Name: IBM Cognos
Brand: IBM
Rating: 4.1 (139 reviews)

it_user191655

BI (Cognos) Developer at a pharma/biotech company with 501-1,000 employees

Feb 9, 2015

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Report Studio is a valuable feature but would be better with the ability to audit the SQL

Pros and Cons

"Cognos gives a consistent single source answer for many users to retrieve easily."

"Customer Service: 6/10 as they usually get back quickly but rarely have a solution."

What is most valuable?

Jobs
Schedules
Auditing
Report Studio

How has it helped my organization?

Cognos gives a consistent single source answer for many users to retrieve easily. It allows for prompted value, so many questions can be answered.

What needs improvement?

Auditing the SQL to determine if there are any particularly slow points. Also allowing jobs to send email notification when complete with links to all the reports within the email.

For how long have I used the solution?

Seven years.

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What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

There are always some errors, but typically user errors.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is pretty stable, but bad queries can cause problems.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

No issues encountered.

How are customer service and support?

Customer Service:

6/10 as they usually get back quickly but rarely have a solution.

Technical Support:

6/10

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I used MicroStrategy before, but I changed jobs because Cognos is a bigger company and would have more job opportunities.

How was the initial setup?

It is pretty straightforward. It doesn't take an expert to set up, but consultants will try to make it seem more complex than it is.

What about the implementation team?

We used a vendor team. They talked a good game, but I would rate them at a 6/10.

What was our ROI?

Don't know, but it's not cheap.

What other advice do I have?

It's not as good a MicroStrategy for data analysis, but better for static reporting.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.

it_user164874Practice Leader

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May 4, 2015

If you want to understand the performance of a single report or profile a set of reports then you need to use Cognos Performance Management Analysis (PMA). This is packaged with the Business Patterns offering and it used to be available on AnalyticsZone, but I don't see it there any more. No idea why.

Installation on top of SQL Server / Oracle instead of DB2 BLU might require assistance from IBM. They had to help us the first time. Once you understand the capabilities of this free utility it is absolutely amazing. It describes what is going on at a finer level of detail that anyone could want.

In summary. PMA is not trivial to configure but it is incredibly powerful at analyzing EXACTLY what is going on and why.

it_user185781

Solution Architect with 51-200 employees

Jan 26, 2015

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A good mix of abilities for reporting but ability to manage source code & environment deployment needs work

Pros and Cons

"Good mix of abilities for reporting for both technical and non-technical users."

"Pricing model is frequently changing and hard to manage."

What is most valuable?

Good mix of abilities for reporting for both technical and non-technical users.

How has it helped my organization?

Dashboarding presentations of key metrics.

What needs improvement?

Ability to easily manage source code and environment deployment
Pricing model is frequently changing and hard to manage
Maintenance fees were based on a percentage of the base cost, not the discounted price we paid which was a surprise the first year

For how long have I used the solution?

Five years - Cognos BI 8 and 10

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

Because the configuration options are wide, there are typically minor issues with an installation.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Not once it is configured correctly.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

No issues encountered.

How are customer service and technical support?

Customer Service:

6 out of 10.

Technical Support:

6 out of 10.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Previous solution was built on an old technology and updates continue to be built over the same engine rather than an updated technology. Caused issues with programming.

How was the initial setup?

Complex, many options and variations available which is both good and bad.

What about the implementation team?

Through a vendor. Very good expertise.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Brief evaluation of other products, selection was based on discounted pricing at year end and high rating from Gartner.

What other advice do I have?

If you don't have staff with previous experience in this product, it's worth engaging a partner you help you with installation and configuration options, training and early implementation.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.

it_user164874Practice Leader

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May 4, 2015

Regarding source code and environment management, there are some good thirty party add-on tools out there that solve this problem, and other problems such as large scale fine-grained security management.

Check out
MetaManager from Avnet Brightstar Partners (BSP)
CI/PI and other offerings from Motio
SecurityStudio from FirstQuarter
AuditProcessor from Genware Computer Systems
Varios Visn products from Envisn

I have used some but not all of these products.

Buyer's Guide

IBM Cognos

April 2026

Free Report: IBM Cognos Reviews and More

Learn what your peers think about IBM Cognos. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: April 2026.

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893,164 professionals have used our research since 2012.

it_user174621

Cognos Consultant at a insurance company with 51-200 employees

Jan 15, 2015

The Dashboards feature is almost a challenge to other BI tools

In the market, there are new cutting edge technologies that analyze data in a better way. Cognos is a tool where we can view the data in a more understanding way. In the new version, Cognos 10.2.1, there are new features to analyze the data, and this enables you to take better business decisions.

