SAP PowerDesigner and erwin Data Modeler compete in the field of data modeling, each offering distinct advantages. SAP PowerDesigner holds the upper hand in detailed data architecture modeling, while erwin Data Modeler shines in usability and integration, appealing to organizations prioritizing rapid and user-friendly deployment.
Features: SAP PowerDesigner is known for its comprehensive enterprise data architecture capabilities, complex database support, and extensive customization options. Erwin Data Modeler's strengths lie in its user-friendly interface, integration with various data sources, and abilities in data analysis and visualization.
Room for Improvement: PowerDesigner could better its user learning curve, enhance its integration features, and streamline deployment processes. Erwin Data Modeler may improve by offering more advanced data modeling options, increasing options for customization, and enhancing its support for larger databases.
Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Erwin Data Modeler offers an easier deployment process and strong customer support that aids in minimizing initial setup challenges. SAP PowerDesigner, while robust, may necessitate a more intensive learning period and skilled technical support to ensure optimal use.
Pricing and ROI: SAP PowerDesigner involves higher setup costs, with its vast capabilities primarily appealing to large enterprises, potentially limiting its affordability for smaller companies. Erwin Data Modeler, with its competitive pricing structure and rapid deployment, offers a compelling ROI, particularly for budget-conscious organizations looking for cost-effective solutions.
It replaces manual charting in Visio with a structured tool, providing significant return on investment.
I cannot put a number on it, but if you think about developing software manually or using a tool to generate software and considering the license cost of SAP PowerDesigner, the ROI is pretty positive relatively quick because it's not that expensive.
The quality and speed of their support are excellent; everyone is very helpful, and they can solve problems quickly.
Quest is committed to keeping the product robust.
It relies heavily on VBScript, which is something that will be end of life in a few years in Windows.
Regarding technical support, after a recent licensing issue caused a temporary halt, we realized the importance of tracking licensing and version updates to avoid future disruptions in service.
There is not any support anymore as far as I know.
I would rate it probably a nine, making it a leader in data modeling.
Regarding scalability, erwin Data Modeler is performing well; from a few tables to 100 tables, it is working effectively so far.
Currently, there are no scalability limitations in SAP PowerDesigner, allowing us to create numerous data models for various projects.
The scalability of SAP PowerDesigner is very good.
New versions often introduce enhanced features but may cause model crashes due to memory exhaustion.
Sometimes when I want to open the attribute editor, it stops working and the whole application freezes.
If you use a lot of customizations, especially using VBScript, it becomes less stable.
This may lead to frequent downtimes requiring server maintenance; thus, it is not suitable for highly complex solutions, but moderate complexities can be handled.
There are many features, and I would expect good documentation detailing each feature, including when and how to use it, to be very useful because data modeling is not very popular in the data area and there aren't many educational videos regarding erwin Data Modeler.
SAP PowerDesigner does not have a cloud option. It's only on-premise.
I would like to see a feature added to SAP PowerDesigner where, upon extracting data from a source, it automatically identifies relationships between tables.
The web portal is unstable and does not work. It freezes up all the time.
One issue is the cost, as it is a high-priced tool coming from SAP.
One of the best aspects of the tool is its reverse engineering capability.
Currently in the market, there is no competitor to erwin Data Modeler; everything is very powerful, such as performing reverse engineering from an existing database and deploying that on Databricks or Snowflake.
The best features of SAP PowerDesigner, from my perspective, are its ability to keep the connectivity between the source database and the new system, data redundancy and availability, and impact analysis.
SAP PowerDesigner doesn't only allow you to model the structure of your database, but you can also model data mappings or data flows or lineage.
What I appreciate best about SAP PowerDesigner is that it is a very detailed and comprehensive tool.
| Product | Market Share (%) |
|---|---|
| erwin Data Modeler | 8.9% |
| SAP PowerDesigner | 8.1% |
| Other | 83.0% |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 14 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 3 |
| Large Enterprise | 29 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 18 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 6 |
| Large Enterprise | 17 |
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?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.
SAP PowerDesigner is a valuable solution for developing several different types of data models according to business process needs. Data models can be logical, conceptual, and physical, and can also include dimensional and relational models. PowerDesiger has the ability to integrate a designed business process model with the actual database design to ensure that all the data process steps are included in the logical model. PowerDesigner is able to use the physical model to create the actual database, and from there, design various physical iterations from a single logical model.
PowerDesigner can perform excellent reverse-engineering of existing databases to create a model diagram. The solution integrates well with many of today's most recognized database management systems (DBMS). Some of the solution’s featured outputs include custom or standard reports of every object in the design (relationships, field, and tables), design impact analysis, and entity-relationship (ER) designs.
PowerDesigner offers intuitive capabilities such as metadata management, link and sync, and data modeling. Users can instantly view architecture layers and essentials, access the robust metadata repository, and share findings with the user’s entire team.
SAP PowerDesigner Features
SAP PowerDesigner Benefits
Reviews from Real Users
“The most valuable feature of SAP PowerDesigner is the testing of the models, it has the best function. Reverse engineering is very helpful too. I use SAP PowerDesigner for data modeling and documentation. It interacts well with the other tools. Additionally, we use it for all of the business requirements, such as CDM and PDM.” - Saadat T., Emerging Cloud Solution Architect at a tech services company
“It's a great tool for documentation. A new data scientist can easily understand the data just by looking at it. Once you are managing your physical data with a logical data model, by looking at this data model, you can understand what it means, the business meaning of the elements which are maintained by the relational database.” - Michael R., DA
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