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Microsoft Azure DevOps vs OpenText ALM Octane comparison

Microsoft and OpenText are both solutions in the Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites category. Microsoft is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.2, while OpenText is ranked #7 with an average rating of 8.0. Microsoft holds a 19.0% mindshare in ALM, compared to OpenText’s 6.2% mindshare. Additionally, 95% of Microsoft users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 92% of OpenText users who would recommend it.
Microsoft Azure DevOps
Read 132 Microsoft Azure DevOps reviews
  • 15,067 Views
  • 12,055 Comparison Views
95% willing to recommend
OpenText ALM Octane
Read 40 OpenText ALM Octane reviews
  • 5,399 Views
  • 2,963 Comparison Views
92% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 15, 2024

OpenText ALM Octane and Microsoft Azure DevOps compete in the realm of Agile and DevOps tools. ALM Octane stands out in areas requiring deep integration with other tools, while Azure DevOps is favored for broader DevOps pipelines and its seamless integration with Microsoft products.

Features: OpenText ALM Octane shines with its integrated toolset that supports Agile management, requirements, and test management, ensuring end-to-end traceability. It provides seamless integration with popular DevOps tools. Azure DevOps offers comprehensive DevOps pipeline capabilities, strong CI/CD processes, and superior integration with Microsoft products, making it highly effective for extensive DevOps operations.

Room for Improvement: ALM Octane could better integrate cross-project test management and improve its requirements module along with workspace management. Users wish for enhanced integration of traditional ALM and Agile methodologies. Azure DevOps could strengthen its integration with third-party tools, simplify its interface, and enhance its reporting functions for a more streamlined experience.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: OpenText ALM Octane is generally deployed on-premises, with users valuing strong customer service and direct R&D interactions, despite occasional delays in communication. Microsoft Azure DevOps, available in cloud and hybrid models, is praised for effortless integration with Microsoft tools and responsive technical support, though there's a need for more global user support.

Pricing and ROI: OpenText ALM Octane is perceived as expensive compared to open-source options, with its ROI tied to integration and automation gains, eliciting mixed feedback. Azure DevOps offers competitive pricing, especially for users of other Microsoft services, with cost-effective licensing and scalability options. Its ROI is mainly realized through faster deployment cycles within integrated Microsoft environments.

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To learn more, read our detailed Microsoft Azure DevOps vs. OpenText ALM Octane Report (Updated: January 2025).
Buyer's Guide
Microsoft Azure DevOps vs. OpenText ALM Octane
January 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

Microsoft Azure DevOps
Ranking in Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites
2nd
Ranking in Enterprise Agile Planning Tools
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
132
Ranking in other categories
Release Automation (1st)
OpenText ALM Octane
Ranking in Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites
7th
Ranking in Enterprise Agile Planning Tools
8th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
40
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2025, in the Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites category, the mindshare of Microsoft Azure DevOps is 19.0%, down from 25.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of OpenText ALM Octane is 6.2%, up from 5.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites
 

Q&A Highlights

MA
Apr 07, 2020
What is the biggest difference between Micro Focus ALM Octane and Microsoft Azure DevOps?
Azure DevOps is well suited if you have a big team that is collaborating their codes and need to have devops pipeline for all build and release work. Also since this tool provides bug management facility, you don't need to purchase any other tool for that purpose. Moreover if you have your infrastructure built over Azure cloud then this is a best match for your requirements as it integrates well with it. If someone is already using ALM Octane, then it is worth the pain to go through the upgrade process to get the current versions. If you need it to tie into Jira, it can do that. Just be prepared for a rough road. If you have some other product that you use for DevOps, PM, and QA, you will probably be better off sticking with what you have. DaVita also uses TFS, but not in a full implementation (i.e. not with a build server for code deployment), so for them, ALM makes a lot of sense. If you are using TFS with a build server, there are other methodologies that won't end up making you want to pull your hair out trying to make it integrate with what you are using.
See all answers
 

