Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users
PeerSpot user
it_user300273
Data Analyst at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Jan 5, 2016
It is recommended for those with the resources to maintain it.

This review comes from the point of view of a technical tools administrator who is only an occasional data modeller at this stage.

We're using Embarcadero Repository Server with ER/Studio, Team Server and the Data Lineage Tool, on in-house servers. Trialled on workstations from 2013 (XE3), first installed in Development server environment in August 2014 (XE5), went to Production in December 2014. Currently up to XE7 in Dev, XE6 in Prod.

We installed with onsite assistance, and had a quick and effective response from the development team when the onsite Embarcadero resource requested a workaround for our non-standard MS SQL server port.

Licensing for Repository Server is a bizarre chain of:

  • Install Embarcadero License Center on hosting server (only needed once, at first installation)
  • From purchase order, get login details for Maintenance Delivery Portal website
  • From Maintenance Delivery Portal, get login details for License Hosting website
  • In License Hosting site, give hosting server details, get licence config files
  • Log into Embarcadero License Center, apply server licence file
  • Create user accounts in ER/Studio, give users user licence files

It's fiddly but manageable with a tech to guide you through it, or when referring to your own documentation for subsequent installations/upgrades.

Team Server involves an odd hybrid method in which serial numbers are extracted from Delivery Portal and applied directly to Team Server, user accounts are sync'd from ER/Studio and then granted the right to use a licence seat. We still haven't got team server working. Took several months just to understand the licensing (limited to Repo users, not the read-only free-for-all we'd been given to expect), several more to get models properly sync'd from the repo, and still can't get anything to actually load for those who do have viewing rights. They say an upgrade should fix it, but that's been delayed by repository upgrade problems.

The Data Lineage Tool likewise was a nightmare to get licensed and a nuisance to try to use.

After installation and licensing, the product itself is fairly stable. Larger models make Repo Server a bit slow and Team Server struggle to sync properly. Administration mostly involves adding/removing licences and occasionally re-starting the services, unless something goes properly wrong.

Documentation tends to range from pointless to incomprehensible. It does have specific instructions for various straightforward situations (where's the button that does X?). Information about anything more complicated is mostly absent, vague or contradictory. This goes for both the wiki and the PDF manuals. Careful and thorough reading can make things worse, as some paragraphs appear to contradict each other (and advice from Support). To further complicate matters, the names of products/features/actions are inconsistent - some have changed over time with upgrades and some are internally inconsistent - e.g. the toolbar button and menu item for the same function may have completely different text labels.

Dealing with Support has been frustrating. Recurring problems have included:

  • Responding to very specific questions with vague references to irrelevant documentation
  • Providing internally inconsistent, conflicting or even counter-productive advice
  • Requesting screenshots/troubleshooting tests that have already been provides
  • Not responding at all for a week or two (and only then because we prodded)

However, they've recently been making a good-faith effort to improve this service. They set up a meeting to discuss our specific needs, and what we as a major customer would like to see in upcoming releases. And they set up a conference call to discuss our open support requests and the support issues in general. The only communication lag since then has coincided with the USA's Thanksgiving holiday, which is understandable.

Overall, the product is very powerful and versatile for the task it's designed to do. They seem sincere about taking feedback and improving both product and service. For all the pain of licensing and maintenance, ultimately it's probably worth it.

I can't recommend Team Server as we still haven't got what we paid for. But I would definitely recommend ER/Studio as long as you can afford it, have someone available for ad-hoc systems administration, and are prepared to actively chase up Support requests if necessary.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Flag as inappropriate
PeerSpot user
it_user341061 - PeerSpot reviewer
it_user341061
Business Intelligence Analyst DBA at a government with 1,001-5,000 employees
Vendor
Nov 16, 2015
Download
I think ER/Studio Data Architect is priced high, but it comes with user-friendly features.

What is most valuable?

Being able to to perform reverse engineering is valuable to us.

How has it helped my organization?

I used the tool for data modeling, so I cannot say much.

What needs improvement?

