BiZZdesign HoriZZon vs Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect comparison

BiZZdesign and Sparx Systems are both solutions in the Enterprise Architecture Management category. BiZZdesign is ranked #6 with an average rating of 8.4, while Sparx Systems is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.1. BiZZdesign holds a 4.9% mindshare in AM, compared to Sparx Systems’s 13.6% mindshare. Additionally, 77% of BiZZdesign users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 87% of Sparx Systems users who would recommend it.

BiZZdesign HoriZZon

Read 17 BiZZdesign HoriZZon reviews

1,970 Views
939 Comparison Views

77% willing to recommend

Sparx Systems Enterprise Ar...

Read 99 Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect reviews

4,684 Views
3,433 Comparison Views

87% willing to recommend

BiZZdesign HoriZZon

Sparx Systems Enterprise Ar...

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 2024

Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect and BiZZdesign HoriZZon compete in the enterprise architecture tools category. BiZZdesign HoriZZon appears to have the upper hand due to its advanced analytical functionalities and user-friendly dashboards.

Features: Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect supports UML 2 diagrams, enabling collaboration with an RDBMS back-end and providing extensibility for various modeling standards. BiZZdesign HoriZZon integrates ArchiMate for enterprise architecture and offers advanced analytical tools that aid strategic planning and complex environment management. It also features dashboards that enhance architectural insights, suitable for business users.

Room for Improvement: Sparx Systems EA could improve usability, visualization, and control over repository security. It faces performance issues in large projects, and users seek better documentation and interface enhancements. BiZZdesign HoriZZon has a steep learning curve, high cost, and complex integration processes. Users encounter challenges with repository management and object queries.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Sparx Systems EA offers flexible deployment, including on-premises and hybrid options, and relies heavily on community support for issue resolution. Its customer service is rated favorably but is less frequently used due to the tool's stability. BiZZdesign HoriZZon is primarily cloud-based, supporting collaborative access, but requires more direct vendor interaction due to its complexity, although technical support is well-rated.

Pricing and ROI: Sparx Systems EA is cost-effective, offering competitive pricing with quick ROI realized through increased productivity. Conversely, BiZZdesign HoriZZon is perceived as expensive, impacting its ROI due to high costs, particularly for smaller teams or organizations considering long-term use.

To learn more, read our detailed BiZZdesign HoriZZon vs. Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

BiZZdesign HoriZZon vs. Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect

April 2025

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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

BiZZdesign HoriZZon

Ranking in Enterprise Architecture Management

6th

Ranking in Business Process Design

10th

Average Rating

7.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

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

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Enterprise Architecture Management category, the mindshare of BiZZdesign HoriZZon is 4.9%, up from 4.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect is 13.6%, down from 18.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Enterprise Architecture Management

Featured Reviews

BijoyTalukder

Enterprise Architect at Tata Consultancy

Helps to get a clear overview of our enterprise architecture, especially when dealing with multiple departments

One area where BiZZdesign HoriZZon could use some improvement is in its REST APIs. While the platform offers REST APIs, they have limitations when it comes to retrieving and exporting data. Obtaining detailed information at the individual application or component level, including IDs, costs, and deployment-related data, can be challenging through these APIs. This limitation makes it difficult to smoothly export such granular data. I have raised this issue with the BiZZdesign team, and they expressed interest in addressing it, but I'm not aware of the current status of this improvement effort. Nonetheless, improving the usability and flexibility of the REST APIs for data extraction is an area that could enhance the platform's capabilities.

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Milan Sterba

Senior Enterprise Architect at Deepview S.r.o.

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.

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

"t's a good tool. My colleagues that are making use of it for application, business processes, or data modeling, are very satisfied with it. They find it easy to use. The graphical representation is simple but therefore efficient, so I know that they are planning a very good commencement on the use of these tools."

"BiZZdesign HoriZZon is scalable, and I'd give it an eight out of ten for scalability. Our customers are enterprise level companies, but the solution is suitable for small and mid-sized companies as well."

"One of the main advantages of this solution is that they have representation in the Open Group Forum, which means that any changes in ArchiMate are immediately implemented in BiZZdesign."

"The initial setup of this solution was very straightforward."

"I used BiZZdesign HoriZZon at two organizations. At Manchester Metropolitan University, I used it with a small team for architectural modeling of the student record system. We modeled teams, process objects, and their interactions with applications. We also used it to model a gradual rollout with plateaus showing migration over time. At the BBC, I used it to model software services for publishing content online. I showed key model views to senior stakeholders using Horizon, allowing them to modify and score applications and services."

