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IT Specialist at a government with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Helps us identify duplication and non-conformity in our databases and create a more standardized solution
Pros and Cons
  • "We found a lot of duplication, a lot of non-conformity in the way our databases were designed. By identifying these situations, we're able to go back in and try to create a more standardized solution."
  • "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."
  • "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."

What is our primary use case?

We're supposed to be using it for designing new data models, appending and editing data models. We're doing a lot of reverse engineering on our existing databases.

But we have a plan in the works to begin using it as part of our data governance process, something we don't have currently.

How has it helped my organization?

We found a lot of duplication, a lot of non-conformity in the way our databases were designed. By identifying these situations, we're able to go back in and try to create a more standardized solution.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature is data modeling, primarily, because it's something that has been lacking in our systems development for 20 years. There was no accountability for data structure.

For how long have I used the solution?

More than five years.
Buyer's Guide
IDERA ER/Studio
October 2024
Learn what your peers think about IDERA ER/Studio. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: October 2024.
814,763 professionals have used our research since 2012.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

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.

We're in the process of trying to upgrade to the most current version now, and we're starting over with a fresh database. Then we'll move models from the old version to the new version instead of trying to upgrade.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We've had no issues with scalability.

How are customer service and support?

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. We're on East Coast time. I know that most of their support people are West Coast, but it's very common for me to put in a call in the morning, prior to lunch, and get a response from someone after I've gone home for the day. I then come in the next morning and try to connect with that person and, of course, they're not in yet. I've had some really disappointing experiences with support.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We had a hodgepodge of tools. The only one that had previously been used as our "official" tool for a while was Sybase PowerDesigner. It did well, but when we tried to come up with a standard of what we were going to move to, we had some federal employees and some of our contract employees all saying, "Well, I want to use this," and, "I want to use that." We couldn't standardize on anything. We did some market research and decided ER/Studio was the thing to use, and standardized from there.

How was the initial setup?

The first few years, we only had the standalone ER/Studio, without the Team Server, without the Repository. Of course, that was a straightforward Windows install.

When we first got the Repository and Team Server, they were different products. The Repository installed fine, the Team server installed fine. We didn't really have an issue until the upgrade to 2016, where the Team Server was combined with the Repository. Apparently, there was a step in the instructions that was easily overlooked, and sure enough, I overlooked it.

We've got some training coming up. We want to learn more of the features of the tool, things like the Data Lineage and how to use the ETL tools. We bought this great product and we're not taking advantage of it. That's my only complaint.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

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

We have to use the Enterprise License Center, what used to be AppWave, and I hate it. We've got concurrent user licenses for ER/Studio, but we also use it for the Embarcadero RAD Studio. We're in a multi-user environment where we have federal users who work here in headquarters, we have contract users who work in their offices, we have contract users who work from home. In order to get the Enterprise License Center to work, they have to be on our network, at least temporarily, to get the License Center to recognize the software and set up. It's a battle every time, trying to get somebody's license renewed or upgraded. There needs to be a better way.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We looked at Sybase PowerDesigner again. I recall at the time they said it wasn't going to be supported anymore, but apparently, it still is. Of course, we looked at ERwin but a lot of people thought the ERwin interface was clunky back then. And at that time, there weren't any freeware or shareware tools that were comparable. So those were the main three options we looked at.

What other advice do I have?

Especially with the Repository/Team Server installation, get Idera to install it for you. Just watch over their shoulder while they do it.

Otherwise, just learn it and enjoy it.

I rate this product at nine out of 10 because it does so much. It's so powerful. The only reason I don't give it a 10 is because it probably has things in it that I'll never use because I don't know how to use them.

Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
PeerSpot user
Data Architect at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
The portal enables our entire team to see the model, but licensing and upgrades could be improved
Pros and Cons
  • "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."
  • "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."

What is our primary use case?

The primary use would be all the data modeling of the enterprise. People can access the data model through the portal: all the modeling and all the data dictionary, column-level documentation, glossaries, etc. We use the portal for maintaining those.

The main tool that we use is IDERA Architect on the team portal.

How has it helped my organization?

Before this tool, just managing the changes and publishing the models to the users became very cumbersome. This tool has simplified our day-to-day tasks a lot.

What is most valuable?

  • Easy to model.
  • Has a user-friendly interface.
  • I like the team portal because, once we upload, the entire team can see the model.

What needs improvement?

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. For example, we are moving from 16 to 17. 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 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.

