Alfabet Enterprise Architecture Management vs erwin Data Modeler by Quest comparison

Software AG and erwin by Quest are both solutions in the Enterprise Architecture Management category. Software AG is ranked #18, while erwin by Quest is ranked #3 with an average rating of 8.2. Software AG holds a 2.6% mindshare in AM, compared to erwin by Quest’s 10.2% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Software AG users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 95% of erwin by Quest users who would recommend it.

Alfabet Enterprise Architec...

Read 3 Alfabet Enterprise Architecture Management reviews

709 Views
463 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

erwin Data Modeler by Quest

Read 39 erwin Data Modeler by Quest reviews

3,669 Views
2,004 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

Alfabet Enterprise Architec...

erwin Data Modeler by Quest

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 2024

Alfabet Enterprise Architecture Management and erwin Data Modeler by Quest are key players in enterprise software, catering to distinct aspects of business needs. Alfabet leads with architecture planning, but erwin's strong data modeling makes it appealing for tech buyers seeking detailed data analysis capabilities.

Features: Alfabet Enterprise Architecture Management is recognized for its strategic planning tools, aiding comprehensive enterprise architecture planning. It includes features that enhance enterprise governance. erwin Data Modeler by Quest delivers intricate data modeling and advanced analytics, ideal for designing detailed database models and performing complex data analysis. It's suited for environments that prioritize data precision.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Alfabet Enterprise Architecture Management offers a streamlined deployment designed for architecture management, paired with comprehensive support. erwin Data Modeler by Quest ensures efficient deployment with strong technical support, addressing data modeling needs effectively. While Alfabet's setup might be more involved due to its broad integration focus, erwin offers a simpler deployment process.

Pricing and ROI: Alfabet Enterprise Architecture Management involves higher upfront costs, providing a notable ROI through scalability and effective architectural efficiencies. erwin Data Modeler by Quest may have lower initial costs but promises a substantial ROI with its powerful data modeling and analytical features. Buyers looking for data-focused solutions might find erwin to be a more valuable option, while Alfabet justifies its price with long-term architectural advantages.

To learn more, read our detailed Alfabet Enterprise Architecture Management vs. erwin Data Modeler by Quest Report (Updated: June 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Alfabet Enterprise Architecture Management vs. erwin Data Modeler by Quest

June 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 860,168 peers since 2012

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Alfabet Enterprise Architec...

Ranking in Enterprise Architecture Management

18th

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

5.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

erwin Data Modeler by Quest

Ranking in Enterprise Architecture Management

3rd

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Business Process Design (10th)

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Enterprise Architecture Management category, the mindshare of Alfabet Enterprise Architecture Management is 2.6%, up from 2.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of erwin Data Modeler by Quest is 10.2%, up from 10.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Enterprise Architecture Management

Featured Reviews

AlanJackson

Partner: Enterprise Strategy & Advisory at Wipro Limited

Great taxonomy support but raw business processing should be upgraded

Alfabet is not just a technology tool, it's also a business tool. And if a decision's made without the business involved, then Alfabet will not be in a position to deliver anything more than support for enterprise architect drawings and solutions drawings. It has to be the business. If you do that, it works well. If you don't and I've had the experience where they haven't evolved a business, then it just becomes a tech tool that the business doesn't care about. The stigma of having an environment that was so delayed in the maintenance caused lots of finger-pointing within the organization of who was right and who was wrong. It took a considerable period of time to move people past that point to actually look at it as a business tool supported by the technology team. I rate the solution seven out of 10.

Read full review

JorgeSanz

Data Governance Senior Advisor at Abu Dhabi National Oil Company

Streamline data modeling and automate network changes for increased efficiency

The initial setup depends on the tool if you are using the data model environment. Stopping the server could be complex and require strong expertise. If you have everything set up and configured, Erwin is straightforward. You can deploy it in a few hours. In our case, it took a couple of months to address internal conditions, assign machines, and set up everything for the services. I rate the initial setup a six out of ten, where one is difficult and ten is easy.

Read full 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 straightforward. It takes two to three days to set up the environment. One person was able to handle the implementation."

"The most valuable features of this solution are its customizability, and flexibility in the configuration."

"The taxonomy support across all the phases is the most advantageous feature."

