Principal Consultant at a tech company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Dec 25, 2015
We are using HP-ALM for requirement capturing, traceability and as test management tool. HP-ALM is good tool with lot of features supporting most of them from your list. But according to me one of the important consideration while you zero down to tool is familiarity and competency of your group/team on the tool. If the requirements are not written,organized (Epics, themes, user stories) and linked correctly, the analyst/architects/designers would have a tough time sorting and grouping the requirements based on product, projects, module. This would lead to danger of mixing requirements and consequently wrong solution design.
Similarly the viewers of ALM should also be well versed using the tool and they should know how to locate and filter the requirements.
Search for a product comparison in Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites
Testing Manager at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Dec 19, 2015
Cant speak about TFS as I haven't used it but HPALM meets most of your requirements if not all. I have also compared Jira and ALM in my current organization. Many users find JIRA good as development management tool ( tickets are raised for new development requests and defects are also raised as tickets and linked to original development request ticket) , also it has got reporting capabilities etc, another benefit is some customization possibility.
From Test Project Management perspective ALM is very good tool, it lets you manage requirements, test cases, defect and link them all to each other for Traceability. Reporting and Dashboard module is quite popular , useful and handy. You can share direct links of reports with stakeholders , this is useful for reporting project status to Sr. leadership who usually don't have/ need access to ALM and yet can access reports directly. There is also a lesser used function like Risk Based Testing.
One area where ALM stands out by virtue of being a HP tool is its integration with QTP (UFT).
I am so far happy with ALM as Test Management Tool.
Sales Engineer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Vendor
Dec 18, 2015
I can speak only for ALM as I'm a presales consultant at Hewlett Packard Enterprise. The list above is pretty much the ALM navigation menu, the tool supports each one of those areas.
As of version 12.50 it also integrates with Selenium and other external testing frameworks via External Test type. You can read about it here: alm-help.saas.hp.com/en/Latest/online_help/Content/UG/c_integrating_external_test_exec_overview.htm
As a side note, it's now HP"E" ALM, since 1st Nov 2015.
(The views expressed in my contributions are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views and strategy of HPE.)
Jira, is a change management application , It may not be sufficient to manage lifecycle of a software
TFS : have not use it , but looks like more of a code release / versioning application, if the need it o manage CODE ,
HP ALM : is a test management tool and can go beyond to even build trace-ability for requirements, in this tool one can define their phases , releases and then build requirements and then in case of code development , one can define such version ( but you cannont manage the actual code / version in application) Example You can say Release 2 --> Login Page --> Java / HTML --> name of the program Version 5 ----- There is no provision to store the actual code.
One can then build test coverage vis -a- vis linking requirements to test . In Test Lab one can schedule , execute and assign test to testers and they can execute the tests even record results and attach screen shots. One can run automated test scripts as well( calling QTP)
Then one can manage Test Defects in defect management tab
There is also an ADMIN access to the tool to define roles and custom attributes if any.
QTP is an automation tool from HP and part of HP testing family. Its a robust tool , can be used for web applications as well as client / server applications. Generally the ROI on automation needs to be defined well ( that is a new discussion) . Automation is to be done for repeatable test and automation is good when there are no manual hand offs
Selenium is good automated tool for web applications and it is cost effective as versus HP ALM.
Find out what your peers are saying about Atlassian, Microsoft, OpenText and others in Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites. Updated: June 2026.
Systems Engineer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Consultant
Top 20
Dec 17, 2015
I used JIRA, HP-ALM, TFS and also the automated tools Selenium, QTP and Junit, I used these tools more than 5 years. Each one works differently. I am not sure which application Test Management tool is good for you. However, I can explain each areas and features. Here are some information.
2. I also use HP-ALM - Test management tool - Please see the user guide which answers all your questions regarding the features. This is truly a great test management tool.
alm-help.saas.hp.com/en/12.50/pdfs/UserGuide.pdf
Assistant System Analyst:Presales ALM at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Dec 17, 2015
Hi Archana,
Greetings!
