You’re moving to Agile. Your developers are using Jira. Your test tool is struggling to keep up. You need a new test management solution. Sound familiar?
Maybe you’ve been using ALM/Quality Center. Many have. Previously I would have recommended this as my test tool of choice, but you need something different for Agile development.
There is a potential solution. A class-leading tool that you may not have considered.
Quality Center Has a Lot of Great Functionality
I still like a lot of the existing QC functionality, including the bits we all take for granted. QC is centralised, easy to use and robust. You can quickly see test progress, easily dive into historic results. You can schedule manual tests or build an automation queue. You can link defects, tests, and requirements.
But It’s Time for A Change
The time has come for a change. QC is a great test management product, but it’s not ideal for Agile and DevOps projects.
You need a test management tool that will incorporate Agile functionality. It also needs to communicate with your Agile tool ecosystem. Of course, it also needs to give you a complete view of software quality.
For Agile Projects, You Need an Agile Test Tool
The last couple of decades have seen more and more Agile and DevOps projects. These projects are more dynamic, but they often have rigid structures.
More traditional tools, like QC, can struggle to capture and represent Agile project information adequately. This could be backlogs, stories, retrospectives, definitions-of-done, or other vital information. Assigning or selecting tasks can also feel clunky and time-consuming. Tracking velocity or project activity is problematic too. It just doesn’t fit neatly into QC.
It’s time for a new test management tool. Something that connects to your development tools, but still gives enterprise-grade test management, robust automation, and end-to-end visibility.
Your Test Tool Needs to Handle All Flavours of Agile
Whether it’s Kanban, Scrum, Lean, XP or any other. It’s common to see these approaches run in parallel, in the same organisation. Even on the same project, Agile can mean different things to different people. Your test tool needs to handle all flavours of Agile.
Most Companies Still Run Some Waterfall or Wagile Projects
It’s not just Agile and DevOps. You probably have projects, or workstreams, using more traditional development streams. Your test tool needs to handle these. Your delivery team and testers are used to QC. It is a great test management tool for traditional projects. You need a test management tool that all projects can use.
You Need A Dedicated Test Tool For All Your Projects
You know you need a new tool, but which one? Which tool should you use for Agile test management?
It’s tempting to look to your Agile tools, like Jira or Trello for the answer. While great as Kanban boards, they offer no real test management functionality. Even with add-ons, Jira just doesn’t provide adequate test management functionality. You can’t maintain enterprise-level software quality without a dedicated test tool.
With ALM Octane You Get A Dedicated Agile Test Tool
Micro Focus ALM Octane is the Agile test tool. With Octane you get enterprise test management capability out of the box:
- Requirement Management
- Release Management
- Custom Workflows
- Custom and User Defined Fields
- Support for Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe)
- IDE integration with IntelliJ, Eclipse and Visual Studio
- CI/CD Pipeline topology visualisation
- Build and Test Failure Analysis
- Agile SCM linked to your backlogs
- Pipeline Code Coverage Tracking
- Advanced Reporting and Analytics
- OData Support – Advanced Reporting
- Audit Trails
Octane Integrates With Quality Centre
A lot of companies use both QC and Octane. You don’t have to switch your entire testing to Octane if you don’t want or need to.
It’s quite normal to move your Agile/DevOps projects to Octane while retaining QC for waterfall development.
This is a valid and common scenario. Your waterfall teams won’t see any disruption. You’ll get the best of both worlds.
ALM Octane SaaS – Easy to Deploy and Always Up-to-date
ALM Octane is also available via SaaS. This makes it an even easier decision. You will always be using the latest version of Octane. You can do away with time-consuming and expensive upgrades
SaaS also makes it easy to ramp up and ramp down your licenses. This is useful in a projects heavy landscape with fluctuation resource demands.
For Agile Projects, You Need an Agile Test Management Tool – And Octane is Your Best Option
Octane is a dedicated test management tool. No other product offers enterprise-level support for Agile, DevOps, Waterfall and Wagile projects.
Your test management tool is the centre point for your software quality. With Octane, you get a unified view of all projects, with full integration into their development tools.
Octane will seamlessly integrate with Jira.
You’re directly plugged into your developers, working in single integrated processes. Not only does this foster teamwork, but it also provides real depth of information.
While it can be tempting to look at cheaper ‘make-do’ options, you’ll soon find them limiting and time-consuming. Especially if you’re used to a high-quality solution like ALM QC.
You may spend a bit less on the tool; however, you will spend more overall. The hidden costs will add up quickly. There’s the additional effort to complete testing, the extra time spent on reports, the increased hours and days spent in every area.
Octane will more than pay for itself.
Time savings alone will give you a return on investment. People cost more than tools.
Get in touch today to arrange a demo of ALM Octane – your choice for Agile test management.
