IBM InfoSphere Optim vs IDERA ER/Studio comparison

IBM and IDERA are both solutions in the Database Development and Management category. IBM is ranked #16 with an average rating of 7.0, while IDERA is ranked #8 with an average rating of 8.6. IBM holds a 2.2% mindshare in DDM, compared to IDERA’s 2.5% mindshare. Additionally, 75% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 88% of IDERA users who would recommend it.

IBM InfoSphere Optim

Read 4 IBM InfoSphere Optim reviews

726 Views
661 Comparison Views

75% willing to recommend

IDERA ER/Studio

Read 39 IDERA ER/Studio reviews

2,049 Views
697 Comparison Views

88% willing to recommend

IBM InfoSphere Optim

IDERA ER/Studio

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 23, 2025

IDERA ER/Studio and IBM InfoSphere Optim are competing products in data management and modeling. IBM's feature-rich suite may justify its higher cost due to its focus on data governance.

Features: IDERA ER/Studio offers strong data modeling with robust diagramming and design, seamless integration with various data sources, and high collaboration through model sharing. IBM InfoSphere Optim provides strong data lifecycle management, effective archiving, and supports data privacy and compliance, focusing on data governance.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IDERA ER/Studio is straightforward to deploy with intuitive tools for rapid implementation and accessible customer service. IBM InfoSphere Optim, with its extensive capabilities and enterprise focus, requires a more complex deployment and a steeper learning curve, but offers resourceful customer support.

Pricing and ROI: IDERA ER/Studio generally provides a cost-effective setup suitable for businesses seeking quick ROI with scalable pricing. IBM InfoSphere Optim involves higher initial costs but offers long-term ROI through enhanced data governance and risk management.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM InfoSphere Optim vs. IDERA ER/Studio Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

IBM InfoSphere Optim vs. IDERA ER/Studio

December 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

IBM InfoSphere Optim

Ranking in Database Development and Management

16th

Average Rating

6.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

IDERA ER/Studio

Ranking in Database Development and Management

8th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Enterprise Architecture Management (7th)

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Database Development and Management category, the mindshare of IBM InfoSphere Optim is 2.2%, down from 2.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IDERA ER/Studio is 2.5%, down from 2.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Database Development and Management Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
IDERA ER/Studio	2.5%
IBM InfoSphere Optim	2.2%
Other	95.3%

Database Development and Management

Featured Reviews

Kenneth Estanislao

Solutions Designer at a insurance company with 10,001+ employees

Backups become efficient while cost concerns remain

I am still working with IBM and we are transitioning to other tools rather than using IBM InfoSphere Optim. We use other tools, but I cannot recall the name because I am not the one currently handling it. It has transitioned to other architects. For IBM InfoSphere Optim, we are still currently using it, but we have transitioned to the newer version, the latest one with support for AWS S3. I cannot identify a main competitor for IBM InfoSphere Optim because we have transitioned to other architects, and they are the ones looking for other tools. The last comparison I did was almost 4 years ago. I am not using any AI technology with IBM InfoSphere Optim. I rate IBM InfoSphere Optim a seven out of ten. The tool is good, but the price is not favorable as it is the most expensive part. I can recommend IBM InfoSphere Optim for enterprises.

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reviewer2796111

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.

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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

"The compression feature is valuable because it achieves around 80% compression."

"We like that we can easily restore the database with just a few clicks. The database is linked as well."

"I feel the solution to be a bit faster than the traditional methods, which makes it easy to customize."

"It was a very good tool at the time since it was complete."

"The tool is simple to use."

"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."

"Straightforward setup."

"We use the solution to create data models which describe our company's data architecture"

"The most valuable features are... those that enable me to represent the database to the development community and the business users."

"We found a lot of duplication, a lot of non-conformity in the way our databases were designed. By identifying these situations, we're able to go back in and try to create a more standardized solution."

"ER/Studio is excellent for large teams; it scales well to teams of over one hundred plus people."

More IDERA ER/Studio pros

Cons

"The potential room for improvement for IBM InfoSphere Optim is usually its cost, as it is too expensive."

"While the solution is very supportive of Db2, it is not so friendly when it comes to IMS databases."

"We're looking for a solution that can be implemented on AWS. IBM InfoSphere Optim can be implemented on AWS, but it costs more than double what we're currently paying. So, it's not really of good value for us."

"The model diagram because very clumsy when you save it on the team server and the models are very big."

"We did have a big issue when we upgraded to the 2016 version. The Team Server portion never did quite install correctly, and/or the database was corrupted, and we never figured it out."

"When building the relationships there should be a little more flexibility."

"when there are some links to the external databases, if this database is not structured it is not uploaded. It gives me errors and I cannot see the view that was created on this structure and I cannot change those views, even manually. It skips the views. I have to ignore those views. I cannot re-upload them because it gives me an error."

