erwin Data Modeler Reviews

erwin Data Modeler is primarily used for data modeling, including logical data modeling, physical data modeling, and conceptual data modeling.

One of the key aspects of data governance is defining the data dictionary and clearly identifying which data is accessible by whom and what is not accessible, particularly regarding PII-related data. All of this information can be captured in this tool.

It is beneficial for collaboration among business, IT, and data teams.

This tool is beneficial to any organization as it is foundational. There is no better way than this, and it is a must-have for every organization, whether large or small.

The solution can be improved. When you examine SQL DBM and compare its features, you can understand what improvements could be made.

I have been working with erwin Data Modeler for a long time, since 2009 and 2010.

I have never computed the ROI, but I can see that there is subjective ROI. Without any quantitative numbers, we can see the business benefits.

I do not know the price for the non-enterprise version for single desktop users.

erwin Data Modeler is a good product, but I recently experienced a problem where I was not able to open an erwin Data Modeler file because its version had automatically changed. I managed to recover the file by using the trial version of erwin Data Modeler version 15.

Currently, customers are using SQL DBM instead of erwin Data Modeler. I am working with a Helion customer who is trying to use SQL DBM. SQL DBM is a newly released cloud-based data modeling tool.

SQL DBM is another data modeling tool worth considering.

erwin Data Modeler is good for creating visual representations of data structures. You create a new project and models by building entities and defining the relationships among them.

I have never used erwin Data Modeler for data integration purposes, so I am not aware if such a feature exists.

erwin Data Modeler is about metadata, not just data. It is designed to maintain the enterprise-wide data model, including the structure of data and the relationships among those datasets. This is the information documented in the tool. When somebody wants to understand the data in an organization, they cannot navigate what data is maintained unless they have the logical data model or physical data model. To understand what data exists, someone has to examine those logical data models and physical data models.

In an organization, an enterprise version should always be used where multiple users can access it simultaneously.

I would rate this product a seven out of ten.

I have used Erwin for the last 20 to 30 years. As a data architect, I primarily use the data modelling tool. The MODEL MART functionality offers version control.

One of the best aspects of the tool is its reverse engineering capability. I can connect to a database and generate a new model. It creates foreign key relationships, both defined and implied, mapping them in my diagram. The ease of toggling from a logical model to a physical model is a great feature. It makes my job much easier to visualise my data model and relationships. Transitioning from a logical to a physical environment with just a switch is key. If I define my target database, it can generate my DDL for forward engineering.

As a documenting tool, it's solid, though its reporting could be more robust. The reporting mechanisms could be more intuitive regarding report creation. It can generate reports in CSV files, displayed like spreadsheets with a little Excel logo. However, it doesn't export directly to an Excel spreadsheet or Google Sheet. Adding this capability would be helpful. Currently, creating an Excel spreadsheet requires converting from CSV, which is inconvenient.

I have used Erwin since 1996.

As someone who has used it for a long time, I have seen stability vary from version to version. New versions often introduce enhanced features but may cause model crashes due to memory exhaustion. An example was several years ago when transitioning to 64-bit systems while still running a 32-bit application. This issue has been fixed, but earlier versions were less stable despite having many features.

It can support very large models but is resource-intensive. On a scale of one to ten, I would rate it probably a nine, making it a leader in data modelling. However, some tools can feel clunky, giving a Windows 98 vibe.

Now that they are with Quest, they are quick to handle issues. Quest is committed to keeping the product robust. I would rate them a nine out of ten. Nobody is perfect, however, they deserve a nine.

Positive

The initial setup is fairly easy. I need a license key provided by the company, placed in a specific directory. Upon startup, it looks for this license key, matching it with my workstation. There is a small hassle if you upgrade your computer, however, support is usually very good.

The difference between using a data modeling tool like this and walking into a shop without one is revolutionary. It replaces manual charting in Visio with a structured tool, providing significant return on investment.

I currently am investigating SQLDBM and DBSchema for an enterprise solution while testing HACKOLADE for an individual / local use.

I recommend it for those doing strictly data modelling. I can't give a recommendation for enterprise architecture as I haven't used it enough. My overall rating is eight out of ten.

I primarly use erwin Data Modeler for modeling purposes. Once we have the business requirement, we create the models in erwin Data Modeler, and then we perform forward engineering to get the query set and create the tables accordingly in SQL Server.

The best features of erwin Data Modeler include the forward engineering tool, which gives you the schema according to the data model that you generate. When working in legacy models such as data migration projects, the reverse engineering tool is beneficial because you can directly get the older models from the legacy system, including old data warehouses, then obtain the data models accordingly, make a few changes according to the business requirement, and create the new model.

The UI in erwin Data Modeler can be improved significantly because when any new person opens the tool, all the toolbars are kept open with many tools in view, making it appear chunky. If possible, suggestion models could be added. With AI tools available, whenever someone creates a data model, the tool could suggest better ideas to normalize the data models further based on knowledge and normalization principles.

I have been using erwin Data Modeler since 2021, though not continuously; I have used it on a few projects.

I rate the stability of erwin Data Modeler highly; it is a stable product.

I rate scalability at nine.