Active reports are available to see the data offline and can be integrated to view the report outputs on an iPhone as well in an animated feature.
Visualization feature is in the new version, 10.2.1, and can be compared with other BI tools such as Tibco, Spotfire, and Tabulae.
Dashboards feature is almost a challenge to other BI tools to show the reports in the same way, i.e. a summary analysis.
Other reporting options are almost complete compared to the other BI tools and offers more sophisticated performing.

We can say that it’s a very successful BI tool and it has gained acceptance with business users and hopefully will be in the market for a long time.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.

it_user176946

BI Architect at a wellness & fitness company with 501-1,000 employees

Dec 31, 2014

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Initial setup can be straightforward but expertise is needed to fully benefit from the capabilities of Cognos.

Pros and Cons

"With Cognos we are able to present and analyze the KPI's and outcomes our hospital needs to take decisions."

"Customer Service: Moderate, Technical Support: Good."

What is most valuable?

Report Studio (ability to make pixel perfect reports and interactive dashboards)
Framework Manager (the layer between the database and the user)

How has it helped my organization?

With Cognos we are able to present and analyze the KPI's and outcomes our hospital needs to take decisions.

What needs improvement?

Adding workflow functions to the reports could close the PDCA cycle
Speed of report-execution.

For how long have I used the solution?

7 years.

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

No issues encountered.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

No issues encountered.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

No issues encountered.

How are customer service and technical support?

Customer Service:

Moderate,.

Technical Support:

Good.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

No previous solution used.

How was the initial setup?

Initial setup can be straightforward but expertise is needed to fully benefit from the capabilities of Cognos.

What about the implementation team?

One day was needed to implement the product, and this was done by an experienced consultant from the vendor.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

No other solutions were evaluated.

What other advice do I have?

Be willing to build up in-house knowledge of Cognos.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.

it_user174690

BI Senior Consultant at a computer software company with 51-200 employees

Dec 23, 2014

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Framework Manager is the best Metadata Modeling Tool but we have to restart the mobile server everyday

Pros and Cons

"Framework Manager is the best Metadata Modeling Tool and also Report Studio."

"Customer Service: In Turkey, IBM Customer Service and Sales strategy is very bad. Their level of customer service quality is very very low."

What is most valuable?

Framework Manager.

How has it helped my organization?

IBM Cognos is a Decision Supports Tool that draws an organization's picture and gives you a general scene overview of your organization.

For how long have I used the solution?

4 years.

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

Yes, Report Studio's charts are not flexible size so you have to give constant size to chart.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Yes, It was the IBM Cognos mobile application server performance issue. We have to restart everyday.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

No I did not.

How are customer service and technical support?

Customer Service:

In Turkey, IBM Customer Service and Sales strategy is very bad. Their level of customer service quality is very very low.

Technical Support:

Their technical support method is wrong because they only give technical support to partners that are consultant firms . The partners' priority is money so it reduces the quality of service.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Now, my organization is switching IBM Cognos to OBIEE because of IBM Approaches.

IBM Turkey signed a project that is Legal Reporting with my organization but they could not finish the project. However they wanted to take their money out of the project so my organization decided to never use IBM's products.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is a complex one that needs an administrator.

What about the implementation team?

Both of them according to the project. We rated their level of expertise with POC.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We compared products with Gartner Reports.

What other advice do I have?

Framework Manager is the best Metadata Modeling Tool and also Report Studio.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.

it_user175269Owner at a tech services company

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Dec 23, 2014

I meant hard-to-manage in the sense of the need to develop a multitude of cubes in order to perform analysis. When using cubes for analysis I use an analogy to my time in the Army when directed to a location that was off the map sheet (pre-GPS). When that happens, it's back to the IT shop to have a new cube created. This is much more minor issue with MicroStrategy and its ROLAP architecture. Combine that with MicroStrategy's single metadata, focus on analytical empowerment of the user (rather than dedicated designers), create once, use anywhere (desktop, web, mobile) with true browser-based development and editing, and MicroStrategy is a much better analytical environment. I've been a life-long information analyst with experience in MIS/DSS/EIS and for nearly 20 years in BI environments so I'm pretty familiar with many tools and their pros and cons.

