Avolution ABACUS vs IDERA ER/Studio comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Avolution ABACUS and IDERA ER/Studio 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.
To learn more, read our detailed Enterprise Architecture Management Report (Updated: March 2024).
765,234 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"The most valuable feature is the traceability, you can trace any object to the other.""There are plenty of features available such as the ability to test applications for issues and a user-friendly dashboard.""The product is easy to use and well-structured for the integrations we need it to make.""The ease of modeling and the ease of showing interconnectivity and relationships is the most valuable. It is fairly simple and out of the box. It is customizable in many ways. It is a pretty good tool.""The tool's implementation is straightforward as everything is readily available. For instance, setting up a portal is seamless, allowing easy publishing and access to data. However, integrating with other tools like BI, Power BI, or Grafana requires setting up pipelines between them.""The most valuable feature is that it has a customizable meta-model, which is key.""Scalable and stable tool for roadmapping and modeling, with a good dashboard, end-to-end impact analysis, and portfolio management.""If you face new challenges or issues then you can dynamically customize according to the business needs."

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"The data modeling and reverse engineering features are most important to us.""One of the valuable features is inheritance when joining tables. When setting up RI and domains and rules, ER/Studio does a lot of the grunt, boilerplate code that would otherwise have to be hand-coded.""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.""The tool is simple to use.""Using this product has improved the way we maintain our models because they have a place where we can keep all of them, and they can be viewed using the web interface.""We can track changes to our data models and tie those changes back to specific tasks or efforts that we identify.""It does the job.""We have a database design group of about 15 people. The Repository enables multiple people to work on the same model at the same time. We have fully integrated models, so we have one model for the enterprise data warehouse, one model for MDM, with a lot of sub-models in these things. People work on different parts of the model at different times. So the repository enables us to share the models, and keep track of what everybody is working on."

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Cons
"They should take more initiative to implement things that competing products have already come out with.""In the future, there could be improvements in integration and enhancements.""The usability of the tool is an area with shortcomings that need improvement.""Avolution ABACUS has the drawback of needing data filtering at the development level, unlike some tools that offer filtering at deployment. Two areas where Avolution ABACUS could be improved are regional support and flexibility in model selection. Sometimes, it's challenging to access support or updates in certain regions, which can slow down progress. Additionally, it would be beneficial if the tool allowed more flexibility in selecting multiple models within a single unit.""It doesn't have the simulation capability, which would be helpful in doing some business process analysis and improvements.""Having more control over page size is lacking in this product. Print utilization also needs to be improved.""I use reference models, which are taxonomies, in my EA work. It is a reference model/taxonomy of things with capabilities, sub capabilities, and sub-sub capabilities, so you're working it down. I haven't yet found a simple way to implement that in Abacus. It could be that it is there, but I don't know how to do it.""If they want to expand in the European market then they are going to have to improve their technical support."

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"The model diagram because very clumsy when you save it on the team server and the models are very big.""It would be helpful if they could create a generic JSON database type, as a target database, rather than a specific one like Mongo.""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.""The number of options can be overwhelming at times. That is not necessarily a bad thing but for a newbie, it can be daunting.""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.""They allow functionalities to be released before the full tests for catching and correcting errors are completed.""The solution could be sped up, as it is a little slow (e.g., when it's doing its database compare).""One limitation I have found in ER/Studio is that when you want to make some changes to the table definitions, you have to go item by item. You cannot do it globally. Another issue concerns defining the foreign keys between the different tables. It is a little more tedious in the ER/Studio than in ERrwin. With ERwin it is direct."

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Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "This solution is expensive for some people's budgets and they need to offer a Lite version at a cheaper price"
  • "To get a fairly extensive license for Enterprise Architects from Spark is approximately US $400.00, maybe less, but with Avolution Abacus it was approximately US $2000.00 per year, and that includes maintenance with the Abacus tool."
  • "It is competitive. It is not chump change. I am just using the studio version. I am not using the full enterprise version, which would probably cost me three times more for single-use, but it gives a lot more capability and analysis. It is server-based as well, and it is reasonably priced compared to a lot of the other tools. There are other tools that have other sorts of capabilities, but in order to use them, you'd really have to have like 50 users for the price to become justifiable."
  • "There is a subscription for this solution. We are on an annual subscription because you sometimes receive special offers the longer you subscribe."
  • "I'm paying on a yearly basis. I don't know whether it's a highly expensive tool or not. I'm getting a single version of it, and I don't have the enterprise part on it because I don't need the server component, and I don't need a web browser component. My estimate would be that it's a very reasonably priced tool given that you don't need to have licenses with everyone in order to get the information and the decision support capabilities out of the tool. You use the enterprise edition on top of the studio, which is the heart of the tool. I am not aware of any additional costs."
  • "The cost of Avolution ABACUS is reasonable, given the features they offer in comparison to other tools."
  • "The pricing is quite good compared to the competition and it is part of the reason we chose the product."
  • "My company makes annual payments toward the licensing costs of the solution. Considering the product's capabilities, its prices are very reasonable."
  • More Avolution ABACUS Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "The product is pricey."
  • "The process of licensing could be much simpler, from our experience."
  • "I'm a firm believer that all software is overpriced these days but, comparatively speaking, I think ER/Studio is worth the money."
  • "I feel the product's pricing is a good value."
  • "Pricing is on point, but do your due diligence - not every developer needs the tool."
  • "As an individual user, the renewal is a little costly."
  • "Pricing is expensive and on the higher-end."
  • "At my previous company using ER/Studio, a database compare took four hours before using the product and 15 minutes after using the product."
  • More IDERA ER/Studio Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:It is a very stable solution...The initial setup of Avolution ABACUS is very easy.
    Top Answer:My company makes annual payments toward the licensing costs of the solution. Considering the product's capabilities, its prices are very reasonable.
    Top Answer:Only 60 to 70 percent of the overall tool can be used, and it can be better. The usability of the tool is an area with shortcomings that need improvement.
    Top Answer:It isn't easy to compare the thousands of tables in the model against the database. The tool should improve the synchronization within the large organization
    Ranking
    Views
    2,921
    Comparisons
    1,487
    Reviews
    1
    Average Words per Review
    427
    Rating
    8.0
    Views
    2,119
    Comparisons
    1,517
    Reviews
    2
    Average Words per Review
    440
    Rating
    8.5
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    IDERA ER Studio, ER/Studio, ER/Studio Enterprise Team Edition
    Learn More
    Overview

    ABACUS is the enterprise architecture tool designed to have the quickest time-to-value. You can use it to build and maintain rich visual models from existing company data. ABACUS comes with standard industry frameworks as well as advanced analytic tools and best-in-class roadmapping and reporting functionality.

    With Avolution ABACUS You Can:

    • Strategize and analyze your organizational architecture with ease using data-driven diagrams
    • Enjoy connected data, models, and metrics across your whole enterprise
    • Work directly and securely in your browser, which is ideal for global teams and remote working

    Avolution ABACUS Features:

    • Modeling and roadmapping: ABACUS offers a fully provisioned modeling environment for enterprise and IT architecture, strategic planning, and digital business management.
    • Digital collaboration: Avolution ABACUS includes a feature that allows you to set up dashboards so you can tell data stories using business-friendly visualizations.
    • Portfolio management: Anyone can update their own data, which, in turn, reduces the workload of the enterprise architecture team.
    • Data-driven architecture: ABACUS’s data-driven architecture gives you the opportunity to design and automate key calculations using out-of-the-box or simple no-code algorithms.
    • Collaborative data management: Using this feature, you can save time with single sign-on (SSO) and AD Integrations; You can embed directly in MS Teams, Confluence, or other workplace social software.
    • Dynamic data visualizations: ABACUS’s graph view allows you to navigate through systems in a dynamic environment, as opposed to static diagram views.

    Avolution ABACUS Benefits:

    • Time efficient: Models and roadmaps automatically stay up-to-date, saving your organization a lot of time so you can focus on other priorities instead.
    • Centralized location: With Avolution ABACUS, you can connect all data in one place, keeping everything both consistent and accurate.
    • Full flexibility: ABACUS gives you full flexibility to adapt and configure your own metamodels with ease.
    • Complete visibility: Your whole enterprise can have visibility of the architecture through the use of digital collaboration and visually clear dashboards.
    • Machine learning: With Avolution ABACUS, you can employ machine learning to speed data management and analysis.
    • Spot dependencies: ABACUS helps your organization spot dependencies and impacts that might trip up your projects.
    • Fully customizable: Avolution ABACUS is fully customizable; Select, configure, or adapt your repository and metamodel. You can also automate metrics and analytics specific to your business.

    Reviews from Real Users:

    Andre W., Enterprise Architect at Enterprise Architecture Perspectives, says, "The most valuable feature is that it has a customizable meta-model, which is key.”

    The Lead Enterprise Domain Architects at a financial services firm feels that "The product is easy to use and well-structured for the integrations we need it to make.”

    "There are plenty of features available, such as the ability to test applications for issues and a user-friendly dashboard,” says Suresh T., Enterprise Digital Solution Architect at a tech services company.

    IDERA ER/Studio is a powerful suite for business-driven data modeling that enables companies to create an enterprise architecture foundation for data governance. With round-trip support for multiple database platforms, data architects have the power to reverse-engineer, analyze, and optimize existing databases easily from diverse platforms. Data professionals can easily capture and share models, metadata, data sources, and glossaries across the organization for improved alignment between the organization and Information Technology. Organizational stakeholders can take part in the metadata definition workflow and access information on models and metadata at the right level for their needs.

    Unlike its competition, it provides the broadest range of data platform support, industry-leading enterprise-level capabilities, visual data lineage and flow modeling, full dimensional modeling for data warehousing and business intelligence, and business data objects to bridge the gap between developers and data architects. It also provides a complete solution for enterprise architecture and data governance, extensive model change management, unique incorporation of true enterprise data dictionaries, unique linking of constructs across models, integrated visual data lineage import, and integrated data and business process modeling.

    Sample Customers
    Barclays
    Newmont Mining, Entrust, Accolade, TalkTalk, Catalina, Protective Life, NTT Data, dir systèmes, Microsoft; American Express, Astellas Pharma, AstraZeneca, Coriant, Fedex, GlaxoSmithKline, PepsiCo, Prudential, Wells Fargo
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Government75%
    Financial Services Firm25%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Financial Services Firm16%
    Government15%
    Computer Software Company9%
    Educational Organization6%
    REVIEWERS
    Government19%
    Healthcare Company14%
    Financial Services Firm14%
    Computer Software Company10%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Financial Services Firm20%
    Computer Software Company10%
    Government10%
    Manufacturing Company9%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business20%
    Midsize Enterprise20%
    Large Enterprise60%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business13%
    Midsize Enterprise16%
    Large Enterprise71%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business11%
    Midsize Enterprise29%
    Large Enterprise60%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business16%
    Midsize Enterprise9%
    Large Enterprise75%
    Buyer's Guide
    Enterprise Architecture Management
    March 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about LeanIX, Sparx Systems, erwin by Quest and others in Enterprise Architecture Management. Updated: March 2024.
    765,234 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Avolution ABACUS is ranked 8th in Enterprise Architecture Management with 13 reviews while IDERA ER/Studio is ranked 10th in Enterprise Architecture Management with 33 reviews. Avolution ABACUS is rated 8.2, while IDERA ER/Studio is rated 8.4. The top reviewer of Avolution ABACUS writes " An out of the box tool that creates reports on the fly that can help your client make better decisions". On the other hand, the top reviewer of IDERA ER/Studio writes "The solution has important reverse engineering features, but it needs a single sign-on feature". Avolution ABACUS is most compared with Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect, LeanIX, Visio, MEGA HOPEX and ARIS BPA, whereas IDERA ER/Studio is most compared with erwin Data Modeler by Quest, Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect, SAP PowerDesigner, erwin Evolve by Quest and Aqua Data Studio.

    See our list of best Enterprise Architecture Management vendors.

    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.