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IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) vs Parasoft Development Testing Platform comparison

IBM and Parasoft are both solutions in the Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites category. IBM is ranked #13 with an average rating of 7.8, while Parasoft is ranked #16 with an average rating of 8.0. IBM holds a 3.3% mindshare in ALM, compared to Parasoft’s 0.3% mindshare. Additionally, 76% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Parasoft users who would recommend it.
IBM Engineering Lifecycle M...
Read 19 IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) reviews
  • 1,404 Views
  • 991 Comparison Views
76% willing to recommend
Parasoft Development Testin...
Read 4 Parasoft Development Testing Platform reviews
  • 174 Views
  • 101 Comparison Views
100% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 30, 2025

IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) and Parasoft Development Testing Platform compete in the software development tools sector. Parasoft appears to have the upper hand due to its robust feature set, though IBM ELM offers more appealing pricing and support options.

Features: IBM ELM is recognized for its comprehensive integration capabilities, lifecycle traceability, and a unified platform beneficial for development and testing. Parasoft offers superior automated testing tools, quality assurance, and code coverage features for swift defect identification.

Room for Improvement: IBM ELM could enhance user interface intuitiveness, improve documentation clarity, and optimize performance scalability. Parasoft might benefit from improving its initial configuration complexity, expanding plugin support, and offering more user training resources.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IBM ELM provides a streamlined deployment with a focus on integration. Its customer service is known for accessibility. Parasoft highlights automated deployment processes which aid in speed and ease of setup with support noted for technical expertise.

Pricing and ROI: IBM ELM generally offers a favorable setup cost, aligning with organizations with budget constraints while promising a solid ROI through its integration features. Parasoft, with a higher initial cost, often justifies expense via advanced testing capabilities and automation efficiencies resulting in potential long-term savings and productivity.

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Buyer's Guide
IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) vs. Parasoft Development Testing Platform
April 2025
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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

IBM Engineering Lifecycle M...
Ranking in Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites
13th
Average Rating
7.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
19
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Parasoft Development Testin...
Ranking in Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites
16th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
Application Requirements Management (9th), Test Management Tools (19th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites category, the mindshare of IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) is 3.3%, up from 1.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Parasoft Development Testing Platform is 0.3%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites
 

Featured Reviews

Juergen Albrecht - PeerSpot reviewer
Combining tools for effective data analysis while customization and integration need improvement
The most valuable feature is how IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) ( /products/ibm-engineering-lifecycle-management-elm-reviews ) allows me to present to the customer what the actual software, even hardware, will do. It helps them gain an impression of the complexity of the functionality and find an easier way to decide whether to implement it. A picture says more than one thousand words, which is why I work with the combination of ELM and the specification of DOORS. The automation capabilities I built use column-based scripts for analysis to search, fetch, and transfer information. When I open modules, it automatically analyzes the changes since the last opening by me.
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Ujjwal Gupta - PeerSpot reviewer
A complete test management tool that facilitates developers' unit testing
Parallel execution: It would help it multiple executions could be done at the same time. This would reduce the execution time, helping achieve goals on time, and with less effort required. I use the different licenses to manage this issue and it can be controlled by different users for functional testing.
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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"One of the key advantages of IBM Rational ALM is its workflow capabilities, which enable seamless collaboration between development and production teams and ensure that all stakeholders are aware of the progress and readiness of the solution. Additionally, the solution is good for integration."
"It is relatively easy to use and user-friendly once the setup is complete."
"The word emulation and importing is good."
"I would rate the stability of this product a nine out of ten."
"The tools for requirement capture we have found very useful."
"IBM Rational ALM is a very good tool. I like the management and traceability features and the test management tool. The latter is not linked with the stories and fixed management. It is really useful, and we can create test plans. We can also test some metrics related to QA."
"We have something called the GC (global configuration), which is a unique feature compared to any other competitor we have in the ALM space."
"The cataloging is a very valuable feature. For a lot of enterprises, they end up not knowing which applications do specific features. The cataloging helps with this. It's not that verbose, but it still gives you allowances to put in more detail."
More IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) pros
"The most valuable feature is code coverage."
"It really helps developers execute scenarios through DTP and share reports/results across the teams."
 

