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IBM Planning Analytics pros and cons

Vendor: IBM
4.2 out of 5
Badge Leader

Pros & Cons summary

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Prominent pros & cons

PROS

IBM Planning Analytics is valued for its slicing and dicing capabilities, enabling quick analysis and data navigation.
It integrates seamlessly with different platforms and is known for fast in-memory calculations.
The flexibility in design features, data rules, and calculation definitions is a significant advantage, along with robust forecasting and predictive analytics capabilities.
It is easy to use and deploy, providing a unified database for streamlined planning processes.
The stable, robust nature of IBM Planning Analytics aids in creating scenarios, saving time in planning, budgeting, and forecasting processes.

CONS

IBM Planning Analytics is not super user-friendly with Excel and extracting data is slow.
The frequent updates from IBM impact quality and are not always beneficial.
Adding automated features and improving scalability would benefit IBM Planning Analytics.
Improvements in local authentication management are necessary for IBM Planning Analytics.
Frequent version releases by IBM introduce bugs and complicate the learning curve.
 

IBM Planning Analytics Pros review quotes

reviewer1375443 - PeerSpot reviewer
FP&A Manager at a leisure / travel company with 501-1,000 employees
Jul 12, 2020
The most valuable feature is that it is able to slice and dice the data.
reviewer1236651 - PeerSpot reviewer
Accounting Services Finance Manager M&S at a hospitality company with 10,001+ employees
Oct 29, 2020
All the different platforms are well integrated.
reviewer1484589 - PeerSpot reviewer
Expert EPM (TM1 Cognos BI) at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
Jan 25, 2021
Navigating through the data to make analysis is really quick.
Learn what your peers think about IBM Planning Analytics. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: January 2026.
881,733 professionals have used our research since 2012.
reviewer890292 - PeerSpot reviewer
Systems Analyst at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Oct 5, 2021
A lot of the platform is in-memory, so Planning Analytics can run calculations quite fast. It also offers several user interfaces. And in the newest version of Planning Analytics, there is a new one called the Planning Analytics Workspace. Maybe it could be useful for the business side.
Dirk Boeckmann - PeerSpot reviewer
Executive Partner at Beat2Lead GmbH
Feb 2, 2022
The flexibility of IBM Planning Analytics is a great feature of this solution. The design flexibility with data rules and defining calculations The ability to combine online and offline calculations are a benefit. Additionally, the forecasting features and predictive analytics is very good.
SO
President & Co-Founder at VERSATIL BPI INC
Feb 8, 2022
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
GC
Junior Consultant at CMA CGM
Sep 19, 2022
Planning Analytics' best features include automatic updates and slicing.
VM
Managing Consultant at Cubewise
Apr 14, 2023
It's a very stable, robust product.
PL
Senior BI Consultant at T.C.C. Technology Company Limited
Jun 9, 2023
The tool is flexible.
reviewer2260485 - PeerSpot reviewer
Director at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Aug 21, 2023
IBM Planning Analytics is easy to use and deploy. It is quick to develop. The calculation machine is also very fast.
 

IBM Planning Analytics Cons review quotes

reviewer1375443 - PeerSpot reviewer
FP&A Manager at a leisure / travel company with 501-1,000 employees
Jul 12, 2020
It's wonky, and not super user-friendly with Excel.
reviewer1236651 - PeerSpot reviewer
Accounting Services Finance Manager M&S at a hospitality company with 10,001+ employees
Oct 29, 2020
Extracting data is a little slow.
reviewer1484589 - PeerSpot reviewer
Expert EPM (TM1 Cognos BI) at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
Jan 25, 2021
It would have been better if the solution was not just a tool kit.
Learn what your peers think about IBM Planning Analytics. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: January 2026.
881,733 professionals have used our research since 2012.
reviewer890292 - PeerSpot reviewer
Systems Analyst at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Oct 5, 2021
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.
Dirk Boeckmann - PeerSpot reviewer
Executive Partner at Beat2Lead GmbH
Feb 2, 2022
The new frontend Planning Analytics Workspace is not very good, it could be improved. I like the Planning Analytics functionality but it would be helpful if it could be more customizable. You can create a prediction and receive information but you cannot do feature engineering regarding the predictive models. If this was added it would be helpful.
SO
President & Co-Founder at VERSATIL BPI INC
Feb 8, 2022
It is a bit expensive, but it does the job.
GC
Junior Consultant at CMA CGM
Sep 19, 2022
Planning Analytics could be improved by adding automation features.
VM
Managing Consultant at Cubewise
Apr 14, 2023
The dashboard is very poor and needs a lot of improvement.
PL
Senior BI Consultant at T.C.C. Technology Company Limited
Jun 9, 2023
The tool should include features for prediction. It can also improve the scalability.
reviewer2260485 - PeerSpot reviewer
Director at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Aug 21, 2023
The tool's transport layer could be improved when promoting development between environments.