It did everything that I needed, and I didn't think about enhancements while using the product.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used it for six months.

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?

Customer Service:

9/10.

Technical Support:

9/10.

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

I did use different solutions that were available with the companies I worked for. I evaluated a couple of modeling tools, as I personally wanted to purchase a product.

How was the initial setup?

Initial set-up is straightforward.

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

I think ER/Studio Data Architect is priced high, but it comes with user-friendly features.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I personally compared it with SAP PowerDesigner when I started using ER/Studio Data Architect, and I think they both are equally good tools.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Flag as inappropriate
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
IDERA ER/Studio
December 2025
Free Report: IDERA ER/Studio Reviews and More
Learn what your peers think about IDERA ER/Studio. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: December 2025.
DOWNLOAD NOW
879,425 professionals have used our research since 2012.
it_user324030 - PeerSpot reviewer
it_user324030
Sr. Data Engineer at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees
Vendor
Oct 21, 2015
Download
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: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Flag as inappropriate
PeerSpot user
it_user323538 - PeerSpot reviewer
it_user323538
Associate Director, Enterprise Data Management, Practice Lead for Life Sciences UK&I at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Consultant
Oct 9, 2015
Download
It provides us with offline availability using TeamServer, but reusability of objects across multiple workspaces is a feature that would help.

What is most valuable?

  • Centralised Repository where all the models are stored
  • TeamServer (Portal) which gives access to the models (read only) through a web browser
  • Entity Llinking Ability across data models
  • Reuse of objects within workspace on multiple diagrams

How has it helped my organization?

The organisation is a huge enterprise spread across various countries, and use ER Studio as a centralised documentation of systems/application architecture repository. This has helped the new application development team in cross-verifying, and understanding, the current setup, proposing and architecting new solutions for the organisation. Since the models are stored in a centralised repository, the process of review/refinement are handled by teams all over the world, who can now collaborate and build a common solution.

What needs improvement?

  • Reusability of objects across multiple workspaces is a feature that would help in building a single enterprise model using linked up workspaces
  • Copy/Paste of diagrams to create copies between workspaces would be a handy feature to have

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used it for over two years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

There have been no issues encountered.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

There have been no issues encountered.

How are customer service and technical support?

Customer Service:

We are fully satisfied.

Technical Support:

We are fully satisfied.

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

We did use other tools, and we switched because this solution offered us the following -

  1. Stability
  2. A centralised repository
  3. Provision for offline availbility using TeamServer
  4. Entity linking accross modules

How was the initial setup?

As a fresh implementation the setup was straightforward, and clear documentations helped when we were setting up the environment.

What about the implementation team?

We take care off all maintenance/upgrades of the toolset in-house.

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

.Purchase licenses only for the functionalities which the organisation will use.

What other advice do I have?

Make effective use of Entity Reusability for an enterprise level usage.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Flag as inappropriate
PeerSpot user
PeerSpot user
it_user323850
ProQuest Development and Quality Assurance Support at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Oct 6, 2015
Download
It helped us to make extracts and split databases when we were selling parts of our company.

What is most valuable?

Reverse engineering existing databases. I use the reverse engineering features to map existing databases to understand their structure and make improvements.

How has it helped my organization?

One example is the use of the product to make extracts and split databases, and we were selling parts of the company to other regions of other companies. It made the process more efficient and faster and less costly.

What needs improvement?

I don't have any specific ideas about how to improve the product. I always have the upgrades and every upgrade comes with some improvements and it's good.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used both products for over 10 years probably between 10 and 14 years, I don't remember the exact number.

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?

Customer Service:

10/10.

Technical Support:

10/10.

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

The previous standard was Your Studio by CA, and I used that until I discovered the alternatives and immediately worked with the standards committee to include it and the standards for the company. I chose this product because it's ease-of-use an excellent support.

How was the initial setup?

Initial set up was pretty straightforward, and it looks for database connections that are already configured on your machine and automatically sets them up once it's installed great feature.

What about the implementation team?