"Sometimes our version is a little unstable. But I think this problem occurs because our version is old."

"The only thing I had an issue with was licensing, and the support was very good."

"I cannot evaluate any areas for improvement at this time."

"What I would like to see improved is the reliability of the releases, releases that are a little less buggy."

More IDERA ER/Studio cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"IBM InfoSphere Optim is a very expensive solution. Actually, it's the most expensive archiving solution that we have."

"Pricing is on point, but do your due diligence - not every developer needs the tool."

"The process of licensing could be much simpler, from our experience."

"I am currently using the trial version, but this solution is definitely worth considering for the price point."

"The price of this product is okay."

"It is priced fairly. It's around the same as erwin and other competitors' costs."

"I feel the product's pricing is a good value."

"As an individual user, the renewal is a little costly."

"Pricing is expensive and on the higher-end."

More IDERA ER/Studio pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

19%

Retailer

Outsourcing Company

Insurance Company

Energy/Utilities Company

14%

Financial Services Firm

13%

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	4
Midsize Enterprise	11
Large Enterprise	26

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with IBM InfoSphere Optim?

The potential room for improvement for IBM InfoSphere Optim is usually its cost, as it is too expensive. Currently, there are no issues with IBM InfoSphere Optim; the only problem is the cost, whic...

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What is your primary use case for IBM InfoSphere Optim?

My current use case for IBM InfoSphere Optim is just for doing backups. We are using IBM InfoSphere Optim specifically for backup purposes.

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What advice do you have for others considering IBM InfoSphere Optim?

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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.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for IDERA ER Studio?

I have been working with data modeling tools. Personally, I have been working with Erwin for many years now. ER/Studio is something I am currently trying to evaluate for acquiring it for our organi...

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What advice do you have for others considering IDERA ER Studio?

I would strongly recommend ER/Studio for large teams. Erwin is a very stable product, but for smaller teams, it's okay. If I had to rate ER/Studio, I would give it nine out of ten because the absen...

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Comparisons

BMC AMI DevX vs IBM InfoSphere Optim

Compared 25% of the time

Oracle Enterprise Manager vs IBM InfoSphere Optim

Compared 17% of the time

Solix Enterprise Data Management vs IBM InfoSphere Optim

Compared 16% of the time

Archon Data Store vs IBM InfoSphere Optim

Compared 11% of the time

SAP Replication Server vs IBM InfoSphere Optim

Compared 10% of the time

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erwin Data Modeler vs IDERA ER/Studio

Compared 31% of the time

Oracle Coherence vs IDERA ER/Studio

Compared 9% of the time

Toad Data Modeler vs IDERA ER/Studio

Compared 9% of the time

SAP PowerDesigner vs IDERA ER/Studio

Compared 7% of the time

Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect vs IDERA ER/Studio

Compared 6% of the time

More IDERA ER/Studio Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Database Development and Management

December 2025

Download IBM InfoSphere Optim product report

Buyer's Guide

IDERA ER/Studio

January 2026

Download IDERA ER/Studio product report

Also Known As

IBM Optim, Optim

IDERA ER Studio, ER/Studio, ER/Studio Enterprise Team Edition

Overview

IBM Optim solutions manage data from requirements to retirement. They boost performance, empower collaboration, and improve governance across applications, databases and platforms. By managing data properly over its lifetime, organisations are better equipped to support business goals with less risk.

IBM

IDERA ER/Studio is a powerful suite for business-driven data modeling that enables companies to create an enterprise architecture foundation for data governance. With round-trip support for multiple database platforms, data architects have the power to reverse-engineer, analyze, and optimize existing databases easily from diverse platforms. Data professionals can easily capture and share models, metadata, data sources, and glossaries across the organization for improved alignment between the organization and Information Technology. Organizational stakeholders can take part in the metadata definition workflow and access information on models and metadata at the right level for their needs.

Unlike its competition, it provides the broadest range of data platform support, industry-leading enterprise-level capabilities, visual data lineage and flow modeling, full dimensional modeling for data warehousing and business intelligence, and business data objects to bridge the gap between developers and data architects. It also provides a complete solution for enterprise architecture and data governance, extensive model change management, unique incorporation of true enterprise data dictionaries, unique linking of constructs across models, integrated visual data lineage import, and integrated data and business process modeling.

IDERA

Sample Customers

Durham Police Department, Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc., Continental, KCE Electronics Public Company Limited, The University of Adelaide, Migros Zurich, COPROB

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

Buyer's Guide

IBM InfoSphere Optim vs. IDERA ER/Studio

December 2025

Free Report: IBM InfoSphere Optim vs. IDERA ER/Studio

Find out what your peers are saying about IBM InfoSphere Optim vs. IDERA ER/Studio and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.

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