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Integration developer at Blackwoods
Real User
Top 5Leaderboard
Initial setup is straightforward, but customer support service needs to be improved
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution is finely stable."
  • "Its support team could be well-equipped with the required information."

What is our primary use case?

We use the solution mainly for designing purposes. It helps us design activity charts, sequential charts, and other diagrams.

What needs improvement?

They should improve the solution's customer support service.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using the solution for more than twenty years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is finely stable.

Buyer's Guide
Visio
March 2025
Learn what your peers think about Visio. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2025.
848,716 professionals have used our research since 2012.

How are customer service and support?

The solution's customer service team could be well-equipped with the required information.

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

We used PowerDesigner earlier.

How was the initial setup?

The solution's initial setup is straightforward.

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

You have to purchase a license to use the solution.

What other advice do I have?

I rate the solution as a six.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Process engineer at Siemens Industry
Real User
Top 5Leaderboard
Basic process diagramming tool
Pros and Cons
  • "The valuable feature about Visio is it has all the basic tools for creating processes."
  • "Visio's scalability could be improved. I had a license through my school and it would have been great to be able to collaborate with more people."

What is our primary use case?

My primary use case of Visio is diagramming. It's useful for diagramming any type of process you would want to describe. 

What is most valuable?

The valuable feature about Visio is it has all the basic tools for creating processes. 

What needs improvement?

Visio's scalability could be improved. I had a license through my school and it would have been great to be able to collaborate with more people. 

As for additional features, all these tools differ and Visio has the basics. I don't think it needs to be something more because it's Visio, it's a Microsoft product. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Visio for two years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability is okay. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability could be improved. When I was in school, it wasn't possible to collaborate with others. 

How are customer service and support?

I have never contacted Microsoft's technical support. 

How was the initial setup?

The installation was straightforward and I had no problems. It's the same installation process as other Microsoft software: you pay for it, a few clicks, and you're there. 

What about the implementation team?

I implemented this solution myself. 

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

Visio is the cheapest solution because it has the basics. Everyone starts with Visio for designing processes because doing it in PowerPoint is a mess. I'm still a student, so I don't pay for licensing. 

What other advice do I have?

I rate Visio a five out of ten. When I need to do something simple, Visio is okay. I would recommend this solution to others. 

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Visio
March 2025
Learn what your peers think about Visio. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2025.
848,716 professionals have used our research since 2012.
reviewer1655025 - PeerSpot reviewer
Portfolio Architect at a insurance company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Uncomplicated installation, many templates available, but modern update needed
Pros and Cons
  • "Visio has allowed us to create good diagrams for our technical employees to consume. The solution provides templates, is straightforward, and has tools for the easy creation of diagrams."
  • "The solution could improve by making it more modern."

What is our primary use case?

We use Visio in my organization to create architecture diagrams.

What is most valuable?

Visio has allowed us to create good diagrams for our technical employees to consume. The solution provides templates, is straightforward, and has tools for the easy creation of diagrams.

What needs improvement?

The solution could improve by making it more modern.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have used Visio for approximately 15 years.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Every group in my organization can use Visio and approximately 150 people use it. It is a tool that design engineers and architects teams use most. We have approximately 150 people that use it.

How are customer service and support?

I have not needed technical support.

How was the initial setup?

The installation is not complex.

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

The price of Visio is reasonable.

What other advice do I have?

I rate Visio 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
IT strategist at Convergent Wireless Communications
Real User
A diagramming and vector graphics application that makes it easy to communicate ideas
Pros and Cons
  • "Visio makes it easy to communicate your ideas from several areas of your imagination across several domains."
  • "The price could be better."

What is our primary use case?

I use Visio for all my network diagrams. For example, I think of certain concepts that I need to communicate with my clients. I use it for this purpose. I also am an adjunct professor at one of the universities in Bangalore. Suppose I want to create a big chart or a mindmap; that's when I use Visio.

What is most valuable?

Visio makes it easy to communicate your ideas from several areas of your imagination across several domains. People like to imagine it and describe things in document form, and I think Visio could really help with that.

If you have any questions, it will take you through the concepts step-by-step, so you can also educate yourself.

What needs improvement?

The costs could be better.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using Visio for at least 10 years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It's quite a stable solution.

How are customer service and technical support?

As far as I know, it doesn't need technical support.

How was the initial setup?

Installing Visio is very simple. It doesn't require much effort. You can install it even if you don't have a brain. I think it took me about ten minutes to implement it.

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

Visio is expensive. It would be better if Microsoft can provide this as an option with Office 365. Microsoft 365 users can include Visio as part of the subscription model.

If Visio were affordable, people would realize its value. It becomes another revenue generator for Microsoft. The investment will pay off.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend it to new users. Today, Visio can be used by many more people because it helps in many ways. For example, when you use Office Suite Spreadsheet or PowerPoint, the extent to which you can do diagramming is limited in terms of dimensions.

On a scale from one to ten, I would give Visio an eight.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Managing Director at The Benchmark Company
Real User
A stable solution for process mapping with good support, but the design needs improvement
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable features are process mapping and identifying responsibilities."
  • "The design and the look and feel, need to be improved."

What is our primary use case?

The primary use case of this solution is for process mapping, and to streamline simulations.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable features are process mapping and identifying responsibilities.

What needs improvement?

The design and the look and feel, need to be improved. Also, the pricing can be improved for organizations.

In the next release, I would like to see simulations capabilities and artificial intelligence included.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for many years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

This solution is stable, we have not experienced any issues.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It's a scalable product.

How are customer service and technical support?

Technical support is good.

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

The price is reasonable for individual use but for an organization, the costs is high.

There is an annual licensing fee.