MasterCraft Application LifeCycle Manager which is an TCS product with best of KPI's incorporated & has all functionalities you are looking for & currently has more than 80 Customers.
I can share more information about this product ,different features of MasterCraft ALM & how robust MasterCraft product is.
Software Test Engineer at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Vendor
Dec 17, 2015
Last year we have made POC related with Test Management Tools. We overviewed each of them but we have decided to use AQUA which is ALM tool that is developed by Andogon GbmH (www.andagon.com/en/loesungen/aqua-it-project-management-software.html) It is very easy and easy tool that provides enriched reporting flexibility. All bullets except cross Project reporting is covered. Main disadvantage of AQUA is cost and cross Project reporting within same report.
Jira does not provide already existing test management solution, Zephyr (www.getzephyr.com/) is solution but it does not provide good cycle management mechanism. Or you could developed your own plug-in for Jira. CI module and entegration also flexible.
HP ALM had browser compability it does not work with Chrome and it provides solid solution it does not have enough flexibility , integration of other tools depend on HP family, others are not well supported.
TFS is also Works well with Microsoft family. it provides solid solution it does not have enough flexibility , integration of other tools depend on Microsoft products , others are not well supported.
For Automation You should evaluate Ranorex (www.ranorex.com/), It is flexible and you could have mobile and Web automation framework with good prices. Support of it also satisfactory. It has entegration with AQUA. Hp QTP Works well with HP ALM tools and it does not provide mobile test automation.
Selenium is also popular solution but you need accountable coding effort to have good and maintainable scripts.
JUnit is unit test solution at development level. You could add test driven framework at your SDLC, but it is method based approach and does not provide front-end user point of view automation.
Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites streamline application development, providing integrated tools for planning, tracking, and deploying software. They provide a cohesive environment supporting all phases of the software lifecycle.ALM Suites help organizations improve productivity by offering tools that facilitate collaboration, code management, testing, and deployment. These suites are designed to support agile methodologies, offering features that enable teams to plan, implement,...
We are using HP-ALM for requirement capturing, traceability and as test management tool. HP-ALM is good tool with lot of features supporting most of them from your list. But according to me one of the important consideration while you zero down to tool is familiarity and competency of your group/team on the tool. If the requirements are not written,organized (Epics, themes, user stories) and linked correctly, the analyst/architects/designers would have a tough time sorting and grouping the requirements based on product, projects, module. This would lead to danger of mixing requirements and consequently wrong solution design.
Similarly the viewers of ALM should also be well versed using the tool and they should know how to locate and filter the requirements.
Cant speak about TFS as I haven't used it but HPALM meets most of your requirements if not all. I have also compared Jira and ALM in my current organization. Many users find JIRA good as development management tool ( tickets are raised for new development requests and defects are also raised as tickets and linked to original development request ticket) , also it has got reporting capabilities etc, another benefit is some customization possibility.
From Test Project Management perspective ALM is very good tool, it lets you manage requirements, test cases, defect and link them all to each other for Traceability. Reporting and Dashboard module is quite popular , useful and handy. You can share direct links of reports with stakeholders , this is useful for reporting project status to Sr. leadership who usually don't have/ need access to ALM and yet can access reports directly. There is also a lesser used function like Risk Based Testing.
One area where ALM stands out by virtue of being a HP tool is its integration with QTP (UFT).
I am so far happy with ALM as Test Management Tool.
I can speak only for ALM as I'm a presales consultant at Hewlett Packard Enterprise. The list above is pretty much the ALM navigation menu, the tool supports each one of those areas.
As of version 12.50 it also integrates with Selenium and other external testing frameworks via External Test type. You can read about it here: alm-help.saas.hp.com/en/Latest/online_help/Content/UG/c_integrating_external_test_exec_overview.htm
As a side note, it's now HP"E" ALM, since 1st Nov 2015.
(The views expressed in my contributions are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views and strategy of HPE.)
