SAP PowerDesigner is a collaborative enterprise modelling tool produced by
Sybase, currently owned by SAP. PowerDesigner runs under Microsoft
Windows as a native application, and runs under Eclipse through a plugin.
PowerDesigner supports model-driven architecture software design.
PowerDesigner stores models using a variety of file extensions, such as
.bpm, .cdm and .pdm. The internal file structure can be either XML or a
compressed binary file format. PowerDesigner can also store models in a
database repository. PowerDesigner provides a single modeling
environment that brings together the techniques and notations of business
process and requirements modeling, data modeling, enterprise architecture
modeling, and UML application modeling. The scope of the metadata supported by
PowerDesigner is therefore much wider than just the metadata required to
describe and manage your data. PowerDesigner data modeling tool market
share in 2002 was 39%. PowerDesigner is priced from $3,000 to $7,500 USD per
developer seat. Features
PowerDesigner includes support for: Business Process Modeling supporting
BPMN Code generation, PowerBuilder, ...)
Data modeling Data Warehouse Modeling
Eclipse plugin Object modeling
Report generation Supports Simul8 to add simulation
functions to the BPM module to enhance business processes design.
Repository Requirements analysis
XML Modeling supporting XML Schema and DTD standards
Visual Studio 2005 / 2008 addin Collaboration by storing metadata and
models in a central location, complete with documented histories and version
control. Using this shared repository, teams can analyze and design the
enterprise architecture using a single, common set of source materials.
History PowerDesigner started life as
AMC*Designor in France and S-Designor internationally, which was written by
Xiao-Yun Wang of SDP Technologies. The "or" in the product name refers to
"Oracle", since initially the product was developed to design Oracle
databases, but very quickly evolved to support all major RDBMS in the market.
SDP Technologies was a French company that was started in 1983. Powersoft
purchased SDP in 1995, and Sybase had purchased Powersoft earlier in 1994.
Shortly after the acquisition, the product was renamed to be consistent
with the Powersoft brand. Sybase currently owns all rights to
PowerDesigner and PowerAMC. In May 2010, SAP announced that it would be acquiring
Sybase for $5.8 billion. = Version History =
1989 - The first commercial release of AMC*Designor in France
1992 - The first commercial release of S-Designor in the US.
1994 - ProcessAnalyst was added to the suite in 1994.
1995 - S-Designor becomes PowerDesigner, AMC*Designor becomes PowerAMC
1997 - PowerDesigner 6.0 releases. 1998 - WarehouseArchitect was added.
1999 - PowerDesigner 7.0 was rewritten to take advantage of newer technologies
and to provide an interface more consistent with other Sybase products.
December 2001 - PowerDesigner 9.5 was initially released, with maintenance
releases through 2003. December 2004 - Version 10.0
2005 - Version 11.0 January 2006 - PowerDesigner 12.0
released with metadata mappings and reporting features
August 2006 - PowerDesigner 12.1 released with enhanced support for
Microsoft Visual Studio and SQL Server July 2007 - PowerDesigner 12.5 released
with new ETL and EII modeling and full UML 2.0 diagrams support
October 2008 - PowerDesigner 15.0 released with new Enterprise
Architecture Model, customizable frameworks support, Impact and Lineage
Analysis Diagram, logical data model, Barker's Notation, Project support and
lot more November 2011 - PowerDesigner 16.0
released with new Shell, Role based UI, Glossary, Impact analysis on repository,
Sybase IQ reference architecture wizard, New database support,� Web portal
enhancements January 2013 - PowerDesigner 16.5
released with new features supporting SAP Platform: SAP HANA, SAP
BusinessObjects, SAP Netweaver and SAP Solution Manager
Standards PowerDesigner supports the following
standards: BPEL4WS
Business Process Modeling Notation Document Type Definition
ebXML IDEF
RDBMS Rich Text Format
UML 2.0 diagrams XML
XML Schema See also
Comparison of data modeling tools References
External links SAP PowerDesigner webpage