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SAS Viya Platform vs erwin Data Modeler comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
3.8
Erwin Data Modeler enhances productivity, standardization, and efficiency, providing significant enterprise data management benefits despite ROI measurement challenges.
Sentiment score
4.4
SAS Viya Platform enhances ROI with AI, automation, cost savings, cloud scalability, data visualization, and efficiency improvements.
If three engineers save ten hours each per month using erwin Data Modeler versus manual modeling, that equals three hundred sixty hours saved per year.
Snowflake Data Engineer| Senior PLSQL Developer |Data Modeler|Assitant Vice Pre at Jp Morgan Chase & Co.
It replaces manual charting in Visio with a structured tool, providing significant return on investment.
Data Architect at a energy/utilities company with 10,001+ employees
If the modeling is compromised, then the entire structure will be compromised.
Senior Data Architect at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
I have seen a return on investment with SAS Viya Platform in the form of money saved, as this is scalable and on the cloud, whereas previously we had to pay for space and on-premises servers.
Director, Lead, Ri Technical Solutions at a insurance company with 10,001+ employees
We generate revenue from the data visualization options, which is a very important key aspect for return of investment.
Biostatistician at Lambda Therapeutic Research Ltd.
The relevant metrics definitely show time saved because it is able to crunch 50 to 60,000 rows of numbers in a matter of five to ten minutes, which is a huge improvement.
Computer Instructor at Carleton University
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
5.4
Erwin Data Modeler's support is skilled and helpful, though response times can improve for complex issues.
Sentiment score
5.1
SAS Viya Platform offers highly rated, responsive customer service, with excellent support during migrations, despite limited community assistance.
The quality and speed of their support are excellent; everyone is very helpful, and they can solve problems quickly.
Senior Data Scientist at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
This rating reflects my ability to effectively utilize the tool and get support for licensing issues, installation errors, or corrupted repositories end-to-end.
Snowflake Data Engineer| Senior PLSQL Developer |Data Modeler|Assitant Vice Pre at Jp Morgan Chase & Co.
Quest is committed to keeping the product robust.
Data Architect at a energy/utilities company with 10,001+ employees
I would rate customer support for SAS Viya Platform a 10 out of 10.
Biostatistician at Lambda Therapeutic Research Ltd.
we have received help whenever we have asked, and their response time is quite fast
Senior Data Analyst at a government with 201-500 employees
we got the solution on time
Technical Architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
6.7
erwin Data Modeler excels in scalability and adaptability, supporting large models and multi-user collaborations despite occasional performance slowdowns.
Sentiment score
6.0
SAS Viya Platform is highly scalable, efficiently managing large data and growing user demands without performance issues in the cloud.
I would rate it probably a nine, making it a leader in data modeling.
Data Architect at a energy/utilities company with 10,001+ employees
erwin Data Modeler had a very good standardization infrastructure and supported a controlled multi-user environment with check-ins and check-outs.
Data Metrics Engineer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Performance can degrade during larger collaborations and requires tuning for optimal performance.
Snowflake Data Engineer| Senior PLSQL Developer |Data Modeler|Assitant Vice Pre at Jp Morgan Chase & Co.
We have not had a problem, and it is because it is on the cloud, it scales quite well.
Director, Lead, Ri Technical Solutions at a insurance company with 10,001+ employees
SAS Viya Platform is quite scalable and can handle large data volumes.
Senior Data Analyst at a government with 201-500 employees
SAS Viya Platform's scalability is great; it can be scaled throughout the project, even company-wide.
Technical Architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
6.4
Erwin Data Modeler is stable and reliable, though large models and updates can occasionally impact performance.
Sentiment score
7.6
The SAS Viya Platform is mostly stable and scalable, though some users noted occasional lags and downtime resolved by support.
This lack of an auto-save methodology can be improved so that if a system crash occurs, work can be saved and rework can be avoided.
Data Modeler at Capgemini
New versions often introduce enhanced features but may cause model crashes due to memory exhaustion.
Data Architect at a energy/utilities company with 10,001+ employees
Sometimes when I want to open the attribute editor, it stops working and the whole application freezes.
Senior Data Scientist at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
SAS Viya Platform is good, scalable, and stable.
Data & BI Architect at a outsourcing company with 5,001-10,000 employees
In my experience, SAS Viya Platform is stable and perfect.
Computer Instructor at Carleton University
 

