Cognos Analytics vs SAS Visual Analytics

IBM Cognos Analytics is an excellent BI tool and rates very highly with users on all major counts. Users are unanimous in their praise of its data management and data analysis capabilities to provide a single source of truth. Having ventured into AI-powered tools with the 11.1.3 version in 2018, IBM is making bold strides to incorporate augmented intelligence into the platform. IBM has astutely combined this solution with the capabilities of one of its other offerings, Watson Analytics, for natural language processing - a game-changer for empowering non-technical users to create a vast range of dashboards. With AI-enabled exploration, users can review key drivers of metrics and identify gaps in data, though some users feel that more tools are needed for content store exploration through its relational database. It also rates excellently with users for its data integration and ad-hoc reporting capabilities, efficient metadata management and extensive data modeling features. Several strong features of this platform, as noted by reviewers, include Jupyter notebooks, regular updates to the platform and enhancements to data modules, though when it comes to integrating with Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) data sources and IBM Planning Analytics in particular, it comes up short. Version 11 of the platform comes with over-the-top installs for upgrades, which reduces time to set up; though some users feel that integrations built with the current SDK solution can be tedious to implement and maintain. Being part of the IBM software suite, it connects seamlessly to other IBM products under the same umbrella. However, integration with MS-Sharepoint is not supported; this can be managed with workarounds, but only for on-premise setups, not cloud-based deployments. The platform has a rich reporting repertoire with report burst capabilities, pivots and Cognos Event Studio for event-driven reports. However, many users feel that Report Studio should provide the write back capability, which is crucial for business. As for the cost, a majority of users feel that its licensing models are restrictive, especially when compared to other BI solutions; though the vendor seems to address pricing and ease of use with version 11.1.3. In summary, Cognos Analytics is among the best BI solutions in the market today and IBM, with its ear to the ground, is delivering enhanced data analysis and reporting capabilities at scale.

SAS Analytics is a versatile business intelligence and analytics tool that empowers users to explore and understand data through interactive data visualizations. Many users who reviewed data analysis said that, coupled with the power of predictive analytics, the platform offers a plethora of graphics options — charts, graphs and dashboards — with deep-dive capabilities, such as filtering, to zero in on pertinent business data. Many users who reviewed functionality and data preparation said that, possibly because of its capable ETL engine and in-memory architecture, data processing speed is very high and reports load faster. A majority of users who reviewed data connectivity said that the tool is efficient in pulling data from multiple sources for data modeling and analysis. On the flip side, quite a few users who reviewed functionality said that the platform’s integration with Python and R is still in the development stage and this limits its functional scope. Some users who discussed user-friendliness said that the processes are not the most intuitive — errors and warnings in logs are misleading, and new users may find adoption difficult. Though the industry scope of user tutorials is limited, a majority of users said that the steep learning curve of the platform is sufficiently addressed by training. For many users, its cost-prohibitive licensing plans caused them to not consider it their first choice when it came to purchasing a BI solution. Overall, SAS Visual Analytics is a versatile tool with fast data processing capabilities and strong visualizations to generate reports for insightful data analysis.