"The most valuable features are being able to visualize the data in the diagrams and transform those diagrams into physical database deployments. These features help, specifically, to integrate the data. When the source data is accumulated and modeled, the target model is in erwin and it helps resolve the data integration patterns that are required to map the data to accommodate a model."

"The data lineage feature is very valuable."

"We use the macros with naming standards patterns, domains, datatypes, and some common attributes. As far as other automations, a feature of the Bulk Editor is mass updates. When it sees something is nonstandard or inaccurate, it will export the better data out. Then, I can easily see which entities and attributes are not inline or standard. I can easily make changes to what was uploaded to the Bulk Editor. When taking on a new project, it can save you about a half a day on a big project across an entire team."

"erwin has versioning so you can keep versions, over time, of those models and you can compare any version to any version. If you're looking at a specific database and you want to see what changed over time, that's really useful. You can go back to a different version or connect that to your change-control processes so you can see what was released when."

"It supports a wide variety of databases, including the latest ones. We have chosen to go for a cloud-based database, and it supports that, which is very useful."

"Another feature of erwin is that it can help you enforce your naming standards. It has little modules that you can set up and, as you're building the data model, it's ensuring that they conform to the naming standards that you've developed."

"It's a safeguard for me because I'm always concerned that somebody is free handing it and will forget a key coming from the parent. The migrating keys are a great feature. Identifying relationships, non-identifying relationships, and being visually right there to understand the differences are great features. erwin is key to being able to visually understand whatever the customer is requesting. They'll give you words on a paper, but once they can actually view it as a picture, it really comes to life. The data comes to life to where they understand exactly what they're asking for."

"I have worked with erwin Data Modeler for quite some time and familiarity is its most valuable feature."

More erwin Data Modeler by Quest pros

Cons

"We would like to see the visualization of assets, as well as artificial intelligence techniques to assist us in making our decisions."

"The product is not great at implementing security frameworks across an end-to-end supply chain."

"The user experience, the layout and the different technologies behind the presentations are a bit old. These need to be updated. They should focus on web development. It's simply not supporting the current user experience guidelines."

"The navigation is a little bit of a challenge. It's painful. For example, if you've got a view open and you want to try to move from side to side, the standard today is being able to drag and drop left and right. You can't really do that in the model. Moving around the model is painful because it doesn't follow the Windows model today."

"The Bulk Editor needs improvement. If you had something that was a local model to your local machine, you could connect to the API, then it would write directly into the repository. However, when you have something that is on the centralized server, that functionality did not work. Then, you had to export out to a CSV and upload up to the repository. It would have been nice to be able to do the direct API without having that whole download and upload thing. Maybe I didn't figure it out, but I'm pretty sure that didn't work when it was a model that sat on a centralized repository."

"I would like to have more data sources from other, different vendors. In recent years, the vendor has reduced the number of data sources, and I would like to have more data sources for every brand. For example, with Oracle, I would like to have compatibility for many versions, including old ones, not just the most recent."

"The solution's model mark could be better because it crashes sometimes."

"The reverse engineering in Oracle Databases needs improvement, as there are issues."

"Although Quest Software has made tremendous strides in recent years, they need to evolve more in the big data arena; erwin Data Modeler could use a little more work when it comes to big database designs."

"I would like to see improved reporting and, potentially, dashboards built on top of that. Right now, it's a little manual. More automated reporting and dashboard views would help because currently you have to push things out to a spreadsheet, or to HTML, and there aren't many other options that I know of. I would like to be able to produce graphs and additional things right in the tool, instead of having to export the data somewhere else."

"In terms of improvements, support could have been better in terms of installation, especially of workgroups. We struggled quite a bit to get it up and running. Collaboration could have been better from an installation perspective, but it is trivial as compared to what we use it for. Other than that, I don't have much feedback. It works pretty well, and the fact that we've been using it for more than a decade shows that it is quite solid."

More erwin Data Modeler by Quest cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"The solution is expensive."

"The pricing of the solution is cheap. I rate the pricing a five out of ten."

"Though the solution is not cheap, it's worth the money."

