Avolution ABACUS vs erwin Data Modeler by Quest comparison

Avolution and erwin by Quest are both solutions in the Enterprise Architecture Management category. Avolution is ranked #9 with an average rating of 8.0, while erwin by Quest is ranked #3 with an average rating of 8.1. Avolution holds a 3.6% mindshare in AM, compared to erwin by Quest’s 10.9% mindshare. Additionally, 88% of Avolution users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 95% of erwin by Quest users who would recommend it.

Avolution ABACUS

Read 15 Avolution ABACUS reviews

2,024 Views
914 Comparison Views

88% willing to recommend

erwin Data Modeler by Quest

Read 39 erwin Data Modeler by Quest reviews

4,005 Views
2,219 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

Avolution ABACUS

erwin Data Modeler by Quest

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 2024

Avolution ABACUS and erwin Data Modeler by Quest compete in the modeling and architecture domain. While Avolution ABACUS is noted for its flexible enterprise architecture capabilities, erwin Data Modeler stands out due to its robust data modeling features, earning an edge in data management.

Features: Avolution ABACUS offers flexibility with its Analytical and Simulation Engine, diverse frameworks, and extensive customization capabilities. The ability to customize the meta-model and catalogs adds to its versatility. erwin Data Modeler provides comprehensive visual data models, efficient reverse engineering, and intuitive migration of foreign keys, facilitating accurate and dynamic data synchronization.

Room for Improvement: Avolution ABACUS could enhance its integration with BI tools and improve its user-friendly interface for complex modeling tasks. Advanced customization may require additional simplification for broader accessibility. erwin Data Modeler may benefit from improved compatibility with cloud databases, better performance with large-scale models, and enhanced integration with other enterprise tools for more seamless workflows.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Avolution ABACUS deployment is straightforward, supported by extensive documentation, making implementation smoother. erwin Data Modeler's deployment is flexible but may require specialized support for custom setups, which is beneficial for organizations with specific data infrastructure needs.

Pricing and ROI: Avolution ABACUS offers competitive pricing with cost-effective ROI for comprehensive architecture management. erwin Data Modeler, despite higher initial costs, ensures substantial ROI with its precise data accuracy and compliance focus, making it suitable for data-centric enterprises.

To learn more, read our detailed Avolution ABACUS vs. erwin Data Modeler by Quest Report (Updated: March 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Avolution ABACUS vs. erwin Data Modeler by Quest

March 2025

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Helped 845,040 peers since 2012

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Avolution ABACUS

Ranking in Enterprise Architecture Management

9th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

erwin Data Modeler by Quest

Ranking in Enterprise Architecture Management

3rd

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Business Process Design (9th)

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Enterprise Architecture Management category, the mindshare of Avolution ABACUS is 3.6%, down from 4.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of erwin Data Modeler by Quest is 10.9%, up from 9.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Enterprise Architecture Management

Featured Reviews

JoseCamacho

Freelancer at a consultancy with 1-10 employees

Supports evaluating architecture through corporate objectives

I conducted an evaluation of enterprise architecture at the European Court in Luxembourg, reviewing and analyzing existing implementations to identify potential improvements and providing recommendations I conduct evaluations to identify potential improvements and make recommendations, forming a…

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JorgeSanz

Data Governance Senior Advisor at Abu Dhabi National Oil Company

Streamline data modeling and automate network changes for increased efficiency

The initial setup depends on the tool if you are using the data model environment. Stopping the server could be complex and require strong expertise. If you have everything set up and configured, Erwin is straightforward. You can deploy it in a few hours. In our case, it took a couple of months to address internal conditions, assign machines, and set up everything for the services. I rate the initial setup a six out of ten, where one is difficult and ten is easy.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"It is a very stable solution...The initial setup of Avolution ABACUS is very easy."

"Avolution ABACUS allows for flexible enterprise architecture analysis."

"The most valuable feature is that it has a customizable meta-model, which is key."

"The tool's implementation is straightforward as everything is readily available. For instance, setting up a portal is seamless, allowing easy publishing and access to data. However, integrating with other tools like BI, Power BI, or Grafana requires setting up pipelines between them."

"You can design using a diagram tool installed on your desktop, a key difference from other vendors."

"There are a lot of different features, but the business/decision-maker feature, visibility, and dashboards are most valuable."

"The most valuable feature is the traceability, you can trace any object to the other."

"Scalable and stable tool for roadmapping and modeling, with a good dashboard, end-to-end impact analysis, and portfolio management."

More Avolution ABACUS pros

"Any tool will do diagramming but I think the ability to put the stuff up in a graphical fashion, then think about it, and keep things consistent is what's valuable about it. It's too easy when you're using other methods to not have naming consistent standards and column consistent definitions, et cetera."

"It provides flexibility with the code. You can change the code as you want. Basically, you can change SQL based on what's best for your project."

"The principal feature that I liked is that the solution has a very graphic interface."

"The most valuable features are being able to visualize the data in the diagrams and transform those diagrams into physical database deployments. These features help, specifically, to integrate the data. When the source data is accumulated and modeled, the target model is in erwin and it helps resolve the data integration patterns that are required to map the data to accommodate a model."

"It is a scalable solution...The technical support team is fine."

"The solution is excellent in providing a visual representation of a database and can generate DDL for implementing changes. We use DDL for logical purposes to review with business people, ensuring they have the required fields for processing. We also use it as a data dictionary for the physical data model to understand all the purposes of the terms. This helps us map the logical and physical terms with the business definition to understand our data."

"One of the best aspects of the tool is its reverse engineering capability."

"When you're getting down to the database level, where you're building a design and you're creating DDL out of it, or you're going in the other direction where you're reaching into system catalogs and bringing things back, that starts to really require specialization. Visio isn't going to reverse-engineer that for you. Those features in erwin are valuable."

More erwin Data Modeler by Quest pros

Cons

"If they want to expand in the European market then they are going to have to improve their technical support."

"I use reference models, which are taxonomies, in my EA work. It is a reference model/taxonomy of things with capabilities, sub capabilities, and sub-sub capabilities, so you're working it down. I haven't yet found a simple way to implement that in Abacus. It could be that it is there, but I don't know how to do it."

"They should take more initiative to implement things that competing products have already come out with."

"The tool doesn't have any intelligence built in. We have to design the dashboards ourselves, which is a challenge because we have to depend on the vendor for customizations."

"While Avolution ABACUS is flexible, it can be complex to work with as it requires knowledge of specific configurations to customize the product."

"The most valuable features are the catalog and the diagram."

"It is vastly scalable but you can't run it on a Mac or Linux so it has limitations."

"While Avolution ABACUS is flexible, it can be complex to work with as it requires knowledge of specific configurations to customize the product."

More Avolution ABACUS cons

"The interface must be improved."

"It is not a very stable solution. I rate the stability five out of ten."

"I would like the solution to be less rigid in terms of its theory."

"One of the things I've been talking to the erwin team about through the years is that every data model should have the ability to be multi-language... When I was working at Honda, it became very difficult to work with the Japanese teams using just one model. You can have two models, one in English and one in Japanese, but that means you have to keep the updates back and forth, and that always increases the risk of something not being updated."

"The navigation is a little bit of a challenge. It's painful. For example, if you've got a view open and you want to try to move from side to side, the standard today is being able to drag and drop left and right. You can't really do that in the model. Moving around the model is painful because it doesn't follow the Windows model today."

"The modeling product itself is far and above anything else that I've seen on the market. There are certain inconsistencies when it comes to keeping up with other platforms' databases in the reverse-engineering process. It should also support more database platforms."

"I would like to see the ability to support more NoSQL platforms more quickly. In addition, enhancing the graphics to render more quickly would be beneficial for any user."

"The reverse engineering in Oracle Databases needs improvement, as there are issues."

More erwin Data Modeler by Quest cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is competitive. It is not chump change. I am just using the studio version. I am not using the full enterprise version, which would probably cost me three times more for single-use, but it gives a lot more capability and analysis. It is server-based as well, and it is reasonably priced compared to a lot of the other tools. There are other tools that have other sorts of capabilities, but in order to use them, you'd really have to have like 50 users for the price to become justifiable."

"My company makes annual payments toward the licensing costs of the solution. Considering the product's capabilities, its prices are very reasonable."

"The solution's pricing is not an issue."

"To get a fairly extensive license for Enterprise Architects from Spark is approximately US $400.00, maybe less, but with Avolution Abacus it was approximately US $2000.00 per year, and that includes maintenance with the Abacus tool."

"The pricing is quite good compared to the competition and it is part of the reason we chose the product."

"The cost of Avolution ABACUS is reasonable, given the features they offer in comparison to other tools."

"It is expensive."

"There is a subscription for this solution. We are on an annual subscription because you sometimes receive special offers the longer you subscribe."

More Avolution ABACUS pricing and cost advice

"The price should be lower in order to be on the same level as its competitors."

"The tool is expensive."

"Price-wise, erwin Data Modeler is okay. You can purchase a single license and it is not very expensive."

"erwin has this option where you pay a one-time fee and you have the license for six years, which makes sense because I don't upgrade my database engine every other year. I have an application that depends on it. This is something weird about PowerDesigner. There are no additional costs beyond the standard licensing fee."

"This company had bought the license for three years, and it's not an individual license. While you can buy a license for each individual, that would be very expensive. There is something called concurrent licenses where you can purchase licenses in bulk and 15 to 20 people can access the license and model. Concurrent licenses are scalable to the number of users and are proportional to the cost."

"We've continued to use the product for many years and compared it with others on the market. The pricing is reasonable considering what the solution offers and what we pay. There are cheaper tools, but they may not be as robust and easy to use, so it's worth the money."

"I wish it wasn't so expensive. I would love to personally buy a copy of my own and have it at home, because the next job that I'm looking at is probably project management and I might not have access to the tool. I would like to keep my ability to use the tool. Therefore, they should probably have a pricing for people like me who want to just use the solution as an independent consultant, trying to get started. $3,000 is a big hit."

"There are two license options and the pricing is reasonable."

More erwin Data Modeler by Quest pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

19%

Government

14%

Computer Software Company

Educational Organization

Financial Services Firm

19%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Government

Computer Software Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Avolution ABACUS?

The tool's implementation is straightforward as everything is readily available. For instance, setting up a portal is seamless, allowing easy publishing and access to data. However, integrating wit...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Avolution ABACUS?

It's pricey compared to Essential, Deltek, or Essential Cloud. However, its diagramming capabilities and metamodel design make it worth it. But it's not for large user bases. It has modules for app...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Avolution ABACUS?

While Avolution ABACUS is flexible, it can be complex to work with as it requires knowledge of specific configurations to customize the product. It would be beneficial to have seminars or other met...

See all answers

What do you like most about erwin Data Modeler by Quest?

Forward engineering, DDL generation, reverse engineering, and reporting are the most valuable features of the solution.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for erwin Data Modeler by Quest?

The product is expensive. I rate the product’s pricing a nine out of ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive.

See all answers

What needs improvement with erwin Data Modeler by Quest?

As a documenting tool, it's solid, though its reporting could be more robust. The reporting mechanisms could be more intuitive regarding report creation. It can generate reports in CSV files, displ...

See all answers

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Compared 31% of the time

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Compared 18% of the time

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Compared 15% of the time

Visio vs erwin Data Modeler by Quest

Compared 8% of the time

iServer vs erwin Data Modeler by Quest

Compared 1% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Avolution ABACUS

March 2025

Download Avolution ABACUS product report

Buyer's Guide

erwin Data Modeler by Quest

March 2025

Download erwin Data Modeler by Quest product report

Also Known As

No data available

erwin DM

Overview

ABACUS is the enterprise architecture tool designed to have the quickest time-to-value. You can use it to build and maintain rich visual models from existing company data. ABACUS comes with standard industry frameworks as well as advanced analytic tools and best-in-class roadmapping and reporting functionality.

With Avolution ABACUS You Can:

Strategize and analyze your organizational architecture with ease using data-driven diagrams
Enjoy connected data, models, and metrics across your whole enterprise
Work directly and securely in your browser, which is ideal for global teams and remote working

Avolution ABACUS Features:

Modeling and roadmapping: ABACUS offers a fully provisioned modeling environment for enterprise and IT architecture, strategic planning, and digital business management.
Digital collaboration: Avolution ABACUS includes a feature that allows you to set up dashboards so you can tell data stories using business-friendly visualizations.
Portfolio management: Anyone can update their own data, which, in turn, reduces the workload of the enterprise architecture team.
Data-driven architecture: ABACUS’s data-driven architecture gives you the opportunity to design and automate key calculations using out-of-the-box or simple no-code algorithms.
Collaborative data management: Using this feature, you can save time with single sign-on (SSO) and AD Integrations; You can embed directly in MS Teams, Confluence, or other workplace social software.
Dynamic data visualizations: ABACUS’s graph view allows you to navigate through systems in a dynamic environment, as opposed to static diagram views.

Avolution ABACUS Benefits:

Time efficient: Models and roadmaps automatically stay up-to-date, saving your organization a lot of time so you can focus on other priorities instead.
Centralized location: With Avolution ABACUS, you can connect all data in one place, keeping everything both consistent and accurate.
Full flexibility: ABACUS gives you full flexibility to adapt and configure your own metamodels with ease.
Complete visibility: Your whole enterprise can have visibility of the architecture through the use of digital collaboration and visually clear dashboards.
Machine learning: With Avolution ABACUS, you can employ machine learning to speed data management and analysis.
Spot dependencies: ABACUS helps your organization spot dependencies and impacts that might trip up your projects.
Fully customizable: Avolution ABACUS is fully customizable; Select, configure, or adapt your repository and metamodel. You can also automate metrics and analytics specific to your business.

Reviews from Real Users:

Andre W., Enterprise Architect at Enterprise Architecture Perspectives, says, "The most valuable feature is that it has a customizable meta-model, which is key.”

The Lead Enterprise Domain Architects at a financial services firm feels that "The product is easy to use and well-structured for the integrations we need it to make.”

"There are plenty of features available, such as the ability to test applications for issues and a user-friendly dashboard,” says Suresh T., Enterprise Digital Solution Architect at a tech services company.

Avolution

erwin pioneered data modeling, and erwin Data Modeler (erwin DM) remains trusted, award-winning software for data modeling and database design, automating complex and time-consuming tasks. Use it to discover and document any data from anywhere for consistency, clarity and artifact reuse across large-scale data integration, master data management, metadata management, Big Data, business intelligence and analytics initiatives – all while supporting data governance and intelligence efforts.

erwin by Quest

Sample Customers

Barclays

Premera, America Honda Motors, Aetna, Kaiser Permanente, Dental Dental Cali, Cigna, Staples

Buyer's Guide

Avolution ABACUS vs. erwin Data Modeler by Quest

March 2025

Free Report: Avolution ABACUS vs. erwin Data Modeler by Quest

Find out what your peers are saying about Avolution ABACUS vs. erwin Data Modeler by Quest and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.

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