Room For Improvement

Erwin Data Modeler needs an updated interface, improved compatibility, better performance, enhanced collaboration, and cloud functionality.
SAS Viya Platform needs interface simplification, better integration, enhanced reporting, and improved training resources for streamlined user experience.
The previous version of erwin Data Modeler used to crash unaccountably, but this one hasn't ever crashed on me, so it's been a lot more stable than the previous version that we had.
Data Warehouse Architect at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
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.
Senior Data Scientist at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
Erwin Data Modeler could improve in areas such as the interface, as there are features like copy and paste, creating duplicates, and the visualization elements and toolbars which feel quite old.
Data Modeler at Capgemini
Two main improvements would transform this into a great tool: improving the UI and calculation capabilities, and merging AI capabilities.
Data & BI Architect at a outsourcing company with 5,001-10,000 employees
The cost is also quite high; SAS Viya Platform via SaaS can be expensive compared to some open-source or other cloud alternatives.
Assistant Manager Data Analytics (WFM) at Johari Digital Healthcare Limited
In comparison, other packages I have used are more complete and less divided; SAS is quite divided, particularly with quality control, which used to be included, but now requires separate packages for control charts and so on.
Senior Data Analyst at a government with 201-500 employees
 

Setup Cost

erwin Data Modeler is pricey at $6,000 monthly per seat, with varied user opinions on the value compared to alternatives.
Enterprise users find SAS Viya cost-effective, though some perceive it as expensive; comparisons with Tableau or Power BI are rare.
For a cloud or SaaS standard edition, it typically runs around two hundred to two hundred ninety-nine US dollars per month.
Snowflake Data Engineer| Senior PLSQL Developer |Data Modeler|Assitant Vice Pre at Jp Morgan Chase & Co.
It is more targeted toward an enterprise level since organizations looking to store business information and relationship values may consider the pricing.
Data Modeler at Capgemini
I did check with Reddit and they indicated that SAS Viya Platform is a pretty expensive program.
Computer Instructor at Carleton University
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing is very positive, as the pricing is good and efficient for my organization.
Biostatistician at Lambda Therapeutic Research Ltd.
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for SAS Viya Platform was smooth.
Director, Lead, Ri Technical Solutions at a insurance company with 10,001+ employees
 

Valuable Features

Erwin Data Modeler enhances data understanding and integration with visual tools, collaboration, and support for diverse databases.
SAS Viya Platform enhances data processing with AI features, cloud-native architecture, and integration, supporting efficient, no-code decision-making.
One of the key aspects of data governance is defining the data dictionary and clearly identifying which data is accessible by whom and what is not accessible, particularly regarding PII-related data.
SPM at Infosys
The way the data is organized and you have a visual of that organization helps a great deal in terms of trying to remember what you did and trying to retrieve the information.
Data Metrics Engineer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Migrating DDLs using erwin Data Modeler is easy because I just connect to the database and generate the data model from what is already implemented, making the process straightforward.
Data Modeler at FNB Mozambique
SAS Viya Platform has improved the speed, scalability, and accessibility of data, leading to more efficient and informed decision-making.
Assistant Manager Data Analytics (WFM) at Johari Digital Healthcare Limited
SAS Viya Platform has positively impacted my organization by saving time compared to when we were using SAS 9.4.
Saa S Developer at XpertDox
The speed and documentation of SAS Viya Platform helped me in my coursework because we were having very intense analyses done and we needed to submit a lot of assignments and analyses as quickly as possible.
Computer Instructor at Carleton University
 

