We performed a comparison between IBM Cognos and Microsoft BI based on our users’ reviews in five categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.
Comparison Results: Microsoft BI has a slight edge in this comparison. According to its reviewers, it is a more lightweight solution than IBM Cognos.
"A drag-and-drop interface for selecting creating ad hoc reports makes this product very easy to use."
"The most valuable features are Report Development (Functionality) and Information Distribution (Flexibility)."
"Cognos' most valuable features are the bundled studios, simple UI, and advanced features like the ability to create data modules."
"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 feature is developing reports from different data sources, making it a reliable data source."
"Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."
"Integration with Office can enable the 'download' mode of storytelling."
"Using custom controls, it is possible to extend the application with even more functionality and make the application intuitive and attractive."
"It is in the cloud, which makes it easy for mobile access of reports and data."
"This solution has improved our ability in making decisions and explaining data."
"The best thing about this solution is that it is very user friendly. It is interactive in terms of visualizations. It is very eye-catching, and it attracts users. There are a lot of options to visualize the data in different drafts and views. I have used different visualization tools, and I found Power BI to be more efficient in terms of performance, user-friendliness, and ease of use."
"It offers a lot of information and is very flexible and interactive."
"The scalability is good. We have 20 people in my organization using this solution and plan to increase usage."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Power BI is the drill-through feature that takes you to a details page the users want to see."
"The dashboards of Microsoft BI are easy to use."
"It gives us, the ability to do a lot of analysis quickly, similar to ad hoc analysis."
"The solution's support could be better."
"There are a lot of limitations with the out-of-the-box tool."
"They should provide improved visual reporting."
"It would be good if the solution had conditional formatting."
"The AI-based features could be further enhanced by the solution."
"The tool needs to improve the connectivity since I see that, at times, there is a need to increase the memory in the database."
"Extending dynamic cubes aggregate awareness with calculated measures."
"The charts and graphics are weak."
"Its performance and stability can be improved. It takes time to load, and sometimes, it also breaks down for the whole region. Its usability could also be better, and it could also have more connections with different data sources."
"Microsoft should offer additional features for visualization and have additional features for slicing and dicing that data."
"The look is simple, and could be a little more professional."
"The solution struggles with large amounts of data."
"Microsoft BI has its own challenges in terms of user interface and how quickly somebody can learn how to use it."
"Integration with artificial intelligence would help. Humans take time to review the data and eliminate errors. Artificial intelligence based on machine learning and understanding can bring the same functionality."
"BI is scalable, but there are some problems with limited online storage."
"Their technical support can be better. They normally take too long to escalate and resolve a case."
IBM Cognos is ranked 4th in Reporting with 132 reviews while Microsoft Power BI is ranked 1st in Reporting with 297 reviews. IBM Cognos is rated 8.0, while Microsoft Power BI is rated 8.0. 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 Microsoft Power BI writes "A complete ecosystem with an builtin ETL tool, good integrations with python and R, and support of DAX and Power Query (M languages)". IBM Cognos is most compared with Oracle OBIEE, Tableau, SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform, Oracle Hyperion and Amazon QuickSight, whereas Microsoft Power BI is most compared with Tableau, Amazon QuickSight, KNIME, Domo and SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform. See our IBM Cognos vs. Microsoft Power BI 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.