IBM Rational System Architect vs Planview Portfolios comparison

IBM and Planview are both solutions in the Enterprise Architecture Management category. IBM is ranked #19, while Planview is ranked #13 with an average rating of 8.5. IBM holds a 1.8% mindshare in AM, compared to Planview’s 1.1% 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

774 Views
421 Comparison Views

83% willing to recommend

Planview Portfolios

Read 63 Planview Portfolios reviews

345 Views
197 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

IBM Rational System Architect

Planview Portfolios

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

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: June 2025).

Buyer's Guide

IBM Rational System Architect vs. Planview Portfolios

June 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 857,162 peers since 2012

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

19th

Average Rating

7.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Planview Portfolios

Ranking in Enterprise Architecture Management

13th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Project Portfolio Management (7th)

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Enterprise Architecture Management category, the mindshare of IBM Rational System Architect is 1.8%, down from 2.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Planview Portfolios is 1.1%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

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.

Read full review

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.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"We have seen ROI with this solution over the years that we have used it."

"The solution is pretty stable."

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

"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."

"The biggest impact has been the visibility into our IT assets."

"It has been effective for our delivery. It's given us much better visibility into what is being delivered and when."

"With the lifecycles, it helps us step through our processes easier. We'll take a process and create it in Visio, then we'll go and implemented in Planview. Anytime that we have to do a new process, this is what we use. We just step it through the lifecycles and the configure screens are very easy to use. The fields that you need are easy to use."

"Our transparency is increasing a lot. It is helping us to get people together. There are no dark rooms anymore. In some areas or concepts, we want to add more light to every single concept. That's the big impact that the tool is having. It allows conversations between people."

"The resource capacity planning is the most valuable feature because you can evaluate your team's capacity by team and what projects they're working on and you can forecast easily by team."

"The sheer amount of information available in one single interface is valuable. Everything is there. It is also a lot of work to maintain all the information, but generally, you can find everything you need within this one tool."

"We provided whatever feedback we had to the Planview team, and they went in and built those additional features that we requested. For example, they created a great way for our users to search for a specific resource, project, program, or role. We were not using some of the features, and we wanted them to not be visible, and they helped us with that. They also brought a feature to provide visibility into when a resource was never assigned to any task. There was no visibility to this before. This feature was really very good for visibility into the resource portfolio."

"It has helped improve governance, mostly. People want to know where their money's going. Projects sponsors need to know what we're spending money on and what our burn rate is. Planview can give that to you straightaway."

More Planview Portfolios pros

Cons

"This solution can be more user-friendly and easier to use, with better dashboards."

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

"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."

"Its support to legacy paying customers is something PlanView is not handling well. We were unable to implement due to lack of professional support by PlanView. "

"Configuring the UI in the content management system is too elaborate and too time-consuming."

"The lack of templates harden the initial learning curve."

"Support is still a challenge. We find it challenging more due to the responsiveness and getting a case or ticket assigned to an analyst. That's what I was just doing. I was following up on an email that we opened last week. We haven't heard anything, so following up on that."

"When we first deployed, there were some issues. We never got to the root cause of why they happened. Since we didn't have any history with it, we weren't quite sure if this was a standard operating procedure or it truly was a glitch."

"Some of the out-of-the-box reporting is not immediately useful and although it can be configured or customized, there are still improvements that can be made."

"Their off-shore support is something new that they're laying out and the team just needed some development in terms of skill and experience."

"When you think of planning at a PI level, roadmap planning, or release planning, I think they should make a little more headway into how agile delivery works, tying it back into the financials and the planning to Planview. I think it would be good."

More Planview Portfolios cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"In the time that I've used it, we've doubled up the amount of dollars on our intended projects."

"The licensing part is a bit costly in comparison with the other available PPM tools."

"We recently did a new bundle for all of Enterprise One. It includes some of the newer pieces, like Projectplace and LeanKit. It bundled our CTM in with it as well. I think the total came out to be about $900,000 a year. This is for unlimited licenses."

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

"The cost of other pieces and integrating them in needs improvement."

"Our licensing costs are about a quarter of a million dollars per year."

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

"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."

More Planview Portfolios pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Enterprise Architecture Management solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

857,162 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

16%

Financial Services Firm

15%

Government

11%

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

15%

Financial Services Firm

15%

Computer Software Company

14%

Healthcare Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

Ask a question

Earn 20 points

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...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Planview Portfolios?

Planview Portfolios is not too expensive. You get what you paid for.

See all answers

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...

See all answers

Comparisons

Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect vs IBM Rational System Architect

Compared 60% of the time

MEGA HOPEX vs IBM Rational System Architect

Compared 12% of the time

LeanIX vs IBM Rational System Architect

Compared 10% of the time

ARIS BPA vs IBM Rational System Architect

Compared 9% of the time

erwin Data Modeler by Quest vs IBM Rational System Architect

Compared 9% of the time

More IBM Rational System Architect Competitors

Broadcom Clarity vs Planview Portfolios

Compared 14% of the time

LeanIX vs Planview Portfolios

Compared 10% of the time

Planisware vs Planview Portfolios

Compared 8% of the time

Planview PPM Pro vs Planview Portfolios

Compared 7% of the time

SAP Portfolio and Project Management vs Planview Portfolios

Compared 7% of the time

More Planview Portfolios Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Enterprise Architecture Management

June 2025

Download IBM Rational System Architect product report

Buyer's Guide

Planview Portfolios

May 2025

Download Planview Portfolios product report

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

June 2025

Free Report: IBM Rational System Architect vs. Planview Portfolios

Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Rational System Architect vs. Planview Portfolios and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

857,162 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our IBM Rational System Architect vs. Planview Portfolios report.

See our list of best Enterprise Architecture Management vendors.

We monitor all Enterprise Architecture Management reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.