IBM Rational System Architect vs Planview Portfolios comparison

IBM and Planview are both solutions in the Enterprise Architecture Management category. IBM is ranked #19, while Planview is ranked #14 with an average rating of 8.5. IBM holds a 1.7% mindshare in AM, compared to Planview’s 1.0% mindshare. Additionally, 83% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 90% of Planview 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

Planview Portfolios

Read 63 Planview Portfolios reviews

353 Views
202 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

IBM Rational System Architect

Planview Portfolios

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 2024

Planview Portfolios and IBM Rational System Architect compete in project and portfolio management solutions. Planview Portfolios is often favored for its cost-effectiveness and customer support, whereas IBM Rational System Architect is chosen for robust features, appealing to large-scale enterprise needs.

Features: Planview Portfolios stands out for advanced analytics, resource management, and integration capabilities. It provides a user-friendly interface, aiding strategy alignment and project tracking. IBM Rational System Architect excels in extensive modeling capabilities, supporting complex enterprise architectures and delivering detailed architectural frameworks.

Room for Improvement: Planview Portfolios can enhance its user interface and reporting features. It would benefit from a streamlined learning curve and increased automation. IBM Rational System Architect could improve on deployment efficiency, documentation clarity, and easing its complexity for smaller organizations.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Planview Portfolios offers flexible deployment options, cloud and on-premises, with proactive customer support ensuring smooth implementation. IBM Rational System Architect, aimed at large enterprises, provides comprehensive deployment documentation but may present complexity in execution.

Pricing and ROI: Planview Portfolios is known for its transparent and economical pricing structure, offering significant ROI for cost-sensitive organizations. IBM Rational System Architect, with higher initial costs, provides substantial ROI through its robust features, particularly appealing to enterprises investing in broad capabilities.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM Rational System Architect vs. Planview Portfolios Report (Updated: March 2025).

Buyer's Guide

IBM Rational System Architect vs. Planview Portfolios

March 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

Planview Portfolios

Ranking in Enterprise Architecture Management

14th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Project Portfolio Management (8th)

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 Planview Portfolios is 1.0%, up from 0.9% 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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Mark Hillman

Global Head of Portfolio Management at a wholesaler/distributor with 1,001-5,000 employees

User-friendly interface, but the reporting could be improved

The reporting is poor and requires improvement. The tiles and exception-based activities in the application are sufficient to get by. However, when it comes to producing executive reports, MI reports, or any other type of reporting, we must exit Planview and work offline. We have been working with them to improve on that, as well as using some of the Power BI capabilities that have been available for a while, but it's still more difficult than it should be. In the next release, I would like to be able to use the data in the tool to gain insight much more easily.

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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."

"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 solution is pretty stable."

"The resource capacity planning is the most valuable feature because you can evaluate your team's capacity by team and what projects they're working on and you can forecast easily by team."

"When it comes to managing project plans, Enterprise One is awesome at enabling us to see what stage work is at. I've always thought it was awesome because it's good whether we're doing a traditional WBS or we're linking in epics into projects that are supporting the programs and the strategies, I've always thought it was an excellent tool."

"We provided whatever feedback we had to the Planview team, and they went in and built those additional features that we requested. For example, they created a great way for our users to search for a specific resource, project, program, or role. We were not using some of the features, and we wanted them to not be visible, and they helped us with that. They also brought a feature to provide visibility into when a resource was never assigned to any task. There was no visibility to this before. This feature was really very good for visibility into the resource portfolio."

"Enterprise One has enabled us to eliminate Excel. We don't track financials anymore in an Excel format, which the company was doing before. Even now, being a new portfolio manager four months in, I'm able to just pick up my project. I'm able to see where I am right now. That improvised it to be more automated. The only missing part is the integration between tools. I'm not able to see my full schedule, but I know what are my important milestones are like watching the financials and all that stuff."

"The portfolio management gives you a view of all the projects as well as all the information about the total amount of effort, time, and cost being spent on the projects. It gives the organization how much money and effort should be spent towards projects so they can budget and do better capacity planning in the next fiscal year. It gives them visibility into their resources and if they have capacity."

"The biggest impact has been getting all these global groups into one space so we can even have intelligent conversations about what are we trying to accomplish. Before, it was just different regions doing whatever. Now, we're all talking the same language, and that's good."

"We're still in an early stage. Things will change as we use it more. I did program reports that are important and that will provide us with value."

"The most valuable feature of this solution is reporting."

More Planview Portfolios pros

Cons

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

"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."

"One big issue we have been having during our annual planning is that only the creator of a portfolio can edit it. This means that only the creator of a portfolio can edit which projects are included or excluded in it."