Overall, considering other feature scopes, I rate erwin Data Modeler at eight. My overall review rating for this product is nine.

For erwin Data Modeler, the use case was to create a data model for the organization. It articulates how data flows throughout the organization. For example, we have an employee table with two types of employees: permanent employees and contract-based employees. Contract-based employees are hired from an external organization. In the table structure, we would have multiple tables including employee, permanent, contract employee, and external organization. However, we did not want multiple tables. We wanted to combine them into one super table to reduce the normalized form. This approach is called a super-type rollup.

We did not use erwin Data Modeler for AI purposes. It was used for the migration part from SQL Server to the Azure Cloud. I did not work on the AI part for that project.

The project I was working on is based in the finance domain. For whatever quarter expenses our client had, we needed to communicate that with the client-side finance team management. That communication was not handled by me. I created the model and handed it over.

The best feature that I loved about erwin Data Modeler is the transformation part. We can create two types of models: the physical and logical models. Suppose there are multiple relationships such as one-to-one relationships, many-to-one relationships, and many-to-many relationships. If we want to reduce the size and optimize the data model, there is a transformation with an inbuilt functionality that helps resolve these issues. When one table is reflecting to ten other tables, it becomes very difficult to find relationships between them. If there are tens and hundreds of tables, finding relationships becomes increasingly complex. However, erwin Data Modeler has an inbuilt transformation that helps resolve many-to-many relationships and provides a better data model. This means I do not have to manually go through each and every table to find the relationships involved.

The tool is also very intuitive and easy to use. It is a simple drag-and-drop interface where we can create ER diagrams and import multiple projects. There is an Excel file where we write all the schemas and columns present in the table along with their data types. This Excel file has a VBA script. Once we finish putting all the data into that Excel file, we generate the model using that VBA. We then import that file into erwin Data Modeler and it is almost done. The transformations and other operations are the later part of the process.

As we all know, AI is taking up a majority of things. I felt that erwin Data Modeler is a bit of an outdated tool. It needs a new look and integrating AI into it would be much better for learning. AI would guide us on what operations we have to go through. If we are stuck somewhere, we could query the tool directly and ask about data modeling operations, and it would help us. Otherwise, we have to search on YouTube or Google or other sources to learn how to use erwin Data Modeler. An inbuilt guide within the tool would be much better, and an AI guiding tool would be even more helpful.

I have been working in my current field for three and a half years.

I have never faced any instability issues.

I did not have the opportunity to try other data modeling tools because my company had only one data modeling tool with just one erwin Data Modeler license.

I joined the company after erwin Data Modeler was already deployed. Whatever new data models came up, I had to make the data models and hand them over to my superiors.

I have no idea about the setup cost because I did not buy the license.

I would appreciate more information because I do not have much knowledge about PeerSpot. The team that contacted me on LinkedIn talked with me about erwin Data Modeler. I worked on it for four to five months. The last time I worked on it was last year in August. It is not difficult to learn how to use erwin Data Modeler. It is very easy, and there are reference materials available on YouTube. I did not face any difficulties learning the tool. The issue was not with erwin Data Modeler itself but with the organizational constraints. I did not have access to everything, which prevented me from exploring the tool further. I would give this review a rating of eight out of ten.

We are implementing erwin to streamline data modeling and automate network changes for increased efficiency and comprehensive data development. This option simplifies the need for better data indexing.

Quest can create conceptual and physical data models to facilitate effective communication between business and IT. It can also integrate expertise from various engineering and database systems within your organization to enhance data management and administration.

I have been using erwin Data Modeler by Quest for four years.

I rate the solution’s stability an eight out of ten.

We are testing the capacity in our environment for more than six thousand databases.

When we were working with third-party providers, they were giving very good support.

The initial setup depends on the tool if you are using the data model environment. Stopping the server could be complex and require strong expertise.

If you have everything set up and configured, Erwin is straightforward. You can deploy it in a few hours. In our case, it took a couple of months to address internal conditions, assign machines, and set up everything for the services.

I rate the initial setup a six out of ten, where one is difficult and ten is easy.

The reseller set up the whole department.

The product is expensive. I rate the product’s pricing a nine out of ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive.

Reverse engineering is a very powerful feature. I have used it many times when working with clients, which has helped solve implementation issues.

Erwin utilizes artificial intelligence to automatically create definitions and generate logical or physical data models tailored to specific industries.

I recommend the solution.

Overall, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.

I am using the solution for data modeling. We also use erwin Data Intelligence Suite for data governance.

We like that we can go straight from Data Modeler to Data Intelligence Suite. We can go from the business glossary to the data catalog. It gives us a holistic view. The product lets us import different types of models from various databases. It also allows us to export or implement them within the same databases based on new changes.

The modeling capability is cumbersome. It doesn't allow us to put different types of objects in there. We can only put data objects. It doesn’t allow us to put any class structures and enterprise architecture objects. We can only do data monitoring. We can't do a holistic view. It's quite cumbersome to enter data. We cannot type things into a sheet. We always have to open the object and enter it.