What other advice do I have?

It's a good product and I can recommend Visio to others.

I would rate this solution a seven out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Private Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: partner
PeerSpot user
EntArch3587 - PeerSpot reviewer
Enterprise Architect Analyst at a government with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Helps us to quickly visualize the architecture, but needs traceability
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature is the ability to draw models quickly."
  • "I would like to see traceability. It doesn't have it. You cannot find one object amongst several sheets of Visio diagrams."

What is our primary use case?

Documenting the enterprise architecture.

How has it helped my organization?

Helps us to quickly visualize the architecture.

What is most valuable?

The ability to draw models quickly.

What needs improvement?

I would like to see traceability. It doesn't have it. You cannot find one object amongst several sheets of Visio diagrams.

For how long have I used the solution?

Three to five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability is good. It's stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I find that it's very scalable from a small organization to a large organization.

What other advice do I have?

To determine what product or solution you're looking for, talk to many vendors and get their opinions.

The most important criterion, for me, when selecting a vendor, is customer service.

I would rate Visio at seven out of 10 but I would give it a 10 if it had traceability.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Mentor at Agricultural Paying Agency
Real User
Good stability, and scales well, but has a lot of patching that you need to keep up with
Pros and Cons
  • "If you are a knowledgeable individual, the initial setup isn't too difficult."
  • "There are a lot of patches that sometimes change how one version will interact compared to another."

What is most valuable?

It's been an extremely reliable solution for me for a very long time. It's quite mature.

If you are a knowledgeable individual, the initial setup isn't too difficult.

There are plenty of very good third-party tools.

The stability is fairly good.

The solution can scale to meet the needs of any project.

What needs improvement?

The issue I have with this solution is the same issue I have with all the products by Microsoft. They depend on many solutions by third parties for too many things, from my point of view. Maybe there should be more basic, fundamental resources incorporated into their products in general - not just this product.

A basic user may have issues trying to install the solution.

There are a lot of patches that sometimes change how one version will interact compared to another.

It would be great if, in the future, we would be able to use numerics and graphics cards. If there already this functionality, they need to make it more publicly known, as I don't see it right now.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been working with Microsoft products for 30 years or so. With this product, I've used it from time to time, when I've needed it. I'm not sure the exact amount of time I've spent with it over the years. It's likely much more than ten years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution, for the most part, is very, very stable. There is one problem in that there are so many upgrades and patches and so on that are critical and must be applied that it makes for a few issues in terms of practical use. I was facing such a very specific problem. The project was functional in an older version, yet the same code was not functional in the newer version. Therefore, to troubleshoot, I used both older and newer versions of the software and had to acquire all the patches for both. There is no clear answer as to why the same code behaves differently within these two APIs. That's a problem. However, it's not really a stability issue.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is quite scalable, and great to use for any project of any size or scope.

How are customer service and technical support?

I only use the solution for my personal use and therefore don't have access to technical support. I can't speak to how helpful they are, or how responsive, as I do not use them. I don't have any practical experience to speak to.

That said, having dealt with Microsoft technical support in the past with other solutions, I can say that, in general, they are very capable and have many experienced people on staff to assist. I've been satisfied with them in the past on other products.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is pretty simple and straightforward for those with knowledge or training. Basic users may have problems, however.

For myself, with so many years of experience with many types of Microsoft solutions, I found everything very straightforward.

It's not that the process isn't intuitive, it's just that, if you don't know what to do or look for, it can become a bit confusing. You must study many new terms and methodologies before you can get around to beginning the process as a completely new untrained user. There may be ways to watch videos online to learn a few tricks and to help you visualize the process.

What about the implementation team?

I have many years of experience with Visio and Microsoft, therefore, I can handle the installation process myself.

What other advice do I have?

I primarily use the solution myself for my own projects. I'm a customer and end-users.

In general, I would rate the solution at a six out of ten.

I would recommend this product, however, at the same time, I suggest to everybody to know and practically use several tools, so as to keep up their overall knowledge and skills. For some purposes, it is easier and more reliable to use one tool, and for other purposes, it is more reliable to use another. I do not recommend to anybody globally to work alone with one tool, separately from all the world.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
reviewer1446360 - PeerSpot reviewer
Project Manager at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Has a good interface but it needs better third-party integration
Pros and Cons
  • "The interface is the most valuable aspect of this solution."
  • "When you use a BPA solution you can open an end-to-end process in one window, go down, or go up between layers to different places. You should be able to see descriptions of the steps of the process."

What is our primary use case?

We use Visio for process diagram. 

What is most valuable?

The interface is the most valuable aspect of this solution. 

What needs improvement?

My colleagues are not satisfied with this solution for many reasons. They don't see end-to-end processes or the layers of one process.

When you use a BPA solution you can open an end-to-end process in one window, go down, or go up between layers to different places. You should be able to see descriptions of the steps of the process.

Integration with third-party vendors is another aspect that needs improvement. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Visio for three to four years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We don't have any stability problems. 

How are customer service and technical support?

We have local technical support. We have an IT department and the department solves all of our problems. They contact local support if need be. 

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

The price will always be high. It depends on the organization size, how many processes there are, and what requirements you have for the solution. If you require additional features like analysis, it will be a different price. It's a balance between requirements and price.

What other advice do I have?

My recommendation would depend on a few factors like the size of the organization. If it's a small organization and it does not have so many processes, I think Visio is a good solution. For larger organization solutions like Segnavio and Orbus would be better. Those are more complex solutions. 

I would rate Visio a six out of ten. We don't have a holistic vision of our processes so I can't open a process. If I open a process in Visio, I can't see how it's connected to other processes. 

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 Visio Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: March 2025
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Visio Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.