Thomas E. MurphyIn the 8 months since this MQ launched, a market that on one hand would seem pretty stable (it certainly has been for years in its dominant provider) a good deal has changed. Borland has been acquired, new tools have come to market both in open source and traditional channels and the continued emergence of cloud computing is opening new delivery models and testing challenges. By relation, the evolution of ALM offerings has also affected the market though not to a tremendous extent because generally the testing suite is quite independent however there are a number of rub points primarily around workflow and defect management that cause issues of which product is really in charge and where should the data be stored.
We are also seeing that the traditional scope of suites (test and defect management, functional automation, manual testing, load/stress testing) is seen as only a portion of the requirements. Increasingly there is a need for better data management to mask and subset test data, a desire to better integrate with requirements (the promise of ALM), and a need for a more complete view of the state of the project from a consolidated quality perspective instead of one tool for unit tests, one for static analysis, one for functional testing etc. each with its own reporting a consolidated view. Planning tools are also evolving with more pressure to work with Agile development processes and better support for risk-based testing.
At the same time testing tools themselves are continuing to evolve with a greater number of model-based testing offerings coming to market. These seem to be able to deliver improved test maintenance and higher productivity. In addition with major updates continue to move forward from package vendors there is a greater need for tools that simplify the regression testing of these packages.
So what are your thoughts about testing tools? What is important? Do you want a single vendor? If not what level of integration do you desire? Are you willing to switch tools to take advantage of breakthrough innovation? Do you feel like your testing tools are providing the return on investment you need or are you seeking lower cost options? I look forward to grilling the vendors and their reference customers so we can answer these questions and more. To see the current version of the MQ you can go here.
3 responses so far ↓
1 Alex @ management software March 26, 2010 at 12:20 am
The testing tools are often only as good as the software tester themselves, all a great software tester needs to be effective is a notepad and coffee!
2 Thomas Murphy March 26, 2010 at 12:51 am
alex this is true in many ways though tools simplify team interactions and if done right can reduce the overall cost especially for regression testing runs. The other unfortunate thing is that too often the person pressed into the testing task is not a tester and tools won’t save them.
tom
3 A Tester April 29, 2010 at 9:21 am
Testing tools are increasing become a necessity for most organisation where progress reports and test evidence needs to be accessible and auditable as well as be efficient and smart. I do prefer a single vendor, but so far it’s very difficult to find a tool that has everything you need for everyday testing and without compromise. I also think tools are tools; it’s what and how you use them determines their effectiveness. What important is you evaluate the tool thoroughly and define what you want to get out them before committing, and yes cover the brand, evaluate them on their merit and functionalities. I also believe all testing tools in the marked are over prices and vendors are making it very difficult to switch between tools which itself make people think twice about using them. Vendors should consider an alternative strategy to encourage people to experiment with tools and utilise them more efficiently.
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