A Comparison of Power BI, Tableau & Cognos

A COMPARISON OF POWER
BI, TABLEAU & COGNOS
Demos of Dashboarding Capabilities

• Introductions
• Comparison overview
• Cognos demo
• Power BI demo
• Tableau demo
• Comparison wrap up and next steps
• Senturus overview
• Additional resources
• Q&A
Agenda
©2019 Senturus, Inc. All rights reserved. 2

©2019 Senturus, Inc. All rights reserved.
Shawn Alpay
BI Architect
Senturus, Inc.
3
Introducing…Today’s Presenters
Michael Weinhauer
Practice Area Director/
Solutions Architect
Senturus, Inc.
Kyle Biehle
Tableau Solutions Architect
Senturus, Inc.
Pedro Ining
Senior BI Architect
Senturus, Inc.

Hundreds of Free Resources
www.senturus.com/resources/

This slide deck is from the webinar:
A Comparison of Power BI, Tableau & Cognos
To view the FREE video recording and download this
deck, go to:
https://senturus.com/resources/a-comparison-of-
power-bi-tableau-cognos/
Hear the Recording

THE COMPARISON
Cognos, Power BI & Tableau

Three Tools – One Dataset - One Dashboard
7©2019 Senturus, Inc. All rights reserved.
Presented by Pedro Ining
Presented by Shawn Alpay
Presented by Kyle Biehle

Features & Functions Tracked …150+ Attributes

In Easy to Read Summary Complemented by
Notes and Links

• Increasing capability among top vendors
• Increasing demands of BI tool users
• Increasing proliferation of tools and data
– Most companies have 2+ tools
• Companies revamping entire DW/BI infrastructure due
to “aging issues”
• Consulting firms increasingly aligned with vendors, not
clients
• Our clients were calling asking for help, we responded
The Origin Story

Our BI tool engagement package is tailored for you, we
start by understanding your needs and then focus each
activity:
• Information gathering
– We survey the tool landscape and keep you up to date
• Tool selection
– Tailored to your needs and strategy – whether you have an
enterprise investment to leverage or just starting
– Our approach is agnostic, pragmatic and objective based on
what we’ve learned over thousands of projects
• Enablement
– Expert technical implementation
– Expert user training
Senturus BI Tool Engagement Package

• Today’s webinar is just a snippet of the tool agnostic,
expert approach we bring to our clients – this is
typically a 3-4 hour presentation with several
collaborative prep sessions
• Stick around to hear how Senturus solutions can help
you make all of these tools work together….across your
single source of truth
On With the Show…

See the Cognos Dashboard Demo
• Cognos 11.1 R1
• Framework Manager is NOT used
• Data modeling & data prep used
• 11.1 data modules
• Uploaded files
• Data extracts
https://senturus.com/resources/a-
comparison-of-power-bi-tableau-cognos/

Cognos Data Module Flow
SQL Server on Azure
External
qtr sales goal
by employee
Cognos11.1
Data module
modeling instead
of FM
Summaries for
performance
Integration of
uploaded files

Power BI Environment and Data Flow
Wide world
importers DW
(SQL Server)
Quarterly
sales goals
by employee
• Import tables
• Perform
transformations
• Author measures
(via DAX)
Power BI Desktop
Dataset Report
Author and
format visuals
Dataset Report
Publish
PBIX
Power BI Service
Consume datasets
via Analyze in
Excel
Consume reports
and dashboards
via browser
Dashboard
Pin report visuals
to dashboards
PBIX file

Tableau Environment
Connect
Create
Publish
Serve
Consume

Tableau Data Module Flow
WWI schema on
SQL Server on
Azure
External
qtr sales goal
by employee
TableauDesktop
Join (Blend)
the data
sources by
quarter and
employee
Two data sources
Data from both in
one chart

Predictable vs. Exploratory (source: Gartner 2017)
Enabling Bimodal BI

Bimodal Approach Is Growing

Coexist or Cut the Cord?
Do what’s best for your organization, not what your
technology is trying to force you to do…
VS
The experts at Senturus can help!
20

Hear the Recording
To view the FREE video recording and download this deck,
go to:
https://senturus.com/resources/a-comparison-of-power-
bi-tableau-cognos/
The Senturus comprehensive library of recorded webinars,
demos, whitepapers, presentations and case studies is
available on our website at:
http://www.senturus.com/resources/

For More Info on
BI Tool Engagements & Connectors
Contact Us
www.senturus.com
info@senturus.com
888 601 6010

Answers to Questions Asked During the
Webinar
QUESTIONS LOG

Q: Is it easier to start with data exploration and then copy the results into a
dashboard?
A: Exploration is a new automated way to begin a visualization analysis of
your data. However, sometimes the visualization it chooses does not match
your expectations. So yes it is easy to copy but sometimes the result are not
what you expected.
Q: What data sources can be used in Cognos Analytics?
A: It's a pretty long list – just about anything from flat files to RDBMS to cloud
and big data sources, and of course ODBC and JDBC.
Q: We have a lot of managed reports in Cognos BI which other tools deliver
the same type of managed reports? Obviously the dashboarding is a great new
thing, but I am concerned about our investment in managed reports.
A: Cognos will always be an excellent enterprise reporting tool. In fact, that
is one of its main strengths. The dashboarding component just adds to Cognos
functionality and tries to make it on par with other vendor tools.
Q/A: A Comparison of Power BI, Tableau & Cognos:
Cognos Questions

