Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect Reviews

We are mostly using the ArchiMate language to describe enterprise or solution architecture, along with a bit of use cases. We are producing quite large models, with over 10,000 elements and relationships. Sometimes, we prepare the designs, describe the models, and automatically generate documentation from them.

The solution allows us to quickly present designs and concepts to customers and get their feedback, thereby moving the project forward step by step. We work with the model to prepare the templates for document generation and deliver the final documentation to the customer efficiently.

My company uses Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect for data modeling, but it's not being used very much because it's not a suitable tool. It's a UML-based toolset, and my company was looking to do entity-relationship modeling, so Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect is not as suitable. My only involvement with Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect was to try and do some data modeling on a MySQL database based on AWS.

Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect didn't improve my company. I'd rather use Visio to do my diagramming because it's a tool that's easier to use.

Modeling future solutions and using BPMN or use cases. So, in general, creating direct accounts.

We use it On the analyst level. So, analysts create specifications or storage using this tool. 

Sparx helped us facilitate better system modeling and design in our organization.  

I have used the solution to manage software architecture.

The solution offers different types of models and features apart from diagrams. It also supports giant patterns for software systems with a high level of extraction independent from implementation networks. 

We use Sparx to design the whole enterprise architecture, from the highest level down to the physical level, and to generate those XML messages. Also, we generate the DDL for the database to support DevOps. 

In the beginning, I didn't have any training. I just wanted to try, but I spent two hours and I couldn't do anything. I clicked here, then clicked there—it didn't work. Eventually, I learned how to use it, but in the beginning, it wasn't very straightforward. Usually, because of my computer experience, I can do things by intuition. So if you do not get training, read the user manual, or Google how to use it, then it's hard to do anything. With some other tools, you can immediately do something, but I had to take some time with this one.

We're still investigating it on the structural side. Our primary focus is on CCML and UML, the creation of documents, and requirement management. After that, we will teach our company about how we're going to use the product. I am using its latest version. It is deployed on-premises on the company cloud.

It is a very flexible product. It can do a lot. It is also a reliable product. 

There are several ‘primary’ use case:

1: Designing a solution

2: Reverse-engineering the solution from a poorly documented code base - all too common in my 25 years of coding.

3: Communication of concepts, rules, ideas to devs, testers, dev team management

4: Importantly keeping the evolving codebase and the design ‘close-coupled’, with EA that is easy. Code evolves and sometimes the design often changes a lot - how often do devs avoid the design because it’s just way outdated?? It should be the first port of call in a bug fix - not the last.

High/Low-level Design, Test case identification. Mindmapping, functional requirements elicitation, use case elicitation, test cases, activity diagrams. I am a contract developer/designer, for me, it’s vital to get up to speed quickly with new and complex systems. I have often used my own EA license to get a handle on the real model - for me, that's been vital.

Sparx has mainly improved my organization through the communication of ideas through the sharing of models and a variety of diagramming techniques. Consistency is a key attribute of a good codebase. This tool helps a lot in the maintenance and organization of a lot of complexity.

It has led some teams to do better code reviews - to be less focussed on coding conventions (syntax) and more focussed on the semantics because of the abstraction level clear design affords.

We all know understanding is ALL - so Communication is vital, this tool makes it easy.

The solution is used for Modeling enterprise architecture artifacts, and also for project delivery artifacts as well. So solution architectures, designs. Sometimes I've used it for requirement gathering for functional and non- functional.

Working with the solution being right around keeping an asset repository that various projects and programs can utilize. So it's about reusability of assets and making sure that a baseline can be achieved against which a target can be models. So it allows the baseline to be models and maintained well.