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Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect vs iServer comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 2024

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

iServer
Ranking in Enterprise Architecture Management
8th
Ranking in Business Process Design
17th
Average Rating
7.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
18
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Sparx Systems Enterprise Ar...
Ranking in Enterprise Architecture Management
2nd
Ranking in Business Process Design
4th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
99
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Enterprise Architecture Management category, the mindshare of iServer is 4.5%, up from 4.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect is 13.2%, down from 17.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Architecture Management
 

Q&A Highlights

it_user153078 - PeerSpot reviewer
Sep 23, 2014
 

Featured Reviews

Antonios Lazanakis - PeerSpot reviewer
Flexible, easy to use, and easy to import data
We use iServer to establish an enterprise architecture function in our organization iServer is a very flexible platform for defining your own enterprise architecture model. It is very easy to import data, and we also have good integration with Visual Drawing Tools and SharePoint. The solution is…
Milan Sterba - PeerSpot reviewer
Efficient documentation generation through organized model structure with a good price-performance ratio
Whenever I begin a new project with Sparx, I have to spend time training people on how to use it since it is not straightforward. Although it's a powerful product with plenty of features, it's not easy for even experienced users to find their way without guidance. This is not the most user-friendly solution.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"We like the governance."
"The most valuable feature is its reporting capability. It offers various packages for different types of reports, such as business and project management reporting packs."
"The solution is easily modified to suit your needs."
"Tech support is very responsive. They solved issues within a prompt response time."
"The initial setup is easy."
"Integrating the Microsoft documents to the product and visualization matrix where we can see the end-to-end relationship of the network is of great importance to our company."
"This is a flexible tool compared to some other solutions."
"iServer is a solution that helps catalog enterprise architect solutions and catalog information."
"Ability to keep inventory of reusable blocks, and use in different diagrams with views of various templates."
"Customizable and tailored to the environment. Several template frameworks are provided."
"It is simple to build the first model for the solution."
"It's easy to search within the solution."
"The initial setup is easy."
"Its most valuable feature is the Zachman Framework."
"For the most part, we find that it is remarkable how inexpensive it is."
"Artifact templates are most valuable."
 

Cons

"There can be some performance issues using the solution that should be improved. When you make modifications modify to files there are embedded data within that can take a while to process."
"We could allocate permissions to use only specific components to the users rather than the entire instance."
"It runs relatively slowly."
"iServer should invest in enhancing the capabilities of the embedded drawing tool, draw.io."
"There could be features for process mining, process simulation, and analytics."
"More visualization techniques and ways to report the data might be helpful."
"Cannot see which activities are control activities."
"It definitely needs help to improve the visual aspect of the solution."
"More challenging than other tools to maintain documents and document versions for an architecture board review."
"The modeling tool is targeted toward a sophisticated user."
"In a future release, they should improve portfolio planning."
"The Business Process Modeling or BPM feature can be improved to make it more interactive and user friendly because it is a tool for technical people. My current use is only for business process modeling notation and putting in the icons etc. You need to take them in as a class, which makes things very complex. Because of this complexity, it is not an easy-to-handle solution. Enterprise Architect is not very good for mockups. We cannot create user screens and other similar kinds of stuff, which is bad. For these things, we prefer to use Axure RP and other similar solutions. They should either remove this feature from this product or provide some kind of connectivity with Axure RP so that people can do better mockups of screens and import them. They need to augment and strengthen the BPM feature, which is the main feature. They need to put in some elements like artificial intelligence and augmented reality. They should look into such features because these things are coming up."
"There should be a MATLAB-specific toolbox added to the solution with better compatibility. The connections currently are good but in the future, it needs a huge improvement."
"They should make the Save button easier to find. A simplified user interface for a lighter user would probably be useful. I am not sure if such an interface is already there."
"I have found the solution is lacking options. The general usability needs improvement and more compliance to CML definitions."
"Even if there are web-based tools in the Enterprise Architecture tool ecosystem (like Prolaborate), the main modeling application is still a fat client application."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is cheaper than its competitors."
"It's about 13K to set up and 9K for the license for three months. I think it's about 20K a year, but we haven't firmed up on pricing yet because the price depends on how long we commit to the solution."
"The price of iServer is reasonable compared to other solutions."
"They offer annual subscriptions for developing countries, which are not affordable for small or medium businesses."
"The product has a moderate pricing."
"Aim for the exact number of people who shall define/review approve and view the processes, as it will impact the cost."
"There is a license for this solution. When comparing this solution to others it is priced well."
"The license for Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect is paid yearly, but I don't handle that area. It's good for its price, so I'm rating it a five out of five, but I'm not using it much. I also don't have information regarding additional costs apart from the standard licensing fees."
"Its price is very good for the value that you get with it."
"Use floating licenses strategically."
"Licenses are pretty low cost compared to, for example, ARIS."
"We have an annual license, and it's very affordable."
"We had a yearly license."
"Pricing and licensing are suitable even for small companies."
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Answers from the Community

it_user153078 - PeerSpot reviewer
Sep 23, 2014
Sep 23, 2014
Thanks Dorian. We've had look at IBM Systems Architect, but due to the size of our organization and IBM licensing structure, hence we opted for the two in question.
2 out of 4 answers
it_user96945 - PeerSpot reviewer
Sep 22, 2014
I have not used those two. I have used/use IBM Systems Architect, Visual Paradigm and Rational Rose and my experience with those is that is you want true team cooperation, they always ask you to buy something more. Usually there is a separate tool/SW to make teamwork work. Give them all the specs ahead of time so that if something is not there, you can go back and ask for them to fix the problem. Dorian W Smith
it_user78465 - PeerSpot reviewer
Sep 22, 2014
I have no experience with these solutions. John Becker
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
17%
Government
12%
Educational Organization
10%
Computer Software Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Government
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Educational Organization
10%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about iServer?
iServer has valuable features for workflow and document management.
What needs improvement with iServer?
iServer should invest in enhancing the capabilities of the embedded drawing tool, draw.io. draw.io is a drawing tool used to draw architectural diagrams, flow diagrams, etc. It is an alternative to...
What is your primary use case for iServer?
We use iServer to establish an enterprise architecture function in our organization.
What do you like most about Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect?
The stability has been good and satisfactory. I would rate the stability a ten out of ten.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect?
One of the reasons many public sector institutions in the Czech Republic use it is that it provides a very good price-performance ratio. While it might be cumbersome to learn, it still delivers exc...
What needs improvement with Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect?
Whenever I begin a new project with Sparx, I have to spend time training people on how to use it since it is not straightforward. Although it's a powerful product with plenty of features, it's not ...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Barclays, Cathay Pacific, Deloitte, British Gas, MasterCard
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Find out what your peers are saying about Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect vs. iServer and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
861,524 professionals have used our research since 2012.