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IBM System Architect vs Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Customer Service

No sentiment score available
IBM Blueworks Live support is praised for responsiveness and effectiveness, with many users satisfied and rarely needing assistance.
No sentiment score available
Sentiment score
7.0
Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect's customer service is praised for stability, quick email support, and useful community resources, despite some local concerns.
 

Room For Improvement

Sentiment score
4.6
IBM Blueworks Live lacks key features like improved import/export functions, better ERP integration, and enhanced reporting and analytics tools.
No sentiment score available
Sentiment score
4.2
Enterprise Architect needs improved usability, expanded resources, better performance, enhanced features, and simplified learning for non-technical users.
It's a powerful product with plenty of features, it's not easy for even experienced users to find their way without guidance.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.8
IBM Blueworks Live is scalable for large organizations, accommodating many users with flexibility and a straightforward learning curve.
No sentiment score available
Sentiment score
6.2
Enterprise Architect offers strong scalability for various team sizes, integrating well with tools, despite some performance issues.
We typically work with models that involve up to 50 modelers and as many as 10,000 elements and 20,000 relationships without significant difficulties.
 

Setup Cost

No sentiment score available
IBM Blueworks Live provides scalable, cost-effective enterprise solutions with flexible pricing and minimal setup fees, including free subscription options.
No sentiment score available
No sentiment score available
Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect offers affordable, feature-rich modeling tools with flexible licensing, making it appealing for enterprises.
One of the reasons many public sector institutions in the Czech Republic use it is that it provides a very good price-performance ratio.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
9.3
IBM Blueworks Live is praised for stability, high availability, and autosave, with minor concerns about cloud informational privacy.
No sentiment score available
Sentiment score
7.7
Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect is stable, reliable, and performs well, with minor issues mostly resolved in recent updates.
 

Valuable Features

Sentiment score
8.3
IBM Blueworks Live offers intuitive real-time modeling, collaboration, BPMN 2.0 support, and cloud-based process management for efficient documentation.
No sentiment score available
Sentiment score
8.2
Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect supports UML 2, enhances collaboration, and offers flexible, affordable, customizable modeling and documentation tools.
We then define the structure of the repository and organize it in a reasonable way.
 

Categories and Ranking

IBM Blueworks Live
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Ranking in Business Process Design
12th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
20
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
IBM System Architect
Ranking in Business Process Design
23rd
Average Rating
6.0
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Sparx Systems Enterprise Ar...
Ranking in Business Process Design
5th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
99
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Architecture Management (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2024, in the Business Process Design category, the mindshare of IBM Blueworks Live is 3.5%, up from 3.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM System Architect is 0.4%, down from 0.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect is 11.8%, down from 13.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Business Process Design
 

Featured Reviews

AjarMathur - PeerSpot reviewer
An easily scalable and affordable solution that enables users to document and digitize processes with ease
IBM Blueworks is BPMN 2.0 compliant, but it does not adapt to the overarching BPMN 2.0 concepts. There is only one kind of BPMN 2.0 diagram. It is a process diagram. It doesn't have the concept of separate tools, which other products offer. If I had to do a hardcore BPMN 2.0 modeling, the product would have its own reservations. There were features we could not explore from a BPMN 2.0 perspective. Most of the time, people who are shifting from Microsoft Office tools to a digitized way of working still want the reporting capabilities to be strong. Some tools, like ARIS or Signavio, offer customized solutions from the reporting perspective. If I have documented my whole finance process and want to fetch out a complete SOP report in a very customized manner, IBM Blueworks cannot provide it. We have to rely on some other services. So that's one area in which we always struggled, how to really customize the reporting aspects. I understand that we need to keep the tool a little more asset-light. It's very difficult to keep adding many options, but at least a few BPMN 2.0 options were needed. We have been suggesting to IBM that we should have some way of customizing the reporting. At least we should get a custom way of reporting it into different formats like Excel or putting up a logo for one of the clients so that their SAP can be printed that way.
it_user542103 - PeerSpot reviewer
It has helped in supporting the development of an Enterprise Data Model
Data model development: This has built-in ways to create multiple, separate solution data models, including ways to link to an Enterprise Data Model (EDM). Other objects are encyclopedia-wide and need a different approach for managing solution-specific diagrams with an ability to query, e.g…
Milan Sterba - PeerSpot reviewer
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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816,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
19%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
9%
Government
19%
Manufacturing Company
16%
Aerospace/Defense Firm
10%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Educational Organization
16%
Government
11%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Computer Software Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about IBM Blueworks Live?
The solution is easy to operate. Also, there is an automatic mode to make the business flow. You don't have to put an...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Blueworks Live?
The solution costs around 600-700 dollars/year, which is quite affordable.
What needs improvement with IBM Blueworks Live?
Sometimes, the tool is automatic, which can complicate it, but once you're accustomed to manipulating it, you can use...
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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.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect?
The pricing is reasonable, with the ultimate version costing around 290 Euros for renewal and the initial purchase ar...
What needs improvement with Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect?
The product could be improved in terms of its ease of use and documentation. While it offers a lot of functionality, ...
 

Also Known As

IBM Lombardi Blueprint
System Architect
No data available
 

Learn More

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Overview

 

Sample Customers

Cloudsoft Corp. Ltd., Bayer, S¾SS, Essex County Council
Wuxi Lake Cloud, Nationwide, ETI, IDS Scheer
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Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, Camunda, Software AG and others in Business Process Design. Updated: October 2024.
816,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.