Featured Reviews

Akshat Prakash - PeerSpot reviewer
Allows us to deploy code to production without releasing certain features immediately and agile project management capabilities offer resource-leveling
My company has experienced benefits from using it or from recent updates in Azure Pipelines. For instance, we can manage different code versions from the same repository across different environments. We also use feature flags; the code is deployed, but the feature can be made visible to the end user at a later time. Additionally, as part of the deployment, we integrate automated and regression testing, which stops the deployment if testing fails, thus preventing regression bugs. This saves time and increases productivity by reducing the need for manual testing. Lastly, it integrates with the project management aspects, allowing us to link code deployments with project milestones. Azure DevOps supported our shift towards DevOps culture or practices. We shifted to the cloud environment and started migrating from our data centers about eight or nine years back. It has been a long journey. However, we have used Azure DevOps for almost five to six years in every project. We also use automation testing in Azure, so we have an integrated test suite that allows us to perform functional and regression testing effectively via the Azure DevOps system.
Read full review
GeorgNauerz - PeerSpot reviewer
Makes team collaboration between IT and non-IT users easier with more transparency
The user experience is a lot better than any tool that I have used before. Overall, it is great. It has a smooth interface, which is very user-friendly. It makes it easier to work together and have more transparency and customization, which is very good. There are a lot of features where you can add fields, input individual fields, and input rules, like templated rule-based interaction between entities. The Backlog management is really interesting, because it is all in one place. You don't have a feature here and a feature there, instead you have the Backlog and testing using different backup items, like user storage features and tasks, all in one place. In addition, we are able to write documents, which we can transfer to backup items. Then, we can test them in the same solution without switching tools, or even switching from one part of the tool to another part, because it is all in one place. We use the solution’s Backlog and Team Backlog capabilities. They make our DevOps processes easier through transparency and asset collaboration.
Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable feature of the solution is task management."
"Reports were automatically generated and sent to management, offering them insights into our progress concerning the predefined roadmap."
"It is good for the purpose it is designed for. It is good for maintaining a repository of application code, creating pipelines for deploying the code, building the code, and deploying the code. It can be easily used by developers. There are no issues."
"What I like most about Azure DevOps is how easy it is to manage projects and control deployments."
"The pricing seems to be reasonable."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is that it saves time."
"You can have test cases in DevOps but not in JIRA. And, DevOps has advantages in terms of executing those test cases."
"Microsoft has good integration with its other products, such as Office, Teams, et cetera."
More Microsoft Azure DevOps pros
"The integration points are very good. Octane gives us a window not only into our manual testing, but also our automation testing and our performance testing. We can see all results from all three streams of testing in one place."
"The interface is user-friendly."
"The integration capability of ALM Octane was very straightforward. We had a supporting team, and they provided us with detailed documentation."
"We are seeing some real improvements in the way we do things. We are becoming more agile in the way we do it because of that and in a way that stories are managed. Stories are given lifecycles as opposed to just being entities within a tool."
"We looked at all the market-leading tools, but we did not find anything quite as comprehensive as ALM Octane. When I say comprehensive, it's not just a single tool for Agile planning, backlog management release, sprint planning, etc., but it also has a built-in, comprehensive quality management module. It also has pipelines where we can hook up with our DevOps ecosystem/toolchain."
"The most valuable feature of Micro Focus ALM Octane is the reports. We are able to do customization."
"The platform's most valuable feature is pipeline integration or continuous integration services."
"It is a very scalable solution."
More OpenText ALM Octane pros
 

