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IBM Cognos vs Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 4, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
6.2
Organizations benefit from IBM Cognos by saving costs, reducing delivery times, enhancing productivity, and improving data insights and decision-making.
Sentiment score
5.3
Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services enhances usability, saves time, and improves decision-making and efficiency with streamlined reporting processes.
I have seen a return on investment, as I mentioned earlier about time saving and productivity gains, with a consistent governed data model that reduces the risk of errors.
Sr. Project Manager at GlaxoSmithKline
Any tool which obviates the need for a lot of coding will definitely save at least 60-70% of effort.
Consulting IT Head at MYKLaticrete
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.4
IBM Cognos support varies; online resources and knowledgeable staff assist, but complex issues lead to frustration with resolution times.
Sentiment score
6.7
Technical support receives mixed reviews; some praise its responsiveness, others face challenges, with satisfaction ratings between seven and nine.
Our systems team, operating on a lot of Red Hat Enterprise Linux and maintaining long-term relations with IBM, benefits from good support coverage.
EDW Manager at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
I rate technical support from IBM as eight out of ten, indicating a high quality of service.
head of commercial at Assimil8 Ltd.
I would love them to be proactive and responsive twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
Sr. Project Manager at GlaxoSmithKline
Reaching out to Microsoft took a prolonged time to the extent that we were wondering why Microsoft was unable to get its own logs to us.
Consulting IT Head at MYKLaticrete
I have not reached out to tech support at Microsoft for Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services because it is my job to know how to get this tool to work.
Database Administrator at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.4
IBM Cognos is praised for its scalability, though it requires correct hardware and configuration to optimize performance fully.
Sentiment score
6.5
SQL Server Reporting Services offers moderate scalability, with challenges in horizontal scaling, preferring smaller deployments over enterprise ones.
The scalability of IBM Cognos is very good, as it has continued growing with my organization's needs, allowing us to analyze and store a significant amount of data and handle our organization's growth efficiently.
Sr. Project Manager at GlaxoSmithKline
It can be scaled out to other teams, but requires building cubes and implementing policies.
head of commercial at Assimil8 Ltd.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.2
IBM Cognos is reliable with correct setup, but complex tasks and high loads may cause occasional performance slowdowns.
Sentiment score
7.2
Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services is highly stable, with minor issues mainly related to upgrades and large datasets.
I rate the stability of this solution as nine out of ten, indicating it is highly stable.
head of commercial at Assimil8 Ltd.
 

Room For Improvement

IBM Cognos needs better data visualization, user interface, and integration improvements to compete effectively with Tableau and Power BI.
SQL Server Reporting Services needs better visualization, integration, and performance to compete with alternatives, plus improved support and pricing.
Integration with Azure login makes trouble.
Sr. Project Manager at GlaxoSmithKline
Since IBM Cognos is a futuristic platform with many robust features, it takes time to grasp all the features and how they work, so there is a learning curve.
Senior Data Engineer at LTI LATAM and Toubro Improtech
There is room for improvement in self-service analytics and predictiveness.
head of commercial at Assimil8 Ltd.
I am thinking that with all the Copilot integration within the Microsoft environment, that could be integrated as well, so that you could issue a prompt and it generates designs.
Consulting IT Head at MYKLaticrete
Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services is not difficult to use, but my main issue is troubleshooting whenever there is any problem, as the logs can be unclear.
Database Administrator at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Setup Cost

IBM Cognos offers comprehensive features with competitive pricing, making it cost-effective for enterprises despite perceived high costs.
Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services offers moderate pricing and good value, though the licensing model can be complex and costly.
I rate pricing as a four, meaning it is more expensive compared to other solutions.
head of commercial at Assimil8 Ltd.
Otherwise, you need to write a lot of code or API calls to generate reports if using some other tool outside of the ecosystem, which definitely requires additional effort and therefore additional cost and time.
Consulting IT Head at MYKLaticrete
 

Valuable Features

IBM Cognos excels in reporting, integration, security, and analytics, providing essential tools for data-driven enterprise decision-making.
Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services provides intuitive usability, robust security, and seamless integration, enhancing report creation, visualization, and deployment.
We have been able to save forty to fifty percent of our time with its auto-scheduling and report generation functionality.
Sr. Project Manager at GlaxoSmithKline
The AI features in IBM Cognos helped me gain deeper insights into our business processes, enabling me to make data-driven decisions easily and understand which points need our attention and which areas of our business are performing well.
Senior Data Engineer at LTI LATAM and Toubro Improtech
The benefits of choosing IBM Cognos, aside from cost savings, include having institutional knowledge for maintaining this infrastructure and a reliable solution that enhances developer productivity.
EDW Manager at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
The best features of Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services are that it is easy to get the reports out because it is integrated with SQL and we have many of these tables.
Consulting IT Head at MYKLaticrete
I had been trying to develop a solution using SSRS to view some data while allowing me to modify data and update the table in the back end, but it seems SSRS isn't the tool for that.
Database Administrator at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Categories and Ranking

