Visual Paradigm Reviews

The solution has a community edition, which makes it free of charge. I'm using the community edition myself within our organization. We are a small team and it's easier for us to find free options. 

Visual Paradigm is great due to the fact that there are lots of templates in their product. 

The solution seems to be constantly improving itself with regular updates and add-ons.

The solution is very user-friendly. It's easy to just open it and start working.

I'm not sure what is missing within the solution. We haven't used it long enough to really dive deep into its features and usability, as we've only worked on a few projects.

There might be a better solution on the market, however, this is the only solution I'm really familiar with at this point.

The solution could be more compatible with other products in the future.

I've been using the solution for more than a year. We've used it on one or two projects.

We have the July 22, 2020 release right now, and it is very stable. There aren't any issues with it at all. We haven't seen any bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. It's been reliable for our organization.

The solution is a single modeling software. Therefore the scalability question isn't really applicable. 

We're a small firm. We don't have a lot of users and don't need to add a lot of people on a regular basis. There are only three consultants on our team. In total in the company, there may only be 10-15 people. Therefore we don't need to scale per se.

We have a very simple community edition. We've never had to reach out to technical support. If we need assistance, we have another IT firm that can assist us. In terms of if we have any how-to questions, we typically just turn to Google and search for answers that way.

We are also using process design software. I can't recall the name. It's a market leader visualizing for software. It's similar to Microsoft Visio, however, it is called something else.

The initial implementation is not difficult or complex. It's quite easy and straightforward. 

Deployment is also easy. You just take the tool and install it. We use it on Microsoft Windows and have never had any issues.

We use the community edition, which is free. There are no licensing costs and no other costs above this.

I'm a consultant. We're just customers and we're simply using the free version of the product as we're a pretty small company.

Overall, I would rate the solution eight out of ten due to the fact that it's a great solution. That said, I have no real comparison. I've used only really used this solution. 

Currently, I'm learning about this solution and process mining and solutions like UiPath as well. We're moving towards the RPA world.

We primarily use the solution for different kinds of analysis such as software analysis.

The solution allows for different models to be integrated together. For example, if you have a chart or more than four organization charts, then you can use the concepts in your BPM and model. Or your BPM and model can be linked to visual models or use cases.

The solution is not user-friendly. It uses a lot of memory and CPU. You have to have a good computer to use it.

The solution should allow for more integration between PowerDesigner and Visual Paradigm.

The solution is stable. It hasn't crashed, stopped or caused any issues in any way.

The solution isn't as scalable as, for example, PowerDesigner.

I haven't been in contact with technical support.

The initial setup is straightforward. The implementation is similar to other software solutions. It's a fast routine process.

The pricing on these types of tools is really affordable.

We use the public cloud deployment model.

I'd rate the solution eight out of ten.

I am a consultant, and I use this solution to model various business needs to show my clients. I run this solution in a Linux environment.

I like the fact that this solution is complete. It doesn't matter whether I want to draw a quick UML model, or a mind map, or some architecture or business motivation. It's in the tool, and there's not much that I can't do with it.

This product has a very low learning curve and I like the user interface.

I would like to see something for visualizing innovation work maps. I created my own template in LibreOffice Draw, but it would be nice if there were something like that in Visual Paradigm. What I do now is to use the export functionality in Visual Paradigm to save the images and then place them into LibreOffice Draw. That way, I can make a nice, A0 paper-sized visualization of the innovation work map. It would be nice if it were integrated so that I could do it all within the Visual Paradigm, and have one export.

The other thing that needs improvement is pricing. I have considered halting my license and not upgrading from the current version because of this.

I've never had any crashes, so I am very happy with the stability of this solution.

Since I am a one person company, I am not sure about scalability. These days there is a cloud repository, which could be interesting, but in the end, you just install it on your local machine and you connect to the repository. It shouldn't be hard to scale.

Technical support for this solution is excellent. In the past, there have been a couple of occasions where I spoke with support, many years ago. They were very helpful and I am still a satisfied customer.

The initial setup is easy. In all of these years, I have only had issues installing it one time. It is a Java-based script, and it just runs.

When I first started using Visual Paradigm, one of the things that I liked was the price. It was not too expensive for a low learning curve. Over the years I've seen an increase in price, and it makes it difficult for a single person company, like me, to decide whether to extend the license.

We evaluated other products before selecting this one, including Enterprise Architect.

When it comes to using the product, there is a learning curve, and it depends on how you want to start using it. If it's just for quickly modeling something to visualize the problem or explain stuff, it's not that hard. If you really want to build your enterprise repository, of course, you still need a lot of principles and guidelines on how you want to use it for the enterprise. With the tree structure for modeling, it's actually pretty easy to change things.

My advice is simply to start using it. I know the ARIS and Enterprise Architect products. I also know tools like ArchiMate. Then there are visual design tools for architecture, but in the end, of all of the products that I've seen so far, Visual Paradigm has one of the lowest learning curves.

I would rate this solution a ten out of ten.

