IBM Rational System Architect vs IDERA ER/Studio comparison

IBM and IDERA are both solutions in the Enterprise Architecture Management category. IBM is ranked #19, while IDERA is ranked #8 with an average rating of 8.7. IBM holds a 1.7% mindshare in AM, compared to IDERA’s 4.3% mindshare. Additionally, 83% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 88% of IDERA users who would recommend it.

IBM Rational System Architect

Read 5 IBM Rational System Architect reviews

883 Views
479 Comparison Views

83% willing to recommend

IDERA ER/Studio

Read 38 IDERA ER/Studio reviews

1,338 Views
917 Comparison Views

88% willing to recommend

IBM Rational System Architect

IDERA ER/Studio

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 2024

IBM Rational System Architect and IDERA ER/Studio are competing products in the enterprise architecture and data modeling category. IDERA ER/Studio appears to have an upper hand due to its usability, model management features, and overall user satisfaction.

Features: IBM Rational System Architect offers comprehensive support for enterprise architecture frameworks and integrations with IBM solutions. It facilitates complex architecture modeling and supports application portfolio scoring models. IDERA ER/Studio provides strong data modeling and database design features, offering better model visualization, collaboration tools, and reverse engineering capabilities.

Room for Improvement: IBM Rational System Architect could improve its deployment process to be more intuitive, optimizing setup time and reducing required expertise. Enhancing user-friendly features and streamlining integration processes might also be beneficial. IDERA ER/Studio may focus on refining some advanced modeling features, expanding meta-model customization, and enriching reporting tools to enhance overall experience and flexibility for users.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IBM Rational System Architect's deployment is complex, requiring significant setup time and expertise, but benefits from strong support within IBM's ecosystem. IDERA ER/Studio ensures faster and simpler deployment with intuitive setup processes, coupled with reliable customer service, making it attractive for those seeking quick implementation and support.

Pricing and ROI: IBM Rational System Architect generally has a higher setup cost, potentially offering better ROI for existing IBM users due to its integration with IBM products. IDERA ER/Studio presents competitive pricing and strong ROI, thanks to effective data modeling capabilities and lower initial investment, appealing to enterprises focused on data-centric projects.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM Rational System Architect vs. IDERA ER/Studio Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

IBM Rational System Architect vs. IDERA ER/Studio

April 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

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

IDERA ER/Studio

Ranking in Enterprise Architecture Management

8th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Database Development and Management (9th)

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Enterprise Architecture Management category, the mindshare of IBM Rational System Architect is 1.7%, down from 2.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IDERA ER/Studio is 4.3%, down from 4.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Enterprise Architecture Management

Featured Reviews

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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Aaron Cutshall

Enterprise Data Architect & Senior Manager at Health First Inc.

Used for data modeling and has a scripting language to write your own scripts

The solution has streamlined our data modeling processes quite a bit. It's a central focus in our data modeling and data cataloging efforts. The tool's reverse engineering capability to bring in existing database structures and create models from them has benefitted our data architecture needs. With the tool's data dictionary capability, we're able to maintain consistency in our models, name use, and actual data domains. The solution's reverse engineering helps with understanding legacy databases. In fact, I've been asked to reverse-engineer several more legacy databases so that we can have them modeled and cataloged. The solution is deployed on the cloud server, but it’s only within our network. The solution has a lot of capabilities. I like the fact that it has a scripting language that allows you to automate and write your own scripts. I think that's been a big bonus for us. I highly recommend the solution because of its capability for logical models, where you can put your business definitions and logic. While less expensive, some other tools can't do that. Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.

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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 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."

"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 most important features are logical and physical models that we can compare and develop. Also, the Data Dictionary can be created out of your studio. Finally, database schemas help understand the logic that's behind the scene, behind the SQL tables. Especially when there are a lot of them, the schemas help everyone understand the business processes."

"The data modeling module is important to me because I am a database developer and designer... It's very fast, reliable, up-to-date, so easy to use, smooth."

"It's easy to model and has a user-friendly interface. I like the team portal because, once we upload, the entire team can see the model."

"The interface is really simple to use and it allows me to pick and choose which tables I want to reverse engineer."

"We have been able to quickly create models for our enterprise-wide databases, even when some of them are third-party databases."

"Using this product has improved the way we maintain our models because they have a place where we can keep all of them, and they can be viewed using the web interface."

"Developing new dimensional models; for the data we're hosting, dimensional modeling is more useful."