"The feature I find most valuable is that the start times and loading times are short. It takes only a few seconds to load the repository and whenever I want to open diagrams, they are there almost immediately."

"The most valuable features of BiZZdesign HoriZZon, from my experience, include its out-of-the-box connectors, such as integration with ServiceNow, Excel, and SQL databases, making data repository management more efficient."

"The enterprise studio where the modelling happens is valuable."

More BiZZdesign HoriZZon pros

"It's easy to search within the solution."

"There are a lot of features in Enterprise Architect. It allows us to take on a lot of tasks."

"The best thing about the tool is that its database is open."

"Ability to maintain cross-references for all models in all levels - great tractability."

"The profiles allow me to customize the tool to the corporate environment instead of the other way around saving huge amounts of time and energy on trying to turn dozens of individuals into TOGAF, ArchiMate or Zachman experts, or even Sparx EA experts."

"There are a couple of things. Price is one thing, but we also like the scriptability of it. We got into scripting it and automating tasks with it, and it is super duper easy to do and helpful. The API has improved over the years. We automate everything, and I love the automation aspects of it."

"The Business Process Modeling or BPM part is the most valuable. Its ability to simulate scenarios is also very useful. It can also create descriptions of the workflows. It has a feature in which if you create some BPMN process, a workflow diagram, and the description inside, you can actually simulate the whole scenario, and you get the description. That's very handy."

"Modeling is a part of my work, and it has a lot of standard modeling languages. It is quite wide, and a lot is possible in it. We are not programming it ourselves, but if you are into programming and developing software yourself, you can go further and do a lot with Sparx. You can work from the framework and go into the details. With this solution, you get a lot of value at a low cost. It is also quite intuitive in terms of use. I like the use of it."

More Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect pros

Cons

"It should be more open to integrating with other existing tools. Although there has been progress in the past."

"Integration definitely needs improvement. There are some restrictions. We've seen that it doesn't integrate with everything we might expect."

"We tested it, and we had support from BiZZdesign, including patches, but it just didn't do what we wanted."

"This tool is something of a beast - it takes a long time to learn, and it isn't possible for casual users and most architects. Unless a person spends 500 or 1,000 hours on the tool or does very concentrated sessions using all its functionalities, it's very difficult to master."

"One area where BiZZdesign HoriZZon could use some improvement is in its REST APIs."

"It lacks capabilities with regard to infrastructure modeling."

"There could be simpler modelling."

"The users of BiZZdesign should be able to enter their data or make modeling changes via HoriZZon."

More BiZZdesign HoriZZon cons

"When many users are accessing the system at the same time, Sparx slows down. It can't easily support a large team."

"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."

"One room for improvement in Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect is that it's not very friendly. Another room for improvement in the tool is that it doesn't enable you to import the metadata from a database very easily, so reverse engineering of a database was very difficult. Its database modeling and entity-relationship modeling functions need improvement."

"Using EA involves a steep learning curve if you want to understand its capabilities and functionality."

"I think that collaboration can be better."

"There used to be that feature in ArchiMate Modeling of Enterprise Architect called inherited relationships. Now it's gone."

"It took me a while to figure out how to use the report generation features effectively. So, it would be really nice if they had a way to make that a little bit more interactive and a little bit more straightforward."

"I think the product is good. When I'm trying to do something specific for some part of project documentation, it's hard to get it figured out if you don't use it all the time. It's such a massive tool, it's hard to figure out how to dig in and get to the documentation where you have to be to get some idea of what to do. There are not a lot of examples that I'm aware of to be able to do that."

More Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing model is slightly on the high side and could be more competitive for long-term partnerships."

"I haven't found any issues with the scalability and licensing parts that are access-related."

"If one is very cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the product price as a seven out of ten."

"First and foremost within the scope of improvement for the solution would be the cost. It's very costly..."

"The price is reasonable."

"[The] Orbus... pricing model was based on every single functionality having a price. The pricing was comparable but if we wanted to scale, it would have ended up being a lot more expensive. BiZZdesign gave us one price with all of the functionality, and we could scale as much as we needed."

"We were customers and bought licenses from them. We used their remote instance initially but upgraded to the on-device version due to lag. For pricing, we paid about 2200 pounds a year per seat for the client installation at an educational rate. I'm not sure about commercial rates. I managed to get a free copy at BBC since it was for evaluation purposes."

"In terms of this particular product usage, my clients currently only use per-user licenses."

