erwin Data Modeler vs. Looker

I have had a chance to use few other data modeling tools from Quest and Oracle, but I am most comfortable using erwin Data Modeler. They understand your data modeling needs and have designed the software to give you a feeling of completeness when you are designing a data model.

Incentivized

For less evolved reporting, it is not bad at all. It is not designed to scale, fully. I mean that as long as you do not intend to scale, it is a good product for your company. Log aggregation level reporting is not suited for Looker. Customer facing data reporting is. As long as the reporting is not too multi-dimensional, Looker is good.

Incentivized

• Reverse Engineering: I love the way we can import an SQL file containing schema meta data and generate ER diagram out of it. This is specifically useful if you are implementing erwin Data Modeler for an existing database.
• Forward Engineering: We use this feature very frequently. Where we do database changes in our physical and logical data models and then generate deployment scripts for the changes made.
• Physical vs Logical Models: I like to have my database model split into physical and logical models and at the same time still linked to each other. Any changes you make to logical model or physical model shows up in the other.

Incentivized

• It's on-demand and in the cloud, we don't have to mess with AMIs or scaling issues
• Looker's data domain creating tool is better than anything we've seen
• LookML, Looker's specialized language is incredibly extensible and allows us to connect and visualize almost any data type

Incentivized

• Cost is the single largest barrier to entry with this tool.
• Would like to see a greater variety of export options available for use outside of the tool, for example as a vector graphic.
• Support has been uneven at times.

Incentivized

• Mobile viewing is HTML based, not always highly viewable.
• Basic operations can be difficult to achieve. There is a function called table calculations which allows this.
• Running on a single server, the entire instance can slow down if even one user schedules a large dashboard.

Incentivized

We've been very happy with Looker so far, and all teams in the organization are starting to see its value, and use it on a frequent basis. It has quickly become our accessible "source of truth" for all data/metrics.

Incentivized

I had a lot of experience using erwin Data Modeler for designing data models. I think it's pretty intuitive and easy to use. It has enough features to represent your database requirements in form of a model.

Incentivized

Nontechnical users can create reports easily. Can create customized reports individually or on the whole for the group. Slicing and dicing data through Looker fairly simple. Drill-downs are much better than anticipated. Especially heat map drill-downs, became most popular within the company, considering the company is a location analytics ad tech company.

Incentivized

CA customer support and our account manager have been able to support us with any issues that we have had, from managing our serial keys to issues we logged tickets to resolve. There are aspects of key management that have made it difficult over the years but support usually has worked with us.

Incentivized

Looker support specialists are heroes. They are knowledgeable, smart, and always vouch for your success. The availability is super quick, and even if there is no current solution for my problem, they will address it and voice it as feedback for a product.

Incentivized

Not listed, but I've only used alternatives built into something like the Squirrel SQL editor. That one is semi-functional but lacking many features and, in some instances, just plain wrong. The only pro there is that it's freely available and works over ODBC. I've tried some of the other free ones like Creately but didn't have much success.

Incentivized

Looker stacks up very well against the other tools we have evaluated and used. All the tools have their own pros and cons. Looker had a better edge in terms of visualizations when we chose to use it. After several updates, other tools began to have newer features. Looker still stands competitive.

Incentivized

• It is difficult to assign a monetary value to it. The initial learning curve was fairly long.
• It allows us to have better support documentation.
• It allows ease of communications between functional units.

Incentivized

• The platform allows you to create visual representations of your data and store them in charts, graphs and maps.
• Gives the business owner the flexibility to visualize their data in a real time manner, thereby enabling the business owner to be on top of their data and understand its dynamics.

Incentivized