but it would be helpful if it could be more customizable. You can create a prediction and receive information but you cannot do feature engineering regarding the predictive models. If this was added it would be helpful."
"It is a bit expensive, but it does the job."
"I think the software front-end on Cognos Contributor should be developed further to provide the final user with a better and clear design."
"Scalability is quite hard to implement in TM1, largely since the on-premise installation chosen back in 2014. On a scale, I'd rate scalability at four, out of ten. It's difficult."
"The dashboard is very poor and needs a lot of improvement."
"The interface is poorly designed and could really use an improvement to compete with other comparable software."
"The data integration is very complex Visualization of the cost flow is not user-friendly It takes hours to build OLAP cubes to analyze the results of the model"
"The usability needs to be improved but bear in mind that we did not have the latest update."
"We experienced severe performance issues when the models created are getting more details and becoming more complex."
"It could be made much more simpler. Most of the time it looks like a black box for developers."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"IBM Planning Analytics is not the cheapest solution, but it's priced per the market standard for this type of solution. I rate the price at seven out of ten."
"The license of this solution is paid annually. Most of my customers choose a license that includes support."
"Compared with the other tools in the market, IBM Planning Analytics is a bit expensive."
"Our licensing cost is approximately $50,000.00 per year."
"I would rate the tool's pricing a nine out of ten since it's expensive."
"IBM Planning Analytics is priced well, and licensing costs are yearly."
"It is a bit expensive, but you get what you are paying for."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
14%
Retailer
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Insurance Company
6%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business16
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise16
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Planning Analytics?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for IBM Planning Analytics is that the pricing and licensing cost can be somewhat on the higher side, especially for small organizations. Howev...
What needs improvement with IBM Planning Analytics?
IBM Planning Analytics could be improved by simplifying the learning curve, as it requires a lot of time to learn and master it. The advanced features are somewhat complex to understand, and if the...
What is your primary use case for IBM Planning Analytics?
My main use case for IBM Planning Analytics is as an IT software engineer, and I typically use it day-to-day for planning analytics over the past two years. It is probably the most robust planning ...
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Also Known As

Cognos TM1, IBM Cognos TM1
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

ManpowerGroup, Convergys, AIG, Orchard Brands, Citibank, InterGen, Northwestern University, EF Education First, Ironside, Bazan Group, CSOB Insurance, Macquarie Group, Charles Stanley, SATO, Government of Sint Maarten, BMW Financial Services
Bank of Queensland, Barclays Bank, BioMar, Danske Bank, Danske Spil, DPPS, First Allied
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Planning Analytics vs. SAS Activity-Based Management and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
902,894 professionals have used our research since 2012.