Thanks Sudha , I will go through these documents and will contact you if I have any questions.
Thanks for your comments Paresh.
Jira, is a change management application , It may not be sufficient to manage lifecycle of a software
TFS : have not use it , but looks like more of a code release / versioning application, if the need it o manage CODE ,
HP ALM : is a test management tool and can go beyond to even build trace-ability for requirements, in this tool one can define their phases , releases and then build requirements and then in case of code development , one can define such version ( but you cannont manage the actual code / version in application) Example You can say Release 2 --> Login Page --> Java / HTML --> name of the program Version 5 ----- There is no provision to store the actual code.
One can then build test coverage vis -a- vis linking requirements to test . In Test Lab one can schedule , execute and assign test to testers and they can execute the tests even record results and attach screen shots. One can run automated test scripts as well( calling QTP)
Then one can manage Test Defects in defect management tab
There is also an ADMIN access to the tool to define roles and custom attributes if any.
QTP is an automation tool from HP and part of HP testing family. Its a robust tool , can be used for web applications as well as client / server applications. Generally the ROI on automation needs to be defined well ( that is a new discussion) . Automation is to be done for repeatable test and automation is good when there are no manual hand offs
Selenium is good automated tool for web applications and it is cost effective as versus HP ALM.
I haven't worked on Junit.
ALM and Selenium are your best picks from the list.
I used JIRA, HP-ALM, TFS and also the automated tools Selenium, QTP and Junit, I used these tools more than 5 years. Each one works differently. I am not sure which application Test Management tool is good for you. However, I can explain each areas and features. Here are some information.
1. I use JIRA for ticketing system - Here is the documentation or user manual explains these areas.
confluence.atlassian.com/jira/jira-user-s-guide-100303115.html
2. I also use HP-ALM - Test management tool - Please see the user guide which answers all your questions regarding the features. This is truly a great test management tool.
alm-help.saas.hp.com/en/12.50/pdfs/UserGuide.pdf
3. TFS - incoming tickets - and also for project backlog issues - www.tfsasap.com/fileadmin/user_upload/TFS_ASAP_-_User_Manual.pdf
If you have any questions after reading these materials, please contact me @sgarg13e@yahoo.com.
Thanks and goodluck!
Hi Archana,
Greetings!
MasterCraft Application LifeCycle Manager which is an TCS product with best of KPI's incorporated & has all functionalities you are looking for & currently has more than 80 Customers.
I can share more information about this product ,different features of MasterCraft ALM & how robust MasterCraft product is.
My email id is niteshagarwal1798@gmail.com
Regards,
Nitesh Agarwal
Last year we have made POC related with Test Management Tools. We overviewed each of them but we have decided to use AQUA which is ALM tool that is developed by Andogon GbmH (www.andagon.com/en/loesungen/aqua-it-project-management-software.html) It is very easy and easy tool that provides enriched reporting flexibility. All bullets except cross Project reporting is covered. Main disadvantage of AQUA is cost and cross Project reporting within same report.
Jira does not provide already existing test management solution, Zephyr (www.getzephyr.com/) is solution but it does not provide good cycle management mechanism. Or you could developed your own plug-in for Jira. CI module and entegration also flexible.
HP ALM had browser compability it does not work with Chrome and it provides solid solution it does not have enough flexibility , integration of other tools depend on HP family, others are not well supported.
TFS is also Works well with Microsoft family. it provides solid solution it does not have enough flexibility , integration of other tools depend on Microsoft products , others are not well supported.
For Automation You should evaluate Ranorex (www.ranorex.com/), It is flexible and you could have mobile and Web automation framework with good prices. Support of it also satisfactory. It has entegration with AQUA. Hp QTP Works well with HP ALM tools and it does not provide mobile test automation.
Selenium is also popular solution but you need accountable coding effort to have good and maintainable scripts.
JUnit is unit test solution at development level. You could add test driven framework at your SDLC, but it is method based approach and does not provide front-end user point of view automation.