"It does the job."

More IDERA ER/Studio pros

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."

"The model diagram because very clumsy when you save it on the team server and the models are very big."

"The number of options can be overwhelming at times. That is not necessarily a bad thing but for a newbie, it can be daunting."

"ER/Studio lacks a pure cloud option for deployment."

"They allow functionalities to be released before the full tests for catching and correcting errors are completed."

"Tech support is a sticking point with me. I am really disappointed in the tech support. We pay for the Platinum level. It takes hours to get a response."

"when there are some links to the external databases, if this database is not structured it is not uploaded. It gives me errors and I cannot see the view that was created on this structure and I cannot change those views, even manually. It skips the views. I have to ignore those views. I cannot re-upload them because it gives me an error."

"Whenever there is a new version, there are a lot of release notes on the technical side of it, but I would like to be told why are we doing the upgrade... What I would like to really see is how this benefits us from the business point of view. What are the real benefits that the user gets? I want some kind of way white paper. The release notes describe the technical enhancements but, from the layman's point of view, if someone asks me what are the business benefits of this upgrade, I don't have any documentation to explain it to the business."

"It isn't easy to compare the thousands of tables in the model against the database. The tool should improve the synchronization within the large organization"

More IDERA ER/Studio cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"As an individual user, the renewal is a little costly."

"The price of this product is okay."

"It is priced fairly. It's around the same as erwin and other competitors' costs."

"On a scale of one to ten, where one is bad and ten is good, I would rate the licensing cost as a seven or eight. It's not too expensive for us."

"I use the product's trial version."

"I'm a firm believer that all software is overpriced these days but, comparatively speaking, I think ER/Studio is worth the money."

"The solution’s pricing is high."

"I am currently using the trial version, but this solution is definitely worth considering for the price point."

More IDERA ER/Studio pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

18%

Financial Services Firm

15%

Computer Software Company

10%

Government

Financial Services Firm

19%

Computer Software Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

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What do you like most about IDERA ER/Studio?

The tool is simple to use.

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IDERA ER/Studio?

In terms of pricing, ER/Studio is slightly more expensive compared to Erwin, by about five to ten percent.

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What needs improvement with IDERA ER/Studio?

ER/Studio lacks a pure cloud option for deployment. Both Erwin and ER/Studio do not have AI or machine learning features for automation. Offering a comprehensive cloud-based version could enhance i...

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Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect vs IDERA ER/Studio

Compared 7% of the time

Toad Data Modeler vs IDERA ER/Studio

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Oracle Coherence vs IDERA ER/Studio

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Enterprise Architecture Management

March 2025

Download IBM Rational System Architect product report

Buyer's Guide

IDERA ER/Studio

April 2025

Download IDERA ER/Studio product report

Also Known As

Rational System Architect

IDERA ER Studio, ER/Studio, ER/Studio Enterprise Team Edition

Overview

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

IDERA ER/Studio is a powerful suite for business-driven data modeling that enables companies to create an enterprise architecture foundation for data governance. With round-trip support for multiple database platforms, data architects have the power to reverse-engineer, analyze, and optimize existing databases easily from diverse platforms. Data professionals can easily capture and share models, metadata, data sources, and glossaries across the organization for improved alignment between the organization and Information Technology. Organizational stakeholders can take part in the metadata definition workflow and access information on models and metadata at the right level for their needs.

Unlike its competition, it provides the broadest range of data platform support, industry-leading enterprise-level capabilities, visual data lineage and flow modeling, full dimensional modeling for data warehousing and business intelligence, and business data objects to bridge the gap between developers and data architects. It also provides a complete solution for enterprise architecture and data governance, extensive model change management, unique incorporation of true enterprise data dictionaries, unique linking of constructs across models, integrated visual data lineage import, and integrated data and business process modeling.

IDERA

Sample Customers

Wuxi Lake Cloud, Nationwide, ETI, IDS Scheer

Newmont Mining, Entrust, Accolade, TalkTalk, Catalina, Protective Life, NTT Data, dir systèmes, Microsoft; American Express, Astellas Pharma, AstraZeneca, Coriant, Fedex, GlaxoSmithKline, PepsiCo, Prudential, Wells Fargo

Buyer's Guide

IBM Rational System Architect vs. IDERA ER/Studio

April 2025

Free Report: IBM Rational System Architect vs. IDERA ER/Studio

Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Rational System Architect vs. IDERA ER/Studio and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.

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