IBM Rational System Architect vs erwin Data Modeler by Quest comparison

erwin by Quest and IBM are both solutions in the Enterprise Architecture Management category. erwin by Quest is ranked #3 with an average rating of 8.2, while IBM is ranked #19. erwin by Quest holds a 11.0% mindshare in AM, compared to IBM’s 1.7% mindshare. Additionally, 95% of erwin by Quest users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 83% of IBM users who would recommend it.

erwin Data Modeler by Quest

Read 39 erwin Data Modeler by Quest reviews

4,177 Views
2,300 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

IBM Rational System Architect

Read 5 IBM Rational System Architect reviews

925 Views
512 Comparison Views

83% willing to recommend

erwin Data Modeler by Quest

IBM Rational System Architect

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 2024

IBM Rational System Architect and erwin Data Modeler by Quest are enterprise architecture and data modeling tools, respectively. erwin Data Modeler holds the advantage due to superior features and quick deployment, despite IBM's competitive pricing aspects.

Features: IBM Rational System Architect supports complex frameworks and integrates with multiple tools, providing a versatile modeling platform. erwin Data Modeler efficiently manages large data volumes and offers detailed visual representations. It excels in metadata management and collaboration, distinguishing it from IBM's capabilities.

Room for Improvement: IBM Rational System Architect could improve its deployment speed and user interface for better accessibility. erwin Data Modeler might enhance its pricing flexibility and expand support for diverse database systems. Both products can benefit from refining their integration capabilities with third-party tools

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IBM Rational System Architect requires a traditional deployment approach, often leading to longer setups. Despite this, it offers extensive documentation and dedicated customer service. erwin Data Modeler ensures a more intuitive deployment with responsive support, promoting user satisfaction efficiently.

Pricing and ROI: IBM Rational System Architect has a higher initial cost but brings long-term value through its comprehensive features. erwin Data Modeler's premium price is justified by its efficient capabilities and quick deployment, delivering significant ROI by reducing long-term operational expenses.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM Rational System Architect vs. erwin Data Modeler by Quest Report (Updated: March 2025).

Buyer's Guide

IBM Rational System Architect vs. erwin Data Modeler by Quest

March 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 842,651 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

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)

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 March 2025, in the Enterprise Architecture Management category, the mindshare of erwin Data Modeler by Quest is 11.0%, up from 10.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Rational System Architect is 1.7%, down from 2.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Enterprise Architecture Management

Featured Reviews

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

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.

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

"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."

"Quest can create conceptual and physical data models to facilitate effective communication between business and IT. It can also integrate expertise from various engineering and database systems within your organization to enhance data management and administration."

"It's a safeguard for me because I'm always concerned that somebody is free handing it and will forget a key coming from the parent. The migrating keys are a great feature. Identifying relationships, non-identifying relationships, and being visually right there to understand the differences are great features. erwin is key to being able to visually understand whatever the customer is requesting. They'll give you words on a paper, but once they can actually view it as a picture, it really comes to life. The data comes to life to where they understand exactly what they're asking for."

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

"It's important to create standard templates — Erwin is good at that — and you can customize them. You can create a standard template so that your models have the same look and feel. And then, anyone using the tool is using the same font and the same general layout. erwin's very good at helping enforce that."

"What has been useful, I have been able to reverse engineer our existing data models to document explicitly referential integrity relationships, primary/foreign keys in the model, and create ERDs that are subject area-based which our clients can use when working with our databases. The reality is that our databases are not explicitly documented in the DDL with primary/foreign key relationships. You can't look at the DDL and explicitly understand the primary/foreign key relationships that exist between our tables, so the referential integrity is not easily understood. erwin has allowed me to explicitly document that and create ERDs. This has made it easier for our clients to consume our databases for their own purposes."

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

"The most valuable features are the ability to reverse engineer and do model comparison. With the reverse engineering, I can understand the databases from third-party products. With the model comparison, I can track the differences between two versions of the same database."

