BusinessGenetics xBML vs erwin Data Modeler comparison

BusinessGenetics and Quest Software are both solutions in the Business Process Design category. BusinessGenetics is ranked #34, while Quest Software is ranked #9 with an average rating of 8.5. BusinessGenetics holds a 0.3% mindshare in BPD, compared to Quest Software’s 2.0% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of BusinessGenetics users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 95% of Quest Software users who would recommend it.

BusinessGenetics xBML

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100% willing to recommend

erwin Data Modeler

Read 40 erwin Data Modeler reviews

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1,490 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

BusinessGenetics xBML

erwin Data Modeler

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 19, 2025

BusinessGenetics xBML and erwin Data Modeler compete in business modeling and data management. Erwin Data Modeler has the upper hand with its comprehensive features that validate its cost, while BusinessGenetics xBML is noted for its affordability and support.

Features: BusinessGenetics xBML provides intuitive business modeling functions, enhancing understanding and communication in business processes. It focuses on clear business process articulation, aiding in streamlined organizational operations. Erwin Data Modeler offers robust data modeling, easily handles complex databases, and specializes in comprehensive data architecture management, empowering organizations to manage intricate data landscapes effectively.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: BusinessGenetics xBML is known for straightforward deployment, ensuring seamless business integration with minimal disruption, supported by a responsive service team. Erwin Data Modeler presents a more complex deployment reflecting its advanced features but is backed by reliable support structures. The distinction lies in BusinessGenetics xBML's quick and smooth deployment against the more involved erwin Data Modeler implementation process.

Pricing and ROI: BusinessGenetics xBML offers a cost-effective solution with rapid ROI due to its simplicity in addressing business communication challenges. In contrast, erwin Data Modeler has a higher initial setup cost yet provides significant long-term ROI through its powerful data management capabilities. BusinessGenetics xBML's affordability and quick ROI differ from erwin Data Modeler's justified higher cost for extensive data management efficiency.

To learn more, read our detailed Business Process Design Report (Updated: October 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Business Process Design

October 2025

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Helped 871,408 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

BusinessGenetics xBML

Ranking in Business Process Design

34th

Average Rating

8.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

erwin Data Modeler

Ranking in Business Process Design

9th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Enterprise Architecture Management (3rd), Data Governance (14th)

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Business Process Design category, the mindshare of BusinessGenetics xBML is 0.3%, up from 0.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of erwin Data Modeler is 2.0%, down from 2.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Business Process Design Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
erwin Data Modeler	2.0%
BusinessGenetics xBML	0.3%
Other	97.7%

Business Process Design

Featured Reviews

Phumi Maduna-Ogbechi

Co-Founder and Managing Director at E&I Business Enterprise

Has built-in, existing processes that can be easily modified

In terms of what could be improved, I would not say that the solution itself needs improvement, meaning the product side, but more that the overall approach of the organization does. At the moment there are very few people who can lead training for the product. I think that area needs to improve. They should train more organizations because now they're the only ones that do training. As the product gets more and more customers, it takes longer to schedule a training. They need to get more training providers. The vendor is the only one doing the training. You schedule it in March and you find you can only do training quite far down the line and maybe you also want to do deployment. They're still entering the South African market, but I think now they have enough customers to get other providers so you won't have wait too long for the training before you can start running with the product.

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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.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"One of the things that I have found most valuable is that it is very easy to use. For example, they have built-in existing processes that you can easily modify."

"It's important to create standard templates — Erwin is good at that — and you can customize them. You can create a standard template so that your models have the same look and feel. And then, anyone using the tool is using the same font and the same general layout. erwin's very good at helping enforce that."

"The data lineage feature is very valuable."

"We had some data integration projects, where we needed to integrate it for about 100 databases. Doing that manually is crazy; we can't do that. With erwin, it was much easier to identify which tables and columns could be used for the integration. That means a lot in terms of time and effort as well as my image to the customer, because they can see that we are providing value in a very short time."

"We can create mappings in erwin and possibly data dictionaries."

"It allows us to create logical data models. We can represent a database model in business terms, which is very useful for us."

"Being able to point it to a database and then pull the metadata is a valuable feature. Another valuable feature is being able to rearrange the model so that we can display it to users. We are able to divide the information into subject areas, and we can divide the data landscape into smaller chunks, which makes it easier to understand. If you had 14 subject areas, 1,000 entities, and 6,000 columns, you can't quite understand it all at once. So, being able to have the same underlying model but only display portions of it at a time is extremely useful."

"The ability to collaborate between different members across the organization is the most valuable feature. It gives us the ability to work on the same model, regardless of where we are physically."

"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."

More erwin Data Modeler pros

Cons

"At the moment there are very few people who can lead training for the product. I think that area needs to improve."

"It is not a very stable solution. I rate the stability five out of ten."

"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."

"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."

"The erwin Data Modeler is quite complex to use."