Categories and Ranking

erwin Data Modeler
Ranking in Data Governance
10th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
5.7
Number of Reviews
50
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Architecture Management (1st), Business Process Design (4th)
SAS Viya Platform
Ranking in Data Governance
20th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
5.2
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
Data Integration (28th), Data Quality (9th), Data Management Platforms (DMP) (8th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2026, in the Data Governance category, the mindshare of erwin Data Modeler is 0.4%. The mindshare of SAS Viya Platform is 0.5%. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Governance Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
erwin Data Modeler0.4%
SAS Viya Platform0.5%
Other99.1%
Data Governance
 

Featured Reviews

Sushree Panigrahi - PeerSpot reviewer
Snowflake Data Engineer| Senior PLSQL Developer |Data Modeler|Assitant Vice Pre at Jp Morgan Chase & Co.
Data modeling has transformed regulatory reporting and collaboration across cloud environments
In erwin Data Modeler, areas that have room for improvement include performance improvements. I see that large models sometimes cause it to be slow when opening. Impact analysis can lag as well. Version control is another aspect. If we have developed a current version, it is not integrated with Git where we can easily compare different versions. UI modernization is also something we cannot utilize as it is primarily for development. Additionally, cloud-specific optimizations are needed when it comes to Snowflake or Databricks. When it comes to AI aspects, auto-suggestions for normalization or identifying primary, foreign, or surrogate keys are areas that can be improved.
KK
Assistant Manager Data Analytics (WFM) at Johari Digital Healthcare Limited
Modern analytics has transformed large data into faster insights and streamlined reporting
There are some areas of improvement I would mention regarding SAS Viya Platform. New users may find it complex initially, as its learning curve can be steep. Understanding CAS and different components is very challenging for a new user. The cost is also quite high; SAS Viya Platform via SaaS can be expensive compared to some open-source or other cloud alternatives. There are also some limitations in Visual Analytics. While it is easy to use, it could be more flexible compared to Power BI or Tableau. These are the main improvement areas where SAS Viya Platform should focus. I would add some additional pointers about needed improvements in SAS Viya Platform. Regarding customer support, it is good, but the response time for complex issues can sometimes be slower than expected. The documentation and learning resources are not very beginner-friendly, making it challenging for beginners to navigate. Regarding integration, it could be smoother with Databricks, Snowflake, and Power BI, but it is more complex than it should be. Since updates are automatic, users are sometimes not fully aware of changes or new features that are being updated, as compared to Power BI, which publishes updates on its website. SAS Viya Platform should work on these aspects.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
14%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Marketing Services Firm
7%
Government
6%
Construction Company
26%
Manufacturing Company
14%
Healthcare Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business16
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise38
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business2
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise7
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for erwin Data Modeler by Quest?
I have no idea about the setup cost because I did not buy the license.
What needs improvement with erwin Data Modeler by Quest?
The UI in erwin Data Modeler can be improved significantly because when any new person opens the tool, all the toolbars are kept open with many tools in view, making it appear chunky. If possible, ...
What is your primary use case for erwin Data Modeler by Quest?
I primarly use erwin Data Modeler for modeling purposes. Once we have the business requirement, we create the models in erwin Data Modeler, and then we perform forward engineering to get the query ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SAS Viya Platform?
I am not much aware of the pricing, setup cost, and licensing of SAS Viya Platform because that was handled by the administrator. However, I do not think it is too costly to use. I never did a comp...
What needs improvement with SAS Viya Platform?
One thing I expect more from SAS Viya Platform, specifically on the report side, is how the calculations work. It is not that strong in that sense. It was very difficult to build the required calcu...
What is your primary use case for SAS Viya Platform?
I have used SAS Viya Platform for almost three years in various ways, including preparing data, using it, generating extracts, and sending them through email to users. We also built an internal das...
 

Also Known As

erwin DM
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

 Premera, America Honda Motors, Aetna, Kaiser Permanente, Dental Dental Cali, Cigna, Staples
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about SAS Viya Platform vs. erwin Data Modeler and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
902,894 professionals have used our research since 2012.