History, Editions and Licensing Models
PowerDesigner History
Wondering what the current official name of PowerDesigner? S-Designor ? PowerAMC? What is the latest version?
Find here is a little recap of the product history
| Date | Owner | Product Name(s) | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | SDP | AMC*Designor 2.0 | The first commercial is release in France by SDP (Suresne), under the name: AMC*Designor 2. The “OR” stands for Oracle, the first database targeted by SDP. |
| 1992 | SDP | S-Designor 3.0 | SDP expands their business abroad and publish a first version dedicated to the US market called S-Designor 3. The main reason for a different version is that the most popular analysis methodology in France at that time (MERISE) was not used in the US, hence a different set of models and features for both products. |
| 1995 | PowerSoft | PowerDesigner | PowerSoft acquires SDP in 1995 and renames S-Designor to PowerDesigner, for a matter of consistency with the brands PowerBuilder and Powersoft. PowerSoft had been taken over by sybase in 1994, and was still operating as a Sybase subsidiary and owner of Powerdesigner at that time. Future versions of the product will be released under the Sybase umbrella, without the name PowerSoft. |
| 1995 | PowerSoft | PowerAMC | AMC*Designor becomes PowerAMC. |
| 1997 | Sybase | PowerDesigner 6.0 | |
| 1997 | Sybase | PowerAMC 6.0 | |
| 1999 | Sybase | PowerDesigner 7.0 | |
| 1999 | Sybase | PowerAMC 7.0 | |
| 2001 | Sybase | PowerAMC 8.0 | |
| 2001 | Sybase | PowerDesigner 9.5 | |
| 2002 | Sybase | PowerAMC 9.0 | |
| 2004 | Sybase | PowerDesigner 10.0 | |
| 2004 | Sybase | PowerAMC 10.0 | |
| 2005 | Sybase | PowerDesigner 11.0 | |
| 2005 | Sybase | PowerAMC 11.0 | |
| 2006 | Sybase | PowerDesigner 12.0 | Metadata mappings and reporting features |
| 2006 | Sybase | PowerAMC 12.0 | |
| 2007 | Sybase | PowerDesigner 12.5 | UML 2.0, ETL, EII (Enterprise Information Integration) |
| 2007 | Sybase | PowerAMC 12.5 | |
| 2008 | Sybase | PowerDesigner 15.0 | Enterprise Architecture Model, customizable frameworks, Impact and Lineage Analysis Diagram, logical data model |
| 2008 | Sybase | PowerAMC 15.0 | Same as PowerDesigner 15.0 made available in French |
| 2011 | Sybase, a SAP company | PowerDesigner 16.0 | SAP acquires Sybase in 2010. As for PowerSoft, the first version is released under the name of the previous owner. Future versions will include the prefix SAP. New Shell, Role based UI, Glossary, Impact analysis on repository, Sybase IQ reference architecture wizard. |
| 2011 | SAP | PowerAMC 16.0 | Same as PowerDesigner 16.0 made available in French |
| 2013 | SAP | SAP PowerDesigner 16.5 | SAP Platform support: SAP HANA, SAP BusinessObjects, SAP Netweaver SAP Solution Manager |
| 2015 | SAP | SAP PowerAMC 16.5 | |
| 2016 | SAP | PowerDesigner 16.6 | PowerAMC is no longer available as a separate product. The features of the 2 editions were similar for several years. They are now delivered with a single installer, but the user can choose the installation language. |
Guide to Editions and Licensing Models
PowerDesigner comes with several Editions (DataArchitect, EnterpriseArchitect…) and was available with different licensing models (simplified since version 16.6). Some of them were deprecated by SAP, others are still valid. This may create some confusion as to which edition, type of license and capacity is the right fit for a given project.
Below are some definitions to clarify this matter.
Current Editions
SAP PowerDesigner now comes with 3 editions
DataArchitect, Edge Edition
BusinessAnalyst, Edge Edition
For business processes modeling
EnterpriseArchitect, Edge Edition
It includes both feature sets
| Material | Item Description |
|---|---|
| 7017910 | SAP PowerDesigner Business Analyst, Edge Edition |
| 7017650 | SAP PowerDesigner DataArchitect, Edge Edition |
| 7017652 | SAP PowerDesigner Enterprise Architect, Edge Edition |
Notes:
- Most customers use the DataArchitect features
- Only 1 licensing model is now available: CS (concurrent session)
- The concurrent Session License is controlled by a local SYSAM server that the user must install first.
Obsolete Editions and terminology
(no longer available with PowerDesigner 16.6)
PowerDesigner DataArchitect/DM
(DM stands for Data Manager = without Repository).
This edition was coming with both Floating License and Standalone License
PowerDesigner DataArchitect/RE
(RE stands for REpository - With Repository)
This version was sometimes referred to as DataArchitect/DMR
(where DMR stands for Data Modeler with Repository)
This edition was coming with both Floating License and Standalone License
PowerDesigner InformationArchitect.
This edition was a superset of the DataArchitect Edition, combining data modeling and business process modeling (see “Old PowerDesigner Edition Schema” below).
PowerDesigner Portal/ Portal Composer
Former name for PowerDesigner Web features (More about PowerDesigner Portal), a component available in the current Editions. PowerDesigner Werb can be used as a standalone product, to edit and organize Business Process diagrams within a Web browser. It can also connect to a PowerDesigner Repository, to view and comment the technical models created with PowerDesigner desktop. (More about PowerDesigner Web)
PowerAMC
PowerAMC was the French Edition of PowerDesigner. Since version 16.6, only PowerDesigner remain available, but the software is now available in French as well (the user can choose the installation language - Read more).
PowerAMC was offering several editions, available per User or Concurrent Session:
- PowerAMC, Données
- PowerAMC, Information Studio
- PowerAMC, Architecture d'Entreprise
- PowerAMC, Editeur Web
Below is the schema of old PowerDesigner Editions:
