UNICOM System Architect vs erwin Data Modeler by Quest comparison

erwin by Quest and Unicom Systems are both solutions in the Enterprise Architecture Management category. erwin by Quest is ranked #3 with an average rating of 8.1, while Unicom Systems is ranked #25. erwin by Quest holds a 10.5% mindshare in AM, compared to Unicom Systems’s 0.6% mindshare. Additionally, 95% of erwin by Quest users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 50% of Unicom Systems users who would recommend it.

erwin Data Modeler by Quest

Read 39 erwin Data Modeler by Quest reviews

3,806 Views
2,074 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

UNICOM System Architect

Read 2 UNICOM System Architect reviews

271 Views
102 Comparison Views

50% willing to recommend

erwin Data Modeler by Quest

UNICOM System Architect

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 2024

UNICOM System Architect and erwin Data Modeler by Quest are key players in enterprise architecture and data modeling. While UNICOM has advantages in pricing and support, erwin is favored for its comprehensive feature set, indicating a justified investment.

Features: UNICOM System Architect offers comprehensive enterprise architecture modeling, visualization capabilities supporting complex frameworks, and adaptive integration. erwin Data Modeler by Quest provides strong data modeling, metadata management, and collaboration functionalities, supporting complex database environments efficiently.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: UNICOM System Architect provides a flexible deployment model with satisfactory customer support, allowing for adaptive integration. erwin Data Modeler by Quest delivers an intuitive deployment process and superior customer service for smooth transitions, emphasizing its user-friendly setup.

Pricing and ROI: UNICOM System Architect is known for a lower initial setup cost and satisfactory ROI, thanks to efficient licensing options. erwin Data Modeler by Quest, despite a higher potential cost, offers better ROI through extensive scalability and sophisticated functionalities, highlighting its long-term value.

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

Buyer's Guide

UNICOM System Architect vs. erwin Data Modeler by Quest

June 2025

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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 (9th)

UNICOM System Architect

Ranking in Enterprise Architecture Management

25th

Average Rating

6.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Enterprise Architecture Management category, the mindshare of erwin Data Modeler by Quest is 10.5%, up from 10.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of UNICOM System Architect is 0.6%, up from 0.5% 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.

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reviewer1261290

Project Manager at a government with 10,001+ employees

Useful for creating build-outs and architecture views, but requires a publisher add-on for some detailed reports

I don't use the tool or know a lot. It is going to have some shortcomings. When it comes down to publishing, we just found out this week that they actually have a publisher add-on. So, what we were trying to publish was not giving a detailed report about the architecture, views, etc. I just wish they had sent these to UNICOM and contacted them about add-on features for the publishing part of the tool.

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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

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

"The fitting model is very intuitive."

"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."

"We use the Forward and Reverse Engineering tools to help us speed things up and create things that would have to be done otherwise by hand. E.g., getting a database into a data model format or vice versa."

"The modeling portion of the tool is the most valuable. There are some notes, naming standards, and other functions that we use as well. There's a whole boatload of functionality in this thing and we use maybe 10% of it. It seems to be pretty common that not all the functionality is fully utilized. But it's just got gobs and gobs of stuff that you can implement if you so choose to."

"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 solution is excellent in providing a visual representation of a database and can generate DDL for implementing changes. We use DDL for logical purposes to review with business people, ensuring they have the required fields for processing. We also use it as a data dictionary for the physical data model to understand all the purposes of the terms. This helps us map the logical and physical terms with the business definition to understand our data."

"The solution is good for organizing the data and the scripting part is very powerful. It's easy to create technical scripts for models."

More erwin Data Modeler by Quest pros

"It has good end-to-end metamodel interrelationships."

"It is useful for creating build-outs and architecture views and for publishing reports and stuff like that for different programs."

Cons

"This is a very complex product."

"The solution's reporting side needs to be improved."

"I would like to see the ability to support more NoSQL platforms more quickly. In addition, enhancing the graphics to render more quickly would be beneficial for any user."

"One of the best aspects of the tool is its reverse engineering capability."

"I find the UI very clunky and very difficult to use. If I add columns to a table the whole workflow could be so much easier. I get frustrated using it. I've tried other tools. I've tried to get off of erwin a few times. I always come back to it because every tool has its own set of problems, and it seems like if I have to pick my poison, I stay with erwin. But so many things that are clunky with it."

"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."

"It does not have a cloud application."

"The navigation is a little bit of a challenge. It's painful. For example, if you've got a view open and you want to try to move from side to side, the standard today is being able to drag and drop left and right. You can't really do that in the model. Moving around the model is painful because it doesn't follow the Windows model today."

More erwin Data Modeler by Quest cons

"They need to add reports that show the enterprise architecture perspectives, and the dashboards should be comfortable for the senior enterprise architects so that they can view the complete landscape."

"I don't use the tool or know a lot. It is going to have some shortcomings. When it comes down to publishing, we just found out this week that they actually have a publisher add-on. So, what we were trying to publish was not giving a detailed report about the architecture, views, etc. I just wish they had sent these to UNICOM and contacted them about add-on features for the publishing part of the tool."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."

"The price should be lower in order to be on the same level as its competitors."

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

"The price of erwin Data Modeler is very expensive, in particular for this part of the world."

"The primary reasons that erwin was selected were that it was much more affordable for us [than Embarcadero] and it was easily maintainable."

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

"The solution is expensive."

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

More erwin Data Modeler by Quest pricing and cost advice

"I don't remember the price. It is a different cost for just buying it, and then you have a maintenance cost, which you need to renew every year."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

19%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Government

Computer Software Company

Government

18%

Computer Software Company

14%

Financial Services Firm

14%

Real Estate/Law Firm

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.

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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.

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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...

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Product Reports

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erwin Data Modeler by Quest

June 2025

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Enterprise Architecture Management

June 2025

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Also Known As

erwin DM

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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.

erwin by Quest

Information not available

Unicom Systems

Sample Customers

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

Apple, Facebook, Google, HSBC, PayPal

Buyer's Guide

UNICOM System Architect vs. erwin Data Modeler by Quest

June 2025

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

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

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