SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform and IBM Cognos compete in the business intelligence category. SAP BusinessObjects seems to have the upper hand in ease of database connectivity and scheduling, while IBM Cognos excels in flexible reporting options and metadata modeling.
Features: SAP BusinessObjects emphasizes scalability and integration, offering robust reporting and dashboard functionalities. It includes key components like Web Intelligence and Crystal Reports for advanced scheduling and publishing. Integration with SAP databases via the semantic layer allows for consistent business logic application. IBM Cognos provides an extensive suite with flexible reporting options and a focus on metadata modeling. Report Studio supports sophisticated, pixel-perfect report creation and combining multiple data sources for comprehensive analysis.
Room for Improvement: SAP BusinessObjects faces issues with integration and upgrade stability, performance with large datasets, and visualization capabilities. Complexity in setup and high licensing costs pose additional challenges. IBM Cognos users see a need for better visualization tools, diverse data source integration, a more intuitive interface, and descriptive error reporting. More flexible pricing could help smaller organizations.
Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: SAP BusinessObjects offers On-premises, Hybrid, and Public Cloud deployment options for flexibility, though integration may be complex. IBM Cognos supports Hybrid and Private Cloud environments, with noted ease of integration once configured. SAP receives mixed customer service reviews, benefitted by extensive documentation and community support, while IBM Cognos has a consistent reputation for customer service but also requires improvement in responsiveness.
Pricing and ROI: SAP BusinessObjects is considered expensive, especially for small businesses, with complex licensing deterring some users. While its pricing reflects enterprise-grade capabilities, demonstrating ROI requires significant utilization. IBM Cognos is similarly priced but offers competitive pay-per-use models. Cognos is suited for organizations with a significant user base or specific analytical needs, though careful analysis is necessary to ensure a viable ROI.
The initial investment will be more, but the ROI is also good, so they can consider it if they're looking for something in the long run.
I have seen a return on investment so far in the form of saved time and resources.
For most of my clients using the on-premises version of SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform, the return on investment is positive due to its affordability and ability to handle diverse reporting needs while automating information distribution.
I rate technical support from IBM as eight out of ten, indicating a high quality of service.
I have experience with SAP technical support and have supported customers, including those in financial services.
I would rate their technical support as excellent.
Sometimes, they forward my ticket to the technical team, especially when my issue involves technical aspects that basis people may not be familiar with.
It can be scaled out to other teams, but requires building cubes and implementing policies.
I rate the scalability of SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform as a nine due to performance issues related to optimizing parts.
I rate the stability of this solution as nine out of ten, indicating it is highly stable.
When they tried upgrading from 4.2 to 4.3, they found it buggy in some reports, which was quite problematic.
There is room for improvement in self-service analytics and predictiveness.
SAP BusinessObjects is expected to be phased out by 2027 as reports are moving to SAP Analytics Cloud.
I've worked with other tools, for example, Microsoft Power BI, which is visualization-wise very strong.
I would appreciate integration with Outlook as an additional feature in the future to make it closer to a perfect score.
I rate pricing as a four, meaning it is more expensive compared to other solutions.
SAP BTP is an expensive solution.
The price is very competitive and reliable.
I rate the pricing for SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform as a seven or eight.
IBM Cognos is a robust governed platform with significant security features and provides excellent graphics and reporting.
For calculations, SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform outperforms all other tools such as Power BI and Tableau, showing more accuracy, reliability, and flexibility compared to all other BI tools worldwide.
It integrates well with BW and HANA, which demonstrates strong data integration capabilities.
The important features include a dashboard and reporting capabilities through SAP Analytics Cloud, which I consider to be a better version than the initial BusinessObjects platform.
| Product | Market Share (%) |
|---|---|
| SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform | 2.9% |
| IBM Cognos | 2.2% |
| Other | 94.9% |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 33 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 23 |
| Large Enterprise | 83 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 32 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 18 |
| Large Enterprise | 65 |
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:
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.”
SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform is a versatile and flexible solution for reporting and dashboards, focusing on analytics and ad hoc reporting. It can be deployed on-premise or in the cloud. The solution includes tools such as Web Intelligence, Crystal Reports, SAP Lumira, and Analytical Cloud and is primarily used for comprehensive business intelligence reporting.
The most valuable features include excellent reporting features, good technical support, scalability, and the ability to translate database data into business language. The solution has helped organizations by providing analytics, monitoring KPIs, and making important decisions as a financial business.
SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Key Features
Reviews from Real Users
SAP BusinessObjects BI stands out among its competitors for a number of reasons. Several major ones are its user-friendly dashboard, its impressive reporting and analytic features, and its ability to integrate with multiple solutions.
A managing partner at a tech services company writes, "One of the most valuable features of SAP BusinessObjects is that it's not a dashboarding solution. It's a real product. You can create operational reports and publish it to anyone. You can create schedules. You can create a Universe, semantic layers. There's also a security configuration. It's a huge product, so if there is a business need, SAP BusinessObjects can cover it."
An associate manager at a consultancy notes, "It provides flexibility for creating reports. It is very good for creating highly complex reports. I like this solution because when I buy BusinessObjects, it comes with many components, such as reporting, dashboard, and data visualization tools. Its performance is good. It is running on top of SAP BW and SAP HANA."
A manager of data analytics and interfaces at a healthcare company says, "It has got great flexibility. As a reporting tool, it has a great deal of flexibility for numerous data resources that you can bring into it. It allows you to write your SQL query directly within the product. It has great visualization.
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