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SAP PowerDesigner vs UNICOM System Architect 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

SAP PowerDesigner
Ranking in Enterprise Architecture Management
3rd
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
39
Ranking in other categories
Metadata Management (5th)
UNICOM System Architect
Ranking in Enterprise Architecture Management
24th
Average Rating
6.0
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Enterprise Architecture Management category, the mindshare of SAP PowerDesigner is 7.4%, down from 8.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of UNICOM System Architect is 1.4%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Architecture Management Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
SAP PowerDesigner7.4%
UNICOM System Architect1.4%
Other91.2%
Enterprise Architecture Management
 

Featured Reviews

Kopparapu Venkatesh Prasad - PeerSpot reviewer
Engineer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Data modeling tool improves data management and decision-making efficiency
The lineage analysis helps my organization understand data dependencies at an enterprise level. As a SAP PowerDesigner developer, I monitor data across the organization, creating data models that reflect not just one data warehouse but comprehensive organizational information. If you have a small company, lineage helps track employee data across different areas such as finance and HR. Data governance prevents duplicate records, so when tracking employee details, SAP PowerDesigner highlights where data exists in various areas, helping ensure we only use the appropriate sources. This functionality allows us to assess the impact of data deletions effectively. I utilize the reverse engineering capabilities in SAP PowerDesigner. Reverse engineering is helpful, especially since I have colleagues new to SAP PowerDesigner. They often do not know which columns are available where. In SAP PowerDesigner, we can reverse engineer existing data from its source and identify errors in production. For instance, by using Ali's example, if an error arises, I can trace it back to the table and environment it originated from using the reverse engineering feature. The best features of SAP PowerDesigner, from my perspective, are its ability to keep the connectivity between the source database and the new system, data redundancy and availability, and impact analysis. The first feature acts as a bridge between systems. The second allows us to see what data is already available and what new data can be brought in. The third, impact analysis, helps determine how many tables will be affected if a specific table is deleted. This critical point allows us to capture how much data will be lost if any table is removed. Currently, these features shape my daily work. SAP PowerDesigner primarily benefits business management units by offering three types of data modeling structures: conceptual, logical, and physical models. The conceptual model communicates high-level insights to top executives, while logical and physical models address complex queries faced by developers in analytics. SAP PowerDesigner enhances the clarity of our data management significantly, as around 80% of data can be searched quickly and maintained in our SAP systems. The tool enables mapping from end to end, making my work faster and more efficient than using other ER data modeling solutions. The interface allows easy creation of data models and searching for existing data, ensuring I can complete my tasks significantly quicker. The importance of SAP PowerDesigner's collaboration capabilities lies in fostering a unified data management approach. It acts as a unified tool, preventing the duplication of existing data in analytical processes, thus saving both effort and storage costs, which is essential for effective data management. We utilize collaboration capabilities in SAP PowerDesigner with various source systems such as PG admin, Postgres, Oracle, and Snowflake. Recently, we have added Snowflake for cloud data modeling and POC work, streamlining the collaboration process across different systems.
reviewer1261290 - PeerSpot reviewer
Project Manager at a government with 10,001+ employees
Useful for creating build-outs and architecture views, but requires a publisher add-on for some detailed reports
I don't use the tool or know a lot. It is going to have some shortcomings. When it comes down to publishing, we just found out this week that they actually have a publisher add-on. So, what we were trying to publish was not giving a detailed report about the architecture, views, etc. I just wish they had sent these to UNICOM and contacted them about add-on features for the publishing part of the tool.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"SAP PowerDesigner is fairly stable."
"The main valuable features are the logical and physical data modeling capabilities, and our main purpose is to keep the data model in a repository and then be able to generate DDL files for Oracle."
"Very good repository features."
"Technical support is good... for a price."
"It allows us to have proper documentation in terms of the databases."
"I like the connectivity or the lineage between the models and usability."
"I like the connectivity or the lineage between the models and usability."
"I previously used Erwin and I switched because PowerDesigner is a more powerful tool."
"It has good end-to-end metamodel interrelationships."
"It is useful for creating build-outs and architecture views and for publishing reports and stuff like that for different programs."
"It has good end-to-end metamodel interrelationships."
"It is useful for creating build-outs and architecture views and for publishing reports and stuff like that for different programs."
 

Cons

"I have found the solution not easy to use. When publishing you have to download the HTML, make adjustments against the updated HTML, convert it to HTML, then finally paste the HTML. There is not an on-the-fly function available to bypass the step-by-step converting process that other solutions have."
"SAP PowerDesigner can improve the ease of use. It is not the best tool on the market because it is tough to navigate and use. A beginner would not be able to use it well, it requires some experience. If the solution was more user-friendly it would be able to be used by more audiences. I do not think many people are aware of this solution and they should use it."
"Checking-in models to the repository, especially when working remotely, is a slow process than can sometimes have problems with models being corrupted."
"Checking-in models to the repository, especially when working remotely, is a slow process than can sometimes have problems with models being corrupted."
"Connectivity can be improved because it's not very good."
"The user interface could be more user-friendly."
"In terms of improvement, the pricing is a bit high."
"There should be a better usage of current hardware including multicore CPUs, higher resolutions (UHD, 4K), and multiple displays."
"They need to add reports that show the enterprise architecture perspectives, and the dashboards should be comfortable for the senior enterprise architects so that they can view the complete landscape."
"When it comes down to publishing, we just found out this week that they actually have a publisher add-on, so what we were trying to publish was not giving a detailed report about the architecture, views, etc."
"UNICOM System Architect is quite a dated tool. The usability needs to be improved."
"I don't use the tool or know a lot. It is going to have some shortcomings. When it comes down to publishing, we just found out this week that they actually have a publisher add-on. So, what we were trying to publish was not giving a detailed report about the architecture, views, etc. I just wish they had sent these to UNICOM and contacted them about add-on features for the publishing part of the tool."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing varies based on functionality and users."
"The ROI has been 43%."
"I would like SAP to prove free licenses to professionals that are using the solution. The free version is limited."
"The price of the solution is low."
"PowerDesigner is not the cheapest solution on the market, so make sure that you are using it to its full potential."
"I bought the software outright and do not pay a licensing fee."
"Regarding costs, SAP PowerDesigner is pricey, as I've heard from my team manager, which is why the company has been thinking of bringing another solution on board."
"SAP PowerDesigner is cheaper than eriwin."
"I don't remember the price. It is a different cost for just buying it, and then you have a maintenance cost, which you need to renew every year."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
22%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Retailer
6%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business18
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise17
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about SAP PowerDesigner?
It allows us to have proper documentation in terms of the databases.
What needs improvement with SAP PowerDesigner?
It was a long time back when my company purchased it, but I am now participating in upgrading it to the latest version. I found customer support to be tedious during the upgrade process to the late...
Ask a question
Earn 20 points
 

Also Known As

Sybase PowerDesigner
No data available
 

Overview

Information not available
 

Sample Customers

Medtronic, Cirque du Soleil, Antarc, B&G Manufacturing, EarlySense, eBay, Ferrero, James Austin Company, Lenovo, Sagem, RAK Ceramics, Vodafone
Apple, Facebook, Google, HSBC, PayPal
Find out what your peers are saying about SAP PowerDesigner vs. UNICOM System Architect and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
885,286 professionals have used our research since 2012.