Visio Reviews

Name: Visio
Brand: Microsoft
Rating: 3.9 (105 reviews)

Vendor: Microsoft

3.9 out of 5

105 reviews
80% willing to recommend

3,217 followers

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What is Visio?

Visio is an innovative collaborative solution that enables users to quickly visualize data-connected business process flows with a host of integrated intuitive features that bring the power of Microsoft 365 to Visio. Visio allows users to easily create professional diagrams, graphs, and other visual data, easily anywhere, anytime, and with anyone. Users are able to confidently and easily transform data into creative powerful visuals. Visio provides dozens of easy-to-use templates along with thousands of customizable colorful shapes that bring a user's best ideas to life. Visio is available for all Microsoft 365 commercial users and is available on desktop and Web applications.

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Visio is the #1 ranked solution in Business Process Design tools and top Mind Mapping Software. PeerSpot users give Visio an average rating of 7.8 out of 10. Based on the analysis of the 105 most recent Visio reviews, the overall sentiment is positive, with a sentiment score of 6.8. Visio is most commonly compared to Camunda: Visio vs Camunda. Visio is popular among the large enterprise segment, accounting for 71% of users researching this solution on PeerSpot. The top industry researching this solution are professionals from a financial services firm, accounting for 15% of all views.

Helped 823,875 peers since 2012

Featured reviews

IckyDu Buisson

Enterprise Architect at Employment and Labour; Compensation Fund, Unemployment& Insurance Fund

One of the most valuable features of Visio is its extreme flexibility. It allows for creating networks, floor layout plans, engineering diagrams, and more. The availability of numerous templates and palettes in Visio is another strength. Visio uses standards, making it easier to get palettes and icons globally. The capability to perform various types of modeling is also a big plus.

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Enas Selim

Product Manager at Diyar United Company

The ease of use for review purposes is notable. Even individuals lacking technological expertise can navigate it effortlessly. In my assessment, I would rate it a nine, considering that some users may require familiarity with business model notations, which is distinct from the tool itself. This is analogous to the need for background knowledge when using applications like Excel, where understanding equations and formulas is prerequisite. It takes no more than one hour for the complete deployment of all packages. Whether it involves Three hundred sixty-five, Outlook, or any other component, the download and installation process concludes within the span of one hour.

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Greg Swain

Director of Solution Architecture at Winslow Technology Group

It had the same struggles the entire time it has been around. It is a good tool, but it got a little bit of a learning curve. Sometimes, you got to figure out how to make the line snap correctly so it is not really confusing, but it is a valuable tool. People want to use it. I would rate it an eight out of ten. It is a really good application for what it does. I'm sure there are one or two other solutions out there that are pretty good, but I don't have a lot of exposure to them.

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Visio mindshare

Product category:

As of December 2024, the mindshare of Visio in the Business Process Design category stands at 12.5%, down from 13.5% compared to the previous year, according to calculations based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Business Process Design

PeerAnalyst reports

Type	Title	Date
Category	Business Process Design	Dec 17, 2024	Download
Product	Reviews, tips, and advice from real users	Dec 17, 2024	Download
Comparison	Visio vs Camunda	Dec 17, 2024	Download
Comparison	Visio vs ARIS BPA	Dec 17, 2024	Download
Comparison	Visio vs Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect	Dec 17, 2024	Download

Title	Rating	Mindshare	Recommending
Camunda	4.1	12.0%	89%	76 interviews Add to research
Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect	3.9	11.6%	87%	99 interviews Add to research

Valuable Features

Visio's features include versatile templates, a comprehensive shapes library, and seamless integration with Microsoft Office tools like Excel and SharePoint. Users appreciate its ease of use, flexibility, and ability to quickly create diagrams such as flowcharts and network layouts. The interface is user-friendly, making it suitable for projects of various scales and industries. Integration options, such as importing data and linking objects, enhance its functionality, supporting efficient process mapping and communication.

"Overall, Visio is stable for my needs."
"On the scalability front, the aspect of increasing the number of endpoints is relatively easy to handle."
"The task sequencing, the process level views, and the ability to communicate between lanes are valuable features in Visio."

Room for Improvement

Visio can improve template creation and integration with external data sources. It lacks support for XPDL file import/export and suffers from interface complexity and user-friendliness issues. Enhancements in pen input, layering, and exporting to other formats are needed. Users experience challenges with process modeling, sharing, and publication to web applications. Performance and mobile icon updates are suboptimal. Better integration with Microsoft Office and a more intuitive user interface would be beneficial.

"Visio should implement more complex tools or graphics to facilitate processing and use flexible templates. The tools supplied or provided are very basic, and there are not enough tools for design."
"Visio should implement more complex tools or graphics to facilitate processing and use flexible templates."
"In terms of enterprise architecture, Visio is limited."

ROI

Visio facilitates quick and consistent documentation, leading to time savings in training and manual effort for diagramming. Users report enhancements in project timelines and document quality, resulting in satisfactory client feedback. While many find ROI challenging to quantify, they notice significant improvements, estimating an average time savings of eight to twenty percent. Companies highlight time advantages over alternatives and generally perceive a return on investment, enjoying better quality than the expense incurred.

