I use ARIS Express mainly for additional presentational graphics. It gets my ideas across more clearly to my colleagues. I use it on my laptop and run it on Windows OS.
Information Security Consultant
It is a well-featured, functional product
Pros and Cons
- "It is a well-featured, functional product."
- "It has helped me get some ideas across more clearly to my colleagues."
- "I could use more icons and other graphical elements."
What is our primary use case?
How has it helped my organization?
It has helped me get some ideas across more clearly to my colleagues. For example, how to conduct access management/administration rights distribution during a new implementation.
What is most valuable?
It is a well-featured, functional product. This is its biggest feature.
What needs improvement?
I could use more icons and other graphical elements.
Buyer's Guide
ARIS BPA
February 2025
Learn what your peers think about ARIS BPA. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: February 2025.
832,138 professionals have used our research since 2012.
For how long have I used the solution?
One to three years.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
ARIS Express is free.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Project & Process Manager at a retailer with 1,001-5,000 employees
It is a complete tool, but it is not so user-friendly
Pros and Cons
- "The BPMN notation and the share flow through users. It is nice to see all flows in a common, shared space for all the stakeholders to view the same thing and the same language."
- "The usability. Others tools are easier to manage without same complexity that ARIS has."
What is our primary use case?
My first use case using ARIS was in a Brazilian tax project for a global cosmetic company. All the flows had to be analysed by the global team regarding the core model synergy.
How has it helped my organization?
Creating all the flows related to the "As-Is" process of the organization that must easily see the possible improvements and compare them with the best practices from marketing.
What is most valuable?
The BPMN notation and the share flow through users. It is nice to see all flows in a common, shared space for all the stakeholders to view the same thing and the same language.
What needs improvement?
The usability. Others tools are easier to manage without same complexity that ARIS has.
For how long have I used the solution?
One to three years.
What other advice do I have?
It is a complete tool, but it is not so user-friendly.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Buyer's Guide
ARIS BPA
February 2025
Learn what your peers think about ARIS BPA. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: February 2025.
832,138 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Consultant
Caters to moving older objects into an integrated DB
Pros and Cons
- "Platform that it supports covers legacy and new. Caters to moving older objects into an integrated DB, relatively popular ones: SQL, Oracle, etc."
- "End-to-end visibility and real-time are areas that will need greater attention."
What is most valuable?
Platform that it supports covers legacy and new. Caters to moving older objects into an integrated DB, relatively popular ones: SQL, Oracle, etc.
What needs improvement?
No product is complete. As technologies evolve, so must the tools to support them. End-to-end visibility and real-time are areas that will need greater attention.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
No issues with scalability.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I do not believe that there is a site in this country that has exceeded the scalability limitation.
How are customer service and technical support?
Judging from my perspective, all the forums appear to have topical discussions. Also, requested a latest GA version date and received a response.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Staunch user of Visio, ArchiMate. A requirement for a client, decided to explore deeper. Alfabet.
How was the initial setup?
The Aris version that I have is straightforward.
What other advice do I have?
Although digital business transformation (e.g. IoT, Blockchain) is top of mind for many IT professionals, many companies are facing legacy systems consuming operating budgets and have limited visibility into their enterprise architecture. It is increasingly difficult to meet RFC (requests for change) deadlines and digital business transformation demands. Therefore, a simple and easy to use enterprise architecture is important for implementing an effective digital business transformation program.
However, enterprise architecture (EA) and the frequently used methodology TOGAF (The Open Group Architecture Framework) have an image problem. Business and IT leaders are frequently bypassing the enterprise architect because they have the following issues:
- The enterprise architecture and TOGAF are not practical to complete and are difficult to explain.
- The EA terminology is difficult to understand and not aligned with operational departments.
- The EA governance methodology and EA models are difficult to understand and to maintain.
- Too much focus of project delivery and IT architecture
Because of these issues the enterprise architect, and business and IT leaders, are not always aligned and do not fully cooperate to resolve the EA issues at hand. Most of the design decisions are made by business and IT leaders who are not always in line with the vision of the enterprise architect. This has an impact on the quality of the EA. In order to improve the cooperation, the enterprise architecture should be presented in a more practical and simple way.
Needs to be driven from the top, must standardise and simplify centric environments. Architectural principals - governance a must.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Partner / Owner at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
It is the most flexible and embracing process modeling tool.
What is most valuable?
It is the most flexible and embracing process modeling tool.
What needs improvement?
The price is too expensive.
What was my experience with deployment of the solution?
Version updates create deployment issues and support isn’t always aware of them.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I have not encountered any remarkable stability issues.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I have not encountered any remarkable scalability issues.
How are customer service and technical support?
Customer Service:
Customer service is 7/10.
Technical Support:Technical support is 7/10.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I did not previously use a different solution.
How was the initial setup?
Initial setup was straightforward.