"I don't specifically know what we're paying now. About three years ago, in another organization, I have this memory of 6,000 AUD a seat or something like that, but I am not sure. In the mid-2000s, it was something like 1,200 AUD a seat. I get the impression that there was a price jump when it was spun off from CA as a separate company, which is understandable, but it could sometimes be a barrier in some organizations picking it up. I haven't talked to erwin people yet, but I'm going to suggest to them that they could perhaps think of having an entry-level product that is priced a bit lower, and then, you can buy the extra suite."

"Price-wise, erwin Data Modeler is okay. You can purchase a single license and it is not very expensive."

"It is not a very expensive solution. Only the licensing and maintenance fee needs to be paid."

"The primary reasons that erwin was selected were that it was much more affordable for us [than Embarcadero] and it was easily maintainable."

"There is either a one-year or three-year license. It is not a pay-as-you-go license like a SaaS solution. It’s more of a traditional licensing. They are a little bit on the pricier side."

More erwin Data Modeler by Quest pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Enterprise Architecture Management solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

860,168 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

17%

Government

Computer Software Company

Insurance Company

Financial Services Firm

19%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Government

Computer Software Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

Ask a question

Earn 20 points

What do you like most about erwin Data Modeler by Quest?

Forward engineering, DDL generation, reverse engineering, and reporting are the most valuable features of the solution.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for erwin Data Modeler by Quest?

The product is expensive. I rate the product’s pricing a nine out of ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive.

See all answers

What needs improvement with erwin Data Modeler by Quest?

As a documenting tool, it's solid, though its reporting could be more robust. The reporting mechanisms could be more intuitive regarding report creation. It can generate reports in CSV files, displ...

See all answers

Comparisons

LeanIX vs Alfabet Enterprise Architecture Management

Compared 34% of the time

BiZZdesign HoriZZon vs Alfabet Enterprise Architecture Management

Compared 31% of the time

MEGA HOPEX vs Alfabet Enterprise Architecture Management

Compared 13% of the time

Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect vs Alfabet Enterprise Architecture Management

Compared 8% of the time

Avolution ABACUS vs Alfabet Enterprise Architecture Management

Compared 7% of the time

More Alfabet Enterprise Architecture Management Competitors

SAP PowerDesigner vs erwin Data Modeler by Quest

Compared 34% of the time

IDERA ER/Studio vs erwin Data Modeler by Quest

Compared 20% of the time

Lucidchart vs erwin Data Modeler by Quest

Compared 13% of the time

Visio vs erwin Data Modeler by Quest

Compared 7% of the time

Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect vs erwin Data Modeler by Quest

Compared 6% of the time

More erwin Data Modeler by Quest Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Enterprise Architecture Management

June 2025

Alfabet Enterprise Architecture Management report

Download Alfabet Enterprise Architecture Management product report

Buyer's Guide

erwin Data Modeler by Quest

June 2025

Download erwin Data Modeler by Quest product report

Also Known As

No data available

erwin DM

Overview

Software AG's Alfabet Enterprise Architecture Management Platform provides a collaborative platform for aligning the IT landscape with the business to guide competitive transformation. You can describe complex IT systems in terms of their business, application, information and technical layers, and develop standards for change. Build the foundation for business-IT transformation with an accurate, real-time picture of the IT landscape, including all applications and technologies, the inter-relationships between them, the information they exchange as well as the business organizations and processes they support.

Software AG

erwin pioneered data modeling, and erwin Data Modeler (erwin DM) remains trusted, award-winning software for data modeling and database design, automating complex and time-consuming tasks. Use it to discover and document any data from anywhere for consistency, clarity and artifact reuse across large-scale data integration, master data management, metadata management, Big Data, business intelligence and analytics initiatives – all while supporting data governance and intelligence efforts.

erwin by Quest

Sample Customers

Metro Bank, Credit Suisse

Premera, America Honda Motors, Aetna, Kaiser Permanente, Dental Dental Cali, Cigna, Staples

Buyer's Guide

Alfabet Enterprise Architecture Management vs. erwin Data Modeler by Quest

June 2025

Free Report: Alfabet Enterprise Architecture Management vs. erwin Data Modeler by Quest

Find out what your peers are saying about Alfabet Enterprise Architecture Management vs. erwin Data Modeler by Quest and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

860,168 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our Alfabet Enterprise Architecture Management vs. erwin Data Modeler by Quest report.

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.