I already mentioned this to my account manager. He said they will put me with one of the product development teams to have this kind of discussion.

For how long have I used the solution?

One to three years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

There have been some issues with performance, and there are some issues with inconsistencies.

We are also working to upgrade our servers. With more and more model and more and more operators, the check-in and the checkout processes are somewhat slow. Right now it's difficult for us to tell if it is, in fact, a product issue. We are upgrading our servers. We will have to really test it. Right now, if there are more than two or three users using the product, we sometimes face the issue.

How is customer service and technical support?

We bought premium support and so far it is good. The normal technical support is okay; I would not rate it too high. After we got the premium support things were much better. Regarding the last upgrade, they really helped us by walking us through it step by step. That was really good.

We always want to have peace of mind that we can reach them. When we had regular support, sometimes it was very difficult to get hold of them. We upgraded our support to premium, to make sure that we get the proper attention.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was straightforward. While there is some documentation, we had a live session and the support and product management team really walked us through, so it was straightforward. There are some areas that we do by looking at the documentation.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The licensing could be a little bit more flexible. The issue we face is that it is kind of complex the way the keys are set up. I'm not sure if it's by design, but let's say you have to install a product on a test system. You have to get a trial license key, even though you have been a loyal customer for two years. It's just very difficult to again request an additional key and then go through all the setup. It could be much simpler. 

The way we update the licenses is also a complex. I have to register the keys every time. And when we do it online there can be errors so we have to go to the workaround to be able to work on the data. 

The process of licensing could be much simpler, from our experience.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We evaluated ERwin and some other products.

What other advice do I have?

It's a good tool but we have not had much training, so we are really exploring it on our own. There are some features we are still working on with our stakeholders to implement. So my advice to other customers who are implementing this product is to really understand the full features of the product and try to implement all the features at the beginning. Get training in all areas of expertise before launching the product. I wish we could have done that from the beginning.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
IDERA ER/Studio
October 2024
Learn what your peers think about IDERA ER/Studio. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: October 2024.
814,763 professionals have used our research since 2012.
PeerSpot user
Data Architect at a insurance company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
We have been able to quickly create models for our enterprise-wide databases
Pros and Cons
  • "We are able to document the data lineage and data flows of our data from one system to another."
  • "We have been able to quickly create models for our enterprise-wide databases, even when some of them are third-party databases."
  • "Modeling with Data Architect: We can quickly reverse-engineer a database from an existing database or create a model from scratch."
  • "Data lineage tracking: It allows us to identify upstream and downstream systems using data."
  • "I would like to see better documentation/help for the Data Architect tool. Creation of tutorials would be nice, as there are some features which are not as clearly defined as they should be."

What is our primary use case?

To develop an underlying platform upon which to base our data governance program by creating a central repository for maintaining and disseminating logical, physical models for our enterprise-wide databases.

How has it helped my organization?

We have been able to quickly create models for our enterprise-wide databases, even when some of them are third-party databases. We have been able to then modify those models, breaking them down to make them more understandable. Loading these models into the ER/Studio Team Server repository, it allows us to disseminate this information to the entire enterprise. 

Team Server allows us to further define those models through the use of glossaries and gives us the ability to collaborate as a data governance team to ensure that terms defined provide us a common understanding of our data. We are also able to document the data lineage and data flows of our data from one system to another.

What is most valuable?

  • Modeling with Data Architect: We can quickly reverse-engineer a database from an existing database or create a model from scratch.
  • Data lineage tracking: It allows us to identify upstream and downstream systems using data. This allows us to identify downstream impacts of making changes to data in a particular system, before the downstream systems break.
  • Collaboration features in Team Server: With discussion threads, email notifications, and streams, we can collaborate with team members to make sure that models and glossaries are sufficiently defined to accurately and concisely reflect the meaning, purpose, etc. of our enterprise data.
  • Change management: We can track changes to our data models and tie those changes back to specific tasks or efforts that we identify.

What needs improvement?

I would like to see better documentation/help for the Data Architect tool. 

Creation of tutorials would be nice. There are some features which are not as clearly defined as they should be.

For how long have I used the solution?

One to three years.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
it_user92238 - PeerSpot reviewer
Director at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Consultant
Great product. Tedious implementation and maintenance. Ultimately worth it considering other options.

What is most valuable?

Strong graphic and formatting capabilities which can be used to stylize/classify tables of different uses/purposes. Reverse engineering function is useful in examining undocumented legacy databases. Object creation scripting tool has plenty of useful option with the ability to save configuration sets for consistent database builds. Intuitive user interface provides for quick learning curve.

