erwin Data Modeler by Quest vs iServer comparison

erwin by Quest and Orbus Software are both solutions in the Enterprise Architecture Management category. erwin by Quest is ranked #3 with an average rating of 8.2, while Orbus Software is ranked #7 with an average rating of 8.3. erwin by Quest holds a 11.2% mindshare in AM, compared to Orbus Software’s 4.6% mindshare. Additionally, 95% of erwin by Quest users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 85% of Orbus Software users who would recommend it.

erwin Data Modeler by Quest

Read 39 erwin Data Modeler by Quest reviews

4,367 Views
2,377 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

iServer

Read 18 iServer reviews

2,564 Views
1,054 Comparison Views

85% willing to recommend

erwin Data Modeler by Quest

iServer

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 2024

iServer and erwin Data Modeler by Quest compete in data modeling and enterprise architecture. erwin Data Modeler by Quest has a competitive feature edge, while iServer is more attractive in terms of pricing and support.

Features: iServer offers seamless integration with various enterprise architecture frameworks, efficient reporting capabilities, and flexible deployment options. erwin Data Modeler by Quest has advanced data modeling, comprehensive metadata management, and powerful collaboration tools.

Room for Improvement: iServer could enhance its ease of use and speed of deployment and provide more user-friendly interfaces. It might also benefit from more advanced collaboration features. erwin Data Modeler by Quest could improve its pricing structure, adaptability to budget-conscious businesses, and offer simpler integration with non-Microsoft products.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: erwin Data Modeler by Quest provides a straightforward deployment process with robust customer service for smooth transitions. iServer's scalable deployment process may have a steeper learning curve, but it offers thorough support once understood.

Pricing and ROI: iServer is generally more affordable with quick ROI, appealing to budget-conscious buyers. erwin Data Modeler by Quest, with a higher initial cost, offers significant long-term ROI due to its extensive features.

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

Buyer's Guide

erwin Data Modeler by Quest vs. iServer

January 2025

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Helped 838,713 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

Ranking in Business Process Design

9th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

iServer

Ranking in Enterprise Architecture Management

7th

Ranking in Business Process Design

14th

Average Rating

7.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2025, in the Enterprise Architecture Management category, the mindshare of erwin Data Modeler by Quest is 11.2%, up from 9.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of iServer is 4.6%, up from 4.6% 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

Antonios Lazanakis

Senior IT Solution Architect at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees

Flexible, easy to use, and easy to import data

We use iServer to establish an enterprise architecture function in our organization iServer is a very flexible platform for defining your own enterprise architecture model. It is very easy to import data, and we also have good integration with Visual Drawing Tools and SharePoint. The solution is…

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 logical model gives developers, as well as the data modelers, an understanding of exactly how each object interacts with the others, whether a one-to-many, many-to-many, many-to-one, etc."

"There is absolutely no problem with the stability."

"It supports a wide variety of databases, including the latest ones. We have chosen to go for a cloud-based database, and it supports that, which is very useful."

"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."

"We find that its ability to generate database code from a model for a wide array of data sources cuts development time. The ability to create one model in your design phase and then have it generate DDL code for Oracle or Teradata, or whichever environment you need is really nice. It's not only nice but it also saves man-hours of time. You would have to take your design and just type in manually. It has to take days off out of the work."

"The modeling portion of the tool is the most valuable. There are some notes, naming standards, and other functions that we use as well. There's a whole boatload of functionality in this thing and we use maybe 10% of it. It seems to be pretty common that not all the functionality is fully utilized. But it's just got gobs and gobs of stuff that you can implement if you so choose to."

"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."

"We can create mappings in erwin and possibly data dictionaries."

More erwin Data Modeler by Quest pros

"iServer has valuable features for workflow and document management."

"The product has a valuable customized model."

"It has helped having data lineage in the business cluster, which is used as control artifacts."

"This is a flexible tool compared to some other solutions."

"The solution is easily modified to suit your needs."

"There were lots of different requirements, and collaboration and review is one of the biggest things. There is also Office 360 integration, and there's flexibility to use it as a database as well."

"The solution has wide use within Microsoft products. The integration with Microsoft products, and, in particular, Microsoft Office, is great."

"Good and effective reporting features, which help in decision making."

More iServer pros

Cons

"We are planning to move, in 2021, into their server version, where multiple data modelers can work at the same time and share their models. It has become a pain point to merge the models from individual desktops and get them into a single data model, when multiple data modelers are working on a particular project. It becomes a nightmare for the senior data modeler to bring them together, especially when it comes to recreating them when you want to merge them."

