RStudio vs Cognos Analytics

RStudio is a powerful web- and cloud-based BI platform with excellent statistical analysis and data science capabilities. Integrating with cloud computing technologies, the platform has good machine learning capabilities to power data analysis by providing a wide range of features for data recovery, presentation and interpretation. It provides rich built-in visualization libraries with pre-set charts and functions that drastically reduce the need to code. Many users who reviewed its UI said that the interface was user-friendly and easy to navigate, though some users said that it looked dated and could do with an upgrade. Quite a few users who reviewed the platform for data analysis said that it was easy to run statistical and regression tests with minimal coding, and coupled with an open-source server, this platform served their data needs well. On the flip side, many users who reviewed the tool for performance said that it consumes a lot of memory and lags behind its competitors in speed. Quite a lot of users mentioned that the platform could be buggy at times and was prone to crashes, possibly because some libraries were not optimized for performance with large datasets. Many users found it confusing to access the open-source version, especially since separate versions of the platform work differently with some library packages. Some users complained that the code run, once started, could not be stopped and the stop button on the interface didn’t work. A majority of users who reviewed the learning curve as a feature said that the help section was difficult to understand and previous knowledge of R was required to leverage the tool to its fullest. In summary, RStudio is a versatile and extensible BI tool powered by machine learning and is capable of insightful statistical data analysis and forecasting capabilities.

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.