How has it helped my organization?

Our company designs and builds databases in ER/Studio before other database builds or other development. This provides for identifying potential issues long before any code has been written. Data models are often the basis for functionality discussions between the business, analysts, and developers.

What needs improvement?

The deployment and licensing facets of this product are beyond maddening, requiring even small organizations such as ours to install and maintain two server apps to handle real-time license enforcement and centralized (Tool Cloud) product launching. The documentation is poor and new installations are tedious, to say nothing of the need for network operations resources to maintain the server apps.

For how long have I used the solution?

Nine years.

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

Countless licensing and app launching issues. Support was friendly enough, but that we needed them as often as we did was the real problem. We are a small company with four data modellers. No need for complicated licensing and deployment schemes.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The app itself is quite stable. On rare occasions, particularly where models grew large and complex over time, a model would go haywire and become corrupt or otherwise exhibit abnormal behavior. Luckily we could revert to the previous version from our source control system.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I've used Power Designer and ER Win in the past. PD was a decent app, if quirky. I'm not a fan of ER Win. It strikes me as a forgotten app that has been kicked around to too many owners over the years without proper investment in refactoring and improvement.

How was the initial setup?

Complex in that it requires installation of two server-based apps on the network for licensing and centralized launch/deployment. The server requires download and application of license files generated by Embarcadero and manual definition and maintenance of licensed users. On the deployment side, the app distribution server downloads updated versions of apps and serves them to the Java-based launcher app on client machines. This app (end user Java app) was tedious and often an extremely slow performer. We opted for full local install where possible to avoid interaction with the launcher app. Our company has no need for cloud-based application distribution and launching.

What about the implementation team?

Internal network operations team.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Over nine years, we have spent approximately $3K-$4K per year on each user (we have five data modelers currently).

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

ER Win and two others, although their names escape me as it was nine years ago.

What other advice do I have?

Great product. Tedious implementation and maintenance. Ultimately worth it considering other options.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
it_user91548 - PeerSpot reviewer
it_user91548Infrastructure Expert at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Consultant

I would like to whole-heartedly agree with issues concerning installation and setup. It has been very difficult to get ER/Studio to work properly with a server license for use in VDI. I work for a very large organization where the many groups we need to deal with are less than quick to get things done. Due to the restrictive nature of VDI, we had to go through a tedious process of changing firewall rules to allow ER/Studio to see the database servers used for reverse-engineering. We finally had to convince the powers that be (against their policy) to allow us to use VPN so that the application could run locally and access the network only as needed. Licensing this product can be a real pain, especially if you have to run a server license with the separate Embarcadero License Server installed. It definitely needs to be easier and simpler. It is a powerful and very functional product, but getting it to work correctly in VDI has been a real chore.

Data Architect at a pharma/biotech company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Simple to use and reasonably priced, but it needs support for creating and using macros
Pros and Cons
  • "The interface is really simple to use and it allows me to pick and choose which tables I want to reverse engineer."
  • "The visual presentation is a little too colorful and seems that it is dumbed down."

What is our primary use case?

I am primarily using this solution for reverse engineering and database comparisons.

What is most valuable?

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

What needs improvement?

The visual presentation is a little too colorful and seems that it is dumbed down.

I would like to see support for creating macros in the way that erwin can.

It did not reverse engineer all of the data types correctly, although it was pretty close. The only mistake was with some Oracle table objects, where it incorrectly determined them to be character references.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using the trial edition of IDERA ER Studio for about a month.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I am using ER Studio on a daily basis I think that is very stable. It reverse-engineered a large number of tables all at once, without any problems.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It seems that there would not have to be much for me to do if I wanted to expand my usage. I am the only person in the company using it at this time.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is very straightforward and the deployment took less than an hour.

What about the implementation team?

I deployed this solution, myself, and no additional staff is required for maintenance.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

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

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I am in the process of comparing this product to erwin and SAP PowerDesigner.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate this solution a seven out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Senior Business Intelligence Developer at a construction company with 501-1,000 employees
Real User
Database schemas help us understand the logic, the business processes, behind the scenes
Pros and Cons
  • "It's much easier to develop the database structure and change it on the fly, rather than doing it manually in SQL Server itself. That saves time."
  • "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."
  • "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."
  • "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."

What is our primary use case?

We use it to develop our data warehouse, it's the core server.

How has it helped my organization?

