Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect vs erwin Data Modeler by Quest comparison

erwin by Quest and Sparx Systems are both solutions in the Enterprise Architecture Management category. erwin by Quest is ranked #3 with an average rating of 8.2, while Sparx Systems is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.1. erwin by Quest holds a 11.1% mindshare in AM, compared to Sparx Systems’s 14.6% mindshare. Additionally, 95% of erwin by Quest users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 87% of Sparx Systems users who would recommend it.

erwin Data Modeler by Quest

Read 39 erwin Data Modeler by Quest reviews

4,548 Views
2,477 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

Sparx Systems Enterprise Ar...

Read 99 Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect reviews

5,552 Views
4,215 Comparison Views

87% willing to recommend

erwin Data Modeler by Quest

Sparx Systems Enterprise Ar...

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 2024

Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect and erwin Data Modeler by Quest are prominent tools in the modeling and data management category. Enterprise Architect seems to have an advantage with broader modeling capabilities, whereas erwin excels in data modeling and synchronization.

Features: Enterprise Architect offers robust support for UML 2 diagrams, Archimate, and TOGAF, enhancing collaboration with its RDBMS back-end system. It supports various modeling activities, making it versatile for UML and re-engineering tasks. In contrast, erwin Data Modeler focuses on comprehensive data modeling tools, delivers visual data representation, and features reliable DDL generation with extensive reverse-engineering support for database environments.

Room for Improvement: Enterprise Architect users report a steep learning curve and complex user experience, suggesting the need for better documentation and customization options. The tool also lacks modern presentation and cloud deployment features. Erwin Data Modeler faces challenges with its high pricing and limited big-data integration, along with needing enhanced user-friendliness and visualization improvements.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Sparx EA offers flexible deployment options including on-premises and cloud, but could improve its UI intuitiveness. It has a responsive support team available via email. Erwin lacks a cloud option and is predominantly on-premises, though it receives praise for straightforward licensing despite high costs. Both tools are seen as stable but could benefit from enhanced support.

Pricing and ROI: Sparx EA is noted for its affordability and competitive licensing, offering significant ROI through enhanced productivity for varied organizations. Erwin Data Modeler, while more expensive, justifies its cost with a comprehensive feature set that appeals to organizations requiring advanced data modeling, thus ensuring business value.

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

Buyer's Guide

Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect vs. erwin Data Modeler by Quest

January 2025

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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

Sparx Systems Enterprise Ar...

Ranking in Enterprise Architecture Management

2nd

Ranking in Business Process Design

3rd

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2025, in the Enterprise Architecture Management category, the mindshare of erwin Data Modeler by Quest is 11.1%, up from 10.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect is 14.6%, down from 19.4% 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.

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Milan Sterba

Senior Enterprise Architect at Deepview S.r.o.

Efficient documentation generation through organized model structure with a good price-performance ratio

Whenever I begin a new project with Sparx, I have to spend time training people on how to use it since it is not straightforward. Although it's a powerful product with plenty of features, it's not easy for even experienced users to find their way without guidance. This is not the most user-friendly solution.

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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 most valuable feature is the physical or visual representation of the database, showing the tables, the columns, the foreign keys, and the ability to generate DDL, so you can physically implement databases."

"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."

"The visual data models for helping to overcome data source complexity and enabling understanding and collaboration around maintenance and usage are excellent. A picture speaks 1,000 words. Seeing a picture that shows you how the data relates to each other helps you better understand what the data is and how to use it. Pairing that information with a dictionary, which has the definitions of the tables and columns or the entities and attributes, ensures that the users understand what the data is so that they can use it best and most successfully."

"Drag-and-drop data modeling and reverse engineering out of databases are the most valuable features of erwin Data Modeler by Quest."

"We had some data integration projects, where we needed to integrate it for about 100 databases. Doing that manually is crazy; we can't do that. With erwin, it was much easier to identify which tables and columns could be used for the integration. That means a lot in terms of time and effort as well as my image to the customer, because they can see that we are providing value in a very short time."