What about the implementation team?
A vendor team implemented. Their level of expertise was 7/10.
What was our ROI?
It’s difficult to provide ROI information, because it depends on the costumer and how it uses the product. With this product, it probably takes at least 1.5 years to see ROI.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Before choosing this product, we evaluated it against SYDLE SEED.
What other advice do I have?
It is a great solution, but the creation of a process department inside the organization is essential to make a real PDCA cycle for the business processes.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: My company is business partner of the vendor.
Business/Process Analyst at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
A scalable solution that helps with enterprise process management
Pros and Cons
- "I am impressed with the tool's integration. It also facilitates collaboration in the organization."
- "The tool needs to improve its support since they take long to respond."
What is our primary use case?
We use the solution for enterprise process management. It helps us to find gaps and improve the processes.
What is most valuable?
I am impressed with the tool's integration. It also facilitates collaboration in the organization.
What needs improvement?
The tool needs to improve its support since they take long to respond.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The tool is scalable.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate the solution an eight out of ten.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Principal Consultant at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
A stable, scalable, and complete solution that can be used from strategy to execution
Pros and Cons
- "It provides the discovery functionality, and you can have a simulation on top of it to get your design corrected to ensure that it is within the right state of parameters. It is a complete package that you can use from strategy to execution because you have the design layer, and within the design, you can also do analytics."
- "Its governance tool and integration with ESB and execution engine can be improved. Their partner support can also be improved."
What is our primary use case?
As the name suggests, it is a process performance monitoring tool. It is used for discovering or finding the gap between what has been designed and what has been implemented. This is one of the checks that you can do with the help of BPM, and then you can re-engineer your process in a very correct manner.
What is most valuable?
It provides the discovery functionality, and you can have a simulation on top of it to get your design corrected to ensure that it is within the right state of parameters. It is a complete package that you can use from strategy to execution because you have the design layer, and within the design, you can also do analytics.
What needs improvement?
Its governance tool and integration with ESB and execution engine can be improved.
Their partner support can also be improved.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for around six or seven years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Scalability is there. They are going for cloud-based deployment, which will provide more scalability. They are also going for the database deployment, which will also be one of the things that can be used for scalability. Our clients are enterprise businesses.
How are customer service and technical support?
Their customer support is good, but their partner support can be improved. They can provide more technical enablement so that there is more focus on the partner, and they get more attention.
How was the initial setup?
It is quite easy.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It depends on different parameters.
What other advice do I have?
It has been in the market for the last 20 to 25 years, so it has most of the capabilities. I would rate ARIS BPM an eight out of ten as an architectural tool.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
Process Analyst
Gives us the capability to generate simulations of processes. I would like the possibility to use real data.
Pros and Cons
- "The capability to integrate all information of the business and to generate simulations of processes. It can analyze the model of operations quickly."
- "I would like the possibility to use real data. In other words, it can use this system to integrate with others that are operating directing with users like clients, employs, and others."
What is most valuable?
The capability to integrate all information of the business and to generate simulations of processes. It can analyze the model of operations quickly.
How has it helped my organization?
It has improved our organization because the system helped us design all our processes and our structure of business.
What needs improvement?
I would like the possibility to use real data. In other words, it can use this system to integrate with others that are operating directing with users like clients, employs, and others. This means that people who work with processes and activities of routine.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have used this solution for three months.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
ARIS software has few connectivity problems.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Software AG's support with partners is relatively fast.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We are in a phase of planning and its capabilities for design and simulation. Considering the size of our company, this solution was a good fit.
How was the initial setup?
We were involved in the initial setup. My experience is positive, but regarding usability and learning of the system, those elements can be more difficult and complicated.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We evaluated Mega, Oracle , Bizagi, AuraPortal, AgilePoint, Appian, IBM, and others.
What other advice do I have?
My advice is to consider as many solutions as possible. Take your time to analyze them, if you can.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Director at OAT Solutions
The simulation engine and SAP integration are technically very robust
Pros and Cons
- "The simulation engine and SAP integration are technically very robust."
- "The user experience's usability (in general) should be improved as the tool is updated."
What is our primary use case?
Used for BPMN training and consulting activities on different customers and several industries, such as health care, financial, and automotive.
How has it helped my organization?
ARIS has a powerful simulation engine. The modeling features can be hard to master, but once you do it, the tool unleashes great benefits from modeling to execution.
What is most valuable?
The simulation engine and SAP integration are technically very robust when you consider my segments of expertise (health care, financial, and automotive).
What needs improvement?
The user experience's usability (in general) should be improved as the tool is updated.
For how long have I used the solution?
More than five years.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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Download our free ARIS BPA Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros
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Updated: February 2025
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With the latest version of ARIS, I think this has nice user interface and easy to understand. It's more like a drawing tool with features and functionalities with business will appreciate.