It's much easier to develop the database structure and change it on the fly, rather than doing it manually in SQL Server itself. That saves time.

What is most valuable?

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.

What needs improvement?

They is a lot of room of improvement. I have emailed and have asked for things but nothing has been done. For example, 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.

Another situation is that I need, and 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. 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. 

Those are the two main problems that I encounter today.

For how long have I used the solution?

One to three years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I have not encountered any issues with the stability of the product.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

As I mentioned, I cannot upload the 3,000-table database. It cannot work with that.

How is customer service and technical support?

Overall, technical support is okay. It's fast and usually, within four or five hours, I get a reply.

How was the initial setup?

The setup was very easy. Everything was fine during the installation process.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I think the pricing matches what we get from the product. It is good value.

Licensing is a bit of a complicated process because there are three different types of licenses and sometimes it's a bit confusing. For example, when we had to reinstall Windows, and they had to contact support so that they reissue the license for me, that was not easy. It would be easier if I had the number and I could use that number for the computer, somehow. It should connect to the hardware, not to Windows. Because each time I need to update Windows, they need to contact support to reissue licenses or switch to another type of license. They mention that there are additional charges for this. It's not an easy process for users. It should be way easier.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I considered erwin software and I compared different functionalities and installed a trial version before choosing this software. I analyzed and found out that this software would match our needs more, in terms of flexibility and the features that it allows us to do. Also, I like that we have logical and physical modeling. We can have two separate environments for different purposes to develop the structures.

What other advice do I have?

Any advice would depend on the infrastructure, but just start using it more and more. It's mainly for developing databases. If you have a smaller number of tables and all of them are relational, you may not need this software. But, if you have a data warehouse that needs to be developed and you need to frequently implement changes to the databases, it will help.

I rate the solution a rating of eight out of ten. I would consider it one of the best solutions on the market.

Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
PeerSpot user
it_user324030 - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr. Data Engineer at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees
Vendor
If it natively supports your RDBMS, and you have someone to support the licensed server, it’s a great solution.

What is most valuable?

There are only a handful of ERD features that I’ve needed over the years that ER/Studio DA didn’t support. It’s flexible, intuitive for the newbie and yet supports the complexity required of a seasoned database designer, and offers a clean sophisticated presentation.

How has it helped my organization?

The work of the database architect is complex. ER/Studio DA supports in a single application everything from taxonomy and data dictionary definitions to conceptual, logical, and physical data models, relational and dimensional models, reverse engineering from legacy database structures, merging and comparison between database versions, exporting of ERD images and data dictionaries and DDL from physical data models, and it does so at a reasonable price point for such a polished and feature-rich offering.

What needs improvement?

Things that come to mind that I’ve not been able to do in prior projects include:

  • Support for SQL Server filtered indexes, both a means to effectively represent this in a data model and have it produce the filtered index in the rendered DDL
  • Support for some of the open source RDBMS for reverse engineering and migration

For how long have I used the solution?

I’ve used ER/Studio at various clients since 2008.

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

No issues encountered.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

No issues encountered.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

No issues encountered.

How are customer service and technical support?

While they weren’t always able to solve my issue (feature limitations not bugs/education issues), when I did reach out to Embarcadero they were always extremely responsive and professional.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I’ve also used ErWin, Powerdesigner, Toad Data Modeler, MS Visio, and Oracle SQL Developer Data Modeler. ER/Studio has the features and the price point that is easy to realize ROI quickly.

How was the initial setup?

There were issues with the licensed server, but after that is was smooth sailing.

What about the implementation team?

We did it in-house.

What was our ROI?

Within a week of installation I had reverse engineered several existing databases into physical data models with basic data dictionaries and published them on the company wiki. The perception of value was extremely high.

What other advice do I have?

As long as the tool natively supports the RDBMS databases you use, and you have someone that can support the licensed server, it’s a great solution.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
VP Product Strategy, Analytics at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Good resource for designing a database
Pros and Cons
  • "Straightforward setup."
  • "This solution needs more precise documentation."

What is our primary use case?

Our primary use case of this solution is to design our database.

What needs improvement?

This solution needs more precise documentation.

For how long have I used the solution?

One to three years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We are still testing the stability of the product.

How was the initial setup?

The setup was straightforward but we lacked receipt of support from the solution. 

What other advice do I have?

It is a good product but it needs improvement of the documentation process.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free IDERA ER/Studio Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: October 2024
Buyer's Guide
Download our free IDERA ER/Studio Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.