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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
5th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
28
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 August 2026, in the Business Performance Management category, the mindshare of IBM Planning Analytics is 4.1%, down from 9.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAS Activity-Based Management is 2.5%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Business Performance Management Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
IBM Planning Analytics4.1%
SAS Activity-Based Management2.5%
Other93.4%
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

"It's a very stable, robust product."
"The tool is flexible."
"The flexibility of IBM Planning Analytics is a great feature of this solution. The design flexibility with data rules and defining calculations The ability to combine online and offline calculations are a benefit. Additionally, the forecasting features and predictive analytics is very good."
"I like that the solution brings together a lot of data from different platforms and it's all integrated."
"It is a great tool."
"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."
"This product is entirely designable and flexible, you can answer to very complex requirements."
"A lot of the platform is in-memory, so Planning Analytics can run calculations quite fast. It also offers several user interfaces. And in the newest version of Planning Analytics, there is a new one called the Planning Analytics Workspace. Maybe it could be useful for the business side."
"The product allows us to calculate the distributed cost across activities."
"Helps to compare production costs across different departments."
"The product helped determine the organization's true cost of providing its products and services to customers."
"Cube generation is a valuable feature."
"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."
 

Cons

"IBM Planning Analytics does not work offline, which makes it difficult for me and my team to work or gather required data when we do not have an internet connection."
"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 CAFE Excel plug-in needs to be improved to handle all the features of older TM1 Perspectives plug-in for Excel."
"It is a bit expensive, but it does the job."
"The disadvantage is the old-fashioned surface of IBM Cognos TM1."
"I think the software front-end on Cognos Contributor should be developed further to provide the final user with a better and clear design."
"If we talk only about the TM1 engine, it's quite rich and possibly too rich, making it complex to perform simple tasks."
"The local authentication part is difficult to manage in the product, making it an area where improvements are required."
"We experienced severe performance issues when the models created are getting more details and becoming more complex."
"The usability needs to be improved but bear in mind that we did not have the latest update."
"The interface is poorly designed and could really use an improvement to compete with other comparable software."
"It could be made much more simpler. Most of the time it looks like a black box for developers."
"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"
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I would rate the tool's pricing a nine out of ten since it's expensive."
"The license of this solution is paid annually. Most of my customers choose a license that includes support."
"It is a bit expensive, but you get what you are paying for."
"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."
"IBM Planning Analytics is priced well, and licensing costs are yearly."
"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."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
15%
Retailer
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Outsourcing Company
6%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business18
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise18
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Planning Analytics?
Regarding pricing, the cost is high compared to the competitors of IBM Planning Analytics, but given that we as an organization already use IBM, we decided to go for IBM Planning Analytics. We did ...
What needs improvement with IBM Planning Analytics?
I have found that IBM Planning Analytics is flexible in the sense that you can customize the platform, customize calculations, and customize your models. However, your ability to do that when you w...
What is your primary use case for IBM Planning Analytics?
We rely on IBM Planning Analytics for our monthly forecast because it is modular, making it essential for tracking and managing our monthly, quarterly, and yearly forecasts. We use it mostly for fo...
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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: August 2026.
909,701 professionals have used our research since 2012.