IBM Cognos vs Information Builders WebFOCUS comparison

Cancel
You must select at least 2 products to compare!
Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between IBM Cognos and Information Builders WebFOCUS based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Legacy BI Tools solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.
To learn more, read our detailed IBM Cognos vs. Information Builders WebFOCUS Report (Updated: March 2020).
763,955 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
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 of IBM Cognos is security. The solution has updated features that other competitors' solutions come out with long after IBM Cognos has had them.""This solution allows you to input a wide range of file formats.""The most valuable features are Report Development (Functionality) and Information Distribution (Flexibility).""In terms of stability, I think that Cognos is more stable than Tableau and Power Bi because of its framework manager concept that allows us to import metadata and store it in the framework manager.""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.""If they want dashboarding, storytelling, and analyzing why KPIs are met or not, then Cognos is a better candidate than Qlik Sense.""Previously, we were doing static reporting. Management would request a report, and it would take staff a week or more to provide it. With Cognos, we have dynamic reporting, and it has reduced both reporting and decision making times significantly. With the solution's dashboard, the company's management team has updated records at their fingertips. This means that they can directly access the data they need to make decisions.""The Report Studio that is aimed at professional report writers."

More IBM Cognos Pros →

"The most valuable feature is building ad hoc reports.""It stands out for its ability to work across different platforms, support mainframe data, offer cloud integration, automate report scheduling, and provide a robust scripting language.""The solution can read and write 500 different types of outputs.""I would rate the scalability a ten out of ten. It's highly scalable and can handle significant data volumes."

More Information Builders WebFOCUS Pros →

Cons
"We would like to see development of the product's UI function, to make it more of a UI tool that can be configured as required.""They should provide improved visual reporting.""Tableau and Power BI are faster than Cognos.""One key area for improvement is the need to improve the self-service nature and functionality of the product in terms of visual analytics.""IBM Support can be slow at times, but they can usually deliver in a timely manner.""It could have more options for themes.""There are a lot of limitations with the out-of-the-box tool.""The technical support team’s response time is slow and needs to be improved."

More IBM Cognos Cons →

"The solution can be improved by adding more automated options for reporting.""The challenge lies not in what the tool can do but in how you use it and understand the data.""When it comes to customer support, we don't always reach the right person. Sometimes, we get junior-level reps who aren't as knowledgeable as we are.""If there were to be any improvements right now, their documentation needs to get in sync with their product."

More Information Builders WebFOCUS Cons →

Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "There is need to assess the purchase license accordingly so as to avoid audit penalties."
  • "The pricing and licensing policies are comparatively cheaper than other products in the market ."
  • "IBM Cognos offers competitive pricing similar to other BI vendors in the market."
  • "Pricing should be improved."
  • "The pricing of this product is meant for medium to large-scale enterprises."
  • "It is my understanding that the cost is very low. It's not very expensive."
  • "Cognos is super expensive compared to Tableau ($70/month) and Power BI ($20/month) — I think Cognos is roughly $200 a month."
  • "It is quite pricy. I think Microsoft BI is cheaper. Tableau might also be cheaper, but it also depends on the usage. If you have very many users, Cognos can be a problem. It could be cheaper than Tableau but not for so many users. If you have a few thousand users, Tableau, which is generally quite expensive, can be cheaper than Cognos."
  • More IBM Cognos Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "I would rate the pricing a five out of ten, with ten being expensive."
  • More Information Builders WebFOCUS Pricing and Cost Advice →

    report
    Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Legacy BI Tools solutions are best for your needs.
    763,955 professionals have used our research since 2012.
    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:It depends on the Data architecture and the complexity of your requirement Some great tools in the market are Qlik Sense, Power BI, OBIEE, Tableau, etc. I have recently started using Cognos… more »
    Top Answer:We use IBM Cognos for enterprise analytics and reporting.
    Top Answer:The technical support team’s response time is slow and needs to be improved.
    Top Answer:I would rate the pricing a five out of ten, with ten being expensive.
    Top Answer:I use it for supplying and developing business intelligence (BI) solutions, data management and reporting applications, and for the development of complete web-based applications. It's a versatile and… more »
    Ranking
    3rd
    out of 3 in Legacy BI Tools
    Views
    2,086
    Comparisons
    1,221
    Reviews
    11
    Average Words per Review
    433
    Rating
    8.2
    6th
    Views
    147
    Comparisons
    118
    Reviews
    3
    Average Words per Review
    687
    Rating
    8.3
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    Cognos, Cognos Analytics, IBM Cognos Analytics
    WebFOCUS
    Learn More
    Overview

    IBM Cognos Business Intelligence provides a wide range of tools to help you analyze your organization's data. IBM Cognos BI allows businesses to monitor events and metrics, create and view business reports, and analyze data to help them make effective business decisions.

