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BiZZdesign HoriZZon vs IBM Rational System Architect comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 2024

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

BiZZdesign HoriZZon
Ranking in Enterprise Architecture Management
6th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
5.7
Number of Reviews
19
Ranking in other categories
Business Process Design (10th)
IBM Rational System Architect
Ranking in Enterprise Architecture Management
18th
Average Rating
7.4
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Enterprise Architecture Management category, the mindshare of BiZZdesign HoriZZon is 4.7%, up from 4.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Rational System Architect is 2.1%, up from 1.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Architecture Management Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
BiZZdesign HoriZZon4.7%
IBM Rational System Architect2.1%
Other93.2%
Enterprise Architecture Management
 

Featured Reviews

Maamoun Hasuneh - PeerSpot reviewer
Chief Enterprise Architect at EVC
Architecture repository has strengthened data‑driven decisions and supported risk‑aware planning
BiZZdesign HoriZZon needs to publish its integration scenarios and integration points with other digital transformation tools such as IT service management, risk management, asset management, customer service, and ERP. The company should first build the scenario and define its integration points in business and technology to make customers more confident about having a complete solution. Currently, there is a challenge with the company to offer transparent and documented integration. They offer five integration points at a fixed price, but other things come at additional costs. However, specific information about what those additional items are, what the scenarios entail, what the schemas are, what the workflows include, and what the application integration involves is not provided. The learning portal does not include integration documentation at a high level or in detail. The portal does have comprehensive resources explaining how to make their website, how to create dashboards, and how to publish EA content, which are clear. The high-end tool on the laptop is also explained in detail, covering elements, relations, and everything as standard.
GM
IT/Business Architect at a financial services firm with 51-200 employees
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It is very easy to use. I can just click on an application component and find out if we are using this particular component. This provides us flexibility."
"The most valuable feature is that it allows you to work with different methods, using the same tool."
"BiZZdesign HoriZZon is scalable, and I'd give it an eight out of ten for scalability. Our customers are enterprise level companies, but the solution is suitable for small and mid-sized companies as well."
"One of the main advantages of this solution is that they have representation in the Open Group Forum, which means that any changes in ArchiMate are immediately implemented in BiZZdesign."
"The most valuable features of BiZZdesign HoriZZon include the diagrammatic representation of BPMN models, which I find good for modeling, and things such as capability maps."
"The enterprise studio where the modelling happens is valuable."
"The initial setup of this solution was very straightforward."
"The most valuable features are the application, portfolio, data, architectures, and modeling things."
"We have seen ROI with this solution over the years that we have used it."
"The user interface is good. It's both clear and comprehensible. It's easy to work with."
"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 solution is pretty stable."
 

Cons

"There is room for improvement in making it more seamless between the modeling and the analysis pieces. Sometimes you have to do some work in the backend to ensure that the HoriZZon portal really gets all of the information the way you want it. They are working on the seamlessness between what they call Enterprise Studio and HoriZZon."
"The repository of duplicate objects is bad."
"It takes a long time to learn and understand, which is a learning curve you have to go through, but once you know how it works, it's very nice to work with."
"There could be simpler modelling."
"Scalability is a bit of a problem for BiZZdesign. There is always a possibility it will failover."
"It lacks capabilities with regard to infrastructure modeling."
"It should be more open to integrating with other existing tools. Although there has been progress in the past."
"Integration definitely needs improvement. There are some restrictions. We've seen that it doesn't integrate with everything we might expect."
"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 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."
"The solution needs to better integrate with other products, like Microsoft."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"[The] Orbus... pricing model was based on every single functionality having a price. The pricing was comparable but if we wanted to scale, it would have ended up being a lot more expensive. BiZZdesign gave us one price with all of the functionality, and we could scale as much as we needed."
"First and foremost within the scope of improvement for the solution would be the cost. It's very costly..."
"In terms of this particular product usage, my clients currently only use per-user licenses."
"The pricing model is slightly on the high side and could be more competitive for long-term partnerships."
"If one is very cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the product price as a seven out of ten."
"We were customers and bought licenses from them. We used their remote instance initially but upgraded to the on-device version due to lag. For pricing, we paid about 2200 pounds a year per seat for the client installation at an educational rate. I'm not sure about commercial rates. I managed to get a free copy at BBC since it was for evaluation purposes."
"The price is reasonable."
"I haven't found any issues with the scalability and licensing parts that are access-related."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
21%
Government
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Retailer
5%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Government
11%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise10
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about BiZZdesign HoriZZon?
This is one of the best tools, especially because of its collaborative nature. Anyone using it can access previous projects and related data. It's definitely a strong collaborative tool.
What needs improvement with BiZZdesign HoriZZon?
BiZZdesign HoriZZon needs to publish its integration scenarios and integration points with other digital transformation tools such as IT service management, risk management, asset management, custo...
What is your primary use case for BiZZdesign HoriZZon?
BiZZdesign HoriZZon is primarily used as a repository for Enterprise Architecture and is also utilized in broad portfolio management including project management and other applications, but the mai...
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Also Known As

HoriZZon
Rational System Architect
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

T-Mobile, Shell, HSBC, Erasmus University, VIVAT Insurance
Wuxi Lake Cloud, Nationwide, ETI, IDS Scheer
Find out what your peers are saying about BiZZdesign HoriZZon vs. IBM Rational System Architect and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.