ALM/Quality Center
Defect tracking tool for application lifecycle management
4,3 /5 (13 reviews) Write a Review!Test Management tool ALM
Pros
1. One solution for all Test Management (Test planning, execution and defect management)
2. Fast and reliable
3. Support end to end traceability
4. Integration with UFT automation tool.
5. Support upload using existing Excel test cases
6. Access management for various type of users
7. Web based tool
8. API available for automation
Cons
1. Sometime it failed to download components while opening in browser due to access level issue
2. Unfortunately, no support to major automation tool selenium
3. Can’t export attachments with test cases
4. High cost per user
5. If ALM is closed and if you reopen the same test it shows object locked
6. No support to update defect from excel. Except automation API
Response from Micro Focus
Thanks for the review & high rating. It provided helpful insights. You had cons I'd like to address
#1: If by access level you mean admin permissions, the ALM Client Launcher solved this: https://marketplace.microfocus.com/appdelivery/content/alm-client-launcher
#2: The Jenkins plugin enables you to run most types of tests, inc. Selenium & results are reflected in ALM: https://plugins.jenkins.io/hp-application-automation-tools-plugin/
#3: This is known & we'll address soon
#4: Depends on what you want to achieve. Our product has rich ALM functionality built in & high scalability, plus several editions to fit usage needs
#5: Contact customer support with this & provide details
#6: With Connect you can do so without using API. It includes a connector between Excel & ALM that allows you to map fields between the two: https://marketplace.microfocus.com/appdelivery/content/micro-focus-connect-core & https://marketplace.microfocus.com/appdelivery/content/micro-focus-connect-connectors
Good project management tool
ALM Quality center was the first project management tool I ever used and was pretty impressed at first. We can use it right from requirement gathering to defect tracking for every single step.
Pros
I like that it was user friendly and was able to have all the details of every release of my project in one place. It was easy to access the test cases and execute testing on daily basis. Defect tracking was much efficient too.
Cons
I have faced some frequent outage and application was slow sometimes when there was too much load. Also, licensing issues and cost
Response from Micro Focus
Posted on behalf of Ying Lei, Product Marketing Manager for ALM/Quality Center: "Thanks for choosing ALM/Quality Center as your first project management tool, and for writing this review. You mentioned outage and performance issues encountered. I suggest you report this to customer support: https://www.microfocus.com/en-us/support/Quality%20Center%20Enterprise%20(QC)%20On%20Premises, so that they can help analyze what might be the cause. You may also do an analysis by yourself using the online ALM Adivsior tool at https://almadvisor.saas.microfocus.com/. I hope these issues will be solved soon and you will enjoy more with the product."
ALM Software
In our company we use test case for run and defect.
Pros
A multi-functional application that we use in our software testing processes. In our company we use test case for run and defect.
Cons
It is not very practical to use because the application is multifunctional
Response from Micro Focus
I wanted to say thank you for your feedback regarding Micro Focus ALM. Your comments are a little vague, but when we hear feedback like yours it often points to either the solution being more than required or there is a need for training. I'd really appreciate hearing more so that we can improve your experience with Micro Focus.
You can email me or contact your local Micro Focus representation; and you'll find some information on ALM training here: https://marketplace.microfocus.com/education
We look forward working with you.
Best software life cycle management tool, worth to use
Holding large number of business users who use software systems to track their deliverables which is really challenging one. We designed and create folder structures in ALM modules and customized different workflow models to accommodate the business process, automation and performance testing. Synchronized company users along with ALM LDAP mechanism. Satisfying all business roles like business analysts, developers, Quality assurance and performance teams along with this single tool. Upgrading new version comes with new features and easy to upgrade the data without spending additional cost on application and database servers.
Pros
Below are salient features that makes life easy for any software professional -Traceability matrix, end to end traceability, integration with other market tools like JIRA, REST API to develop excel macro utilities, UFT integration, cross project customization, defect management process, Business excel addin to load the entities, risk based planning and execution, Corporate LDAP user management based on single sign on options, business process testing, Auto-pass license server configuration
Cons
Apart from high license cost, I see all the features are beneficial. Pointing a one feature that still not comfortable is version management - check out / check in entity.
Response from Micro Focus
Hi Senthilkumar,
I reached out to Ying Lei, the product marketing manager for Micro Focus ALM. She wrote, in response: Thank you for taking the time to write a valuable review of our product, where you pointed out its many strengths. Your review indicates that your organization has upgraded to the latest version. I am glad to know that and appreciate your feedback. It not only lets us know how you feel about using the product, but also provides good information for organizations who are evaluating ALM tools. Thank you also for your feedback on the versioning feature. We will include it in future release planning.
Best regards
David Shephard
Program Manager, Customer Engagement at Micro Focus
Review on ALM quality center
It’s playing very vital role in software life cycle
Pros
Application life cycle management is very leading tool in software deployment program as its playing a vital role in capture the metrics on each and every story and make a track in Testing process and we can capture bug in development and assigned to respective peers
Cons
It’s easy traceable to development process and identify the issues and trace them through ALM
Response from Micro Focus
Hello Mallikarjuna.
