IDERA ER/Studio Reviews

Data modeling.

The developers can see the relationships now.

The reverse engineering is the most important feature. The relationships are also important.

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

I have not encountered any issues with stability.

I have not encountered any issues with scalability.

Tech support is pretty good. They resolve issues right away, I usually don't have to wait too long.

I used a little bit of SQL Server. It has a data modeling tool. I also used some ERwin before that, a couple years ago.

The initial setup was pretty easy.

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

I looked at ERwin.

We're supposed to be using it for designing new data models, appending and editing data models. We're doing a lot of reverse engineering on our existing databases.

But we have a plan in the works to begin using it as part of our data governance process, something we don't have currently.

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.

The most valuable feature is data modeling, primarily, because it's something that has been lacking in our systems development for 20 years. There was no accountability for data structure.

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.

We're in the process of trying to upgrade to the most current version now, and we're starting over with a fresh database. Then we'll move models from the old version to the new version instead of trying to upgrade.

We've had no issues with scalability.

Tech support is a sticking point with me. I am really disappointed in the tech support. We pay for the Platinum level. It takes hours to get a response. We're on East Coast time. I know that most of their support people are West Coast, but it's very common for me to put in a call in the morning, prior to lunch, and get a response from someone after I've gone home for the day. I then come in the next morning and try to connect with that person and, of course, they're not in yet. I've had some really disappointing experiences with support.

We had a hodgepodge of tools. The only one that had previously been used as our "official" tool for a while was Sybase PowerDesigner. It did well, but when we tried to come up with a standard of what we were going to move to, we had some federal employees and some of our contract employees all saying, "Well, I want to use this," and, "I want to use that." We couldn't standardize on anything. We did some market research and decided ER/Studio was the thing to use, and standardized from there.

The first few years, we only had the standalone ER/Studio, without the Team Server, without the Repository. Of course, that was a straightforward Windows install.

When we first got the Repository and Team Server, they were different products. The Repository installed fine, the Team server installed fine. We didn't really have an issue until the upgrade to 2016, where the Team Server was combined with the Repository. Apparently, there was a step in the instructions that was easily overlooked, and sure enough, I overlooked it.

We've got some training coming up. We want to learn more of the features of the tool, things like the Data Lineage and how to use the ETL tools. We bought this great product and we're not taking advantage of it. That's my only complaint.

I'm a firm believer that all software is overpriced these days but, comparatively speaking, I think ER/Studio is worth the money.

We have to use the Enterprise License Center, what used to be AppWave, and I hate it. We've got concurrent user licenses for ER/Studio, but we also use it for the Embarcadero RAD Studio. We're in a multi-user environment where we have federal users who work here in headquarters, we have contract users who work in their offices, we have contract users who work from home. In order to get the Enterprise License Center to work, they have to be on our network, at least temporarily, to get the License Center to recognize the software and set up. It's a battle every time, trying to get somebody's license renewed or upgraded. There needs to be a better way.

We looked at Sybase PowerDesigner again. I recall at the time they said it wasn't going to be supported anymore, but apparently, it still is. Of course, we looked at ERwin but a lot of people thought the ERwin interface was clunky back then. And at that time, there weren't any freeware or shareware tools that were comparable. So those were the main three options we looked at.

Especially with the Repository/Team Server installation, get Idera to install it for you. Just watch over their shoulder while they do it.

Otherwise, just learn it and enjoy it.

I rate this product at nine out of 10 because it does so much. It's so powerful. The only reason I don't give it a 10 is because it probably has things in it that I'll never use because I don't know how to use them.

Data modeling and database design for PepsiCo.

We were using ERwin before we used ER/Studio. I've been doing data modeling for well over 20 years. Converting from one to the other at the time, ER/Studio was more sophisticated, gave us better functionality, and was more reliable. 

The ability to visually represent what the database tables are going to look like and their relationships. Also, the ability to document the definitions of the tables and the columns that are in a table so that we can communicate what the data is and how it should be used.

The Repository, as well. We have a database design group of about 15 people. The Repository enables multiple people to work on the same model at the same time. We have fully integrated models, so we have one model for the enterprise data warehouse, one model for MDM, with a lot of sub-models in these things. People work on different parts of the model at different times. So the Repository enables us to share the models, and keep track of what everybody is working on.