Q: In Cognos, do the various charts connect to each other? Do the selections
on the map trickle to the other visualizations or is each visualization on the
dashboard standalone?
A: Yes, they connect to each other and you can control how that operates.
Q: Is the flexibility of the embedded namespace security for granulated
security only available in Cognos Analytics 11.1? Or is it available in other
products as well?
A: Tableau and Power BI supports embedded namespace as well.
Q: How do we implement row level security using oracle virtual private
database (VPD) when all security is setup in a Cognos Analytics data source
(using open session and close session commands), executing a proc and
passing application context (user ID)?
A: Using an external namespace connection method (Active Directory or
LDAP) will allow you to pass the ID and password of that namespace to
Oracle. You need to make sure that an oracle ID and password is properly
synched with that Active Directory ID and password. Then you would just use
the Oracle VPD security architecture.
Cognos Questions

Q: Can I connect Cognos Analytics 11.1 to Excel Analyze data?
A: Yes, you can connect to Excel. However, you will have to refresh the view if
the data in Excel has been changed.
Q: What is the difference between Framework Manager and data modules in
Cognos Analytics 11.1?
A: Framework Manager has been around since Cognos 8/ReportNet. It’s a
desktop metadata modeling tool that allows for centralized secure metadata to
be presented to users in the form of a package. Data modules are new to
Cognos 11.1 and allow users to perform basic modeling tasks and integrate
other data source like offline spreadsheets. Framework Manager could not do
this and was not intended for end-user access.
Q: I noticed a difference when joins and aggregation of data takes place in
Cognos Analytics 11.1. If the desktop is doing the joins and aggregation, is it a
slow process for large data sets being imported.
A: Dataset joins and aggregations are done at the Cognos server and the results
are presented to the web desktop. There are no performance drains being
placed on the desktop when this is done.
Cognos Questions

Cognos Questions
Q: Do I need to build a report before I can drill through in Cognos Analytics
11.1?
A: Yes: drill through is facilitated by specifying particular attributes on a visual
on the target report. IMO is a bit clunky, but it works well.
Q: Will Cognos Analytics 11.1 tell me the best viz when I’m using data
exploring?
A: It will make its best guess based on the data you drag into the canvas.
Q: Is there a tool tips within Cognos Analytics 11.1 when using Explore?
A: Yes.
Q: Is user defined SQL new to Cognos Analytics 11.1?
A: Yes, user defined SQL is now available in 11.1 data module.
Q: Does Cognos Analytics 11.1 have chart filters or only side slicers?
A: you can localize filters per visualization in Cognos.

Power BI Questions
Q: Does Power BI have the ability to load data sets into memory for faster
access and store in a local repository (like Cognos Analytics 11.1 does for data
sets)?
A: Yes. A query in a Power BI dataset can be set to either Import (load data into
memory) or DirectQuery (reference data source at run-time). All data sources
can be set to Import; only a subset of these data sources support DirectQuery.
See the list (https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/desktop-directquery-
data-sources) of data sources supported by DirectQuery in Power BI.
Q: To share reports in Power BI do we need a license?
A: Any sharing or use of a Power BI report requires a Power BI Pro license,
unless the report in question has been published to a Premium workspace and
then published as an app. In that case, any user with a Power BI Free license
can access that report.
Q: What is the data file size limitation for Power BI?
A: A dataset uploaded to a non-Premium workspace is 1 GB. A Premium
workspace can host a dataset up to 10 GB, and that dataset can then be
refreshed to 12 GB. Learn more about large datasets at:
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/service-premium-large-datasets

Power BI Questions
Q: In Power BI, do I schedule refreshes to the dataset in the files, then again
schedule refreshes to the cloud for end users?
A: There is no refresh scheduling within the PBIX file. You’ll need to refresh in
the Power BI service only. You must publish your PBIX and then configure a data
gateway to be able to fetch your data from your local machine (or elsewhere).
Q: We have a Cognos community of over 100 users. Are licenses needed if we
develop reports in Power BI for the users?
A: Users can use reports via either a Power BI Pro license or Power BI Free
license if the reports in question are in a Premium capacity. For 100 users, it
may make sense to buy 100 Power BI Pro capacity, as that is less expensive than
buying a Premium license. See Power BI pricing:
https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/calculator/.
Q: What does premium capacity mean for Power BI?
A: Read the details about Power BI premium capacity:
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/service-premium.

