Centage vs. IBM Planning Analytics

Centage is suited for all types of business. This is what makes this tool so great. It requires some expertise in setting it up and depending on how complex the business is, it may take longer than expected. It's a complex system and if you are not involved in the implementtion it might be hard to learn what is does.

Incentivized

Very powerful modeling capabilities. It has a really good OLAP engine memory. Strong scenario planning for what if analysis. Flexibility of integration with ERPs or WM systems for both cloud and on premises. Centralized planning and alignment of governance is also a plus. Having one single system for many different functions.

Incentivized

• Planning personnel with all the related benefit expenses is very accurate and we are able to forecast increases as well.
• Storing separate versions of the budget allows us to finalize for the year and have access to the data while we update the default plan with any changes.
• I ilke the way you can add intelligence see the detail of calculations below th eline item.
• I like writing Planning Maestro reports to see drill downs of any item and tie them to our ERP Budget

Incentivized

• Handle very large data volumes.
• Scale to a large number of users.
• Not having to compromise on business complexity.
• It can be run by business users.
• Availability of highly qualified consultants to support businesses.
• REST API allows for an open eco system and a variety of solutions to extend the product.
• Vast integration possibilities.
• AI-infused engine with IBM Watson.

Incentivized

• Head count is a bit strange as each period is considered one Headcount for a total of 12 per year, so we have to adjust when running reports
• would love to be able to attach related expenses in payroll to a kind of employee instead of doing each individually. It's time consuming.
• Have the help more available instead of having to log into separate place

Incentivized

• sometimes it is hard to produce pixel perfect reports from the Web UI. I know it is not made for this, but still, it'll be great
• getting in e.g. an Excel file just by drag and drop, and the AI should "understand" what the data is all around

Incentivized

Since IBM Cognos Express is suitable only for medium data warehouse environment, we are not sure if this tool solves the long term need as the business keeps growing rapidly. So its a 50/50 ratio to renew Express license. But having said that, the components of IBM Cognos Express are also available in other Cognos BI suites like Cognos 10.x version. So we will probably upgrade our environment to IBM Cognos 10.x which comes with more new features.

I've lived through the changes over the years, and I have found that most financially-minded professionals should have no problems using this system.

IBM Planning Analytics is generally good in terms of functionalities. It can be used reduce time for budget planning, resource planning, demand forecasting, etc. The performance of IBM Planning Analytics is acceptable, but user interface can be improved. It would be good to see new features that allow users to customise the dashboard.

Incentivized

The team makes sure that you get what you need out of the software. They will do whatever is in their power to make sure you're happy and are getting back your investment (time and money).

IBM support has been very quick to respond and handle the very few issues we've had. We've had a third-party who partners with IBM to be our consulting team which has helped greatly reduce the need for us to contact IBM directly. I highly recommend researching and selecting a well-respected partner to help with an implementation as well as ongoing support as needed.

Incentivized

I used to use an older consolidating product call FRX or something like that, very manual where accounts were adding line the reporting lines one by one.... Centage is far superior, the ability to create custom Dimension hierarchies as improved our reporting 100 fold

Incentivized

As it is related to MS Excel, IBM Planning Analytics is a much more robust and complete solution for the CFO or COO in mind. Oracle Hyperion stacks up nicely against IBM Planning Analytics. However, IBM's investment in AI allows Planning Analytics users more options and speed.

• We were a very small company growing by acquisition so it worked well during these phases of our company growth.
• The return for our cost was tremendous especially in comparison to peers in the market.
• Analytics Maestro allowed us to grow without adding headcount by building efficient reports that can easily be mass-produced for all branches within our organization.

Incentivized

• Automate direct data connections to multiple data sources
• One secured version of the the truth (for data and formulas)
• Ability to scale to much more detailed planning with option to create predictive forecasts at detail
• Business user friendly with powerful Excel integration
• Very flexible and powerful modeling, can handle custom modeling needs at scale
• Can make the same data available across finance and ops, but at the level of details and timeline that makes sense for them

Incentivized