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.
"The dashboarding offered by this solution is very valuable to us."
"For planning, forecasting, in-boxing, modeling in general and for predicting numbers and doing work analysis, they are excellent."
"The product is a very good reporting tool and is very flexible. It allows for the users to get a scheduled report."
"The most valuable feature of IBM Cognos is security. The solution has updated features that other competitors' solutions come out with long after IBM Cognos has had them."
"The solution's initial setup process is easy."
"Cognos' most valuable features are the bundled studios, simple UI, and advanced features like the ability to create data modules."
"Comparing IBM Cognos to other applications, once a person is trained on it or they have developed a skill set to operate the application, it is best in its category."
"If they want dashboarding, storytelling, and analyzing why KPIs are met or not, then Cognos is a better candidate than Qlik Sense."
"Better interaction and less time spent with end users."
"It allows us to basically understand and evaluate our numbers in an expedient manner."
"It is a stable solution."
"It provides supporting data for critical policy and operational changes"
"We found Tableau has the quickest learning time out of the few other BI reporting tools that we have used."
"I believe one of the most valuable features of the solution is trend analysis."
"Easy for beginners to use"
"Tableau has greatly enhanced our organization's data-driven decision-making processes by enabling us to create visually compelling reports and dashboards."
"It could have more options for themes."
"I would like to see the introduction of mapbooks for supporting some geographical information."
"Cognos charts are not as fast as those of the other tools, even with DQM (dynamic query mode)."
"The technical support team’s response time is slow and needs to be improved."
"The solution's support could be better."
"They were lacking in the initial phases of development in the area of big data, and they still need to improve that aspect of the product."
"We need more predictive analytical functions, not only diagnostic or decryptic analytics."
"The visualization aspect needs to be improved and I believe, this is being resolved in upcoming versions."
"It would be nice if we could export more raw data. Currently, there is a limit as to how much data you can export."
"It is not so great when it comes to data exchange/integration, data mining, etc."
"The product's features for cloud integration need improvement."
"I also work as an SME on the platform side. Tableau is very nice and jazzy for the end-users, but there are pain points for the admins. Performance is something about which we hear a lot of complaints, such as the dashboard doesn't open in time. It performs well on the desktop but not on the server. I know that there is always a limitation when it comes to a huge amount of data or the complexity of the calculations, but we often hear from end-users about the performance on the server side. It is easy to drag and drop all the columns and do what we want, but if it is not going to load better on the server, users are not going to like it."
"We need big servers to perform the operations that we are doing. They should probably relook at its architecture."
"Tableau is difficult to scale because of the cost, which makes it difficult to scale."
"An advanced type of visualization is a bit tricky to create. It has something called a Calculated field, and that sometimes gets a bit difficult to use when you want to create an advanced type of visualization."
"With performance tuning, it generates a pretty complex query when it is not required."
IBM Cognos is ranked 4th in Reporting with 132 reviews while Tableau is ranked 2nd in Reporting with 290 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 Oracle OBIEE. 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.