"We've been using it for a while, so it's about maturity. It's about being able to build out things in Agile groups and teams and some of that. Then really trying to drive into the direction of Lean Portfolio Management and more Agile program management, I think is where we're heading."

"The outcome management and work resource management in terms of teams needs improvement. Team handling, how team requirements are generated, and how the resource managers can work with teams needs to be improved."

"The solution needs to be better at accepting new ideas for upcoming releases."

"When we first deployed, there were some issues. We never got to the root cause of why they happened. Since we didn't have any history with it, we weren't quite sure if this was a standard operating procedure or it truly was a glitch."

"The scheduling's kind of clunky in terms of its ability for us to see what stage work is at. They could have done better with that. It can be difficult to use."

"Visualization and reporting areas could use improvements by having canned reports."

"The UI needs improvement. The UI should have more possibilities for users who are not specialized in using Planview. At the moment, it is more of a technical UI. I would like it to be an open user UI."

More Planview Portfolios cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"We have unlimited licenses for all of our functionalities. Since we went global, we went with that model."

"The licensing part is a bit costly in comparison with the other available PPM tools."

"I don't know about the actual pricing. I have not come across any costs in addition to the standard licensing fees."

"Our licensing fees are approximately $50,000 USD annually."

"We have portfolio managers, resource managers, project managers, and time reporting licenses. These are the licenses that we have."

"The cost of other pieces and integrating them in needs improvement."

"I don't think we have necessarily purchased everything that I would have liked to have seen."

"Planview is a little pricey. From a licensing perspective, for just a simple timesheet user who does nothing in the system but reports time, the licensing is a little pricey, but you have to look at it from what it is that you get. We have 6,000 users, and I don't manage the system at all. I just have to do add them to the system. The servers, maintenance, OS levels, security patching for the OS, and all other things are not something that we maintain. So, you have to look at it from an operational perspective. It is not just the product itself. A holistic view has to be taken when you look at the product and how you're going to support it. I would have to hire an entire operation staff to bring it in-house, and at the end of the day, that might cost me more."

More Planview Portfolios pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

18%

Financial Services Firm

16%

Computer Software Company

11%

Government

Financial Services Firm

16%

Manufacturing Company

15%

Computer Software Company

13%

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 Planview Portfolios?

Planview Management integrates seamlessly with other tools and systems used within the organization, such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, customer relationship management (CRM) syst...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Planview Portfolios?

Planview Portfolios is not too expensive. You get what you paid for.

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What needs improvement with Planview Portfolios?

Enhancements are needed in: Advanced reporting and analytics: While Planview Management provides robust reporting and analytics capabilities, further enhancements could include more advanced data v...

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Enterprise Architecture Management

March 2025

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Buyer's Guide

Planview Portfolios

March 2025

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Also Known As

Rational System Architect

Planview Enterprise One, Troux

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

Planview Portfolios offers a comprehensive platform for managing IT, project and resource management, along with strategic planning. The tool focuses on optimizing resource allocation and financial analysis, supporting global operations.

Organizations use Planview Portfolios to streamline project tracking from inception to completion, enhancing strategic alignment with corporate objectives. The tool integrates with platforms like JIRA to provide seamless workflows and supports critical business processes, including budgeting and capacity planning. Teams benefit from customized configurations and robust reporting, further supporting effective decision-making. Despite its strengths, improvements are sought in navigation, documentation, and integration capabilities.

What are the key features?

Customizable interface: Allows personalization to meet specific needs.
Comprehensive resource and financial management: Enables detailed tracking and analysis.
Robust reporting: Provides extensive data insights.
Integration with Power BI: Enhances data access for stakeholders.
Resource and capacity planning: Optimizes workforce allocation.

What benefits should users expect?

Improved strategic alignment: Supports better decision-making.
Increased operational efficiency: Streamlines project management.
Enhanced resource optimization: Ensures optimal use of workforce.
Better financial insights: Allows precise budget tracking.

In industries like IT and project management, Planview Portfolios supports complex portfolio handling, ensuring visibility across global operations. Companies in these sectors leverage its strategic planning tools for strategic alignment and resource management, integrating with existing systems for improved process efficiency.

Planview

Sample Customers

Wuxi Lake Cloud, Nationwide, ETI, IDS Scheer

UPS, NatWest, Ingram Micro, Canadian Tire, Viessmann, Volvo, NASCO, UNESCO

Buyer's Guide

IBM Rational System Architect vs. Planview Portfolios

March 2025

Free Report: IBM Rational System Architect vs. Planview Portfolios

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