"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."

"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."

"I would like to see the reporting capabilities be more dynamic and more inclusive of information. The API is very sparsely understood by people across the user community."

"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 Bulk Editor needs improvement. If you had something that was a local model to your local machine, you could connect to the API, then it would write directly into the repository. However, when you have something that is on the centralized server, that functionality did not work. Then, you had to export out to a CSV and upload up to the repository. It would have been nice to be able to do the direct API without having that whole download and upload thing. Maybe I didn't figure it out, but I'm pretty sure that didn't work when it was a model that sat on a centralized repository."

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

More erwin Data Modeler by Quest cons

"The modelling needs improvement, specifically forecasting capabilities and scenarios."

"iServer should invest in enhancing the capabilities of the embedded drawing tool, draw.io."

"I haven't used this solution long enough to know what areas could be improved."

"We could allocate permissions to use only specific components to the users rather than the entire instance."

"There are other solutions out there that have a better user interface."

"It definitely needs help to improve the visual aspect of the solution."

"The migration tool needs to be included in the main package, and not as a separate license."

"More visualization techniques and ways to report the data might be helpful."

More iServer cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is not a very expensive solution. Only the licensing and maintenance fee needs to be paid."

"There are no costs in addition to the standard licensing fees."

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

"Though the solution is not cheap, it's worth the money."

"There is either a one-year or three-year license. It is not a pay-as-you-go license like a SaaS solution. It’s more of a traditional licensing. They are a little bit on the pricier side."

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

"The solution is expensive."

"I don't specifically know what we're paying now. About three years ago, in another organization, I have this memory of 6,000 AUD a seat or something like that, but I am not sure. In the mid-2000s, it was something like 1,200 AUD a seat. I get the impression that there was a price jump when it was spun off from CA as a separate company, which is understandable, but it could sometimes be a barrier in some organizations picking it up. I haven't talked to erwin people yet, but I'm going to suggest to them that they could perhaps think of having an entry-level product that is priced a bit lower, and then, you can buy the extra suite."

More erwin Data Modeler by Quest pricing and cost advice

"They offer annual subscriptions for developing countries, which are not affordable for small or medium businesses."

"It's about 13K to set up and 9K for the license for three months. I think it's about 20K a year, but we haven't firmed up on pricing yet because the price depends on how long we commit to the solution."

"The price of iServer is reasonable compared to other solutions."

"The product has a moderate pricing."

"The solution is cheaper than its competitors."

"Aim for the exact number of people who shall define/review approve and view the processes, as it will impact the cost."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

19%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Government

Computer Software Company

Educational Organization

39%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Government

Computer Software Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

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

What do you like most about iServer?

iServer has valuable features for workflow and document management.

See all answers

What needs improvement with iServer?

iServer should invest in enhancing the capabilities of the embedded drawing tool, draw.io. draw.io is a drawing tool used to draw architectural diagrams, flow diagrams, etc. It is an alternative to...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for iServer?

We use iServer to establish an enterprise architecture function in our organization.

See all answers

Comparisons

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Compared 28% of the time

IDERA ER/Studio vs erwin Data Modeler by Quest

Compared 17% of the time

Lucidchart vs erwin Data Modeler by Quest

Compared 16% of the time

Visio vs erwin Data Modeler by Quest

Compared 9% of the time

Ardoq vs erwin Data Modeler by Quest

Compared 1% of the time

More erwin Data Modeler by Quest Competitors

LeanIX vs iServer

Compared 27% of the time

OrbusInfinity vs iServer

Compared 17% of the time

Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect vs iServer

Compared 14% of the time

ARIS BPA vs iServer

Compared 12% of the time

Alfabet Enterprise Architecture Management vs iServer

Compared 3% of the time

More iServer Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

erwin Data Modeler by Quest

February 2025

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Buyer's Guide

Enterprise Architecture Management

January 2025

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Also Known As

erwin DM

No data available

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

iServer is a unified software platform and enterprise modeling environment that extends and enhances the familiar, market leading Microsoft Visio and Office products. Core capabilities provided by iServer include an enhanced Microsoft Visio diagramming interface, a powerful central repository for all enterprise architecture or business process models and documentation, and a range of tools for visualization, analysis and decision making.

Orbus Software

Sample Customers

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

Barclays, Cathay Pacific, Deloitte, British Gas, MasterCard

Buyer's Guide

erwin Data Modeler by Quest vs. iServer

January 2025

Free Report: erwin Data Modeler by Quest vs. iServer

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