"Being able to point it to a database and then pull the metadata is a valuable feature. Another valuable feature is being able to rearrange the model so that we can display it to users. We are able to divide the information into subject areas, and we can divide the data landscape into smaller chunks, which makes it easier to understand. If you had 14 subject areas, 1,000 entities, and 6,000 columns, you can't quite understand it all at once. So, being able to have the same underlying model but only display portions of it at a time is extremely useful."

"The generation of DDL saved us having to write the steps by hand. You still had to go in and make some minor modifications to make it deployable to the database system. However, for the data lineage, it is very valuable for tracing our use of data, especially personal confidential data through different systems."

"We use the macros with naming standards patterns, domains, datatypes, and some common attributes. As far as other automations, a feature of the Bulk Editor is mass updates. When it sees something is nonstandard or inaccurate, it will export the better data out. Then, I can easily see which entities and attributes are not inline or standard. I can easily make changes to what was uploaded to the Bulk Editor. When taking on a new project, it can save you about a half a day on a big project across an entire team."

More erwin Data Modeler by Quest pros

"We can easily use it with our new customers."

"The platform is stable and reliable."

"Its ease of use and the breadth of the toolkit are most valuable. It has an incredible repository of artifacts to work with, and they're all cross-referenced. It works with a whole bunch of different standards. It works with BPMN, which is Business Process Modeling Notation, and it also works with something called TOGAF, which is the Open Group Architecture Foundation. There are different layers when you're dealing with architecture. There is the user interface, application, data, data servers, and all that kind of stuff. You have the infrastructure, hardware, and software layers, and then you have the application and business capability layers. You can model a business process and decompose it into all of the applications, data, and hardware to support it."

"Artifact templates are most valuable."

"The TOGAF ADM model is most valuable. It is also very cheap as compared to other options in the market."

"This is a useful tool for IT people who need to design their solution architecture."

"The solution allows us to quickly present designs and concepts to customers and get their feedback, thereby moving the project forward step by step."

"Ability to keep inventory of reusable blocks, and use in different diagrams with views of various templates."

More Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect pros

Cons

"erwin generally fails to successfully reverse engineer our Oracle Databases into erwin data models. The way that they are engineered on our side, the syntax is correct from an Oracle perspective, but it seems to be very difficult for erwin to interpret. What I end up doing is using Oracle Data Modeler to reverse engineer into the Oracle data model, then forward engineer the DDL into an Oracle syntax, and importing that DDL into erwin in order to successfully bring in most of the information from our physical data models. That is a bit of a challenge."

"It does not have a cloud application."

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

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

"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."

"I am not so happy with its speed. Sometimes, it can have problems with connections."

"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."

More erwin Data Modeler by Quest cons

"This solution should have better ease of use for the uninitiated."

"When many users are accessing the system at the same time, Sparx slows down. It can't easily support a large team."

"The product could be improved in terms of its ease of use and documentation. While it offers a lot of functionality, it can be difficult to grasp how to utilize these features effectively."

"The initial setup of the Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect It's very complicated. It's very difficult to start with the right templates because there are many possibilities. The deployment took approximately two days."

"If you just want to create some diagrams with shapes and arrows, then use Visio."

"There should be a MATLAB-specific toolbox added to the solution with better compatibility. The connections currently are good but in the future, it needs a huge improvement."

"Even if there are web-based tools in the Enterprise Architecture tool ecosystem (like Prolaborate), the main modeling application is still a fat client application."

"I would like it to be less of a general tool. Currently, it is not a Swiss army knife that can do everything. It is not specialized for our purposes. We are a civil engineering company. We build things. We work mostly in what is known as Infra world in the Netherlands, which comprises objects such as bridges, locks, and water management. We would like to see more focus on such types of projects. It would be nice if it has more specializations. At the moment, it is very generic, and you have to create everything yourself. Our focus is more on user requirement management, which is currently very basic. I would like to see a lot more functionality in this area. Its basic functions for adding user requirements are perfect, but we need more features. Currently, it has limited possibilities for our requirements. I would also like to see better contract management and have it managed in a certain way."

More Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

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

"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."

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

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

"The tool is expensive."

