IBM Rational System Architect vs erwin Data Modeler by Quest comparison

Quest Software and IBM are both solutions in the Enterprise Architecture Management category. Quest Software is ranked #3 with an average rating of 8.2, while IBM is ranked #19. Quest Software holds a 10.2% mindshare in AM, compared to IBM’s 1.8% mindshare. Additionally, 95% of Quest Software users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 83% of IBM users who would recommend it.

erwin Data Modeler by Quest

Read 39 erwin Data Modeler by Quest reviews

5,317 Views
3,669 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

IBM Rational System Architect

Read 5 IBM Rational System Architect reviews

765 Views
734 Comparison Views

83% willing to recommend

erwin Data Modeler by Quest

IBM Rational System Architect

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 2024

IBM Rational System Architect and erwin Data Modeler by Quest are enterprise architecture and data modeling tools, respectively. erwin Data Modeler holds the advantage due to superior features and quick deployment, despite IBM's competitive pricing aspects.

Features: IBM Rational System Architect supports complex frameworks and integrates with multiple tools, providing a versatile modeling platform. erwin Data Modeler efficiently manages large data volumes and offers detailed visual representations. It excels in metadata management and collaboration, distinguishing it from IBM's capabilities.

Room for Improvement: IBM Rational System Architect could improve its deployment speed and user interface for better accessibility. erwin Data Modeler might enhance its pricing flexibility and expand support for diverse database systems. Both products can benefit from refining their integration capabilities with third-party tools

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IBM Rational System Architect requires a traditional deployment approach, often leading to longer setups. Despite this, it offers extensive documentation and dedicated customer service. erwin Data Modeler ensures a more intuitive deployment with responsive support, promoting user satisfaction efficiently.

Pricing and ROI: IBM Rational System Architect has a higher initial cost but brings long-term value through its comprehensive features. erwin Data Modeler's premium price is justified by its efficient capabilities and quick deployment, delivering significant ROI by reducing long-term operational expenses.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM Rational System Architect vs. erwin Data Modeler by Quest Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

IBM Rational System Architect vs. erwin Data Modeler by Quest

July 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 864,053 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

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)

IBM Rational System Architect

Ranking in Enterprise Architecture Management

19th

Average Rating

7.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Enterprise Architecture Management category, the mindshare of erwin Data Modeler by Quest is 10.2%, up from 10.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Rational System Architect is 1.8%, down from 2.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Enterprise Architecture Management

Featured Reviews

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

Guy Meyongo

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.

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

"It reduces monthly savings by hundreds of thousands of dollars. Think about a company like Costco and all of the points of sale systems in Costco, all of the systems, the applications, but if all the applications in Costco all had their own data model, trying to integrate those, upgrade them and manage their different versions of the same model throughout the store, is an absolute nightmare. It's phenomenally expensive. This helps reduce that cost significantly. I'm talking on the orders of hundreds of thousands of dollars."

"The solution’s code generation ensures accurate engineering of data sources, as there is no development time. Code doesn't even have to be reviewed. We have been using this solution for so long and all the code which has been generated is accurate with the requirements. Once we generate the DDLs out of the erwin tools, the development team does a quick review of the script line by line. They will just be running the script on the database and looking into other requirements, such as the index. So, there is less effort from development side to create tables or build a database."

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

"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."

"The product allows us to reuse entities and attributes."

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

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

"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

"The solution is pretty stable."

"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."

"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."

Cons

"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."

"One of the things I've been talking to the erwin team about through the years is that every data model should have the ability to be multi-language... When I was working at Honda, it became very difficult to work with the Japanese teams using just one model. You can have two models, one in English and one in Japanese, but that means you have to keep the updates back and forth, and that always increases the risk of something not being updated."

"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."

"erwin generally fails to successfully reverse engineer our Oracle Databases into erwin data models. The way that they are engineered on our side, the syntax is correct from an Oracle perspective, but it seems to be very difficult for erwin to interpret. What I end up doing is using Oracle Data Modeler to reverse engineer into the Oracle data model, then forward engineer the DDL into an Oracle syntax, and importing that DDL into erwin in order to successfully bring in most of the information from our physical data models. That is a bit of a challenge."

"We are planning to move, in 2021, into their server version, where multiple data modelers can work at the same time and share their models. It has become a pain point to merge the models from individual desktops and get them into a single data model, when multiple data modelers are working on a particular project. It becomes a nightmare for the senior data modeler to bring them together, especially when it comes to recreating them when you want to merge them."

"We can only get licenses through partners."

"I would like to see more support for working with the big-data world. There are so many new databases evolving and it's very hard for them to keep up with all of the new technologies. It would be good if they were able to dynamically support big-data platforms, other than Hive and Teradata."

"Complete Compare is set up only to compare properties that are of interest to us, but some of the differences cannot be brought over from one version of the model to another. This is despite the fact that we are clicking to bring objects from one place to another. Therefore, it's hard to tell at times if Complete Compare is working as intended without having to manually go into the details and check everything. If it could be redesigned to a degree where it is easier to use when we bring things over from one site to another and be sure that it's been done correctly, that would be nice to have. We would probably use the tool more often if the Complete Compare were easier to use."

More erwin Data Modeler by Quest cons

"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."

"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."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Pricing is very high compared to any other product."

"There are two license options and the pricing is reasonable."

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

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

"This company had bought the license for three years, and it's not an individual license. While you can buy a license for each individual, that would be very expensive. There is something called concurrent licenses where you can purchase licenses in bulk and 15 to 20 people can access the license and model. Concurrent licenses are scalable to the number of users and are proportional to the cost."

"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."

"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."

"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."

More erwin Data Modeler by Quest pricing and cost advice

Information not available

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

864,053 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

19%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

19%

Financial Services Firm

13%

Government

10%

Computer Software Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

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

Ask a question

Earn 20 points

Comparisons

SAP PowerDesigner vs erwin Data Modeler by Quest

Compared 35% of the time

IDERA ER/Studio vs erwin Data Modeler by Quest

Compared 19% 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

Avolution ABACUS vs erwin Data Modeler by Quest

Compared 1% of the time

More erwin Data Modeler by Quest Competitors

Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect vs IBM Rational System Architect

Compared 59% of the time

MEGA HOPEX vs IBM Rational System Architect

Compared 12% of the time

LeanIX vs IBM Rational System Architect

Compared 10% of the time

ARIS BPA vs IBM Rational System Architect

Compared 10% of the time

More IBM Rational System Architect Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

erwin Data Modeler by Quest

July 2025

Download erwin Data Modeler by Quest product report

Buyer's Guide

Enterprise Architecture Management

July 2025

Download IBM Rational System Architect product report

Also Known As

erwin DM

Rational System Architect

Overview

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.

Quest Software

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

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

Wuxi Lake Cloud, Nationwide, ETI, IDS Scheer

Buyer's Guide

IBM Rational System Architect vs. erwin Data Modeler by Quest

July 2025

Free Report: IBM Rational System Architect vs. erwin Data Modeler by Quest

Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Rational System Architect vs. erwin Data Modeler by Quest and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

864,053 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our IBM Rational System Architect 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.