Pricing

Visio's pricing varies widely, offering options based on usage needs. Licensing can be attached to the Office 365 subscription, reducing costs for users who require Microsoft tools. While some find it affordable, especially within existing Microsoft packages, others highlight its high cost, especially for organizations requiring multiple licenses. Discounts through educational institutions are noted as a potential savings route. Licensing simplicity and bundled offerings make it a viable choice for enterprise buyers despite the perceived expense.

"The product is expensive, but it is cheaper if you buy it as a part of a bundle or an enterprise-level agreement."
"The pricing is reasonable and I would rate it 6 out of 10."
"If I want to buy Visio for myself, I think it will be around 80 to 120 USD, though it is important to consider that I am unsure of its actual costs."

Popular Use Cases

Visio is primarily employed by companies for designing architectural and business process flows, creating network and architecture diagrams, and documenting enterprise and IT processes. It's used by various professionals including business analysts, engineers, and architects for process mapping, UML and ERD design, value stream mapping, network and workflow diagramming, and documenting business process re-engineering and architecture requirements. Visio also facilitates communication through visual representations and helps streamline business processes.

Service and Support

Many users have not engaged with Visio's technical support, relying on documentation and online resources for troubleshooting. Some report that support is satisfactory and easily accessible when needed, while others experience variability in expertise and response times. Local IT departments and Microsoft’s general support are often used instead. Visio's customer service is viewed as responsive and helpful, but some encounter challenges with licensing and requirements, affecting their overall experience.

Deployment

Many find Visio's initial setup easy and straightforward, similar to other Microsoft installations. Users with training or experience report a smooth process, while newcomers may face challenges initially. It's manageable for IT departments or individuals, often taking minutes to complete. Some mention customization and learning curves, especially without prior knowledge. The experience varies slightly, but ease of installation is a common theme.

Scalability

Visio's scalability evokes mixed reactions. Users find it scalable for various organization sizes and projects, yet some note limitations like compatibility issues and lack of cloud deployment features. Others highlight a need for improved version control and user collaboration. Some organizations successfully expand usage efficiently, while others face challenges due to proprietary restrictions. Many believe integrating with additional software enhances scalability, and others find it satisfactory but not as scalable as competing tools.

Stability

Visio is often described as stable by users, who report minimal bugs or crashes. Many find it reliable, with substantial improvements noted in newer versions. Some users experience crashes with multiple diagrams or complex tasks but generally find it dependable for standard use. Stability may vary with system updates or resource-heavy multitasking, but Visio is widely regarded as robust, rating highly on stability by users globally. Users rarely need extensive maintenance or support for Visio.

These insights are based on the in-depth reviews provided by peers to help you make a better buying decision.

Download our Visio Buyer's Guide for additional reliable information.

Review data by company size

By reviewers

By visitors reading reviews

Top industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

15%

Government

12%

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

University

Educational Organization

Insurance Company

Energy/Utilities Company

Healthcare Company

Retailer

Aerospace/Defense Firm

Comms Service Provider

Construction Company

Transportation Company

Real Estate/Law Firm

Non Profit

Media Company

Wholesaler/Distributor

Legal Firm

Pharma/Biotech Company

Logistics Company

Outsourcing Company

Recreational Facilities/Services Company

Hospitality Company

Mining And Metals Company

Performing Arts

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Learn more about Visio

Visio Features

Visio can easily create visual data for today’s business needs. Some of its most useful visual data include:

Flowcharts: Users can easily bring business concepts to fruition with Visio’s robust flowchart features. Visio provides a huge library of shapes, stencils, and templates to transform numbers and data into impactful, easy-to-understand business stories.
Organizational charts: Visio makes it easy to design articulate org charts to better visualize team, reporting, and hierarchy structures. Users are then able to seamlessly share the charts with stakeholders, teams, and employees.
Network diagrams: Users are able to creatively display how a system design processes function and visually illustrate how devices and networks interact with each other using a variety of network shapes, templates, and connector tools.
Brainstorming: Visio makes brainstorming simple and actionable with a wide range of templates designed specifically for interpreting problems and mapping out solutions, including fishbone and Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) diagrams.
Floor plans: Users can design ergonomic workspaces, retail store layouts, new homes, and more with accurate, scalable templates and tools to help them better visualize function, flow, and overall aesthetic appeal.
Accessible: Visio is able to integrate with a wide variety of accessibility tools, such as Narrator, Accessibility Checker, and high-contrast support, to ensure Visio diagrams are available to your entire team.

Reviews from Real Users

“Visio has improved my workflow by making it easy to create charts, diagrams, and essential illustrations to use in my client reports and proposals. It has saved me a lot of time I would otherwise spend creating visuals for clients manually.” - Michael B., Principal Consultant at Lexington Consulting

“I use it for diagramming networks, racks, data centers, data flow applications, etc. It is a useful tool to map data flows, network objects, and computer science technology and to show to clients. It does what I need it to do. It's a tool I've used the longest, so I know it the best, and that's probably the claim to fame.” - Greg S., Director of Solution Architecture at Winslow Technology Group

“We use Visio for architecture modeling. We also use it to facilitate communication with other people. The feature I like most about Visio is that it acts as a facilitator of communication, as it displays information in a way that's easier to understand.” - Guy M., IT/Business Architect at a financial services firm

Visio was previously known as Microsoft Visio.

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Visio customers

Thomas College, Hamburg Port Authority, Portigon AG, Conseil G_n_ral du d_partement des Hautes-Alpes, AAA Auto a. s., Commonwealth Financial Network, ICA, Abu Dhabi National Energy Company