We performed a comparison between SAP PowerDesigner and Visio based on real PeerSpot user reviews.
Find out what your peers are saying about LeanIX, Sparx Systems, erwin by Quest and others in Enterprise Architecture Management."I like the property sheet capability and the user-defined attributes that you can set up."
"The feature I found valuable in SAP PowerDesigner is extraction. I also like that my company hasn't faced any issues because of the clear documentation about SAP PowerDesigner."
"The most valuable feature is that it is a very fast reverse engineering process. It does a very expansive comparison."
"I've used the reverse engineering feature a lot. I can take a look at the structure of the database and what relationships it has."
"It allows us to have proper documentation in terms of the databases."
"The most valuable feature of SAP PowerDesigner is the testing of the models, it has the best function. Reverse engineering is very helpful too."
"I do a data-centric design, so for me, the data analysis and design tools are the most valuable features."
"It can automate many routine tasks and save human resources to focus on real problems."
"It is easy to use."
"What I like the most is the simplicity and ease of usage."
"The initial setup is pretty straightforward."
"We are all familiar with it, and it is easy to use. There is a lot of flexibility, and you can add shapes if you want."
"Good interface and good tool configuration."
"It's a very flexible solution."
"The Data Objects are hyperlinked to the Standard Operating Procedures, Letters, and Forms."
"The solution makes it very easy to make exciting pictures and designs. Everything is very intuitive and simple to figure out."
"The solution is very, very expensive. It would be ideal if it was a more affordable product."
"There are many areas of this solution that needs to be changed."
"SAP PowerDesigner can improve the ease of use. It is not the best tool on the market because it is tough to navigate and use. A beginner would not be able to use it well, it requires some experience. If the solution was more user-friendly it would be able to be used by more audiences. I do not think many people are aware of this solution and they should use it."
"Technical support could be better and more human."
"The solution itself does not need to be improved. However, they could add support for different languages."
"Regarding improvements, I suggest enhancing the connection between objects in process and data models. It's crucial to define the structure of objects, especially when dealing with standard frameworks like VMM. There should be better visualization of arrows between BPM and data modeling objects, specifying their structure and impact. For future versions, a feature similar to Bizagi, allowing users to see forms or SQL representations of objects, would be valuable for demonstrating and presenting project details to stakeholders."
"I've tried to use Power Designer to bring in images, which didn't work very well at all."
"There should be a better usage of current hardware including multicore CPUs, higher resolutions, and multiple displays."
"They have to improve shapes. It has good shapes, but it certainly can have more shapes. There are no U shapes. It also requires more customizations. There are a lot of icons, but they can be modernized more. These icons have to be more customizable so that we are able to change the color and things like that. It should also have more integration so that we can use it with other tools on the web. We don't use Microsoft Teams. We use Discord, which is more for gamers. It would be helpful if Visio is integrated with Discord. I can then show my work to my team. We use Visio, and it is a must-have solution for us, but being a startup, we don't have the money to use the whole Microsoft system. Some day we will use Office. For companies like us, there should be connectors for other software. We should be able to use a connector with the software that we are using or with the new generation solutions. Connectors will make it very easy to transfer data."
"The control flow feature needs to be improved. I compared Visio to Bizagi and found that control flow is better with Bizagi. The improvements that can be made to the solution depends on the user."
"There are some issues in Visio with the connectors, and it gets tricky when you want to connect objects with each other."
"The only downside to Visio is the learning curve."
"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."
"The user interface could be more robust."
"Transferring data was one of the issues that I expected Visio to have resolved. I use the older version."
"The behavior of the interface can sometimes be unpredictable."
SAP PowerDesigner is ranked 5th in Enterprise Architecture Management with 34 reviews while Visio is ranked 1st in Business Process Design with 100 reviews. SAP PowerDesigner is rated 7.8, while Visio is rated 7.8. The top reviewer of SAP PowerDesigner writes "Effective in terms of validating everything, but sometimes they don't allow us some flexibility and GUI could improve". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Visio writes "A software for drawing a variety of diagrams which include flowcharts, org charts, building plans, floor plans, data flow diagrams". SAP PowerDesigner is most compared with erwin Data Modeler by Quest, Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect, IDERA ER/Studio, LeanIX and BiZZdesign HoriZZon, whereas Visio is most compared with Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect, Bizagi, Visual Paradigm, IBM Blueworks Live and MEGA HOPEX.
We monitor all Enterprise Architecture Management reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.