    IBM Cognos applies techniques to describe, summarize, and compare data, and draw conclusions. This allows users to see trends and discover anomalies or variances that may not be evident by simply reading data. Data sources that contain information from different areas of a business can be stored in separate packages. Users can see only information that they have been granted access to, based on their group or role.

    IBM Cognos BI consolidates the following business intelligence functions into a single web-based solution:

    • IBM Cognos Insight: Create personal and managed workspaces for data analysis. Using these interactive workspaces, you can share insight results with managers. Cognos Insight supports write-back, and you can also use these workspaces to capture and integrate management goals, commitments, and forecasts.

    • IBM Cognos Workspace: With IBM Cognos Workspace, you can create rich, interactive workspaces using IBM Cognos content as well as data from external sources. You can view and open your favorite workspaces and reports, edit content in your workspaces, and share your workspaces via email.

    • IBM Cognos Analytics: IBM Cognos Analytics utilizes built-in AI and intuitive searches which helps users to quickly create the visualizations and a wide range of reports. Cognos Analytics provides cognitive and managed self-service, enabling you to gain insights from controlled and trusted data.

    • IBM Cognos Report Studio and IBM Cognos Query Studio: Easily create structured and query reports. IBM Cognos allows users to create application and report templates. In addition, report authors can reuse report objects to apply filters, fields, and styles to reports. Users can set the language of the user interface and report content according to the user's native language.

    • IBM Cognos Event Studio: Receive notifications of events that occur within your organization in real time. Event Studio enables the creation of agents that detect the occurrence of business events, failures, or anomalies, based on the change of specific events or data conditions. Notification can be sent via email, publication in the portal, or by triggering reports.

    • IBM Cognos Connection: This is the Web portal for IBM Cognos BI and is the central area for accessing all the IBM Cognos functions. In the web portal, users can schedule and distribute reports, create tasks, administer the server and the access permissions, and more.

    Reviews from Real Users

    IBM Cognos stands out among its competitors for a number of reasons. Two major ones are its powerful analysis tool and its reporting capabilities.

    Prasad B., a senior software engineer at a financial services firm, notes, “The product is a very good reporting tool and is very flexible. It allows for the users to get a scheduled report. We can receive automated reports as well. They are easy to schedule on a weekly or monthly basis. It is very fast. I mean in means of report output, it's very fast compared to the actual clients involved.”

    WebFOCUS is a strategic enterprise business intelligence (BI) and analytics platform that enables any executive, manager, analyst, employee, partner, or customer to execute smarter business from trusted data. The platform includes cutting-edge capabilities that provide organizations with everything they need to turn data into insight, and insight into impact.

    Sample Customers
    More than 23,000 leading organizations across multiple industries use Cognos. Some examples of Cognos customers include BMW Financial Services, Quinte Health Care, Troy Corporation, Michigan State University, and GKN Land System.
    Ace Hardware, AutoZone, Fred Hutch, MasterCard, OFS Brands, PostFinance, Real D, Yellow Pages, ABC Financial, AcuSport, BBVA, Babcock
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm14%
    Computer Software Company11%
    Insurance Company9%
    Healthcare Company9%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Educational Organization57%
    Financial Services Firm7%
    Computer Software Company5%
    Government5%
    REVIEWERS
    Government62%
    Insurance Company15%
    Manufacturing Company8%
    Logistics Company8%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Financial Services Firm19%
    Computer Software Company11%
    Manufacturing Company9%
    Government9%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business24%
    Midsize Enterprise16%
    Large Enterprise60%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business8%
    Midsize Enterprise61%
    Large Enterprise31%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business19%
    Midsize Enterprise14%
    Large Enterprise67%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business15%
    Midsize Enterprise11%
    Large Enterprise74%
    Buyer's Guide
    IBM Cognos vs. Information Builders WebFOCUS
    March 2020
    Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Cognos vs. Information Builders WebFOCUS and other solutions. Updated: March 2020.
    763,955 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    IBM Cognos is ranked 3rd in Legacy BI Tools with 11 reviews while Information Builders WebFOCUS is ranked 6th in Predictive Analytics with 4 reviews. IBM Cognos is rated 8.0, while Information Builders WebFOCUS is rated 8.8. 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 Information Builders WebFOCUS writes "A flexible mainframe product with unique file features and a rock solid scheduling feature". IBM Cognos is most compared with Microsoft Power BI, Tableau, Oracle OBIEE, SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform and Oracle Hyperion, whereas Information Builders WebFOCUS is most compared with Microsoft Power BI, Tableau, SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform, Alteryx and SAS Visual Analytics. See our IBM Cognos vs. Information Builders WebFOCUS report.

    We monitor all Legacy BI Tools 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.