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it_user174678

Corporate BI Developer with 1,001-5,000 employees

Dec 22, 2014

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Despite IIS configuration being more complex than it should be you will not regret implementing Cognos

Pros and Cons

"Go ahead, you will not regret."

"Timely bug fixes."

What is most valuable?

Report Studio.

How has it helped my organization?

Any area for which developer has requirements can be improved, streamlined e.g. Marketing, Compliance, Surveillance, Hotel Accounting, Casino Accounting .

What needs improvement?

-Pulling images directly from database with Report Studio
Graceful ways to consume / report on XML or JSON structure received as a result of API call
Timely bug fixes

For how long have I used the solution?

13 years.

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

I would say IIS configuration is more complex than expected

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Possibly but there could be multiple reasons for the environment being unstable especially on virtual servers.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Not really.

How are customer service and technical support?

Customer Service:

It depends on sales rep. It may vary. Judging on we experienced it could be 6-8 on scale 1-10 (10 is the best).

Technical Support:

It depends on sales rep. It may vary. Judging on we experienced it could be 6-8 on scale 1-10 (10 is the best).

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

No previous solution.

How was the initial setup?

The first time ever setup is always more complex. After that it is pretty much "known road." Again, IIS configuration may be more complex than it should.

What about the implementation team?

It has always been in-house implementation.

What was our ROI?

I do not have answer on this but in some areas it may be very high.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Yes. Business Objects, Crystal Reports (while back).

What other advice do I have?

Go ahead, you will not regret.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.

it_user171960

Assistant Manager - Technology at a comms service provider with 501-1,000 employees

Dec 14, 2014

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Go for it but get training first

Pros and Cons

"It enables me to see trends of data we have from different angles and each end-user can run ad-hoc queries themselves."

"Framework Manager, Map Manager, and Reporting Database Connectivity features should all be free."

What is most valuable?

The Reports and Query Studio functions have been very valuable.

How has it helped my organization?

It enables me to see trends of data we have from different angles and each end-user can run ad-hoc queries themselves.

What needs improvement?

Framework Manager, Map Manager, and Reporting Database Connectivity features should all be free.

For how long have I used the solution?

3 years including previous version

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

I was unable to use oracle 64 bit client to connect with oracle 64 bit databases. However, because of Linux I had to use 32 bit anyway.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Not much

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We had some minor issues with scalability.

How are customer service and technical support?

Customer Service:

7-8 out of 10

Technical Support:

8 out of 10

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We changed because of the offer of more features and technical support than our previous solution.

How was the initial setup?

For us it was complex to do it for the first time and too much R&D had to be done. Later on it was easier. It may have been complex as it was our first time setting up the Cognos.

What about the implementation team?

Implementation was done by an In-house team who learned from scratch.

What was our ROI?

Good. It helped the purpose for which we used it.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I have little knowledge of this but I think we pay for each report we deploy

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We looked at three other solutions, Netezia, Xplore, and Netcool.

What other advice do I have?

Go for it but it will require training.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.

it_user164874Practice Leader

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May 4, 2015

Note that effective of 10.2.2 Query Studio and Analysis Studio have been marked for "deprecation", meaning they will not be in future releases, but would be supported for a number of years in line with IBM's usual support policies.

Workspace Advanced (for authoring) and Workspace (for consumption) are the replacements, and have been around for a number of years now.

Report Studio for professional IT authors continues to be a key component..

it_user164865

BI Expert at a consultancy with 51-200 employees

Dec 4, 2014

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Highly visual and interactive control without long waits; allows us to use the tool in an interactive and easy way.

Pros and Cons

"IBM Cognos is a good tool for viewing reports, allows us to use the tool in an interactive and easy way, with the option to display it on various mobile devices."

What is most valuable?

- The ease of use and ability to create things.

- The security provided by IBM Cognos compared to other tools.

- Reduced time for answers on business panels; highly visual and interactive control without long waits.

How has it helped my organization?

Users used to have to wait long times to see information but can now view their information quickly and easily with IBM Cognos and also given the availability you can create your own reports.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using IBM Cognos for about two years.

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

No, deployment is all right.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

No, no problems were found.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

No, no problems were found.

How are customer service and technical support?

Customer Service:

We were given good service, fulfilling all the requirements that were requested.

Technical Support:

The technical support provided by IBM is good, helps you with any problems with the tool.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

No.

What other advice do I have?

IBM Cognos is a good tool for viewing reports, allows us to use the tool in an interactive and easy way, with the option to display it on various mobile devices.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.