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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    IBM Cognos Analytics

    Score6.8 out of 10
    N/AIBM Cognos is a full-featured business intelligence suite by IBM, designed for larger deployments. It comprises Query Studio, Reporting Studio, Analysis Studio and Event Studio, and Cognos Administration along with tools for Microsoft Office integration, full-text search, and dashboards.

    $10

    per month per user

    Yellowfin

    Score8 out of 10
    Mid-Size Companies (51-1,000 employees)
    Yellowfin is a cloud-based business intelligence and dashboarding platform.

    $250

    per month

    Pricing
    IBM Cognos AnalyticsYellowfin
    Editions & Modules
    On Demand - Standard
    USD 10.00
    per month per user
    On Demand - Premium
    USD 42.40
    per month per user
    On Demand - Standard
    USD 10.60
    per month per user
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    IBM Cognos AnalyticsYellowfin
    Free Trial
    YesYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoYes
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    YesYes
    Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalOptional
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    IBM Cognos AnalyticsYellowfin
    Considered Both Products
    IBM
    No answer on this topic
    Yellowfin
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    97%
    Would buy again
    65 Answers
    67%
    Would buy again
    6 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    93%
    Delivers good value for the price
    56 Answers
    63%
    Delivers good value for the price
    5 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    97%
    Happy with the feature set
    65 Answers
    67%
    Happy with the feature set
    6 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    98%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    42 Answers
    67%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    4 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    94%
    Implementation went as expected
    44 Answers
    71%
    Implementation went as expected
    5 Answers
    Features
    IBM Cognos AnalyticsYellowfin
    BI Standard Reporting
    Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of IBM Cognos Analytics and Yellowfin
    Feature
    IBM Cognos Analytics
    7.0
    106 Ratings
    15% below category average
    Yellowfin
    6.1
    12 Ratings
    29% below category average
    Pixel Perfect reports6.996 Ratings5.85 Ratings
    Customizable dashboards7.3104 Ratings6.212 Ratings
    Report Formatting Templates7.0101 Ratings6.411 Ratings
    Ad-hoc Reporting
    Comparison of Ad-hoc Reporting features of IBM Cognos Analytics and Yellowfin
    Feature
    IBM Cognos Analytics
    7.4
    108 Ratings
    9% below category average
    Yellowfin
    6.6
    12 Ratings
    20% below category average
    Drill-down analysis7.3106 Ratings6.611 Ratings
    Formatting capabilities7.1107 Ratings7.112 Ratings
    Integration with R or other statistical packages7.874 Ratings6.38 Ratings
    Report sharing and collaboration7.4103 Ratings6.511 Ratings
    Report Output and Scheduling
    Comparison of Report Output and Scheduling features of IBM Cognos Analytics and Yellowfin
    Feature
    IBM Cognos Analytics
    7.8
    107 Ratings
    6% below category average
    Yellowfin
    5.9
    11 Ratings
    34% below category average
    Publish to Web8.327 Ratings6.311 Ratings
    Publish to PDF7.1101 Ratings6.211 Ratings
    Report Versioning8.626 Ratings5.89 Ratings
    Report Delivery Scheduling7.0104 Ratings5.611 Ratings
    Delivery to Remote Servers8.112 Ratings5.55 Ratings
    Data Discovery and Visualization
    Comparison of Data Discovery and Visualization features of IBM Cognos Analytics and Yellowfin
    Feature
    IBM Cognos Analytics
    6.7
    98 Ratings
    17% below category average
    Yellowfin
    5.8
    12 Ratings
    32% below category average
    Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)6.993 Ratings5.912 Ratings
    Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization7.189 Ratings5.712 Ratings
    Predictive Analytics6.486 Ratings5.810 Ratings
    Pattern Recognition and Data Mining6.624 Ratings00 Ratings
    Access Control and Security
    Comparison of Access Control and Security features of IBM Cognos Analytics and Yellowfin
    Feature
    IBM Cognos Analytics
    7.4
    103 Ratings
    14% below category average
    Yellowfin
    6.2
    11 Ratings
    31% below category average
    Multi-User Support (named login)8.0100 Ratings6.311 Ratings
    Role-Based Security Model7.899 Ratings6.510 Ratings
    Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)6.199 Ratings6.310 Ratings
    Report-Level Access Control7.428 Ratings00 Ratings
    Single Sign-On (SSO)7.882 Ratings5.94 Ratings
    Mobile Capabilities
    Comparison of Mobile Capabilities features of IBM Cognos Analytics and Yellowfin
    Feature
    IBM Cognos Analytics
    7.6
    84 Ratings
    3% below category average
    Yellowfin
    6.7
    8 Ratings
    16% below category average
    Responsive Design for Web Access7.678 Ratings6.25 Ratings
    Mobile Application7.968 Ratings6.38 Ratings
    Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile9.074 Ratings6.28 Ratings
    Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding
    Comparison of Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding features of IBM Cognos Analytics and Yellowfin
    Feature
    IBM Cognos Analytics
    7.7
    65 Ratings
    1% below category average
    Yellowfin
    6.1
    5 Ratings
    24% below category average
    REST API7.562 Ratings6.15 Ratings
    Javascript API8.660 Ratings5.45 Ratings
    iFrames8.39 Ratings6.05 Ratings
    Java API6.911 Ratings6.35 Ratings
    Themeable User Interface (UI)7.110 Ratings6.55 Ratings
    Customizable Platform (Open Source)7.87 Ratings6.55 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    IBM Cognos AnalyticsYellowfin
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    Cyfe
    Score8.8 out of 10
    Cyfe
    Score8.8 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Zendesk Explore
    Score8.7 out of 10
    Zendesk Explore
    Score8.7 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Jaspersoft Community Edition
    Score9.7 out of 10
