Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

ARIS BPA vs IBM Rational System Architect comparison

The compared Software AG and IBM solutions aren't in the same category. Software AG is ranked #6 in BPD , with an average rating of 8.3, and holds a 7.6% mindshare in the category. IBM is ranked #19 in AM , and holds a 1.8% mindshare. Additionally, 88% of Software AG users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 83% of IBM users who would recommend it.
ARIS BPA
Read 66 ARIS BPA reviews
  • 4,394 Views
  • 2,417 Comparison Views
88% willing to recommend
IBM Rational System Architect
Read 5 IBM Rational System Architect reviews
  • 774 Views
  • 421 Comparison Views
83% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report
Executive Summary
We performed a comparison between ARIS BPA and IBM Rational System Architect based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Camunda, Microsoft, SAP and others in Business Process Design.

DOWNLOAD THE COMPLETE REPORT
To learn more, read our detailed Business Process Design Report (Updated: May 2025).
Buyer's Guide
Business Process Design
May 2025
Download the complete report
Helped 856,873 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

ARIS BPA
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
66
Ranking in other categories
Business Process Design (6th), Business Process Management (BPM) (8th)
IBM Rational System Architect
Average Rating
7.4
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Architecture Management (19th)
 

Mindshare comparison

ARIS BPA and IBM Rational System Architect aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. ARIS BPA is designed for Business Process Design and holds a mindshare of 7.6%, down 9.2% compared to last year.
IBM Rational System Architect, on the other hand, focuses on Enterprise Architecture Management, holds 1.8% mindshare, down 2.3% since last year.
Business Process Design
Enterprise Architecture Management
 

Featured Reviews

Cirvesh-Daga - PeerSpot reviewer
Capable of handling a wide range of business processes but presents users complexity with two interfaces (Java application and web interface)
ARIS needs to make a better user interface. The user interface sucks. The problem with ARIS is that they have two interfaces for the same product. You can use either a Java application or a web interface. The web interface doesn't give you access to the same features as the Java application. You have to switch between the two interfaces to get some things done. The web interface is more intuitive, but it lacks the functionality of the Java interface. So I'd give it a six for that reason. The Java interface has more functionality, but it tends to run out of memory and has its own set of problems. So, I'd also give it a six out of ten because of the technology choice. It was really frustrating having two UIs for the same product, with some functionality in one and not in the other. They've got to do something about that.
Read full review
GM
Lots of valuable features, especially the metamodel customization
In terms of what could be improved, we did not take the whole package with all the modules, and I think that the integration with other platforms like Office could be better. The reverse engineering of the database is already there, but in the next release I would like to see some pilot supplied with the solution in order to address any database.
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 most valuable feature is the flexibility of the solution to fully customize the methodology according to the company's needs, and to enforce that methodology with features like filters, semantic checks, and reports."
"The tool has good navigation."
"The whole ARIS BPM solution is a bit special, because from the very beginning it was targeted more to Business users and the Management."
"Platform that it supports covers legacy and new. Caters to moving older objects into an integrated DB, relatively popular ones: SQL, Oracle, etc."
"The most valuable feature is the process documentation. For us, ARIS is a lifestyle more than a tool. It helps us learn how to think and how to plan for our system."
"I am an advanced user. ARIS BPM is intuitive for me because I know the UML, BPMN, and EPC methodologies implemented in this tool. It is very easy to create processes for restructuring a company with some descriptions."
"I like everything about ARIS BPA. I've used it for a long time and it's a fantastic tool. There is a list of things ARIS has that other solutions do not have."
"The most valuable features are business process modeling and reporting."
More ARIS BPA pros
"The solution is pretty stable."
"There are a lot of features I find valuable, but I think that the metamodel customization is one of the best features that the solution offers."
"The user interface is good. It's both clear and comprehensible. It's easy to work with."
"We have seen ROI with this solution over the years that we have used it."
 