We appreciate your product review as it relates to Micro Focus ALM/Quality Center, thanks for taking the time. Also, thanks for pointing out that ALM/QC plays a vital role in your software development lifecycle. Your pros, including your cons as you described them in your review, both look pretty positive. When you get a chance, could you please help us understand why you gave us a 2/10 for "Likelihood to Recommend?" Our goal is to assure the highest quality products and solutions for our customers. Thanks again!
Best regards,
Ying Lei
Good tool to have a centralized place for your application lifecycle
I find it a tool that is very useful and powerful when properly set up but is not as user-friendly as other similar tools out there.
Pros
ALM has a lot of features that allow teams to build better software, it has a lot of different options for reports: Dashboards, Excell reports, Word Reports, Graphs, KPI Analysis, Progress Status, etc.
Integrating ALM with Performance Center tools enables the tool to produce a complete overview of the progress in testing with minimum effort required to create the reports.
Cons
The customization of the tool is not straightforward, you do need to do a lot of trial and error and there are a lot of options that cannot be changed from the default values.
The guides and documentation is not as clear as it could be.
The customer support when dealing with technical issues takes time to reply and it takes a long time to get issues fixed.
Defect tracking tool ALM
Time saving while creating test report.
Pros
1. Defect tracking, test case execution status, requirement mapping all can been seen at one place.
2 Fast retrieval of data
3 Helps in daily defect management call.
4 Requirement matrix can be done easily.
5 Macros can be used. Easily automated.
Cons
1. Moving from AlM to excel option needs more improvement.
ALM review
Pros
1. Easy Maintenance of test cases, test plan and test lab w
2. Integration of QTP with BPT framework with alm was smooth.
Cons
1. BPT components loading and unloading was taking more time.
So Test execution of BPT flows from alm was time consuming
A great tool to use for reporting QA metrics to the business.
Reporting metrics, organized structure, testing tool.
Pros
This software makes it easy to create a test set in an organized tree structure. Afterwards, you can grab metrics into any type of graph you would like.
Cons
I really dislike how it is only supported on internet explorer. It would be nice if it were supported on other platforms that is least buggy.
Does this tool keep up with the pace?
as a tool for managing STD and bugs - great.
when you need web access and control over the entire process - less
Pros
This tool will allow your team to run testing process in a very easy manor, once everything is ready for them in matter of STD.
Cons
the ability to monitor bugs and process is less than other options.
not competitive enough in matter of web page support for everywhere access
Response from Micro Focus
Thanks for reviewing Micro Focus ALM/Quality Center, and making very positive comments on its Test Management aspect. Regarding your feedback on its Web interface, we're making process to address it. Web Runner is an ALM/QC web client introduced last year, and we are expanding its functionality step by step. Soon there will be a major release and by then Web Runner will have the following capabilities: Manual and automated test execution, Defect Management and ALM/QC dashboard access (read-only). We look forward to your upgrade to the latest version to maximize your gain from current investment.
Ying Lei, Product Marketing Manager, Micro Focus
Efficient project management tool
I like that I can upload my test cases in excel to Quality center so I could upload my previous files and I can access all my test cases, requirements and defects in one place.
Pros
I like the ease of use with QC and it has end to end traceability. It is fast and reliable. Access management for various types of user is possible. Defect management works pretty well too.
Cons
It’s high cost and no support to major automation tool like selenium
Response from Micro Focus
Thanks for your review and your positive feedback on many of the functionalities of ALM/Quality Center. Regarding Selenium, it is supported through the Jenkins plugin "Micro Focus Application Automation Tools" - https://plugins.jenkins.io/hp-application-automation-tools-plugin/. This Jenkins plugin enables you to use most types of test tools, including Selenium. The test results are reflected in ALM/QC.
Ying Lei, Product Marketing Manager, Micro Focus
A long time users review
This tool is an industry standard in the SDLC
Pros
The linking of defects to test runs is excellent. Any changes in mandatory fields or status of the defect triggers an e-mail and sent automatically to the user that the defect is assigned to. Also, ALM is considered to be an excellent auditing tool.
Cons
It's an awesome tool but it has one small issue: it takes a long while in the initialization process and a delay is noticeable when an incorrect password is entered during signin process.
Effective test management tool
I am very pleased with the tool. It is robust and feature rich; providing many configuration options. Perhaps too many which can become confusing and cumbersome.
Pros
It allows for efficient and effective test script, execution and defect management; all within one tool. I've been using the defect management tool for more than a decade.
Cons
Like most things, it requires knowledge of the tool in advance and planning to properly configure it for its most effective use.
I am using ALM from more than 10 years , have seen many enhancements. I love this tool for test Management and highly recommend to other if you can manage the cost.
It’s an easy web based tool for requirements management, test planning, execution and defect reporting.