Cameo the most popular SysML tool in 2020? (Update 2025)
Last week, the Day of Systems Engineering (TdSE) took place online. I had the pleasure of moderating the SysML track at this event. Part of the track was a survey. Among other things, we asked the audience which SysML tool they use. As the title says, Cameo from (now Dassault) was the number one.
Updated 2025: SysML v2
Through the publication of SysML v2 and of course AI the market has been stirred up quite a bit. In this respect, a new survey is called for.
SysML v2 turns everything on its head: New SysML v2 tools are pushing into the market and the established manufacturers are trying to keep up? Whether Cameo can retain its market position remains to be seen.
The result (2020)
This survey with 91 votes may not be representative, but it gives an interesting picture of the mood in the world of systems engineering. Which other tools were chosen can be read below.
Without further ado, here are the results of the survey:
The winner: Cameo Systems Modeler
With over 40% of the votes, the Cameo Modeler from Dassault is the most popular SysML tool in this group. This surprised me a little, because in a similar survey in January 2017, the Enterprise Architect had led. Of course, we have to be careful when making such a comparison. For one thing, 2017 was about modeling in general, not just SysML modeling. Secondly, Dassault provides free licenses to all contributors to the OMG SysML working group, as far as I know. This made Cameo the tool of choice for work in the OMG.
This result also shows that the Acquisition of NoMagic by Dassault did not have a negative impact on Cameo.
Enterprise Architect still strong
Not surprisingly, Enterprise Architect (EA) from Sparx Systems remains popular and is in second place with just under 30%. Enterprise Architect was by far in first place in the 2017 survey.
I assume that EA is still number one outside the SysML community. EA is still one of the cheapest commercial solutions with which you can produce results very quickly. Some people turn up their noses at EA because the tool does not require standard-compliant modeling by default and users are "tempted to paint". But in my opinion, this danger also exists with other tools and it is very possible to configure EA in such a way that conformity is demanded.
The rest
Around a fifth of the participants named other commercial programs, led by IBM with Rhapsody (13%). This is followed by candidates such as Preevision from Vector, Integrity Modeler from PTC and a few others.
A further 5% went to Open source tools. Capella, Papyrus and OpenMBEE were listed here.
Conclusion
If you can afford it and want to get to grips with SysML, Cameo is a good SysML tool for you. Of course, this does not mean that the other options are bad.
I think two things in particular are a shame: open source has not yet managed to reach a critical mass. I find what is happening there exciting, but the reach is not even close to being significant.
I also think it's a shame that there is no new competitor in sight. The big tools are now quite old - Enterprise Architect, for example, is 20 years old. I'm waiting for a startup to shake up the market a bit and reinvent modeling. I already had my eye on a few of the younger companies (e.g. Innoslate and Valispace). But the revolution has yet to materialize.
