BiZZdesign HoriZZon vs IBM Rational System Architect comparison

BiZZdesign and IBM are both solutions in the Enterprise Architecture Management category. BiZZdesign is ranked #6 with an average rating of 8.4, while IBM is ranked #19. BiZZdesign holds a 5.0% mindshare in AM, compared to IBM’s 1.7% mindshare. Additionally, 77% of BiZZdesign users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 83% of IBM users who would recommend it.

BiZZdesign HoriZZon

Read 17 BiZZdesign HoriZZon reviews

2,067 Views
948 Comparison Views

77% willing to recommend

IBM Rational System Architect

Read 5 IBM Rational System Architect reviews

883 Views
479 Comparison Views

83% willing to recommend

BiZZdesign HoriZZon

IBM Rational System Architect

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 2024

IBM Rational System Architect and BiZZdesign HoriZZon are key players in the enterprise architecture domain. BiZZdesign HoriZZon has the upper hand due to its modern design and flexibility, making it a compelling choice.

Features: IBM Rational System Architect offers strong modeling capabilities and extensive integration options, beneficial for managing complex system architectures. Meanwhile, BiZZdesign HoriZZon is valued for its intuitive design, advanced analytics, and flexible frameworks, suitable for enhancing decision-making and process efficiency.

Room for Improvement: IBM Rational System Architect could improve by enhancing its user interface for a smoother learning curve and developing more agile deployment options. BiZZdesign HoriZZon might focus on expanding its modeling languages and further streamlining its import/export capabilities for better integration, along with enhancing broader industry-standard compliance.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: BiZZdesign HoriZZon provides cloud-based deployment with efficient onboarding and comprehensive customer support, enabling rapid implementation. In contrast, IBM Rational System Architect often requires more intensive setup and technical guidance due to its on-premise focus.

Pricing and ROI: IBM Rational System Architect demands higher upfront costs, leading to a longer ROI period due to its complexity. BiZZdesign HoriZZon offers competitive prices with potentially quicker ROI, facilitated by scalable subscription models and efficient resource utilization.

To learn more, read our detailed BiZZdesign HoriZZon vs. IBM Rational System Architect Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

BiZZdesign HoriZZon vs. IBM Rational System Architect

April 2025

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Helped 846,617 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

BiZZdesign HoriZZon

Ranking in Enterprise Architecture Management

6th

Average Rating

7.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Business Process Design (11th)

IBM Rational System Architect

Ranking in Enterprise Architecture Management

19th

Average Rating

7.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Enterprise Architecture Management category, the mindshare of BiZZdesign HoriZZon is 5.0%, up from 3.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Rational System Architect is 1.7%, down from 2.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Enterprise Architecture Management

Featured Reviews

BijoyTalukder

Enterprise Architect at Tata Consultancy

Helps to get a clear overview of our enterprise architecture, especially when dealing with multiple departments

One area where BiZZdesign HoriZZon could use some improvement is in its REST APIs. While the platform offers REST APIs, they have limitations when it comes to retrieving and exporting data. Obtaining detailed information at the individual application or component level, including IDs, costs, and deployment-related data, can be challenging through these APIs. This limitation makes it difficult to smoothly export such granular data. I have raised this issue with the BiZZdesign team, and they expressed interest in addressing it, but I'm not aware of the current status of this improvement effort. Nonetheless, improving the usability and flexibility of the REST APIs for data extraction is an area that could enhance the platform's capabilities.

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it_user951237

Enterprise Architecture Specialist at a energy/utilities company with 10,001+ employees

Modeling is useful, but many features need improvement and technical support is lacking

I find that almost every feature related to the models requires improvement. For example, I would like to see more trendy models, the look and feel of the models can be improved. This solution can be more user-friendly and easier to use, with better dashboards. The impact analysis feature is in need of heavy improvement. The is a standalone product that lacks integration with a business process automation engine. I would like to see the workflow improved, where it integrates seamlessly with the artifacts.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The feature I find most valuable is that the start times and loading times are short. It takes only a few seconds to load the repository and whenever I want to open diagrams, they are there almost immediately."

"I used BiZZdesign HoriZZon at two organizations. At Manchester Metropolitan University, I used it with a small team for architectural modeling of the student record system. We modeled teams, process objects, and their interactions with applications. We also used it to model a gradual rollout with plateaus showing migration over time. At the BBC, I used it to model software services for publishing content online. I showed key model views to senior stakeholders using Horizon, allowing them to modify and score applications and services."

"The most valuable feature is that it allows you to work with different methods, using the same tool."

"The tool's most valuable feature is that its collaboration part is very good."

"It is very easy to use. I can just click on an application component and find out if we are using this particular component. This provides us flexibility."

"t's a good tool. My colleagues that are making use of it for application, business processes, or data modeling, are very satisfied with it. They find it easy to use. The graphical representation is simple but therefore efficient, so I know that they are planning a very good commencement on the use of these tools."

"The most valuable features are the application, portfolio, data, architectures, and modeling things."

"I like the flexibility of the modeling part for standards like ArchiMate and, at the same time, BPMN. It allows us to connect elements from different areas and to have a single repository and a single source of truth. It gives us one place to do analysis throughout the organization."

More BiZZdesign HoriZZon pros

"There are a lot of features I find valuable, but I think that the metamodel customization is one of the best features that the solution offers."

"The user interface is good. It's both clear and comprehensible. It's easy to work with."

"The solution is pretty stable."

"We have seen ROI with this solution over the years that we have used it."

Cons

"There's room for improvement. When I finished using it over a year ago, I discussed implementing C4 notation with BiZZdesign HoriZZon.They've likely done this now, but I haven't seen it. Setting up interactive views for stakeholders to score services was a bit difficult."

"One area where BiZZdesign HoriZZon could use some improvement is in its REST APIs."

"This tool is something of a beast - it takes a long time to learn, and it isn't possible for casual users and most architects. Unless a person spends 500 or 1,000 hours on the tool or does very concentrated sessions using all its functionalities, it's very difficult to master."

"It should be more open to integrating with other existing tools. Although there has been progress in the past."

"There could be simpler modelling."

"The ability to generate charts and deal with a use case involving Kibana was quite difficult."

"We tested it, and we had support from BiZZdesign, including patches, but it just didn't do what we wanted."

"There is room for improvement in making it more seamless between the modeling and the analysis pieces. Sometimes you have to do some work in the backend to ensure that the HoriZZon portal really gets all of the information the way you want it. They are working on the seamlessness between what they call Enterprise Studio and HoriZZon."

More BiZZdesign HoriZZon cons

"The reverse engineering of the database is already there, but in the next release I would like to see some pilot supplied with the solution in order to address any database."

"This solution can be more user-friendly and easier to use, with better dashboards."

"There needs to be more information at the outset about how to use the solution and how to deploy it. The deployment process needs improvement."

"The solution needs to better integrate with other products, like Microsoft."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"If one is very cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the product price as a seven out of ten."

"We were customers and bought licenses from them. We used their remote instance initially but upgraded to the on-device version due to lag. For pricing, we paid about 2200 pounds a year per seat for the client installation at an educational rate. I'm not sure about commercial rates. I managed to get a free copy at BBC since it was for evaluation purposes."

"First and foremost within the scope of improvement for the solution would be the cost. It's very costly..."

"In terms of this particular product usage, my clients currently only use per-user licenses."

"The pricing model is slightly on the high side and could be more competitive for long-term partnerships."

"The price is reasonable."

"[The] Orbus... pricing model was based on every single functionality having a price. The pricing was comparable but if we wanted to scale, it would have ended up being a lot more expensive. BiZZdesign gave us one price with all of the functionality, and we could scale as much as we needed."

"I haven't found any issues with the scalability and licensing parts that are access-related."

Information not available

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

29%

Financial Services Firm

16%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Manufacturing Company

18%

Financial Services Firm

15%

Computer Software Company

10%

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about BiZZdesign HoriZZon?

This is one of the best tools, especially because of its collaborative nature. Anyone using it can access previous projects and related data. It's definitely a strong collaborative tool.

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What needs improvement with BiZZdesign HoriZZon?

The ability to generate charts and deal with a use case involving Kibana was quite difficult. We don't use the chart functionality much, and I think that is quite problematic at the moment. We have...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for BiZZdesign HoriZZon?

I use the solution in my company for all sorts of things, like enterprise and solution architecture. As part of our design process, BiZZdesign HoriZZon is used for road mapping. We also use it for ...

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

BiZZdesign HoriZZon

April 2025

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Buyer's Guide

Enterprise Architecture Management

March 2025

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Also Known As

HoriZZon

Rational System Architect

Overview

Make smarter decisions and optimize outcomes by unifying all your strategy, capabilities, operating models and change portfolios in a single platform.

With all the data about your business in one place you can see the big picture and make properly informed strategic decisions to drive growth. Bizzdesign Horizzon brings together strategy, IT architecture, operating models, data, capabilities, change portfolios and ideas into a single, intuitive collaborative business design platform. Real-time visibility of key metrics and trends allows you to take action more quickly. Accelerating the speed and accuracy of your operations now – and into the future.

Core Platform Capabilities:

Multi-discipline collaboration
Data Integration
Advanced analytics
Models and Roadmaps
Governance & Security
Business Insight Graph

BiZZdesign

IBM Rational System Architect is an enterprise architecture solution for visualizing, analyzing, and communicating enterprise architecture and business process analysis. This solution provides decision support, process optimization, and integration into solution delivery. Rational System Architect addresses all aspects of your organization's enterprise architecture, including modeling, publishing, analysis, and execution.

IBM

Sample Customers

T-Mobile, Shell, HSBC, Erasmus University, VIVAT Insurance

Wuxi Lake Cloud, Nationwide, ETI, IDS Scheer

Buyer's Guide

BiZZdesign HoriZZon vs. IBM Rational System Architect

April 2025

Free Report: BiZZdesign HoriZZon vs. IBM Rational System Architect

Find out what your peers are saying about BiZZdesign HoriZZon vs. IBM Rational System Architect and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.

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