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CA Database Management for DB2 for zOS vs IDERA ER/Studio comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 23, 2025

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

CA Database Management for ...
Ranking in Database Development and Management
15th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
8.2
Number of Reviews
13
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
IDERA ER/Studio
Ranking in Database Development and Management
7th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
39
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Architecture Management (10th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Database Development and Management category, the mindshare of CA Database Management for DB2 for zOS is 1.5%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IDERA ER/Studio is 3.1%, up from 2.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Database Development and Management Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
IDERA ER/Studio3.1%
CA Database Management for DB2 for zOS1.5%
Other95.4%
Database Development and Management
 

Featured Reviews

JG
Technical Project Manager at Interra Information Technologies, Inc.
Report generation offers invaluable insights into database performance
I basically use the solution for database management and to view the performance of a particular database object, any specific program, batch program, or online programs. Using the CSSZ tool, I can effectively monitor performance. In case of an exception, I can inform the application team. At DB2…
reviewer2796111 - PeerSpot reviewer
Data Architect at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Improved data modeling has reduced system footprint and strengthened finance workflows
I assess the benefits of IDERA ER_Studio's metadata management for my organization as not as good as Erwin's. Erwin's metadata management is better in how it handles data. There is a lot more user involvement in managing the metadata, primarily because in IDERA ER_Studio, the logical and physical models are separately defined in the same file, so you have to map them every single time. In Erwin, it has a unified structure, so if you make a change in the logical model, it automatically shows up in the physical model. You have to go through a couple of steps in the IDERA model to make sure everything has moved over. While that is not that inconvenient when you are actually doing development, as far as metadata management, that is prone to things getting dropped and missed. The collaboration tools in IDERA ER_Studio are adequate, but I think with Erwin, there is more of an opportunity for things to crash. Changes can be merged in IDERA more fluidly; however, the locking and sharing are a little bit more defined in Erwin. I think the learning curve for Erwin might be easier than IDERA ER_Studio, especially with connecting to different models and systems.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The ability to do the CA utilities faster than IBM using less resources, and the RC/Migrator product that allows us to make changes quickly and efficiently using either the IBM utilities or the CA utilities."
"It takes advantage of new features of DB2."
"Improved monitoring and performance management."
"We switched to the IBM tools for a short time and switched back, due to contract pricing."
"​It helps us to reduce hardware costs and to optimize processing times.​"
"PDA and PPA make our daily housekeeping easier and prevents us from unnecessary reorganizations."
"If you want your DBA and programming staff to be efficient and effective, I recommend these tools."
"The solution operates on JetOS platform. It is a very good, perfect solution."
"ER/Studio is excellent for large teams; it scales well to teams of over one hundred plus people."
"Because of all the various things we use it for, it has a high value within the organization."
"Developing new dimensional models; for the data we're hosting, dimensional modeling is more useful."
"Ease of use It looks good enough Ability to create HTML reports Ability to compare the model against the database"
"The most valuable feature of the solution is generating DDL (data definition language)."
"IDERA keeps up with the versions of Oracle and SQL Server that I'm using. I mostly use SQL Server and when there are new features, a new type of index, for example, IDERA also includes them in upgrades of the data modeling tool."
"One example is the use of the product to make extracts and split databases, and we were selling parts of the company to other regions of other companies, and it made the process more efficient and faster and less costly."
"This application does a lot of things, as do competitor products, but the main reason to go with this product was the ability to create many automations, where we can improve our work and our process."
 

Cons

"They need to provide a way to create and maintain performance repositories. The online tool is not perfect, but it is giving me what I need."
"These tools have had their share of bugs."
"I look forward to the application of these tools to all platforms in use, such as z/OS, Unix, and Windows."
"Minor stability issues."
"The initial setup is complex."
"Only one issue was not resolved but this was because the customer did not agree to send data which the vendor asked for as it was user-sensitive data but without this, a full investigation was not possible."
"All the information we need, we could use to have it in a more usable format.​"
"The initial setup parameters are quite exhaustive and some parameters cross with the products."
"The solution could be sped up, as it is a little slow (e.g., when it's doing its database compare)."
"The number of options can be overwhelming at times. That is not necessarily a bad thing but for a newbie, it can be daunting."
"I would like to upload, a database with about 3,000 tables. It takes so much time and, finally, it freezes the whole solution so that I actually cannot work with that environment. For the data warehouse, it's fine because I have 20 or 30 tables. It works fine. But, when I reverse-engineer the database with 3,000 tables, it freezes and it's hard to upload and reverse-engineer such environments in ER/Studio."
"When building the relationships there should be a little more flexibility."
"It isn't easy to compare the thousands of tables in the model against the database. The tool should improve the synchronization within the large organization"
"ER/Studio lacks a pure cloud option for deployment."
"Tech support is a sticking point with me. I am really disappointed in the tech support. We pay for the Platinum level. It takes hours to get a response."
"What needs the most improvement are semantic lineage and usability."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"The process of licensing could be much simpler, from our experience."
"The solution’s pricing is high."
"It is priced fairly. It's around the same as erwin and other competitors' costs."
"I'm a firm believer that all software is overpriced these days but, comparatively speaking, I think ER/Studio is worth the money."
"I feel the product's pricing is a good value."
"I use the product's trial version."
"As an individual user, the renewal is a little costly."
"The setup cost may have been around $1500 to $2000."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
18%
Construction Company
18%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Recreational Facilities/Services Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Energy/Utilities Company
13%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Outsourcing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise8
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise12
Large Enterprise25
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with CA Database Management for DB2 for zOS?
In the case of any particular SQL which is executing for a longer time and causing issues with any particular store or DB2 programs, if it could pinpoint the problems like any other tool should do,...
What is your primary use case for CA Database Management for DB2 for zOS?
I basically use the solution for database management and to view the performance of a particular database object, any specific program, batch program, or online programs. Using the CSSZ tool, I can...
What advice do you have for others considering CA Database Management for DB2 for zOS?
The solution operates on JetOS platform. It is a very good, perfect solution. I would rate it ten out of ten. Currently, I do not have any planning for investment at all.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IDERA ER Studio?
In terms of pricing, ER/Studio is slightly more expensive compared to Erwin, by about five to ten percent.
What is your primary use case for IDERA ER Studio?
I work in the finance industry, and the use cases for this product are very similar to what I mentioned previously when I discussed being in industrial management. It is simply a different product.
What advice do you have for others considering IDERA ER Studio?
I have not used IDERA ER_Studio's impact analysis tools, so I really could not judge that regarding mitigating database risks for security. I am not on the end as far as the pricing, as this is wha...
 

Also Known As

CA Database Management Solutions for DB2 for z/OS
IDERA ER Studio, ER/Studio, ER/Studio Enterprise Team Edition
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Blue Hill Data Services
Newmont Mining, Entrust, Accolade, TalkTalk, Catalina, Protective Life, NTT Data, dir systèmes, Microsoft; American Express, Astellas Pharma, AstraZeneca, Coriant, Fedex, GlaxoSmithKline, PepsiCo, Prudential, Wells Fargo
Find out what your peers are saying about CA Database Management for DB2 for zOS vs. IDERA ER/Studio and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
909,725 professionals have used our research since 2012.