IBM Rational System Architect vs Planview Portfolios comparison

IBM and Planview are both solutions in the Enterprise Architecture Management category. IBM is ranked #20, while Planview is ranked #12 with an average rating of 9.0. IBM holds a 2.0% mindshare in AM, compared to Planview’s 1.9% mindshare. Additionally, 83% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 90% of Planview users who would recommend it.

IBM Rational System Architect

Read 5 IBM Rational System Architect reviews

719 Views
683 Comparison Views

83% willing to recommend

Planview Portfolios

Read 63 Planview Portfolios reviews

2,057 Views
473 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

IBM Rational System Architect

Planview Portfolios

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 2024

Planview Portfolios and IBM Rational System Architect compete in project and portfolio management solutions. Planview Portfolios is often favored for its cost-effectiveness and customer support, whereas IBM Rational System Architect is chosen for robust features, appealing to large-scale enterprise needs.

Features: Planview Portfolios stands out for advanced analytics, resource management, and integration capabilities. It provides a user-friendly interface, aiding strategy alignment and project tracking. IBM Rational System Architect excels in extensive modeling capabilities, supporting complex enterprise architectures and delivering detailed architectural frameworks.

Room for Improvement: Planview Portfolios can enhance its user interface and reporting features. It would benefit from a streamlined learning curve and increased automation. IBM Rational System Architect could improve on deployment efficiency, documentation clarity, and easing its complexity for smaller organizations.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Planview Portfolios offers flexible deployment options, cloud and on-premises, with proactive customer support ensuring smooth implementation. IBM Rational System Architect, aimed at large enterprises, provides comprehensive deployment documentation but may present complexity in execution.

Pricing and ROI: Planview Portfolios is known for its transparent and economical pricing structure, offering significant ROI for cost-sensitive organizations. IBM Rational System Architect, with higher initial costs, provides substantial ROI through its robust features, particularly appealing to enterprises investing in broad capabilities.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM Rational System Architect vs. Planview Portfolios Report (Updated: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

IBM Rational System Architect vs. Planview Portfolios

September 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 Rational System Architect

Ranking in Enterprise Architecture Management

20th

Average Rating

7.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Planview Portfolios

Ranking in Enterprise Architecture Management

12th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Project Portfolio Management (7th)

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Enterprise Architecture Management category, the mindshare of IBM Rational System Architect is 2.0%, up from 2.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Planview Portfolios is 1.9%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Enterprise Architecture Management Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Planview Portfolios	1.9%
IBM Rational System Architect	2.0%
Other	96.1%

Enterprise Architecture Management

Featured Reviews

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.

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EduardoMaya

Project Office Manager at Hoteles City Express

A solution that gives you all the information you need to plan detailed projects

The initial setup was just a little complex. I rate the initial setup a seven out of ten. Deploying the solution took two weeks. While deploying the solution, we had two instances, one for the IT team and one for the business team. And we had to connect the two and explain things to the team. Only two people were needed to deploy the solution, me and another person.

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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 user interface is good. It's both clear and comprehensible. It's easy to work with."

"The solution is pretty stable."

"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."

"I like that it's an enterprise environment. I can look across everything that's going on and have a sense of what is going on within the organization."

"The most valuable feature for me is the ease and customizability of reporting."

"The look and feel of it is pretty clean."

"The most valuable feature of this solution is reporting."

"The most valuable features are the resource management, the time sheet entry and usage, and the financial planning. With our projects, we primarily focus on resource assignments, as far as determining the actual forecast and actuals of our projects. A lot of it is based off of the resources utilized on those projects. The time based helps us capture the actuals. The amount of time people are spending on working on their project tasks. Because they've built this into the schedule, so we can build the forecast. With financial planning, we're able to look back on what our variance is and if there is anything between the scheduled forecasted hours, dollars against the actual hours, and the costs that they utilize."

"Its view into resource capacity and availability absolutely help us manage work. We can't plan out projects for delivery until we know if we have resources available to deliver them. That's been really critical. We look at our projects and see what availability of resources we have. That helps us to determine when we can start new work."

"The overall interface is very easy to use. It puts together strategy and execution across all your investments."

"Our reporting is much better. There is much more visibility on projects, schedules, tasks, and in our milestones. Now, we have a consistent way of reporting out to the committees and getting all of our schedules and milestones."

More Planview Portfolios pros

Cons

"The solution needs to better integrate with other products, like Microsoft."

"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 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."

"We are not very happy with the customer service. This is one of our main pain points. It doesn't cover the entirety of customer service, as there are reps who are really great and we've had good experiences. Many times, we've had people give us attitude, there was a delay in the response, or just a lack of interest. This got to the point where if there was a problem, we would rather try to solve it ourselves then call customer support."

"Our version is definitely set up a bit more waterfall world. It would be better if some of the agile features were more in the standard product."

