Tableau is different than QlikView or IBM Cognos for various reasons:
- Tableau is an intuitive data visualization tool simplifying the story creation by simple drag and drop techniques. On the other hand, BI tools like QlikView or Cognos convert data into metadata to let the users explore data relations. If your presentation runs around presenting data in aesthetic visualizations then opt for Tableau. If not, and might need a full BI platform then go for Cognos/QlikView
- The ease of use or extracting data details is easier in Tableau than compared to extensive BI tools like Cognos. With Tableau, your team members, be it a guy from sales can easily read the data and give insights. But with Cognos, only members with extensive tool knowledge are appreciated and welcomed.
Two Core Feature Differences
There are two key differences between Cognos and Tableau regarding their main objectives.
1. Visualizations
When other BI products are compared to Tableau, visualizations are always a significant consideration because Tableau is known as the best in this regard.
Tableau: This solution is able to import and visualize large data sets that other solutions can’t handle. It allows the users who know their data best to drill down into their data and make queries. The ease of use allows many users who are not explicitly data experts to explore data.
Cognos : Cognos helps transform data into metadata for users to dynamically explore data relations. When users turn their data into visualizations they need to fully understand the context they’re working in since they are a step removed from the data’s original format. In other words, Cognos is a complete platform for data experts and visualization tools are not simple enough for average users to understand.
Bottom Line: If your sole purpose for a BI solution is to quickly create and share data visually, Tableau is a top contender. If visualizations are only a portion of what you’re looking for, a full BI platform such as Cognos could be a better fit.
2. The Business Environment
Each tool serves a very different group of users from two kinds of business environments.
Tableau: As an intuitive solution, Tableau can be used without assistance from a company’s IT team. For example, if there’s an expert in sales who has access to Tableau and wants insight on sales performance, they could generate visuals for the whole sales team without asking IT for help. They may still require certain help understanding Tableau, but they would not need to be specialized in data analyses.
Cognos : Because it’s an extensive BI platform, Cognos users must specialize in managing data. Various tools supplement back-end tasks such as the ETL process, data warehousing, data integration and SQL queries. Tableau does not provide tools for these tasks and it’s assumed the user would cleanse their data before visualizing through Tableau. Cognos allows users to ensure their data has high integrity and meets enterprise standards.
Bottom Line: Tableau best fits users across an organization who want a simple enough tool that can help offer daily insight. The downside is that this can lead to data integrity issues. The source data can be incorrect and the average user wouldn’t notice in Tableau. In Cognos, where all users must be data experts, data has much higher integrity and has been analyzed through a series of tools before being distributed for business use. Depending on your business, it may not be possible to have a data science team, so Tableau is a clear choice. Or, you may already have the team in place, and Cognos is best for your enterprise needs.