Amazon Quicksight vs IBM Cognos Analytics: What are the differences?

Key Differences between Amazon Quicksight and IBM Cognos Analytics

Introduction

This markdown provides an overview of the key differences between Amazon Quicksight and IBM Cognos Analytics, two popular business intelligence tools. Below are six specific differences that highlight their distinctive features and functionalities.

1. Data Source Connectivity: Amazon Quicksight offers seamless connectivity to various AWS data sources including Amazon Redshift, Amazon RDS, Amazon Aurora, Amazon Athena, and more. On the other hand, IBM Cognos Analytics provides connectivity to a wide range of data sources, from traditional databases to big data and cloud platforms, such as DB2, Oracle, SAP, Hadoop, and Salesforce.

2. Pricing Model: Amazon Quicksight adopts a pay-per-session pricing model, where customers are billed based on the number of sessions and the duration of usage. On the contrary, IBM Cognos Analytics follows a user-based licensing model, where the cost is calculated based on the number of named users accessing the platform.

3. Natural Language Query (NLQ) Capabilities: Amazon Quicksight leverages the power of machine learning and natural language processing to enable users to ask questions in plain English and get instant visualizations and insights. IBM Cognos Analytics also supports NLQ, allowing users to ask questions using natural language for data exploration and analysis.

4. Collaboration and User Sharing: Amazon Quicksight allows users to share dashboards, analyses, and datasets with other users through URLs, enabling smooth collaboration and ad-hoc data sharing. In contrast, IBM Cognos Analytics offers comprehensive collaboration features by supporting user groups, roles, and permissions, allowing for more granular control and sharing of assets within the platform.

5. Advanced Analytics Capabilities: Amazon Quicksight provides built-in advanced analytics features such as anomaly detection, forecasting, and trend analysis. Additionally, it offers integration with AWS Machine Learning services for more complex analytical tasks. IBM Cognos Analytics offers a wide range of advanced analytics capabilities including predictive modeling, data mining, and statistical analysis, making it a preferred choice for data scientists and analysts.

6. Mobile Accessibility: Amazon Quicksight provides a responsive web-based interface that allows users to access dashboards and visualizations on a variety of devices, including smartphones and tablets. Similarly, IBM Cognos Analytics offers a mobile app that enables users to interact with reports, dashboards, and explore data on the go.

In summary, Amazon Quicksight and IBM Cognos Analytics differ in data source connectivity, pricing model, natural language query capabilities, collaboration features, advanced analytics capabilities, and mobile accessibility. These distinctions allow users to choose the platform that best suits their specific needs and requirements in terms of data integration, collaboration, analytical capabilities, and mobility.