More erwin Data Modeler by Quest pros

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

"The solution is pretty stable."

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

"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."

Cons

"In terms of improvements, support could have been better in terms of installation, especially of workgroups. We struggled quite a bit to get it up and running. Collaboration could have been better from an installation perspective, but it is trivial as compared to what we use it for. Other than that, I don't have much feedback. It works pretty well, and the fact that we've been using it for more than a decade shows that it is quite solid."

"I would like to have more data sources from other, different vendors. In recent years, the vendor has reduced the number of data sources, and I would like to have more data sources for every brand. For example, with Oracle, I would like to have compatibility for many versions, including old ones, not just the most recent."

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

"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."

"The solution's reporting side needs to be improved."

"I love the product. I love the ability to get into the code, make it automated, and make it do what I want. I would like to see them put some kind of governance over the ability to make changes to the mart tables with the API, so that instead of just using the modeler's rights to a table -- it has a separate set of rights for API access. That would give us the ability to put governance around API applications. Right now a person with erwin and Excel/VBA has the ability to make changes to models with the API if they also have rights to make changes to the model from erwin. It's a risk."

"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."

"I still use Visio for conceptual modeling, and that's mainly because it is easier to change things, and you can relax some of the rules. DM's eventual target is a database, which means you actually have to dot all the Is and cross all the Ts, but in a conceptual model, you don't often know what you're working with. So, that's probably a constraint with erwin. They have made it a lot easier, and they've done a lot, but there is probably still room for improvement in terms of the ease of presentation back to the business. I'm comparing it with something like Visio where you can change colors on a box, change the text color and that sort of stuff, and change the lines. Such things are a whole lot easier in Visio, but once you get a theme organized in erwin, you can apply that theme to all of the objects. So, it becomes easier, but you do have to set up that theme."

More erwin Data Modeler by Quest cons

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

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

"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 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."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."

"Pricing is very high compared to any other product."

"The price of erwin Data Modeler is very expensive, in particular for this part of the world."

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

"The pricing of the solution is cheap. I rate the pricing a five out of ten."

"erwin is expensive compared to other solutions. We are paying almost $6,000 per seat a month."

"The solution is expensive."

More erwin Data Modeler by Quest pricing and cost advice

Information not available

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Enterprise Architecture Management solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

842,651 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

19%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Government

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

17%

Financial Services Firm

16%

Computer Software Company

11%

Government

10%

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

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

Ask a question

Earn 20 points

Comparisons

SAP PowerDesigner vs erwin Data Modeler by Quest

Compared 30% of the time

IDERA ER/Studio vs erwin Data Modeler by Quest

Compared 18% of the time

Lucidchart vs erwin Data Modeler by Quest

Compared 15% of the time

Visio vs erwin Data Modeler by Quest

Compared 8% of the time

Ardoq vs erwin Data Modeler by Quest

Compared 1% of the time

More erwin Data Modeler by Quest Competitors

Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect vs IBM Rational System Architect

Compared 67% of the time

MEGA HOPEX vs IBM Rational System Architect

Compared 12% of the time

ARIS BPA vs IBM Rational System Architect

Compared 9% of the time

More IBM Rational System Architect Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

erwin Data Modeler by Quest

March 2025

Download erwin Data Modeler by Quest product report

Buyer's Guide

Enterprise Architecture Management

February 2025

Download IBM Rational System Architect product report

Also Known As

erwin DM

Rational System Architect

Overview

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

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

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

Wuxi Lake Cloud, Nationwide, ETI, IDS Scheer

Buyer's Guide

IBM Rational System Architect vs. erwin Data Modeler by Quest

March 2025

Free Report: IBM Rational System Architect vs. erwin Data Modeler by Quest

Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Rational System Architect vs. erwin Data Modeler by Quest and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

842,651 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our IBM Rational System Architect vs. erwin Data Modeler by Quest report.

See our list of best Enterprise Architecture Management vendors.

We monitor all Enterprise Architecture Management reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.