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IBM Planning Analytics vs XLCubed comparison

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Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

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

Categories and Ranking

IBM Planning Analytics
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
28
Ranking in other categories
Business Performance Management (5th)
XLCubed
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
Reporting (30th)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Business Intelligence solutions, they serve different purposes. IBM Planning Analytics is designed for Business Performance Management and holds a mindshare of 4.1%, down 9.8% compared to last year.
XLCubed, on the other hand, focuses on Reporting, holds 1.1% mindshare, up 0.4% since last year.
Business Performance Management Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
IBM Planning Analytics4.1%
Anaplan6.2%
Workday Adaptive Planning5.4%
Other84.3%
Business Performance Management
Reporting Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
XLCubed1.1%
Tableau Enterprise13.9%
Microsoft Power BI12.9%
Other72.1%
Reporting
 

Featured Reviews

Gladys Njeri - PeerSpot reviewer
Key Account Manager at DHL
Data-driven planning has transformed financial decisions and now saves major reporting time
IBM Planning Analytics helps with collaboration between teams by allowing us to gather data from various departments, analyze it, and collaborate on the data to make data-driven decisions between different departments easily. As I mentioned previously, I mainly use IBM Planning Analytics to visualize the existing data to generate meaningful report dashboards and use it during stakeholder meetings to arrive at the right decision. The best features IBM Planning Analytics offers include budgeting, forecasting, and what-if scenario analysis. The scenario modeling feature in IBM Planning Analytics is probably the most robust planning and forecasting solution we use, especially for what-if scenarios, where we are able to forecast using Watson Studio, which helps in better prediction. I really appreciate the Excel integration in IBM Planning Analytics because it keeps things familiar and adds more power.
it_user1391316 - PeerSpot reviewer
Head of Finance Systems at NHS
Cost effective with great capability, performance, flexibility and visuals
In general, we're happy with the solution but we're always looking to see what else is out there. The thing we've struggled with is our partnership with Tagetik UK, the consultants, and the issue we had gaining access to consultants to develop the solution on our behalf. Thankfully we connected directly with XLCubed and now have a pretty close and good relationship with them so the earlier problem we had of actually getting resources to help us develop has now been solved. One of the things that we've been asking for and would like as an additional feature is a sort of benchmarking functionality. The ability to be able to benchmark, directly against the company digital corporate numbers. That said, there seems to be improved functionality within the latest release that could help us develop that further.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"IBM Planning Analytics has positively impacted my organization by saving time from manual data processing and serving as a great and helpful tool."
"The scenario modeling capabilities are frequently used to create different scenarios, compare them, and see which action leads to which result."
"The tool is flexible."
"Its stability helps controllers win time in their planning processes."
"The ease of use is valuable. The fact that it's plugged into Excel spreadsheets is also valuable. It provides additional functionality where you can slice and dice the information in a way that you can't do with spreadsheets"
"For most clients, they evaluate other similar software, but in general this software has more flexibility to make changes and adapt their business rules to the tool."
"IBM Planning Analytics is easy to use and deploy. It is quick to develop. The calculation machine is also very fast."
"IBM Planning Analytics can help us build scenarios through a sandbox environment, allowing us to test multiple variables and assess their impact on our budget and planning."
"The solution has great capability, performance, flexibility, visuals, everything, and we also have a very good relationship with the consultants and the solution is also very cost effective."
"I am looking forward to testing their full graphics that are available, as they looked very interesting in the demo."
 

Cons

"Improvement is needed in IBM Planning Analytics because it requires a lot of time to learn and master."
"It is a bit expensive, but it does the job."
"IBM Planning Analytics does not work offline, which makes it difficult for me and my team to work or gather required data when we do not have an internet connection."
"The CAFE Excel plug-in needs to be improved to handle all the features of older TM1 Perspectives plug-in for Excel."
"If we talk only about the TM1 engine, it's quite rich and possibly too rich, making it complex to perform simple tasks."
"IBM is behind competitors like Tableau and Power BI in terms of visualization. Their visuals are less innovative and practical with fewer varieties."
"It's highly competitive right now, and all the vendors are in a race to put out new versions with additional features. IBM comes out with new versions too often, and it has an impact on quality."
"It's wonky, and not super user-friendly with Excel."
"It's quite a stable solution although we sometimes encounter issues internally within our IT department with regard to the structure."
"At this time, I cannot recommend this solution to others because I cannot connect."
"Would like the ability to be able to benchmark."
"There should be a better or an easier way to establish that connection to external sources."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Compared with the other tools in the market, IBM Planning Analytics is a bit expensive."
"The license of this solution is paid annually. Most of my customers choose a license that includes support."
"IBM Planning Analytics is not the cheapest solution, but it's priced per the market standard for this type of solution. I rate the price at seven out of ten."
"IBM Planning Analytics is priced well, and licensing costs are yearly."
"I would rate the tool's pricing a nine out of ten since it's expensive."
"Our licensing cost is approximately $50,000.00 per year."
"It is a bit expensive, but you get what you are paying for."
"I am still using the two-week trial, but at first sight, the price is reasonable."
"14,000 Pounds per year for licensing."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
14%
Retailer
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Outsourcing Company
7%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business18
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise18
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Planning Analytics?
Regarding pricing, the cost is high compared to the competitors of IBM Planning Analytics, but given that we as an organization already use IBM, we decided to go for IBM Planning Analytics. We did ...
What needs improvement with IBM Planning Analytics?
I have found that IBM Planning Analytics is flexible in the sense that you can customize the platform, customize calculations, and customize your models. However, your ability to do that when you w...
What is your primary use case for IBM Planning Analytics?
We rely on IBM Planning Analytics for our monthly forecast because it is modular, making it essential for tracking and managing our monthly, quarterly, and yearly forecasts. We use it mostly for fo...
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Also Known As

Cognos TM1, IBM Cognos TM1
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

ManpowerGroup, Convergys, AIG, Orchard Brands, Citibank, InterGen, Northwestern University, EF Education First, Ironside, Bazan Group, CSOB Insurance, Macquarie Group, Charles Stanley, SATO, Government of Sint Maarten, BMW Financial Services
Marshalls Ltd, BP Exploration and Production, Thorntons, Ted Baker, Bristol-Myers, Rank Group, ING Bank Genve, Cargill Value Investment, Chloride Power, Auchan, Erste, UEFA, Novartis, Porsche Informatik, Raiffeisen Bank International
Find out what your peers are saying about Anaplan, SAP, Oracle and others in Business Performance Management. Updated: August 2026.
911,493 professionals have used our research since 2012.