Cons

"Improvement is needed in bridging DNG and Rhapsody and vice versa for better data exchange from both sides with some trigger technologies."
"The GUI is a little bit outdated."
"Of course it would be related to customer experience. The solution is not user friendly at all. It needs an expert to use it, although the reporting feature was okay."
"Some improvements to the user interface (UI) would be helpful, such as exposing more services to make it easier to customize to the needs of each customer."
"The product must be more user-friendly."
"I think nowadays people are getting into Jira and other tools. What is happening is, this solution is becoming more traditional, whereas Jira and other tools are more attractive for the new users to learn and start using because of the graphical interfaces."
"The stability of IBM Rational ALM could be improved."
"I would like to see better reporting features. The out-of-box reporting is - I don't want to say limited - but the focus is on the Scrum and Sprint reports. We need more reporting features regarding the history of the work, tracking it more deeply."
More IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) cons
"The solution's speed has room for improvement."
"Parallel execution: It would help it multiple executions could be done at the same time."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is not cheap."
"IBM Rational ALM has both monthly and yearly licensing options."
"The price of the solution could be reduced. Many of our customers are not using all the features and this could be why our clients feel the price is too high."
"This product is a little expensive and we had to pay extra to have them set it up for us."
"We have a contract, but I am not aware of the details."
"Costly."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
26%
Computer Software Company
11%
Government
9%
Transportation Company
7%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about IBM Rational ALM?
The solution is customizable.
See all answers
What needs improvement with IBM Rational ALM?
The user interface requires significant improvement as it is overly complex. For business users with no experience in IT, it can be particularly challenging to understand the UI and create test cas...
See all answers
What is your primary use case for IBM Rational ALM?
We use IBM Rational ALM as part of our overall application suite for our manufacturing company. It is used by our engineering team to capture requirements, perform testing, and manage defects. Spec...
See all answers
What do you like most about Parasoft Development Testing Platform?
The most valuable feature is code coverage.
See all answers
What needs improvement with Parasoft Development Testing Platform?
The solution's speed has room for improvement.
See all answers
What is your primary use case for Parasoft Development Testing Platform?
We use the Parasoft Development Testing Platform to verify code coverage for static analysis in our unit tests.
See all answers
 

Comparisons

Jira vs IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) Logo
Jira vs IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM)
Compared 28% of the time
Codebeamer vs IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) Logo
Codebeamer vs IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM)
Compared 20% of the time
Microsoft Azure DevOps vs IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) Logo
Microsoft Azure DevOps vs IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM)
Compared 19% of the time
Polarion ALM vs IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) Logo
Polarion ALM vs IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM)
Compared 11% of the time
PTC Integrity vs IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) Logo
PTC Integrity vs IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM)
Compared 10% of the time
More IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) Competitors
No data available
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM)
April 2025
IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) reportDownload IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) product report
Buyer's Guide
Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites
April 2025
Parasoft Development Testing Platform reportDownload Parasoft Development Testing Platform product report
 

Also Known As

IBM Engineering Rhapsody, Rational ALM, MKS
Parasoft Concerto, Parasoft DTP
 

Overview

IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management stands out for its robust Agile Scrum planning, lifecycle traceability, and tool management, offering cloud-based configurability and strong collaboration features.

IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management provides rich capabilities for Agile project management, facilitating requirements and test management, configuration management, and version control. Its integration with IBM Doors supports comprehensive requirements handling, and the cloud-based platform enhances collaborative efficiency across teams. Despite needing advances in user-friendliness and reporting, ELM's global configuration and compliance features make it invaluable in demanding environments.

What are the key features of IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management?
  • Scrum-based planning: Supports Agile methodologies with rich planning tools.
  • Lifecycle traceability: Offers complete traceability across development stages.
  • Customizable workflows: Adaptable workflows with Kanban for flexibility.
  • Git integration: Supports efficient version control and collaboration.
  • Global Configuration: Manages complex configurations globally.
  • Compliance and reporting: Ensures robust auditing and comprehensive reporting capabilities.
What benefits should be evaluated in reviews?
  • Collaboration: Enhanced sharing across platforms for seamless teamwork.
  • Cost-effectiveness: Delivers efficient tools that optimize project spend.
  • Comprehensive requirement handling: Facilitates detailed requirement management through IBM Doors integration.

IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management is vital in sectors like automotive and manufacturing, where it implements Agile frameworks to manage requirements, conduct testing, and handle defects. It integrates into development pipelines ensuring live traceability and visibility, supporting critical engineering processes efficiently.

IBM

Parasoft DTP aggregates the results from across testing practices, providing intelligent and continuous monitoring of the testing outcomes for greater visibility into what is working — and what isn’t.  Includes:

- Comprehensive Reports & Dashboards

- Preconfigured compliance reporting

- Customized Advanced Analytics

- Interactive Navigation of Results

- Traceability

Parasoft
 

Sample Customers

Tennis Australia, WeCloud AB, Port Otago Limited, Logicalis US, Valmer, The Chevrolet Volt, Ashurst
General Motors, Lockheed Martin, Qualcomm, AAI Textron, Boeing, Fidelity, Johnson & Johnson, CIBC, Penske, Thales, Dell, 
Buyer's Guide
IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) vs. Parasoft Development Testing Platform
April 2025
Free Report: IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) vs. Parasoft Development Testing Platform
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