ER/Studio Data Architect vs. ObservePoint

ER/Studio is great for providing data model images for teammates to use when they are not data modelers.

Incentivized

I use rules feature to Test tags, variables, and values to confirm each matches a specific RegEx patterns. It has been well suited for me. Combining filters and conditions to test our tags with a high level of detail. they can surely work more on - Fire based on URL, status code, or tag type by using filters.

Incentivized

• ER/Studio is great for dividing logical and physical design. A logical model can be used with different physical platforms.
• Studio can a useful macro capability that allows me to apply the naming standards across the model with ease and consistency.
• ER/Studio does a very good job at comparing the model with the actual database and generating DDL scripts for production deployments.
• ER/Studio has an excellent reporting and model publishing capabilities allowing me to produce models in the HTML format and publish them for the team as needed.

Incentivized

• Custom tagging is very important when you need specific tags tailored to your website needs.
• The dashboards are great, user friendly and you can share them with coworkers easily.

Incentivized

• Relationships are a bit on the weaker side. Many times I found orphaned relationships that I could not get rid of, or additional columns that were automatically created during the push to the physical model that appear to be due to key constraint bugs
• There are a lot of bugs introduced when merging keys. I tend to model 2 tables for example logically, establish the relationship, and then merge the additional key column that is automatically created when establishing the relationship. This sometimes causes downstream issues with the physical model (creating duplicate columns with _1 appended)
• Meta-data could be improved. I find it hard to keep descriptions and other meta information clean when copying and pasting from other sources due to formatting tags being introduced on each object (font, size, color, etc.). The attachment feature comes in handy, however I am looking for the ability to cleanly document and map multiple sources to a single target while providing searchability and traceability

Incentivized

• UI for simulations is really terrible. Very hard to set up simulations due to lack of things like xpath to target page elements as well as see what the simulation sees when there are problems.
• Finding and fixing tag validation errors in simulations again is just a nightmare. Promised updates to the UI to fix this problem have been promised for months but still no improvements.
• Due to the lack of updates to correct issues and bugs we just haven't gotten nearly the value from the product we expected.

ObservePoint has a robust solution that is well supported and is continually innovating to meet new business and technology needs.

It's easy to navigate and learn. The reporting and output are intuitive and robust features for finding and identifying actionable insight.

I've only experienced one system availability issue in the 3 years we've been using it.

Sometimes it can get a bit slow when auditing particularly huge sites but recent upgrades in infrastructure have done a lot to mitigate this behavior.

I can call or email support and both get quick turn around. The only issue is they are on the west coast (US) and have a west coast work schedule and I'm on the East coast.

Incentivized

Support is very strong indeed and has been consistent over the last 4 years. They are also friendly and tag nerds like me!

Instructor was knowledgeable and delivered the content well.

It's easy to find the information you need when you need it and it is easy to consume.

Start with small audits until you have determined what you might want to filter out.

ER Studio Data Architect is a global leader in the data modelling space and most other solutions that have support for third party data models include support for ER Studio Data Architect file formats. Many of the features are a bit more intuitive than the competitors and several of our vendors were already using Data Architect themselves which helped solidify the choice.

Incentivized

ObervePoint is better than its alternatives because of its updated features. ObervePoint ensures accurate and secure data collection. The website audit tool is far better and more advanced than others.

I have not reached an unreasonable product limitation as of yet.

• Using ER\Studio to create models and eventually the actual database schema allows for a picture that is understandable to the customer and saves significant time writing DDL to create the database objects (tables, indexes, relationships, constraints...)
• A nice customer interface tool so you can create a web based interface to the metadata for a particular design.
• The tool also supports sub-models so you can break a large project into smaller parts, I find this feature very helpful.

Incentivized

• ObservePoint has helped us quickly (within minutes) catch when a process or pathing on the website breaks, which allows us to fix it quickly. Whether technical/dev or analytics issues, without ObservePoint, they could have been undetected for weeks.

Incentivized