Cons

"Migration to the next release is very tricky. You can't do it without support from ARIS or from a software kit. And it takes a lot of time and a lot of money to migrate. My impression is that a lot of companies do not migrate regularly because of that issue."
"The solution's processes are huge and it is not easy to get an overview of how things work. It needs to improve the interface. I would like to see the product include a better overview of processes and improve search."
"Since this is a design tool, seamless interface to make the process flows executable."
"Regarding stability, when there are any customized settings being done at customer end - post upgrade to newer versions - it makes the customer environment unstable for a short duration."
"There should be a more intuitive tool when creating reports."
"It needs external API and the ability to navigate back, similar to "Back" in web browser."
"The reporting capabilities and the ability to create custom reports need to be simplified and made easy so that people even with a good functional understanding of the tool can leverage it to create their own custom report."
"I had a hard time with ARIS's access and licensing policy. It requires you to pay for each step you want to take forward with the solution."
More ARIS BPA cons
"The reverse engineering of the database is already there, but in the next release I would like to see some pilot supplied with the solution in order to address any database."
"This solution can be more user-friendly and easier to use, with better dashboards."
"There needs to be more information at the outset about how to use the solution and how to deploy it. The deployment process needs improvement."
"The solution needs to better integrate with other products, like Microsoft."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"ARIS Express​ is free."
"The product is inexpensive."
"You will never get a fixed price for this product because they will go in and ask you what kind of environment would you like to set up? How many people will you work with? How big is your organization? Today, they have a fixed price to say, "Okay, just to start the business area, buy two licenses for modeling and eight people that can look into the product." They have this kind of fixed price. It's 50,000 Danish Krone. If you divided that by about six, then you get the pricing in dollars. Still, when you are going out, negotiate and find the right price. You will never get a fixed price: "It costs this and, if you take ten of these, seven of these and eight of these, and then it costs this." No, you negotiate every time."
"We have a concurrent license system."
"Prices are high. However, they are worth it if the organization utilizes the tool to its full potential."
"The setup cost and pricing depend on the license (Modeler, Viewer, Administrator)."
"ARIS has different licensing mechanisms for different modules, but they are perpetual licenses. So you pay once."
"Negotiate. Price is high so make sure you’re getting the best deal."
More ARIS BPA pricing and cost advice
Information not available
report
See which vendors are best for you
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Business Process Design solutions are best for your needs.
See recommendations
856,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
17%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Government
11%
Computer Software Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about ARIS BPA?
The most valuable features of ARIS BPA are its flexibility and reporting.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ARIS BPA?
Pricing for ARIS BPA is average, not cheap or expensive. It's cost-effective and worth the money we pay.
See all answers
What needs improvement with ARIS BPA?
I find it difficult to access the database as I want with direct querying. I must write scripts, which requires specific knowledge. Software AG could improve this by making the database more open. ...
See all answers
Ask a question
Earn 20 points
 

Comparisons

SAP Signavio Process Manager vs ARIS BPA Logo
SAP Signavio Process Manager vs ARIS BPA
Compared 24% of the time
ADONIS vs ARIS BPA Logo
ADONIS vs ARIS BPA
Compared 10% of the time
Camunda vs ARIS BPA Logo
Camunda vs ARIS BPA
Compared 7% of the time
Bizagi vs ARIS BPA Logo
Bizagi vs ARIS BPA
Compared 6% of the time
Visio vs ARIS BPA Logo
Visio vs ARIS BPA
Compared 6% of the time
More ARIS BPA Competitors
Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect vs IBM Rational System Architect Logo
Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect vs IBM Rational System Architect
Compared 60% of the time
MEGA HOPEX vs IBM Rational System Architect Logo
MEGA HOPEX vs IBM Rational System Architect
Compared 12% of the time
LeanIX vs IBM Rational System Architect Logo
LeanIX vs IBM Rational System Architect
Compared 10% of the time
erwin Data Modeler by Quest vs IBM Rational System Architect Logo
erwin Data Modeler by Quest vs IBM Rational System Architect
Compared 9% of the time
More IBM Rational System Architect Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
ARIS BPA
June 2025
ARIS BPA reportDownload ARIS BPA product report
Buyer's Guide
Enterprise Architecture Management
June 2025
IBM Rational System Architect reportDownload IBM Rational System Architect product report
 

Also Known As

ARIS, ARIS BPM
Rational System Architect
 

Overview

ARIS is the market-leading solution for professional business process management and modeling. Whether you want to document the "as-is" state of your operations for quality or certification reasons or design the "to-be" in terms of continuous improvement in your transformation program, ARIS is the best choice for establishing a single source of truth regarding all process excellence topics in your organization. It is for any organization looking to digitally transform their business, increase operational excellence and customer experience and ensure compliance in execution. ARIS helps you to make the most out of your processes with Process Mining, Risk & Compliance Management, RPA and much more.

What makes the difference?

  • The most comprehensive platform for process excellence in the market
  • Easy to use
  • Covers business & IT architecture from all angles
  • Full flexibility and >100 diagram types
  • Customer-driven development based on best practices
  • Strong partner ecosystem

ARIS is the market-leading solution for any organization and ideally suited to digitally transform the organization, increase operational excellence and customer experience and ensure compliance in execution.

Software AG
IBM Rational System Architect is an enterprise architecture solution for visualizing, analyzing, and communicating enterprise architecture and business process analysis. This solution provides decision support, process optimization, and integration into solution delivery. Rational System Architect addresses all aspects of your organization's enterprise architecture, including modeling, publishing, analysis, and execution.
IBM
 

Sample Customers

Tesco, Weifu, Airbus, Siemens, Proximus, Alicorp, Sekerbank, Bancor, Philips,Sky, Emirates NBD, Dubai Municipality, Suva, U.S. Army, Australia Post, Westfalen Weser Energie - ARIS serves customers across all industries and of every size worldwide. Companies trust ARIS as the market leader for process excellence with more than 30 years of experience in the market, 10 million users worldwide, from 1 user companies to the Fortune 500.
Wuxi Lake Cloud, Nationwide, ETI, IDS Scheer
Buyer's Guide
Business Process Design
May 2025
Download Free Report
Find out what your peers are saying about Camunda, Microsoft, SAP and others in Business Process Design. Updated: May 2025.
DOWNLOAD NOW
856,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.

We monitor all Business Process Design 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.