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

Also, I'd like the ability to debug the errors ourselves instead of having to call them. There are certain types of errors that, I wouldn't say they come up regularly, but when you have an error it is very often the same type of error. Knowing that it's a Type III or Type I, it would be nice to have some kind of debugging facility for us to use, to find out where the problem that threw that error occurs. That would be a really cool feature.

It is mostly stable. We do throw errors every once in a while. We don't have a tremendous problem with stability, but we would always like to see Repository performance improve, checking in and checking out.

We haven't had any issues with scalability because the product works on individual workstations. We have shared licenses but everybody works on their own workstation. It's only when it goes back into the Repository that everything comes together. So, working individually is never a problem. You just need enough memory on your machine.

Tech support has been good. I have no complaints about it.

We haven't needed to use tech support in quite a while. But when we do, we have to go through whatever their process is, and if we haven't been able to resolve it through the regular process, then we get an individual person that we talk with directly to work with us to solve the problem. They have gotten onto our machines with us. They've been very responsive. They have their standard routine of what they have to do, but if that doesn't solve something, then they will get on with us individually or they ask us to send them the model and they figure it out.

We were using ERwin back in the early 2000s. Whenever we got a release, it was buggy. I didn't love ERwin at the time and we were looking for another solution. We had ER/Studio and Embarcadero come and talk to us. We got really excited about the tool, ER/Studio. It was going in a direction that sounded like it would be better for us at the time. It had more features that impressed us at the time and it was easy to convert.

It was 15 years ago. I think they came in and helped us when we did the setup. The setup of the tool itself is easy. The issues that we had were related to our environment. The tool is easy to set up but it depends on what your enterprise's architecture is. It's really about the Repository. The standalone workstations are easy. But if you're dealing with the Repository and enterprise architecture that makes it a little bit more complex. Then you have issues and you need their support.

I am not involved in the pricing. We have one person who does that. so I have no knowledge of what it is.

We have some individual licenses and then we have a concurrent license. And it's been working fine.

Try to take advantage of as many of the features as you can. It has a wealth of time-savers and features that are extremely useful. We haven't been able to use all of them because we already had so much done. To try and use some of them by going back over thousands and thousands of tables and columns would have been impossible. If you are is just starting with it, if you can take advantage of the Data Lineage and some of the other interesting features that it has, it is definitely worthwhile.

My rating comes from a purely selfish perspective, in the way I use it. For what I do, I give it an eight out of 10. The reason is - and this is partly our fault because we haven't finished, we haven't upgraded to newest release yet - that there are some buggy things in it that we still have to get resolved. For us, upgrading is very difficult because we have so many people, and we have to coordinate with our database people. Our services are now outsourced, so to coordinate things and get everybody on and get an upgrade done is not easy. Obviously, we try to avoid it as long as we can.

The primary use would be all the data modeling of the enterprise. People can access the data model through the portal: all the modeling and all the data dictionary, column-level documentation, glossaries, etc. We use the portal for maintaining those.

The main tool that we use is IDERA Architect on the team portal.

Before this tool, just managing the changes and publishing the models to the users became very cumbersome. This tool has simplified our day-to-day tasks a lot.

• Easy to model.
• Has a user-friendly interface.
• I like the team portal because, once we upload, the entire team can see the model.

Whenever there is a new version, there are a lot of release notes on the technical side of it, but I would like to be told why are we doing the upgrade. For example, we are moving from 16 to 17. What I would like to really see is how this benefits us from the business point of view. What are the real benefits that the user gets? I want some kind of white paper. The release notes describe the technical enhancements but, from the layman's point of view, if someone asks me what are the business benefits of this upgrade, I don't have any documentation to explain it to the business.

I already mentioned this to my account manager. He said they will put me with one of the product development teams to have this kind of discussion.

There have been some issues with performance, and there are some issues with inconsistencies.

We are also working to upgrade our servers. With more and more model and more and more operators, the check-in and the checkout processes are somewhat slow. Right now it's difficult for us to tell if it is, in fact, a product issue. We are upgrading our servers. We will have to really test it. Right now, if there are more than two or three users using the product, we sometimes face the issue.

We bought premium support and so far it is good. The normal technical support is okay; I would not rate it too high. After we got the premium support things were much better. Regarding the last upgrade, they really helped us by walking us through it step by step. That was really good.

We always want to have peace of mind that we can reach them. When we had regular support, sometimes it was very difficult to get hold of them. We upgraded our support to premium, to make sure that we get the proper attention.

