IDERA ER/Studio Reviews

Being able to to perform reverse engineering is valuable to us.

I used the tool for data modeling, so I cannot say much.

It did everything that I needed, and I didn't think about enhancements while using the product.

I've used it for six months.

No issues encountered.

No issues encountered.

No issues encountered.

9/10.

9/10.

I did use different solutions that were available with the companies I worked for. I evaluated a couple of modeling tools, as I personally wanted to purchase a product.

Initial set-up is straightforward.

I think ER/Studio Data Architect is priced high, but it comes with user-friendly features.

I personally compared it with SAP PowerDesigner when I started using ER/Studio Data Architect, and I think they both are equally good tools.

There are only a handful of ERD features that I’ve needed over the years that ER/Studio DA didn’t support. It’s flexible, intuitive for the newbie and yet supports the complexity required of a seasoned database designer, and offers a clean sophisticated presentation.

The work of the database architect is complex. ER/Studio DA supports in a single application everything from taxonomy and data dictionary definitions to conceptual, logical, and physical data models, relational and dimensional models, reverse engineering from legacy database structures, merging and comparison between database versions, exporting of ERD images and data dictionaries and DDL from physical data models, and it does so at a reasonable price point for such a polished and feature-rich offering.

Things that come to mind that I’ve not been able to do in prior projects include:

• Support for SQL Server filtered indexes, both a means to effectively represent this in a data model and have it produce the filtered index in the rendered DDL
• Support for some of the open source RDBMS for reverse engineering and migration

I’ve used ER/Studio at various clients since 2008.

No issues encountered.

No issues encountered.

No issues encountered.

While they weren’t always able to solve my issue (feature limitations not bugs/education issues), when I did reach out to Embarcadero they were always extremely responsive and professional.

I’ve also used ErWin, Powerdesigner, Toad Data Modeler, MS Visio, and Oracle SQL Developer Data Modeler. ER/Studio has the features and the price point that is easy to realize ROI quickly.

There were issues with the licensed server, but after that is was smooth sailing.

We did it in-house.

Within a week of installation I had reverse engineered several existing databases into physical data models with basic data dictionaries and published them on the company wiki. The perception of value was extremely high.

As long as the tool natively supports the RDBMS databases you use, and you have someone that can support the licensed server, it’s a great solution.

• Centralised Repository where all the models are stored
• TeamServer (Portal) which gives access to the models (read only) through a web browser
• Entity Llinking Ability across data models
• Reuse of objects within workspace on multiple diagrams

The organisation is a huge enterprise spread across various countries, and use ER Studio as a centralised documentation of systems/application architecture repository. This has helped the new application development team in cross-verifying, and understanding, the current setup, proposing and architecting new solutions for the organisation. Since the models are stored in a centralised repository, the process of review/refinement are handled by teams all over the world, who can now collaborate and build a common solution.

• Reusability of objects across multiple workspaces is a feature that would help in building a single enterprise model using linked up workspaces
• Copy/Paste of diagrams to create copies between workspaces would be a handy feature to have

I've used it for over two years.

There have been no issues encountered.

There have been no issues encountered.

We are fully satisfied.

We are fully satisfied.

We did use other tools, and we switched because this solution offered us the following -

1. Stability
2. A centralised repository
3. Provision for offline availbility using TeamServer
4. Entity linking accross modules

As a fresh implementation the setup was straightforward, and clear documentations helped when we were setting up the environment.

We take care off all maintenance/upgrades of the toolset in-house.

.Purchase licenses only for the functionalities which the organisation will use.

Make effective use of Entity Reusability for an enterprise level usage.

Reverse engineering existing databases. I use the reverse engineering features to map existing databases to understand their structure and make improvements.

One example is the use of the product to make extracts and split databases, and we were selling parts of the company to other regions of other companies. It made the process more efficient and faster and less costly.

I don't have any specific ideas about how to improve the product. I always have the upgrades and every upgrade comes with some improvements and it's good.

I've used both products for over 10 years probably between 10 and 14 years, I don't remember the exact number.

