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IDERA ER/Studio vs Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 2024
 

Categories and Ranking

IDERA ER/Studio
Ranking in Enterprise Architecture Management
9th
Average Rating
8.4
Number of Reviews
35
Ranking in other categories
Database Development and Management (15th)
Sparx Systems Enterprise Ar...
Ranking in Enterprise Architecture Management
2nd
Average Rating
7.8
Number of Reviews
98
Ranking in other categories
Business Process Design (5th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2024, in the Enterprise Architecture Management category, the mindshare of IDERA ER/Studio is 4.1%, down from 4.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect is 15.2%, down from 19.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Architecture Management
 

Featured Reviews

Aaron Cutshall - PeerSpot reviewer
Jun 17, 2024
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.
Anthony Houghton - PeerSpot reviewer
May 15, 2022
Easy to set up and had no issues with stability, but it's not a very friendly tool, and its database modeling and entity-relationship modeling functions need improvement
I didn't find any valuable features in Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect because you cannot use it for re-engineering. I wanted to re-engineer the database, and it was almost impossible. I couldn't find a way. One room for improvement in Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect is that it's not very friendly. Another room for improvement in the tool is that it doesn't enable you to import the metadata from a database very easily, so reverse engineering of a database was very difficult. Its database modeling and entity-relationship modeling functions need improvement. An additional feature I'd like to see in the next release of Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect is the re-engineering of databases into logical models, if that feature's not yet there, because I haven't checked.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"When validating the model, the ability to provide sub-models to developers, and generate a physical model from the logical, makes it easier to review a logical model with stakeholders."
"One of the valuable features is inheritance when joining tables. When setting up RI and domains and rules, ER/Studio does a lot of the grunt, boilerplate code that would otherwise have to be hand-coded."
"The reverse engineering is the most important feature."
"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."
"I like the fact that it has a scripting language that allows you to automate and write your own scripts."
"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."
"We use the solution to create data models which describe our company's data architecture"
"Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect is very flexible and it is simple to define the metamodel. Additionally, it is lightweight on resources."
"The stability has been good and satisfactory. I would rate the stability a ten out of ten."
"Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect supports multiple modeling languages like ArchiMate for database design, software lifecycle visualization, and team management."
"The initial setup is easy."
"A feature I like most about Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect is its ease of use."
"There are a couple of things. Price is one thing, but we also like the scriptability of it. We got into scripting it and automating tasks with it, and it is super duper easy to do and helpful. The API has improved over the years. We automate everything, and I love the automation aspects of it."
"The profiles and ready-made templates are an extremely helpful feature. This is one of the biggest features that I find very useful in Sparx."
"Its traversability is most valuable. I can use ArchiMate, and I can create a UML model. ArchiMate is for logical enterprise architecture, UML is for software engineering, and BPMN is for business processes. I can build it to have multiple models, and they are also traversable, which is not something that every tool allows. If there is a huge organization, you can segment it and have separate models for business technology or internal resource management system. You don't need to keep them in one model, and you can decide to segregate them."
 

Cons

"It would be helpful if they could create a generic JSON database type, as a target database, rather than a specific one like Mongo."
"The screens are a bit outdated. They could use a new look and feel."
"We did have a big issue when we upgraded to the 2016 version. The Team Server portion never did quite install correctly, and/or the database was corrupted, and we never figured it out."
"I would like to upload, a database with about 3,000 tables. It takes so much time and, finally, it freezes the whole solution so that I actually cannot work with that environment. For the data warehouse, it's fine because I have 20 or 30 tables. It works fine. But, when I reverse-engineer the database with 3,000 tables, it freezes and it's hard to upload and reverse-engineer such environments in ER/Studio."
"We would always like to see Repository performance improve, checking in and checking out."
"The solution is not so strong at creating modeling views and database views."
"One limitation I have found in ER/Studio is that when you want to make some changes to the table definitions, you have to go item by item. You cannot do it globally. Another issue concerns defining the foreign keys between the different tables. It is a little more tedious in the ER/Studio than in ERrwin. With ERwin it is direct."
"The solution's reporting could be improved because the report writer is terrible."
"I have found the solution is lacking options. The general usability needs improvement and more compliance to CML definitions."
"It should be made Windows compatible."
"More challenging than other tools to maintain documents and document versions for an architecture board review."
"I struggled with most of the features for this tool, as did the rest of our architecture team."
"Insufficient control of metadata and standards."
"This solution should have better ease of use for the uninitiated."
"It really did not work for logical modeling. The look is very old-fashioned. You can't make the diagrams easy on the eye, so we ended up drawing them again in Visio anyhow."
"The Portfolio Management features can be added in the next release. As it helps you to manage more portfolio of projects and architectures of cost projects on a portfolio level. This would be an important feature in the next release."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is priced fairly. It's around the same as erwin and other competitors' costs."
"I feel the product's pricing is a good value."
"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."
"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."
"Pricing is on point, but do your due diligence - not every developer needs the tool."
"The product is pricey."
"I use the product's trial version."
"The license I use is on-premise. We haven't gone to the cloud where we have to pay monthly or something like that. Sparx is cheaper than most similar tools."
"They have the price on their site for the enterprise version, and we do receive a small discount."
"We paid 1200 euros as a once-off cost. All add ons and integrations come at an additional cost."
"The licence has a costly upfront fee which gets you access. You have to pay an annual maintenance fee, which is less."
"It is cheaper than other solutions. Its cost is around $686 per year. There are no costs in addition to the standard licensing fees."
"I think our license costs roughly $1,000 a year, but I could be wrong."
"It is cheap."
"The pricing for ultimate version is steeply high."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
22%
Computer Software Company
11%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Educational Organization
16%
Government
11%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Computer Software Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with IDERA ER/Studio?
Since the solution was originally developed in the eighties and nineties and hasn't changed much since then, it could use an overhaul. The solution is not so strong at creating modeling views and d...
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 around 600 Euros. There are no additional costs for maintenance or support, as the...
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, it can be difficult to grasp how to utilize these features effectively.
 

Also Known As

IDERA ER Studio, ER/Studio, ER/Studio Enterprise Team Edition
No data available
 

Learn More

Video not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

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
OmniLink
Find out what your peers are saying about IDERA ER/Studio vs. Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect and other solutions. Updated: October 2024.
814,649 professionals have used our research since 2012.