IBM Cognos
Ranking in Reporting
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
137
Ranking in other categories
BI (Business Intelligence) Tools (7th)
Microsoft SQL Server Report...
Ranking in Reporting
5th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
22
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Reporting category, the mindshare of IBM Cognos is 3.2%, down from 4.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services is 2.6%, down from 3.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Reporting Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
IBM Cognos3.2%
Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services2.6%
Other94.2%
Reporting
 

Featured Reviews

Christine Wanjiru - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr. Project Manager at GlaxoSmithKline
Reporting workflows have become faster and data-driven decisions are made confidently
The best features IBM Cognos offers include seamless data integration, AI-powered insights, and user-friendly dashboards that really make my job easier. The AI-powered insights help me automatically identify patterns and insights where they enhance analysis depth effortlessly, and this feature has been very instrumental in uncovering variable insights that might have otherwise gone unnoticed. When it comes to seamless data integration, I love the seamless and efficient data integration capability of IBM Cognos Analytics, where it allows us easy merging of data from various sources such as customer feedback and sales figures. The smooth integration process streamlines workflow efficiency and enhances overall data management practice. I also really love the user-friendly and intuitive dashboards where IBM Cognos Analytics enables quick creation of custom dashboards and an easy understanding of visual data presentation, allowing us to identify trends at a glance and enhance our analytical capabilities. IBM Cognos has positively impacted my organization since implementing this tool, as it has been very helpful with a particularly strong data analysis capability that helps us in business planning. Its strong data analysis capability helps us for business planning, and the great reporting capacity helps update all the leadership management about the business in one report. Auto-scheduling and report generation is a good feature that saves a significant amount of time. Specific outcomes that show how IBM Cognos has helped my organization include saving time, as we have been able to save forty to fifty percent of our time with its auto-scheduling and report generation functionality.
GD
Consulting IT Head at MYKLaticrete
Reports generation is efficient and saves effort, but integrating new features could enhance overall experience
I haven't contacted Microsoft technical support because of this tool, but for some other things I have, and I found them quite lacking. We had trouble with Azure Firewall, where we wanted logs from our VMs, but reaching out to Microsoft took a prolonged time to the extent that we were wondering why Microsoft was unable to get its own logs to us, which occurred a few months back. I would rate Microsoft support around 6.5 to seven, as they don't directly interact with medium-sized MSMEs, always referring to their partners, so it differs based on the partner's level of relationship with Microsoft.
report
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881,707 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Comparison Review

it_user79932 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Manager - BI Head with 5,001-10,000 employees
Feb 4, 2015
Comparison of SAP BO, Tableau, QlikView, Cognos, Microsoft, OBIEE and Pentaho
1. SAP BO/BI Enterprise scalability Security Ease of use Semantic layer 2. Tableau Visualization Data discovery Turnaround time 3. IBM Cognos Enterprise scalability Security In-memory feature 4. MS BI - Flexibility 5. Pentaho - Open source but still enterprise grade 6. QlikView Data…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
13%
Insurance Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
7%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
8%
Computer Software Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business34
Midsize Enterprise23
Large Enterprise88
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise15
 

Questions from the Community

Seeking lightweight open source BI software
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 Enter...
What do you like most about IBM Cognos?
The solution's most valuable feature is its ease of use, which makes it easily compatible with other tools.
What needs improvement with IBM Cognos?
Since IBM Cognos is a futuristic platform with many robust features, it takes time to grasp all the features and how they work, so there is a learning curve. The more I use this platform, the more ...
What do you like most about Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services?
I mainly use the solution for the ease of reporting and for executive dashboards.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services?
I would consider it cost effective for our environment, and we don't have to invest in another big tool to generate these reports, making it all integrated and easier. Otherwise, you need to write ...
What needs improvement with Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services?
Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services is not difficult to use, but my main issue is troubleshooting whenever there is any problem, as the logs can be unclear. Perhaps I don't have enough experien...
 

Also Known As

Cognos, Cognos Analytics, IBM Cognos Analytics
SQL Server Reporting Services, Microsoft SSRS, SSRS, MS SQL Server Reporting Services
 

Overview

 

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.
CMS Wire, The New York Times
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Cognos vs. Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,707 professionals have used our research since 2012.