We primarily use the Solution Architecture Models and the Enterprise Architecture Model.

We designed the Enterprise Architecture Model in this tool.

Using the Component Diagram, Visual Paradigm helps with design and control, reusing components.

I would like to see the ability to easily export to groupware, such as Atlassian Confluence.

The Visual Paradigm business process forms for designing we good. There was not a lot of configuration for the process diagram.

I was looking to generate code from the diagrams, but it was not totally clear how to do it.

I have been using Visual Paradigm for approximately three days.

I rate Visual Paradigm an eight out of ten.

Easy images from current diagrams for use in reports and architecture documents.

Like any reasonable Architecture Tool, it produces standard views and allows passing a file with work in it to others.

Many missing diagram formats, incomplete support for DoDAF, ToGAF and similar, sharing should come built in to the product and not be like so many other architecture tools where any time you need some it is at additional cost.

2 years.

No issues with deployment.

Not significant with current versions.

No built in teamwork.

Online support is very lacking and appears to be an entre' for paid support.

Used Rational Rose and Systems Architect in the past. Moved to a new company where this was the standard.

Reduces time and provides better products than PowerPoint engineering.

Get a bundle deal from the vendor with teamwork built in.

One tool for everything which provides all the features you need for an Enterprise Architecture and Solution Architecture.

Wide language coverage for architecture modeling, system design, and software development, e.g., ArchiMate, UML, BPMN, SysML, SoaML, CMMN, ERD, and ORM.

Methodology incorporated in the tool through guides: Zachman, TOGAF ADM with Documentation Cabinet (new from version 14), and Business Motivation Model.

Support for model requirements management, a tool for textual analysis, business concept diagram, and glossary grid.

Intuitive tool control for model creation:

• Simple dragging of elements and links from the menu to the model.
• Context menu whose functions are specific to the element type or bindings in the model.
• Resource Navigator that supports the syntax of a given modeling language.
• Element/relation reference: any file/folder, URL, shape, reference to another element.
• Set of transit To/From (any diagrams), best to facilitate navigation in a complex model.
• Custom TAGs (Element Labels with Values, many Attributes Types).
• Stereotypes (metadata, TAGs, +graphic visualization).
• Specific repository views: Navigator chart, Model explorer, Class repository, Logical view.

ORM: Reverse/code generation (Java classes, Hibernate, database (SQL including DDL, test data generation, 19 vendors DB) - application and data migration is a easy when you know how to do it.

Repository:

• Local: File system (multiple workspaces)
• Server:

1. On-premise Team Work Server (TWS purchased separately) with access from the Internet.
2. Cloud VPository (1GB free, thin editor for some types of models).

Robust: No problem with a large number of elements and links in the model (verified on large projects with hundreds of diagrams and tens of thousands of elements and links)

OpenAPI: Very well documented, the ability to create custom plugins or applications for integration into a comprehensive solution.

Document Generator: PDF, HTML, DOC that you can customize to your needs (easy use of DOT templates in Word), order and topicality of documentation is the basis of the work of an architect

Interoperability: Export/import (16 formats) such as Excel, XML, XMI, OGAMEFF...this is very important: openness, not closing yourself off.

Tiny, but important details: Language localization, matrix/chart for analysis, overview diagrams, mind maps, brainstorming tool, visual layers in the model, teamwork comments, rights and permissions within the project - important for specific requirements, never work yourself.

Understanding the current state of enterprise architecture, incentives for: changes, backgrounds for strategy, cost savings, and process optimization.

The speed of redrawing elements and links in complex models - When you need to move part or all of the diagram across the diagram, the tool has a slow response when redrawing objects.

Analytic functions/graphs, like BizzDesign - powerful analyses and visualizations for different stakeholders, use heat maps, charts and graphs to highlight business-relevant data in architecture

8/8/2017 EDIT: Export in OGAMEFF format has bugs.

We have been using this solution for five years.

No.

There were no stability issues. Just the little things that were patched.

There were no scalability issues. The client tool does not have extremely high-performance requirements, but a solid workstation/notebook is needed. In other words, SSD, with at least 2GB of RAM. Mainly, it wants a big monitor or two.

The server repository runs smoothly (>two core), with the appropriate disk space to store models (tens to hundreds of MB).

Standard level: User's Guide, Forum, Know-how, and FAQ.

The technical support level is good. Their response time is excellent (hours). They can do a patch in a few days and bigger changes in the release update which can take weeks or months.

I did not use a different solution before. I had no reason to switch to another tool due to lack of functionality.

It was a usual installation. The initial setup of the tool can be difficult for the novice. It requires an orientation in a number of options and concepts that are not trivial

No.

Depending on how it is used, it is generally possible to speak about months.

Obtain a floating license for a client tool, because not everyone is working with the tool all the time

In case of team use, consider sharing a shared repository: Teamwork Server (bigger investment). Think about what edition of the tool you need. These involve greater price differences

Evaluated Sparx EA, PowerDesigner, and Visio.

Experience - Go for a trial version.