No issues encountered.

No issues encountered.

No issues encountered.

10/10.

10/10.

The previous standard was Your Studio by CA, and I used that until I discovered the alternatives and immediately worked with the standards committee to include it and the standards for the company. I chose this product because it's ease-of-use an excellent support.

Initial set up was pretty straightforward, and it looks for database connections that are already configured on your machine and automatically sets them up once it's installed great feature.

I implemented just my own copy I didn't do it large-scale implementation. Other people within the company use it but it's independent for each user to set their own environment up I didn't have any problems or don't have a particular recommendations for other companies it's pretty straightforward.

The initial base price is a little bit high, and my recommendation is that once you've licensed the base, to keep the maintenance renewed because that's a much more reasonable annual cost.

My advice would be to use the Technical Support they're very good if you've got questions they're always there to help.

• Flexible and complete compare/merge facility
• Exposure of its automation object model which allows custom programming outside of the product

It has been our primary means of publishing data models for years. It also houses our product data dictionary, and generates all the DDLs for database modifications.

• Easier licensing
• It would be nice if we could use more modern standard dialogs, such as file selection

I've used it for 10 years.

It is not easy to deploy in VDI, but that is a VDI problem.

Good, although they don’t always contact you with a solution to problems if they think it’s your problem.

Setup was not complex for an ordinary desktop installation. Server installation, however, is a good deal more complex. Their portal solution is more complex still.

It was done in-house.

It is expensive! Licensing requires a subscription to their support site.

It was selected before I arrived here, but it was evaluated against ErWin. It was the better product at the time.

It is a very robust, industrial strength data modeling product, intended Ideally for very large development projects where a good ROI can be obtained.

• Running macros on logical and physical models
• Compare and Merge

I am able to create (and publish) logical data models, apply naming standards using macro, generate the physical models and DDL. This makes the development process consistent and clean, improves communication and quality.

Product registration always seemed difficult and time consuming.

I have been a user of ER/Studio for at least ten years.

No issues encountered.

No issues encountered.

No issues encountered.

I've not had to use it in a while.

I've not had to use it in a while.

I used ErWin long time ago but ER/Studio was more likable at the time.

Product registration always seemed difficult and time consuming.

We did it in-house.

ER/Studio is a must to have for data modelers.

• Repository > Diagrams
• Security > Security Center
• Tools > Generate Reports
• Entity > Notes
• Attribute > Notes

• Diagram Versioning is not very intuitive
• Data Dictionary Bindings is not very intuitive

I've used it for three years.

No issues encountered.

Not with the current release.

It's good.

It's good.

I have personally used many modelling tools. My current company standardized on this one.

We used a vendor team who were good.

None the enterprise does not utilize all its capabilities thus, much of the work done is ported to other tools.

If using this tool to support a large team effort, get training for versioning

• Reverse engineering physical database
• Compare and Merge utility

We have offshore developers/DBA who actively request/implement DDL changes vs. a development database. The changes are reversed-engineered into both logical and physical schemas with generated DDL for source control check-in/check-out and other environment synchronization. With both onshore and offshore development teams working 18x5 days, it is an easy way to control check-in's while also maintaining schema views.

This version does not properly generate SQL Server computed columns; future versions do this.

I've used it for eight months.

No issues encountered.

No issues encountered.

It was pretty good once the licensing phase was completed.

It's good.

I am relatively new to this company, but in previous companies I used CA ErWin and SAP PowerDesigner. ErWin is very easy to use, as is PowerDesigner. The latter also provides a free developer viewer tool. At this point, all three products seem pretty equal: I would look at the conceptual model (business process rule) capture/conversion/maintenance with dynamic links to logical/physical ER with data dictionary/MDM capabilities to possibly separate them.

Since we are just reverse-engineering existing databases, and not using it for primary design/deployment/communication, relatively low.

Review the total number of architects/DBAs who need full access and developers who need to view the model/data dictionary to determine number/types, and whether a stand-alone vs. repository version is needed.