We performed a comparison between IBM Cognos and Tableau based on our users’ reviews in five categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.
Comparison Results: In this comparison, IBM Cognos comes out on top. Users are happier with the support than Tableau users are, and IBM Cognos users also report an ROI.
"This solution allows you to input a wide range of file formats."
"Report Studio: This is the most powerful and sophisticated tool for professional reporting."
"Even while a user is using a cube for reporting, there will not be a situation as ' Cube file locked; unable to build or deploy'."
"The dashboarding offered by this solution is very valuable to us."
"One of the strong suits of Cognos is its robust corporate reporting capability."
"The three IBM Cognos features I find the most valuable are Dynamic Cubes, PowerPlay, and Watson."
"Mapbox integration for geospatial analytics down to longitude/latitude layers."
"The main difference that I like about Cognos compared to other solutions is its data splitting functionality. We have all our company data inside the Cognos environment and so we prefer to split the information Cognos itself. It's more efficient this way."
"The most valuable features are the visualizations, the way they show the combination charts."
"The best use case for us is the solution's integration with Salesforce because we are also partners of Salesforce."
"The most valuable feature is the user experience."
"One of the most valuable features is that the solution allows users to build interactive dashboards. This allows the end user to modify the criteria or the filtering if need be. As far as for my personal use as a QA Engineer, I really value how extensive their API document support has been."
"The most valuable feature is the geographic data analysis."
"Scheduled extract and the multiple connectors are fantastic!"
"The solution is configurable and flexible. We can customize the dashboards and configure the interface the way that we want. The data can be manipulated and arranged in different ways, such as columns."
"The maps and colors and interface are all fantastic."
"There are some problems with how Cognos handles huge data sets and when connecting with multiple sources and searching the data."
"Cognos charts are not as fast as those of the other tools, even with DQM (dynamic query mode)."
"The solution's support could be better."
"They should provide improved visual reporting."
"Chart quality: many other competitors have charts and graphics that look much better and that provide dynamic effects. Cognos doesn't."
"The high cost of a license makes it hard to scale up on a budget."
"The technical support team’s response time is slow and needs to be improved."
"It would be nice to offer free online training on the tool for end-users."
"In the next release, there should be more information describing each chart because users have a difficult time telling them apart. They should also include the animations/videos, similar to Power BI."
"With Tableau, when you're dealing with very large datasets, it can be slow so the performance is an area that can be improved."
"When you create new fields in Tableau and you enter the formulas, there is a new small window that is there in the interface. You can enter the calculated fields, it could be more user-friendly. At this time it is limited and hard to understand at the beginning. The fields should be easier to use, such as in Microsoft Excel. You can have a difficult time understanding what to do in the fields, you end up doing trial and error to figure it out."
"The data processing in Tableau is pathetic compared to Qlik."
"I would like Tableau Prep to be integrated with Tableau Desktop. I would also like more customizations for tables."
"Requires a lot of user training."
"The process of embedding the dashboards on external portals and websites could be improved."
"It needs a little bit more advanced modeling. I would like to see functionality like Cognos has in the Framework Manager."
IBM Cognos is ranked 4th in Reporting with 132 reviews while Tableau is ranked 2nd in Reporting with 291 reviews. IBM Cognos is rated 8.0, while Tableau is rated 8.4. The top reviewer of IBM Cognos writes "Improved the quality of our KPIs, while reducing calls to the IT department". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Tableau writes "Provides fast data access with in-memory extracts, makes it easy to create visualizations, and saves time". IBM Cognos is most compared with Microsoft Power BI, Oracle OBIEE, SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform, Oracle Hyperion and Amazon QuickSight, whereas Tableau is most compared with Microsoft Power BI, Amazon QuickSight, Domo, SAS Visual Analytics and QlikView. See our IBM Cognos vs. Tableau report.
See our list of best Reporting vendors and best BI (Business Intelligence) Tools vendors.
We monitor all Reporting reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.