"The licence has a costly upfront fee which gets you access. You have to pay an annual maintenance fee, which is less."

"This product has a paid license, with a yearly subscription option."

"The Corporate Edition, or one of the bundles, is the way to go."

"Pricing and licensing are suitable even for small companies."

"They have the price on their site for the enterprise version, and we do receive a small discount."

"We had a yearly license."

"Pricing and licensing is very attractive, simple, and straightforward."

"It is very economical and low cost. You have to pay for a one-time license, and it is active forever."

More Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

24%

Financial Services Firm

16%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Educational Organization

18%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Government

10%

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about BiZZdesign HoriZZon?

This is one of the best tools, especially because of its collaborative nature. Anyone using it can access previous projects and related data. It's definitely a strong collaborative tool.

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What needs improvement with BiZZdesign HoriZZon?

The ability to generate charts and deal with a use case involving Kibana was quite difficult. We don't use the chart functionality much, and I think that is quite problematic at the moment. We have...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for BiZZdesign HoriZZon?

I use the solution in my company for all sorts of things, like enterprise and solution architecture. As part of our design process, BiZZdesign HoriZZon is used for road mapping. We also use it for ...

See all answers

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.

See all answers

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...

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What needs improvement with Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect?

See all answers

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

BiZZdesign HoriZZon

May 2025

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Buyer's Guide

Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect

April 2025

Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect report

Download Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect product report

Also Known As

HoriZZon

No data available

Overview

Make smarter decisions and optimize outcomes by unifying all your strategy, capabilities, operating models and change portfolios in a single platform.

With all the data about your business in one place you can see the big picture and make properly informed strategic decisions to drive growth. Bizzdesign Horizzon brings together strategy, IT architecture, operating models, data, capabilities, change portfolios and ideas into a single, intuitive collaborative business design platform. Real-time visibility of key metrics and trends allows you to take action more quickly. Accelerating the speed and accuracy of your operations now – and into the future.

Core Platform Capabilities:

Multi-discipline collaboration
Data Integration
Advanced analytics
Models and Roadmaps
Governance & Security
Business Insight Graph

BiZZdesign

Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect is an enterprise solution that helps streamline, accelerate, and integrate software, system, and business development. With this intuitive modeling and design solution, enterprises can stay in control of their workplaces, enable collaboration, support their teams and colleagues, and manage complex projects. Software architects, business analysts, project managers, developers, support staff, and testers can unite under a single repository. Through numerous view points and potential sub-systems, users are offered a unified view in a complex environment.

With Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect, users are also offered a shared model option which can be accessed quickly and securely by in-office and remote team members through the Enterprise Architect’s Pro Cloud Server. Building a coherent, verifiable model can be done by connecting and integrating a variety of behavioral and structural information in visual form. As a result, Enterprise Architect offers high performance, flexibility, and the ability to model, manage, and trace every stage of the business development and modeling process.

Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect Features

Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect assists in creating a unified and accessible vision in business development by offering a flexible platform with a unique set of rich features. These features include:

Test and debug - Streamline software development and visualize software with the simulation process. Users can test and confirm correct behavior, set and oversee test points, and debug and examine software.

Track tasks - Track, prioritize, and assign individual and group tasks to assist in the model’s development. Users can visually monitor their progress through the Gantt chart.

Open standards - Users can visualize and analyze running software with integrated custom tools. They can also run advanced simulations, team-based repositories, testing tools, and version control. In addition, the solution supports enterprise architecture frameworks such as UPDM and TOGAF.

Simulation - Create and debug embedded solutions by simulating behaviors and state models. Users can specify events, triggers, constraints, and more. Users can also specify extensive and complex structural systems and create custom domain-specific solutions.

Reviews from Real Users

Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect merges high-end tools, online availability, a dedication to open standards, and accessible pricing so enterprises can stay in control of their workplaces, whether remote or in-office. Users particularly like the architectural frameworks and the scalability.

Marc L., a principal architecture enterprise solution adviser at Cronomagic Canada, notes, "The product offers very good support for all mainstream modeling notations and architectural frameworks."

An enterprise architect at a manufacturing company writes, "Scalable solution for modeling, project sharing, and collaboration. Support for it is good."

Sparx Systems

Sample Customers

T-Mobile, Shell, HSBC, Erasmus University, VIVAT Insurance

OmniLink

Buyer's Guide

BiZZdesign HoriZZon vs. Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect

April 2025

Free Report: BiZZdesign HoriZZon vs. Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect

Find out what your peers are saying about BiZZdesign HoriZZon vs. Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.

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