The initial setup was straightforward. While there is some documentation, we had a live session and the support and product management team really walked us through, so it was straightforward. There are some areas that we do by looking at the documentation.

The licensing could be a little bit more flexible. The issue we face is that it is kind of complex the way the keys are set up. I'm not sure if it's by design, but let's say you have to install a product on a test system. You have to get a trial license key, even though you have been a loyal customer for two years. It's just very difficult to again request an additional key and then go through all the setup. It could be much simpler. 

The way we update the licenses is also a complex. I have to register the keys every time. And when we do it online there can be errors so we have to go to the workaround to be able to work on the data. 

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

We evaluated ERwin and some other products.

It's a good tool but we have not had much training, so we are really exploring it on our own. There are some features we are still working on with our stakeholders to implement. So my advice to other customers who are implementing this product is to really understand the full features of the product and try to implement all the features at the beginning. Get training in all areas of expertise before launching the product. I wish we could have done that from the beginning.

To develop an underlying platform upon which to base our data governance program by creating a central repository for maintaining and disseminating logical, physical models for our enterprise-wide databases.

We have been able to quickly create models for our enterprise-wide databases, even when some of them are third-party databases. We have been able to then modify those models, breaking them down to make them more understandable. Loading these models into the ER/Studio Team Server repository, it allows us to disseminate this information to the entire enterprise. 

Team Server allows us to further define those models through the use of glossaries and gives us the ability to collaborate as a data governance team to ensure that terms defined provide us a common understanding of our data. We are also able to document the data lineage and data flows of our data from one system to another.

• Modeling with Data Architect: We can quickly reverse-engineer a database from an existing database or create a model from scratch.
• Data lineage tracking: It allows us to identify upstream and downstream systems using data. This allows us to identify downstream impacts of making changes to data in a particular system, before the downstream systems break.
• Collaboration features in Team Server: With discussion threads, email notifications, and streams, we can collaborate with team members to make sure that models and glossaries are sufficiently defined to accurately and concisely reflect the meaning, purpose, etc. of our enterprise data.
• Change management: We can track changes to our data models and tie those changes back to specific tasks or efforts that we identify.

I would like to see better documentation/help for the Data Architect tool. 

Creation of tutorials would be nice. There are some features which are not as clearly defined as they should be.

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.

Organization, security, centralization.

The product is pricey.

About four years.

Sometimes our version is a little unstable. But I think this problem occurs because our version is old. We are in the migration process to the current version.

No.

Very good. When we need, they respond to us quickly.

I didn’t use other solutions in my work, only in tests.

A support member in my company helped with the initial installation.

The product can have a high price.

Yes. erwin and ePower.

Talk with other people before purchasing to learn about their experience with the product.

The ability to define a set of domain definitions and group them in folders is a valuable feature. There is also a Macro (VB script) feature that allows you to automate many features that can save a lot of time.

Although the tool allows for many different options as far as the what can be displayed on the model, it would be nice if they allowed for entity objects (attributes, indexes, keys, etc.) as well as the textual definition of the object. The current design only allows one or the other. I like to have a little verbiage on each entity included in the model that describes it purpose, this is allowed in the tool but you can't show both the entity structure and the text at the same time without creating a separate text object and placing the text in it.

I've been personally using this product for 9 Years.

Deployment can be complicated with their licensing model. I typically have to call tech support to get the correct files and licensing all straightened out.

The repository which is used to store the models can slow down when multiple models are added. This has improved with later releases but it is still slow at times.

Customer service is very good but they're a west coast company and we're on the east coast and I have to wait until later in the morning before I can talk to a support person.

Technical support is typically very good.

I had prior experience with Sybase's Power Designer tool at a former employer. When I came to this company they had other Embarcadero tools and were interested in using a single vendor for SQL Server development.

Installation of the product itself is straight forward although the licensing process is awkward and confusing at best. If you have a workstation license that's not to bad, but we have a WS and 2 different concurrent licenses, which requires a license server set up and getting all the proper installations products requires (me anyway) to contact the support to get the correct files and the correct licensing information.

If you have a repository setup that increases the process even more.

I'm the administrator for our ER/Studio setup for our IT department, we have 5 or so actual users of the tool.

Fairly expensive tool and licensing setup is cumbersome.

Sybase Power Designer

It's a great tool for modeling and I'm generally very happy with its features.