"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."

"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."

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

More erwin Data Modeler by Quest pricing and cost advice

"Pricing and licensing is very attractive, simple, and straightforward."

"We had a yearly license."

"It is very economical and low cost. You have to pay for a one-time license, and it is active forever."

"It is cheaper than other solutions. Its cost is around $686 per year. There are no costs in addition to the standard licensing fees."

"The solution is quite expensive."

"The pricing for ultimate version is steeply high."

"Pricing and licensing are suitable even for small companies."

"This product has a paid license, with a yearly subscription option."

More Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

19%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Computer Software Company

Educational Organization

17%

Government

11%

Financial Services Firm

10%

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.

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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?

The solution's model mark could be better because it crashes sometimes.

See all answers

What do you like most about Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect?

The stability has been good and satisfactory. I would rate the stability a ten out of ten.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect?

One of the reasons many public sector institutions in the Czech Republic use it is that it provides a very good price-performance ratio. While it might be cumbersome to learn, it still delivers exc...

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What needs improvement with Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect?

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Comparisons

SAP PowerDesigner vs erwin Data Modeler by Quest

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 15% of the time

Visio vs erwin Data Modeler by Quest

Compared 10% of the time

AWS Well-Architected Tool vs erwin Data Modeler by Quest

Compared 5% of the time

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Visual Paradigm vs Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect

Compared 17% of the time

Visio vs Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect

Compared 12% of the time

No Magic MagicDraw vs Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect

Compared 10% of the time

Lucidchart vs Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect

Compared 9% of the time

IBM Rational System Architect vs Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect

Compared 3% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

erwin Data Modeler by Quest

January 2025

Download erwin Data Modeler by Quest product report

Buyer's Guide

Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect

December 2024

Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect report

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Also Known As

erwin DM

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erwin by Quest

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Sparx Systems

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.

Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect is an enterprise solution that helps streamline, accelerate, and integrate software, system, and business development. With this intuitive modeling and design solution, enterprises can stay in control of their workplaces, enable collaboration, support their teams and colleagues, and manage complex projects. Software architects, business analysts, project managers, developers, support staff, and testers can unite under a single repository. Through numerous view points and potential sub-systems, users are offered a unified view in a complex environment.

With Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect, users are also offered a shared model option which can be accessed quickly and securely by in-office and remote team members through the Enterprise Architect’s Pro Cloud Server. Building a coherent, verifiable model can be done by connecting and integrating a variety of behavioral and structural information in visual form. As a result, Enterprise Architect offers high performance, flexibility, and the ability to model, manage, and trace every stage of the business development and modeling process.

Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect Features

Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect assists in creating a unified and accessible vision in business development by offering a flexible platform with a unique set of rich features. These features include:

Test and debug - Streamline software development and visualize software with the simulation process. Users can test and confirm correct behavior, set and oversee test points, and debug and examine software.

Track tasks - Track, prioritize, and assign individual and group tasks to assist in the model’s development. Users can visually monitor their progress through the Gantt chart.

Open standards - Users can visualize and analyze running software with integrated custom tools. They can also run advanced simulations, team-based repositories, testing tools, and version control. In addition, the solution supports enterprise architecture frameworks such as UPDM and TOGAF.

Simulation - Create and debug embedded solutions by simulating behaviors and state models. Users can specify events, triggers, constraints, and more. Users can also specify extensive and complex structural systems and create custom domain-specific solutions.

Reviews from Real Users

Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect merges high-end tools, online availability, a dedication to open standards, and accessible pricing so enterprises can stay in control of their workplaces, whether remote or in-office. Users particularly like the architectural frameworks and the scalability.

Marc L., a principal architecture enterprise solution adviser at Cronomagic Canada, notes, "The product offers very good support for all mainstream modeling notations and architectural frameworks."

An enterprise architect at a manufacturing company writes, "Scalable solution for modeling, project sharing, and collaboration. Support for it is good."

Sample Customers

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

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Buyer's Guide

Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect vs. erwin Data Modeler by Quest

January 2025

Free Report: Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect vs. erwin Data Modeler by Quest

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