"The number one thing that needs improvement is the UI. It should be easy for a casual project manager. It should provide customizable screens that can be a choice for project managers to choose as a professional level, medium level, and a very easy level."

"The reporting capability and access to the fields for our system administrators to have access to the data without having to pay Enterprise One to get the data that's needed to create custom reports for management to create reports need improvement."

"We had issues with the data rephrasing."

"I think that the user interface needs some getting used to. It's not immediately intuitive. That's potentially room for improvement. I think also that an organization needs to have good support from some senior management to get something like Planview established."

"I would like to be able to integrate with Oracle to supplement what we're currently doing with reporting."

"The administrative tabs are very confusing, especially in terms of configuring screens and users. It's not very intuitive versus many other applications that I have worked in the past. I have to go to separate sections than I think I have to in order to get to the place that I need to adjust something."

More Planview Portfolios cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"We overbought our licenses. We looked at our needs three to four years down the road and tried based our contract on that. However, we were over aggressive. We use about a third of the licenses that we have. We're looking to adjust the makeup so we can start utilizing the amount of money that we are spending. Right now, we're overspending, and my organization is not seeing the value in Planview because we are paying so much for licenses that we're not using."

"I don't think we have necessarily purchased everything that I would have liked to have seen."

"I don't know about the actual pricing. I have not come across any costs in addition to the standard licensing fees."

"We are on the Flex licenses."

"I think all in we are at $33,000 a year and that includes Projectplace and Planview. We used to have the integration to JIRA, but we don't pay for that anymore."

"Planview is a little pricey. From a licensing perspective, for just a simple timesheet user who does nothing in the system but reports time, the licensing is a little pricey, but you have to look at it from what it is that you get. We have 6,000 users, and I don't manage the system at all. I just have to do add them to the system. The servers, maintenance, OS levels, security patching for the OS, and all other things are not something that we maintain. So, you have to look at it from an operational perspective. It is not just the product itself. A holistic view has to be taken when you look at the product and how you're going to support it. I would have to hire an entire operation staff to bring it in-house, and at the end of the day, that might cost me more."

"We have unlimited licenses for all of our functionalities. Since we went global, we went with that model."

"With the costs, they were very understanding. Knowing that we were an existing customer, they were very much willing to work with us to make sure that we were able to transition to Enterprise One from PPM Pro."

More Planview Portfolios pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

18%

Financial Services Firm

13%

Government

Computer Software Company

13%

Manufacturing Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

Healthcare Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	3
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	58

Questions from the Community

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What do you like most about Planview Portfolios?

Planview Management integrates seamlessly with other tools and systems used within the organization, such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, customer relationship management (CRM) syst...

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What needs improvement with Planview Portfolios?

Enhancements are needed in: Advanced reporting and analytics: While Planview Management provides robust reporting and analytics capabilities, further enhancements could include more advanced data v...

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What is your primary use case for Planview Portfolios?

We use Planview Management to assess the current project portfolio, evaluate resource availability, and prioritize projects based on strategic objectives, ROI, and risk factors. Planview Management...

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Product Reports

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Enterprise Architecture Management

September 2025

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Buyer's Guide

Planview Portfolios

September 2025

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Also Known As

Rational System Architect

Planview Enterprise One, Troux

Overview

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

Planview Portfolios offers a comprehensive platform for managing IT, project and resource management, along with strategic planning. The tool focuses on optimizing resource allocation and financial analysis, supporting global operations.

Organizations use Planview Portfolios to streamline project tracking from inception to completion, enhancing strategic alignment with corporate objectives. The tool integrates with platforms like JIRA to provide seamless workflows and supports critical business processes, including budgeting and capacity planning. Teams benefit from customized configurations and robust reporting, further supporting effective decision-making. Despite its strengths, improvements are sought in navigation, documentation, and integration capabilities.

What are the key features?

Customizable interface: Allows personalization to meet specific needs.
Comprehensive resource and financial management: Enables detailed tracking and analysis.
Robust reporting: Provides extensive data insights.
Integration with Power BI: Enhances data access for stakeholders.
Resource and capacity planning: Optimizes workforce allocation.

What benefits should users expect?

Improved strategic alignment: Supports better decision-making.
Increased operational efficiency: Streamlines project management.
Enhanced resource optimization: Ensures optimal use of workforce.
Better financial insights: Allows precise budget tracking.

In industries like IT and project management, Planview Portfolios supports complex portfolio handling, ensuring visibility across global operations. Companies in these sectors leverage its strategic planning tools for strategic alignment and resource management, integrating with existing systems for improved process efficiency.

Planview

Sample Customers

Wuxi Lake Cloud, Nationwide, ETI, IDS Scheer

UPS, NatWest, Ingram Micro, Canadian Tire, Viessmann, Volvo, NASCO, UNESCO

Buyer's Guide

IBM Rational System Architect vs. Planview Portfolios

September 2025

Free Report: IBM Rational System Architect vs. Planview Portfolios

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