I implemented just my own copy I didn't do it large-scale implementation. Other people within the company use it but it's independent for each user to set their own environment up I didn't have any problems or don't have a particular recommendations for other companies it's pretty straightforward.

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

The initial base price is a little bit high, and my recommendation is that once you've licensed the base, to keep the maintenance renewed because that's a much more reasonable annual cost.

What other advice do I have?

My advice would be to use the Technical Support they're very good if you've got questions they're always there to help.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Flag as inappropriate
PeerSpot user
it_user91548 - PeerSpot reviewer
it_user91548
Infrastructure Expert at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Consultant
Aug 26, 2015
Download
It's our primary means of publishing data models, but it needs to use more modern standard dialogs.

Valuable Features

  • Flexible and complete compare/merge facility
  • Exposure of its automation object model which allows custom programming outside of the product

Improvements to My Organization

It has been our primary means of publishing data models for years. It also houses our product data dictionary, and generates all the DDLs for database modifications.

Room for Improvement

  • Easier licensing
  • It would be nice if we could use more modern standard dialogs, such as file selection

Use of Solution

I've used it for 10 years.

Deployment Issues

It is not easy to deploy in VDI, but that is a VDI problem.

Customer Service and Technical Support

Good, although they don’t always contact you with a solution to problems if they think it’s your problem.

Initial Setup

Setup was not complex for an ordinary desktop installation. Server installation, however, is a good deal more complex. Their portal solution is more complex still.

Implementation Team

It was done in-house.

Pricing, Setup Cost and Licensing

It is expensive! Licensing requires a subscription to their support site.

Other Solutions Considered

It was selected before I arrived here, but it was evaluated against ErWin. It was the better product at the time.

Other Advice

It is a very robust, industrial strength data modeling product, intended Ideally for very large development projects where a good ROI can be obtained.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Flag as inappropriate
PeerSpot user
it_user297114 - PeerSpot reviewer
it_user297114
Principal Data Architect at a tech company with 201-500 employees
Real User
Aug 23, 2015
Download
We can run macros on logical and physical model, but registration always seemed difficult and time consuming.

What is most valuable?

  • Running macros on logical and physical models
  • Compare and Merge

How has it helped my organization?

I am able to create (and publish) logical data models, apply naming standards using macro, generate the physical models and DDL. This makes the development process consistent and clean, improves communication and quality.

What needs improvement?

Product registration always seemed difficult and time consuming.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been a user of ER/Studio for at least ten years.

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?

Customer Service:

I've not had to use it in a while.

Technical Support:

I've not had to use it in a while.

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

I used ErWin long time ago but ER/Studio was more likable at the time.

How was the initial setup?

Product registration always seemed difficult and time consuming.

What about the implementation team?

We did it in-house.

What other advice do I have?

ER/Studio is a must to have for data modelers.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Flag as inappropriate
PeerSpot user
it_user285069 - PeerSpot reviewer
it_user285069
Data Management Specialist at a government with 1,001-5,000 employees
Vendor
Aug 4, 2015
Download
Data Dictionary Bindings is not very intuitive, but there are no stability issues.

What is most valuable?

  • Repository > Diagrams
  • Security > Security Center
  • Tools > Generate Reports
  • Entity > Notes
  • Attribute > Notes

What needs improvement?

  • Diagram Versioning is not very intuitive
  • Data Dictionary Bindings is not very intuitive

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used it for three years.

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

No issues encountered.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Not with the current release.

How are customer service and technical support?

Customer Service:

It's good.

Technical Support:

It's good.

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

I have personally used many modelling tools. My current company standardized on this one.

What about the implementation team?

We used a vendor team who were good.

What was our ROI?

None the enterprise does not utilize all its capabilities thus, much of the work done is ported to other tools.

What other advice do I have?

If using this tool to support a large team effort, get training for versioning

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Flag as inappropriate
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free IDERA ER/Studio Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: December 2025
DOWNLOAD NOW
Buyer's Guide
Download our free IDERA ER/Studio Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Buyer's Guide
IDERA ER/Studio
December 2025
DOWNLOAD NOW
Quick Links
Learn More: Questions: