Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect vs erwin Evolve by Quest comparison

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between erwin Evolve by Quest and Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Enterprise Architecture Management solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.
To learn more, read our detailed Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect vs. erwin Evolve by Quest Report (Updated: March 2024).
768,857 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 initial setup was really straightforward and the deployment was done within one day.""We can efficiently deploy business models into the databases and generate SQL scripts.""There is a model behind it. It's really nice that the Evolve front-end, as it builds a website, keeps those relationships in mind. You can even go to a procedure and see all the applications that are related to it. Then you can go into that application and see all the standard operating procedures that that application is a part of. It's just very connected.""The ability to share and collaborate on the solution is its most valuable feature.""One of the most valuable features is the website that sits on top of the database. There's a database of objects and how they are related, and you can make views and diagrams and visual elements out of that information on the website. The website is the part that is called Evolve and we use the Evolve Designer and publish the website out to our employees. They can click around and navigate and search, etc.""We use erwin Evolve to publish to the website. This allows us to enable publishing our website using parameterisation features. In a very fast, quick way, we can publish a table or chart onto a website.""I can send images in the PDF form, along with the relationships and the associations that are a very important part of what we do. It can show what is affected and what is impacted by a certain change in one area of the system architecture or enterprise architecture. I can very quickly draw those issues and topics to the fore.""Support for a broad range of data sources from relational to big data to the Cloud."

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"Automated document generation is a real time saver, no more cut and paste, no more keeping track of which diagrams are in which reports, no more last minute update panics. Just click a mouse and you've got an up to date report.""It's a stable and scalable solution. I like that it's similar to Rational Rose.""Simplified our task at maintaining architecture information and traceability with requirements.""The most valuable features are the flexibility and adaptability of Sparx Enterprise Architect.""Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect is very flexible and it is simple to define the metamodel. Additionally, it is lightweight on resources.""Its ease of use and the breadth of the toolkit are most valuable. It has an incredible repository of artifacts to work with, and they're all cross-referenced. It works with a whole bunch of different standards. It works with BPMN, which is Business Process Modeling Notation, and it also works with something called TOGAF, which is the Open Group Architecture Foundation. There are different layers when you're dealing with architecture. There is the user interface, application, data, data servers, and all that kind of stuff. You have the infrastructure, hardware, and software layers, and then you have the application and business capability layers. You can model a business process and decompose it into all of the applications, data, and hardware to support it.""The most valuable feature of Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect is the value streams.""We have found the stability to be very reliable."

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Cons
"Business process modelling could be improved.""Add some ability to do conditional Visualization on the models and in reports (some ideas) – maybe as a specialized Theme or Diagram or Display.""I would like it to be easier to make changes and then deploy them into production, especially when you have multiple web servers or front-ends. It would be nice to make a change and then have it propagate to the production servers in a more automated fashion.""What they need to do is to consolidate more of their products. For example, I was just looking and I couldn't figure out what erwin DT is. It's on the website but it would help if they could put information together and make it more clear as to what products they have and how they work with other things.""Evolve is primarily focused on the entity's licenses diagrams, but it would be nice if erwin could integrate case development, so that it shows the ER diagram plus certain inputs on the use cases and how the data is used. That deviates somewhat from the overall scope, so maybe they could call it a different product.""It could have had a more streamlined navigation. It seemed that when you went to the explorer panel, there were just so many different ways of doing the work that I could not remember, "How did I do this? How did I get to that point in that model to get back to it?" If I wanted to build a new one, where do I start? It just seemed like there was such a smorgasbord of ways of doing it that it was just overwhelming.""The solution's integration capabilities with other tools in our system has not been all that well done. We have people who use ARIS, who use System Architect and, of course, Visio. erwin has very limited ways to import and export from those kinds of tools. It's not a very easy thing to do.""With the Excel importing, the "up to date" part is the challenge. If we had a real-time integration, we could keep things up to date for whatever kinds of change points we had. With Excel, it is more that you have to export from one system then import it to another, so it's better for data that doesn't change that often."

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"From a practical point of view, we need speed and reliability for creating a model and doing some really meaningful tasks such as application landscape, refactoring, etc. These are two primary criteria. Sometimes, when you import something, it creates the object duplicates, or it allows you to do something that you're not supposed to do. For example, validation is missing. This could be frustrating because when you work at a high speed, you need to come back and start fixing things that the tool allowed you to go with, which is not quite good. So, there should probably be some internal mechanisms to advise you about what you're doing and what is probably not the best idea.""The UI could be improved and made a little bit more presentable.""Not visually appealing.""The stability and performance of Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect could still be improved. Setup for it is also slightly complicated and could be improved.""It would be nice to have it supported on the Linux operating system.""The presentation graphics need to be improved in future builds.""The Business Process Modeling or BPM feature can be improved to make it more interactive and user friendly because it is a tool for technical people. My current use is only for business process modeling notation and putting in the icons etc. You need to take them in as a class, which makes things very complex. Because of this complexity, it is not an easy-to-handle solution. Enterprise Architect is not very good for mockups. We cannot create user screens and other similar kinds of stuff, which is bad. For these things, we prefer to use Axure RP and other similar solutions. They should either remove this feature from this product or provide some kind of connectivity with Axure RP so that people can do better mockups of screens and import them. They need to augment and strengthen the BPM feature, which is the main feature. They need to put in some elements like artificial intelligence and augmented reality. They should look into such features because these things are coming up.""The modeling tool is targeted toward a sophisticated user."

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Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "Unless you are a one person shop – always go with the Workgroup edition and Concurrent licensing."
  • "On a yearly basis, our licensing costs are 50,000 euro. There are no additional costs because we are on a SaaS model."
  • "The cost is something like $15,000, per license. But I haven't looked at those numbers in three years. It was over $100,000 to initially set everything up and get it all configured."
  • "The licensing enables you to differentiate between people who edit the content and the people who consume it. We are able to keep the licensing costs down by keeping the "contributor" licenses to a minimum, and we then just roll out the content in a read-only version for the rest of our users."
  • "Yearly, our cost is €100,000."
  • "I think erwin is quite expensive. I have difficulty selling the portal, in fact."
  • "I estimate that we pay between $40,000 and $50,000 a year for the solution, not including the upfront costs to buy things the first time."
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  • "The Corporate Edition, or one of the bundles, is the way to go."
  • "Use floating licenses strategically."
  • "The pricing for ultimate version is steeply high."
  • "Licenses are pretty low cost compared to, for example, ARIS."
  • "It’s the best deal in town, by far."
  • "Pricing and licensing is very attractive, simple, and straightforward."
  • "Pricing and licensing are suitable even for small companies."
  • "In terms of cost, Sparx EA is probably one of the cheapest tools I have ever used."
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    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:Evolve's reverse engineering ability is quite useful.
    Top Answer:Evolve is primarily focused on the entity's licenses diagrams, but it would be nice if erwin could integrate case development, so that it shows the ER diagram plus certain inputs on the use cases and… more »
    Top Answer:I rate erwin Evolve by Quest a nine out of ten.
    Top Answer:In my opinion, there is no real difference between the three tools. All three are software that help organizations model and document their business processes. However, there are some key differences… more »
    Top Answer:The stability has been good and satisfactory. I would rate the stability a ten out of ten.
    Top Answer:It's reasonably priced for large organizations, though it may be perceived as expensive for individual users.
    Ranking
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    9.0
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    Rating
    7.1
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    erwin EA, erwin Business Process, erwin Enterprise Architecture
    Learn More
    Sparx Systems
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    Overview

    erwin is used by more than 50,000 professionals in 60+ countries to get big results from their enterprise data initiatives. erwin is the #1 choice in virtually every industry, from government and healthcare to retail and finance.

    erwin Modeling provides a collaborative environment to manage enterprise data through an intuitive, graphical interface. With a centralized view of key data definitions, you can leverage information as a strategic asset and more efficiently manage your data resources to save time and money.

    Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect is an enterprise solution that helps streamline, accelerate, and integrate software, system, and business development. With this intuitive modeling and design solution, enterprises can stay in control of their workplaces, enable collaboration, support their teams and colleagues, and manage complex projects. Software architects, business analysts, project managers, developers, support staff, and testers can unite under a single repository. Through numerous view points and potential sub-systems, users are offered a unified view in a complex environment.

    With Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect, users are also offered a shared model option which can be accessed quickly and securely by in-office and remote team members through the Enterprise Architect’s Pro Cloud Server. Building a coherent, verifiable model can be done by connecting and integrating a variety of behavioral and structural information in visual form. As a result, Enterprise Architect offers high performance, flexibility, and the ability to model, manage, and trace every stage of the business development and modeling process.

    Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect Features

    Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect assists in creating a unified and accessible vision in business development by offering a flexible platform with a unique set of rich features. These features include:

    • Test and debug - Streamline software development and visualize software with the simulation process. Users can test and confirm correct behavior, set and oversee test points, and debug and examine software.
    • Track tasks - Track, prioritize, and assign individual and group tasks to assist in the model’s development. Users can visually monitor their progress through the Gantt chart.
    • Open standards - Users can visualize and analyze running software with integrated custom tools. They can also run advanced simulations, team-based repositories, testing tools, and version control. In addition, the solution supports enterprise architecture frameworks such as UPDM and TOGAF.
    • Simulation - Create and debug embedded solutions by simulating behaviors and state models. Users can specify events, triggers, constraints, and more. Users can also specify extensive and complex structural systems and create custom domain-specific solutions.

    Reviews from Real Users

    Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect merges high-end tools, online availability, a dedication to open standards, and accessible pricing so enterprises can stay in control of their workplaces, whether remote or in-office. Users particularly like the architectural frameworks and the scalability.

    Marc L., a principal architecture enterprise solution adviser at Cronomagic Canada, notes, "The product offers very good support for all mainstream modeling notations and architectural frameworks."

    An enterprise architect at a manufacturing company writes, "Scalable solution for modeling, project sharing, and collaboration. Support for it is good."

    Sample Customers
    AT&T, Bank of America, Chevron, Duke University, ESPN, Fidelity, GE, JP Morgan Chase, KPMG, McGraw Hill, NASA, Pfizer, Royal Bank of Scotland, Teradata, Union Pacific, Vodafone, Wells Fargo.
    OmniLink
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Comms Service Provider30%
    Insurance Company10%
    Financial Services Firm10%
    Computer Software Company10%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Financial Services Firm21%
    Computer Software Company14%
    Government8%
    Manufacturing Company7%
    REVIEWERS
    Government16%
    Financial Services Firm11%
    Manufacturing Company9%
    Energy/Utilities Company9%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Educational Organization14%
    Government12%
    Financial Services Firm11%
    Computer Software Company10%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business33%
    Midsize Enterprise10%
    Large Enterprise57%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business20%
    Midsize Enterprise13%
    Large Enterprise67%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business33%
    Midsize Enterprise16%
    Large Enterprise50%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business16%
    Midsize Enterprise23%
    Large Enterprise62%
    Buyer's Guide
    Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect vs. erwin Evolve by Quest
    March 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect vs. erwin Evolve by Quest and other solutions. Updated: March 2024.
    768,857 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    erwin Evolve by Quest is ranked 9th in Enterprise Architecture Management with 19 reviews while Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect is ranked 2nd in Enterprise Architecture Management with 97 reviews. erwin Evolve by Quest is rated 7.8, while Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect is rated 8.0. The top reviewer of erwin Evolve by Quest writes "Enables us to present data and objects visually, in diagrams, and to make them available via the web. Also enables web-based editing of data". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect writes "Easy to set up and had no issues with stability, but it's not a very friendly tool, and its database modeling and entity-relationship modeling functions need improvement". erwin Evolve by Quest is most compared with LeanIX, erwin Data Modeler by Quest, IDERA ER/Studio, SAP PowerDesigner and Avolution ABACUS, whereas Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect is most compared with Visual Paradigm, Visio, No Magic MagicDraw, Lucidchart and LeanIX. See our Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect vs. erwin Evolve by Quest report.

    See our list of best Enterprise Architecture Management vendors and best Business Process Design 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.