"The report generation has room for improvement. I think it was version 8 where you had to use Crystal Reports, and it was so painful that the company I was with just stayed on version 7 until version 9 came out and they restored the data browser. That's better than it was, but it's still a little cumbersome. For example, you run it in erwin, then export it out to Excel, and then you have to do a lot of cosmetic modification. If you discover that you missed a column, then you would have to rerun the whole thing. Sometimes what you would do is just go ahead and fix it in the report, then you have to remember to go back and fix it in the model. Therefore, I think the report generation still could use some work."

"The modeling product itself is far and above anything else that I've seen on the market. There are certain inconsistencies when it comes to keeping up with other platforms' databases in the reverse-engineering process. It should also support more database platforms."

"I love the product. I love the ability to get into the code, make it automated, and make it do what I want. I would like to see them put some kind of governance over the ability to make changes to the mart tables with the API, so that instead of just using the modeler's rights to a table -- it has a separate set of rights for API access. That would give us the ability to put governance around API applications. Right now a person with erwin and Excel/VBA has the ability to make changes to models with the API if they also have rights to make changes to the model from erwin. It's a risk."

"The only real complaint I have is the time it takes to do a database comparison on a large model. If they could speed that up, that would be the only thing I can think of that needs improvement."

More erwin Data Modeler cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"An issue right now would be that erwin doesn't have a freely available browser (that I am aware of) for people who are not data modelers or data engineers that a consumer could use to look at the data models and play with it. This would not be to make any changes, but just to visually look at what exists. There are other products out there which do have end user browsers available and allow them to access data models via the data modeling tool."

"The solution is expensive."

"There are no costs in addition to the standard licensing fees."

"I wish it wasn't so expensive. I would love to personally buy a copy of my own and have it at home, because the next job that I'm looking at is probably project management and I might not have access to the tool. I would like to keep my ability to use the tool. Therefore, they should probably have a pricing for people like me who want to just use the solution as an independent consultant, trying to get started. $3,000 is a big hit."

"erwin has this option where you pay a one-time fee and you have the license for six years, which makes sense because I don't upgrade my database engine every other year. I have an application that depends on it. This is something weird about PowerDesigner. There are no additional costs beyond the standard licensing fee."

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

"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."

"erwin is expensive compared to other solutions. We are paying almost $6,000 per seat a month."

More erwin Data Modeler pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

No data available

Financial Services Firm

18%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Computer Software Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	14
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	29

Questions from the Community

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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.

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

I do not recall the pricing from about a year and a half ago, but it seems reasonable.

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What needs improvement with erwin Data Modeler by Quest?

erwin Data Modeler could improve its UI as it still feels old school and not very modern. There are many features, and I would expect good documentation detailing each feature, including when and h...

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Comparisons

No data available

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Compared 39% of the time

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Compared 18% of the time

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Compared 12% of the time

Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect vs erwin Data Modeler

Compared 6% of the time

Visio vs erwin Data Modeler

Compared 6% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Business Process Design

October 2025

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erwin Data Modeler

October 2025

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Also Known As

xBML

erwin DM

Overview

BusinessGenetics xBML (extended Business Modelling Language) is an intuitive graphical language that unlocks the DNA of a corporation using a system of diagrams based on five Ws (Who; What; Which; Where; When). xBML gives companies an complete and accurate map of their enterprise, that can then be re-used repeatedly to describe, plan and create improvement.

BusinessGenetics

Erwin Data Modeler provides an effective approach to visualizing and managing data models. It assists in creating, reversing, and synchronizing data models with ease, supporting logical and physical transitions while enhancing understanding across teams.

Erwin Data Modeler is a comprehensive tool designed for professional database management. It offers capabilities to organize and enforce standards, automating script generation with robust reverse engineering and DDL output. Users can manage complex data environments, capitalize on integration with data intelligence, and maintain large-scale databases smoothly. Despite its strengths, improvements in multi-language support, database integration, and reporting features are needed. Users benefit from extensive support for conceptual, logical, and physical database modeling, enhancing architectural design and data governance for platforms like SQL Server, Oracle, and Teradata.

What are the key features of Erwin Data Modeler?

Visual Representation: Facilitates clear visualization of data models, aiding comprehension.
Versioning and Editing: Enhance usability with versioning and bulk editing capabilities.
Reverse Engineering: Offers powerful tools for reverse engineering and DDL generation.
Integration: Aligns with data intelligence to streamline database management.
Naming Standards: Enforces consistency with automated script creation.

What benefits should users consider in Erwin Data Modeler reviews?

Collaboration: Promotes team understanding and collaboration through visual tools.
Automation: Reduces manual effort through automated processes and integration.
Scalability: Handles large database management efficiently, crucial for enterprise settings.
Data Governance: Facilitates effective data governance with structured modeling.

Erwin Data Modeler finds application in industries focused on robust data management, implementing it for enterprise data warehouses, business domain models, and operational systems. It supports architectural design and governance, aligning with business applications demanding precise data representation and visualization.

Quest Software

Sample Customers

Qwest, Wachovia, Corporate Express, State of Colorado, Bank of America

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

Buyer's Guide

Business Process Design

October 2025

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