    Jaspersoft Community Edition
    Score9.7 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    IBM Cognos AnalyticsYellowfin
    Likelihood to Recommend
    7.3
    (131 ratings)
    6.2
    (12 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    9.4
    (27 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    8.1
    (8 ratings)
    6.3
    (7 ratings)
    Availability
    8.6
    (4 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    9.0
    (5 ratings)
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    10.0
    (8 ratings)
    5.6
    (7 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    8.7
    (4 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Online Training
    8.0
    (4 ratings)
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    7.0
    (7 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Configurability
    7.0
    (3 ratings)
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    Data Sharing and Collaboration
    8.6
    (40 ratings)
    8.1
    (6 ratings)
    Data Sources
    8.3
    (40 ratings)
    8.1
    (6 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    6.0
    (4 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    8.2
    (3 ratings)
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    IBM Cognos AnalyticsYellowfin
    Likelihood to Recommend
    IBM
    IBM Cognos Analytics has great scheduling capabilities. A single report can be parameterized (e.g., “Store Manager ID”) and burst to thousands of recipients with their slice of data.IBM Cognos Analytics is a good fit for highly complex, multi-level calculations which can be handled by Report Studio. For example Monthly balance sheet that requires multi step calculation
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Yellowfin
    We can recommend this software without hesitation, as it has the ability to generate reports and data analysis, as well as process the data automatically, which saves time. It is ideal for small and medium-sized companies that wish to improve their services in the business world
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    IBM
    • We can make dozens of dispatchers all focusing on different types of workloads.
    • Friendly user interface, without the need for coding or complicated editing.
    • Highly functionality reporting tools.
    • We can easily create trigger when a certain threshold are met sending reports or alerts to needed parties.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Yellowfin
    • Yellowfin’s Storyboard, Timeline and Collaborative tools make it easy to share data and insights across an organisation.
    • Strong Operational and Executive Dashboards that reflect the business KPIs and can send out prompts to people within the business based on rules.
    • Yellowfin makes it incredibly easy to create dynamic reports and dashboards which incorporate maps through locational intelligence functionality.
    • Yellowfin is a single license and all access is via a web browser making it perfect for both on-premise and cloud deployment. Mobile apps are also available.
    • User roles and source filtering allows Admin/IT to offer different functions/views by user group/role.
    • Mobile BI applications to support any device ..
    • API connectors ( YF 7.2 on the way in Mar16 ) for a range of third-party Web-based applications, data sources, Enterprises CRM/ERP apps & open data platform apps, including Salesforce, Google Analytics, Twitter, Youtube , Zoho CRM, XE.com & more coming to make endusers to integrate their applications for better benefits
    • Yellowfin Integration with Predictive analytical and Big Data processing tools like R, UDF, Spark to build rich applications for end users
    Read full review
    Cons
    IBM
    • IBM Cognos Analytics enables customer data segmentation, which is essential for marketing, improving and streamlining purchasing behavior and preferences. This helps companies create more targeted and effective marketing campaigns.
    • Our clients Through data analysis, we can identify and observe trends in the behavior of other clients, allowing us to anticipate needs and adjust strategies to avoid consequences.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Yellowfin
    • The ability to predefine a colour for a specific graph as a selection option dynamically.
    • The ability to customise the label of a chart, especially with respect to performance related reporting graphs we need an increase in dynamic charting options to meet our more specialised requirements.
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    IBM
    For an existing solution, renewing licenses does provide a good return on investment. Additionally, while rolling out scorecards and dashboards with little adhoc capabilities, to end users, cognos is very easily scalable. It also allows to create a solution that has a mix of OLAP and relational data-sources, which is a limitation with other tools. Synchronizing with existing security setup is easy too.
    Read full review
    Yellowfin
    No answers on this topic
    Usability
    IBM
    We have a strong user base (3500 users) that are highly utilizing this tool. Basic users are able to consume content within the applied security model. We have a set of advanced users that really push the limits of Cognos with Report and Query Studio. These users have created a lot of personal content and stored it in 'My Reports'. Users enjoy this flexibility.
    Read full review
    Yellowfin
    As mentioned previously, if a newer company is looking for a strong, polished BI tool, Yellowfin would be a great software vendor to consider. Unfortunately, the high cost might be a barrier to these newer companies who dont have any legacy software/agreements such as an EA agreement with Microsoft.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    IBM
    Reports can typically be viewed through any browser that can access the server, so the availability is ultimately up to what the company utilizing it is comfortable with allowing, though report development tends to be more picky about browsers and settings as mentioned above. It also has an optional iPad app and general mobile browsing support, but dashboards lack the mobile compatibility. What keeps it from getting a higher score is the desktop tools that are vital to the development process. The compatibility with only Windows when the server has a wide range of compatibility can be a real sore point for a company that outfits its employees exclusively with Mac or Linux machines. Of course, if they are planning on outsourcing the development anyways, it's a rather moot point