The layout is a very old-style diagram. The product must allow users to put different types of objects and link them to data objects. The tool must provide large data objects under which there can be other data objects. For example, if a customer is a large data object, it must then contain the customer’s name, address, and type. The interface must be improved.

I have been using the solution for more than ten years. I am using the latest version of the solution.

I rate the tool’s stability a seven out of ten. It doesn’t stay up all the time. The stability must be improved.

I rate the tool’s scalability a seven out of ten. We have some issues with performance, but I'm not sure if it's us or the tool. We have 50 to 150 users.

The technical support team is quite helpful. The team members don't always know their stuff. Sometimes, we end up teaching them things, but they do try to be helpful.

Neutral

I have used Rational Rose, Visual Paradigm, and Oracle’s old product. I use Visual Paradigm for my personal use cases. I prefer Visual Paradigm. It has a lot of features that erwin doesn’t. The only problem with Visual Paradigm is that it has many license levels. I only have a cheap license. However, its capabilities are much stronger. It is a lot easier to use than erwin, and it produces much nicer diagrams.

The solution is cloud-based. We use both AWS and Azure as our cloud providers. Maintenance is done automatically by the vendor.

The tool is expensive. It is not worth the price. I rate the pricing a three out of ten.

We are looking for other tools to replace the solution. We're going to do an RFP for data modeling, data catalog, data quality, and marketplace. The vendor is trying to charge for Data Intelligence Suite like it is an enterprise tool, but it's still getting patched together. I have a hard time giving erwin a strong recommendation, but it's a tool that works and does what it says on the box. It could be made a little better. Overall, I rate the product a seven out of ten.

I use erwin Data Modeler for a metadata project. I don't have thousands of tables to manage or a data warehouse or anything.

erwin Data Modeler helps us reverse engineer and keep track of data before converting from one tool to another. erwin allows us to track data and share it with business analysts.

We can create mappings in erwin and possibly data dictionaries. You can also check in to GitHub or Azure DevOps.

erwin is not as robust as a data warehousing project I've been on in the past. Likewise, the solution is a little pricey.

I recently started using the current version, and I've used the prior version for about four or five years.

When I was on versions 7.1 or 9.0 and had a very large database with hundreds of tables, sometimes the tool would fail. I don't know if that happens on this version or not.

I rate erwin DM's scalability a seven out of ten.

Deployment isn't a problem for me because I've been using the tool for years, but a new person will just have to get their feet wet. We initially had problems installing it because of handshakes between Black Knight and Quest. Black Knight doesn't allow certain things to come through, and we should've known better, so it took a long time to get it installed and figure out what the issue was. It took four to eight hours to get resolved.

The solution is on-prem, but it can be on the cloud, and it has .NET SQL, which is part of the reason we chose erwin. There's a possibility we'll need .NET SQL as well.

To anyone evaluating erwin DM, I advise you to watch the videos and read the documentation. I rate the solution an eight out of ten.

We use erwin Data Model to create logical and physical data models.

The solution has been very helpful. The logical and physical data models provide visualization for communication across the business, among the data team, and technical team. Without this solution, communication would be difficult.

The ease and quick ability to create the model is valuable. The fitting model is very intuitive. 

The other cool feature is the reverse engineer feature. If we connect to the database, we can reverse engineer from the database itself of the physical model. That gives us the relationship of the data if not much documentation is available.

So far, we have used it in either a workroom version or a standalone version. It does not have a cloud application.

We have licenses for Mac Linux since a lot of our people have Mac laptops, so erwin should work on their cloud application.

I have been using erwin Data Modeler since 2006. 

It is a stable solution. So far, we have not had many problems. Sometimes it freezes because it is a resource-hungry application, so it uses a lot of memory and a lot of processing power while running. But so far, we have not lost any of our work.

We had a concurrent license where multiple people could it. Typically, this is not a tool that you’ll use for hundreds of people. It’s very scalable for ta limited number of people.

The technical support team is pretty prompt. The tier-one support is pretty prompt. We contacted them a couple of times for a security patch and a few times for transferring the license to a different user. Their support was good.

Positive

I have tried Lucidchart, PCO, and ER Studio.

erwin and ER Studio are very comparable. I personally think both are more or less the same. However, erwin has richer features, and productivity is boosted. Once I have a model in mind, putting that in the tool is very quick, followed by generating the DDL, creating the table, and integrating it with the data explorer. The bulk editor feature is also very useful. 

The initial setup is straightforward for someone who understands the data.

For the workgroup version, you need to set up a database and then connect to the database. After installation, you have to maintain those connections. For someone who is well-converged with a database, it’s simple. If someone has not worked with web databases, they might find it a little complex. The deployment was done within a couple of hours by three to four people.

The deployment was done in-house.

There is either a one-year or three-year license. It is not a pay-as-you-go license like a SaaS solution. It’s more of a traditional licensing. They are a little bit on the pricier side.

However, there are tools that are less pricey, and some of them are open source and free as well.

From a pricing perspective, it is not very competitive in the current market.

I would rate the erwin Data Modeler an eight out of ten.

They have small videos that explain how to use the tool and they are very useful. If you know the principles of data modeling, erwin will be very easy to learn. If you are new to data modeling, then I’d recommend getting a course on data modeling first.