Power BI Questions
Q: Can I connect to BigQuery from Power BI?
A: Yes, learn how to connect to BigQuery: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-
us/power-bi/desktop-connect-bigquery.
Q: If I am connecting to SQL Query using live query so the data is changing in
the source is it going to be reflected automatically in Excel Analyze?
A: Yes, because Excel is connected live to Power BI and Power BI is connected
live to SQL Server. If you change the data in the underlying database, the next
query performed in Excel will reflect that change immediately!
Q: Within Power BI, can I write a custom SQL query when connecting to
multiple tables or do I need to use the design feature?
A: Absolutely, see an example: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/data-
explorer/power-bi-sql-query.
Q: Does security support multiple AD namespaces?
A: Yes, it's possible in Power BI. See an example:
https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/can-i-add-a-domain-to-my-
tenant/.

Tableau Questions
Q: What is the data file size limitation for Tableau?
A: Tableau allows users to create local extracts on a desktop as well as extracts
on server. As a rule, extracts perform better than live connections to a
database. There is no limit to the database you are connecting to but there are
some theoretical limits to server extracts. Tableau is able to create and handle
large extracts. However, there can often be physical and theoretical practical
limits to the size of extracts. Theoretically, the upper practical limit for the
size of an extract is around 1 billion rows or 6 billion tuples (1 billion rows x 6
dimensions = 6 billion tuples). Beyond this limit, it may be better to connect
live to the data source to leverage the processing power of the database
directly. It helps to remember that extracts are not intended to replace
databases.
Physical resource limits (RAM and disk space) may also limit the size of extracts
you can create. While the full data set is never loaded entirely into memory,
creating extracts and querying extracts extensively uses the local RAM and
disk. These resources can be exhausted before the theoretical practical extract
size limit, particularly if the data set is very large. Tableau Online, Tableau’s
cloud-hosted solution, only notes 1 level of service and 100 GB data size limit.

Tableau Questions
Q: In Tableau, can we use relation model with 20 tables with varied data to
build reports and dashboards similar to Cognos Analytics?
A: Yes, it's no problem to use a relational model with 20+ tables in Tableau.

More Than One Tool Questions
Q: Is there a connector for any type of cloud database?
A: Yes, assuming cloud means that the service is available on the internet.
These include Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform,
and so on. For this webinar we connected to Azure.
Q: Were SAP business objects evaluated in your larger exercise?
A: We have done work with business objects and are happy to customize our BI
Tool Engagement for you, including this tool. If you'd like more information,
please contact us at 888 601 6010 ext. 1.
Q: Is there row level data security filters in Power BI and Tableau?
A: Yes, both platforms can facilitate this.
Q: Does Tableau and Power BI offer objects like text box prompts similar to
Cognos Analytics?
A: You can't force a prompt in Power BI or Tableau. In Power BI you can use a
textbox for data entry and then have the report operate in a particular way,
based on that input.

Q: Authoring operational reports with subtotals and sorting is easily doable in
Cognos Analytics 11.1 and Power BI. How does Tableau handle detailed list
reports?
A: Tableau does not do list reporting well – if at all. If paginated list reports
with sub-totals and headers is a required for your project, Tableau isn’t the
tool.
Q: Which tool is best for a common model with an active directory base
security for all users with data access to build reports and dashboards?
A: There is not a best tool for this scenario. Microsoft owns both Active
Directory and Power BI and achieves tight integration between the products,
Cognos and Tableau can both easily use Active Directory to manage security.
Q: Can we use a conditional color in a chart based on data in each of the tools?
A: All of the tools allow for conditional formatting based on values, as demoed
the margin bubbles show red to grey for lower to higher. What cannot be done
in either Tableau or Power BI is expression-based formatting (i.e. 2016 data
should always be blue, 2017, green etc.). Expression-based formatting is
coming to Power BI in April 2019. Cognos does not this planned.

Q: Since Cognos Analytics 11.1 is web based, do you see any performance issues
in loading and building the model vs. desktop versions in Power BI and Tableau?
A: The desktop has snappier performance, but we wouldn't say Cognos is
severely disadvantage.
Q: Do you have a matrix comparing features between these three tools?
A: Yes! This matrix is packaged with our BI tool selection and strategy
engagements. Please call us at 888 601 6010 ext. 1 to discuss your needs.
Q: How is the performance when Oracle and Teradata join to create reports?
A: When connecting live to any database platform, performance depends on
the size of the datasource, the number of joined tables and how well the
database has been tuned. Especially important is the use of indexes on fields
that will be used for filtering.
Q: What does bimodal mean?
A: Bimodal refers to using two (multi-modal >2) BI tools, one for enterprise and
the other for self-service. We think of bimodal the same way Gartner does:
https://www.gartner.com/it-glossary/bimodal/.

Hear the Recording
To view the FREE video recording and download this deck,
go to:
https://senturus.com/resources/a-comparison-of-power-
bi-tableau-cognos/
The Senturus comprehensive library of recorded webinars,
demos, whitepapers, presentations and case studies is
available on our website at:
http://www.senturus.com/resources/

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Copyright 2019 by Senturus, Inc.
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A Comparison of Power BI, Tableau & Cognos

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