    Read full review
    Yellowfin
    99.9% availability
    Read full review
    Performance
    IBM
    Overall no major complaints but it doesn't handle DMR (Dimensionally Modeled for Relational) very well. DMR modelling is a capability that IBM Cognos Framework Manager provides allowing you to specify dimensional information for relational metadata and allows for OLAP-style queries. However, the capability is not very efficient and, for example, if I'm using only 2 columns on a 20-column model, the software is not smart enough to exclude 18 columns and the query side gets progressively larger and larger until it's effectively unusable.
    Read full review
    Yellowfin
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    IBM
    Why is their web application not working as fast as you think it should? They never know, and it is always a a bunch of shots in the dark to find out. Trying to download software from them is like trying to find a book at the library before computers were invented.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Yellowfin
    They have good support in what they provide. But what they provide is not what is promised. I would stay with them if I can. Be very careful before signing up with them. They are not what they seem in the sales pitches. Be very careful and make sure you test and test before you sign up.
    Read full review
    In-Person Training
    IBM
    Onsite training provided by IBM Cognos was effective and as expected. They did not perform training with our data which was a bit difficult for our end-users.
    Read full review
    Yellowfin
    Yellowfin provides 3 levels of training to support consumers, business analytics, developers and Administrations :
    1. Yellowfin BI Training - Level 1 (Exploration)
    2. Yellowfin BI Training - Level 2 (Advanced)
    3. Yellowfin BI Training - Level 3(Expert)
    Read full review
    Online Training
    IBM
    The online courses they offer are thorough and presented in such a way that someone who isn't already familiar with the general design methodologies used in this field will be capable of making a good design. The training environments are provided as a fully self contained virtual machine with everything needed already to create the environments. We've had some persisting issues with the environments becoming unavailable, but support has been responsive when these issues arise and straightening them out for us
    Read full review
    Yellowfin
    Web-based training for large audiences for Level 1 and Level 2 I would suggest
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    IBM
    Make sure that any custom tables that you have, are built into your metadata packages. You can still access them via SQL queries in Cognos, but it is much easier to have them as a part of the available metadata packages.
    Read full review
    Yellowfin
    Design the data model and views for each dashboard is very important and it is the success factor Configuration of cluster for large implementation
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    IBM
    My company selected IBM Congos Analytics because of its advanced features and data representation for data analysis. Its row and column features are very effective for creating dashboards and reports to visualize data. It's chart representation and view format are very attractive and useful for representation.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Yellowfin
    Yellow Fin platform is browser agnostic and is accessible from desktops as well as mobile devices. It is very simple and fast, it is integrated with Big Data, clients do not require a great training. It just works. But it’s easier to have things on the cloud, especially if you need to use different computers. Yellow Fin lacks the cloud feature.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Scalability
    IBM
    The Cognos architecture is well suited for scalability. However, the architecture must be designed with scalability in mind from day one of the implementation. We recently upgraded from 10.1 to 10.2.1 and took the opportunity to revamp our architecture. It is now poised for future growth and scalability.
    Read full review
    Yellowfin
    - Tested 500 con-current users in Linux platform with 4 cores systems - Tested with cloud based VM - Tested with 1000 reads per minutes
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    IBM
    • We use the tool for data modeling as it helps in predictive data analysis for complex data, which is very similar to real-life scenarios.
    • Options of customizing & scheduling reports as per our requirements basis.
    • Has mobile application which works seamless.
    • API integration is not upto the mark with very limited options.
    • Licensing & Maintenance can go from cheap to expensive depending on the scope.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Yellowfin
    • made our org more data centric
    • Decisions are made based on data vs opinion
    • has created a single source of truth for the bulk of the organization
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    IBM Cognos Analytics Screenshots

    Screenshot of a natural language query, used in IBM Cognos Analytics to get AI-powered insights from data.Screenshot of AI-generated insights and forecasts that can be added with just a click of a button.Screenshot of a dashboard that can be generated automatically using IBM Cognos Analytics by uploading or selecting data.Screenshot of an AI-generated dashboard from a spreadsheet that was just uploaded. This offers a great starting point for the creative process.Screenshot of where to import data to IBM Cognos Analytics from CSV files and spreadsheets. Users can connect to cloud or on-premises data sources, including SQL databases, Google BigQuery, Amazon, and Redshift.Screenshot of a sample operational dashboard of a coffee shop created using IBM Cognos Analytics.

    Yellowfin Screenshots

    Screenshot of Location IntelligenceScreenshot of Yellowfin DashboardScreenshot of Yellowfin SignalsScreenshot of Yellowfin MobileScreenshot of Yellowfin Sales KPIs