Cons

"There is room for improvement on the UI side, especially with merge requests. If we compare Azure DevOps to GitLab when it comes to branches and PRs (pull requests), GitLab has a better interface."
"Microsoft Azure DevOps doesn't have an ITSM tool compared to its competitors."
"We are facing a lot of issues in the development of containerized solutions. We are facing a lot of challenges in this area. They could make the process simpler."
"Its price can also be reduced. It would be great if they are a little bit more competitive in terms of pricing because many open-source products are currently available in the market."
"I would like to see better integration and collaboration between tools."
"The ability to integrate Microsoft Azure DevOps with other platforms and Microsoft products can be improved."
"We did have some brief performance issues, however, that was due to putting everything on one epic instead of breaking a project up."
"There is only one key area of improvement for me. The new imaging thing is that there is DevOps, where security is important because it is always lasting. So, to integrate security in our DevOps, that would be nice."
More Microsoft Azure DevOps cons
"Because JIRA is a leading tool for both development and requirements management - everybody is using JIRA - I'm pretty there will be a use case where people are trying to connect between ALM Octane and JIRA. The back-end configuration of the synchronization with JIRA could be simplified. The architecture is really complicated. We required a lot of machines to build the cluster and the configuration was not really clearly described within the documentation. This may have something to do with the fact that the software is pretty new."
"I like their smart analytics; perhaps they should continue to expand and improve there because it's a fantastic start."
"The reporting needs to be improved and allow for customization. I want to build my own widgets, but I don't want to use the ones already in the system. I want to build mine from scratch."
"They don't support all IDEs yet. We have Visual Studio code, which is not supported, and loved by our developers. This integration is missing. We also had to do our own in-house integration with the Confluence. That is also something that they could add."
"The cluster architecture that we implemented was server to server communication: Octane application to Elasticsearch and Elasticsearch to another Elasticsearch service. Recently, we found this is a security gap. The Octane application is interacting with Elasticsearch server, but that was missing from the requirements and prerequisites in the setup. The Micro Focus team has not given advice on how to implement authentication-based communication between Octane to Elasticsearch, and we found it as a gap later, then our security team asked us to fix that gap. So, there was a lot of time spent on rework."
"There are some challenges when we want to integrate the tool with other products, and it takes time for a team to figure out how to do it."
"Development of extensions or connections to GitHub actions could be better. Better integration with Azure DevOps would also help."
"The biggest problem with ALM Octane is that it's very complex, so it's difficult to use and scale."
More OpenText ALM Octane cons
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"As a Microsoft Partner, you get a discount on the pricing. Licensing costs are around $80 a month for DevOps, but for Azure, it is about $200 a month."
"The price is reasonable, but of course, you can find others that are cheaper such as Atlassian."
"There are additional costs for some functionality, such as increased scalability."
"I don't know the pricing of DevOps. It would be much cheaper than ALM because ALM came out as a software product initially. Now they are moving into a cloud and subscription model. In that case, Microsoft is coming from Azure and the cloud and DevOps and software as a service, so it would be much cheaper, but the catch would be that they are trying to get money on all the sides, like an operating system, Microsoft Office, or Microsoft Azure DevOps."
"This product could maybe be cheaper. My organization handled licensing, so I'm not aware of which subscription they have."
"The price is cheaper than Jira and some of the other competing tools."
"There is a license for this solution."
"With Azure, you have to pay for every user."
More Microsoft Azure DevOps pricing and cost advice
"The tool's price is extremely high."
"If you compare the price with the functionality, it is pretty much the same as other solutions. If you compare it to Jira, for instance, it has a lot more functionality. You don't need any plug-ins, but it's also more expensive. Once you start adding your different plug-ins to Jira, you'll probably end up with the same amount or more. There is also a yearly support cost, which is usually 25% of the initial cost of the license."
"It's pretty pricey, one of the most expensive ones on the market... The value depends on if you use all the features that it has. It comes with a lot of features. The difference between the license structure of ALM and Octane versus JIRA, is that you get everything with ALM and Octane... For JIRA, you buy the pieces one piece at a time."
"The price of Micro Focus ALM Octane is too high compared to other solutions."
"For what it does, it's very reasonably priced. I like the licensing model as well, because it's very flexible. You can scale licenses up and down for short periods of time."
"I would say that it is an affordable product. There is an annual service fee, which is one of the additional payments to be made apart from the standard licensing costs attached to the solution."
"The solution has reduced our testing costs."
"The senior management of my company handles the purchases of the solution. However, the price per developer was a major reason we switched from Jira. Apart from the complexity and the support, the price was a major reason that a team of 20 people unanimously decided that we would prefer to go with Micro Focus ALM Octane rather than Jira. The senior management had seen some benefit in it and they preferred it over Jira because the per developer cost was less and the support was superior."
More OpenText ALM Octane pricing and cost advice
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Answers from the Community

MA
Apr 7, 2020
Apr 7, 2020
What is the biggest difference between Micro Focus ALM Octane and Microsoft Azure DevOps?
Azure DevOps is well suited if you have a big team that is collaborating their codes and need to have devops pipeline for all build and release work. Also since this tool provides bug management facility, you don't need to purchase any other tool for that purpose. Moreover if you have your infrastructure built over Azure cloud then this is a best match for your requirements as it integrates wel...
See 2 answers
RM
Mar 17, 2020
Sadly, I have no experience with Micro Focus ALM, however, such facts may well hint at the answer to your question. By contrast, Azure DevOps has gained an incredible following, based on accelerating solid reputation, leaving many competitors behind. Also, as has often been stated, "No one ever got fired for buying Microsoft." That said, there are fact-based comparisons, which actually rate Azure DevOps higher (e.g., https://www.trustradius.com/compare-products/azure-devops-vs-micro-focus-application-lifecycle-management-quality-center-alm-qc).
Read full answer
BR
Apr 7, 2020
Azure DevOps is well suited if you have a big team that is collaborating their codes and need to have devops pipeline for all build and release work. Also since this tool provides bug management facility, you don't need to purchase any other tool for that purpose. Moreover if you have your infrastructure built over Azure cloud then this is a best match for your requirements as it integrates well with it. If someone is already using ALM Octane, then it is worth the pain to go through the upgrade process to get the current versions. If you need it to tie into Jira, it can do that. Just be prepared for a rough road. If you have some other product that you use for DevOps, PM, and QA, you will probably be better off sticking with what you have. DaVita also uses TFS, but not in a full implementation (i.e. not with a build server for code deployment), so for them, ALM makes a lot of sense. If you are using TFS with a build server, there are other methodologies that won't end up making you want to pull your hair out trying to make it integrate with what you are using.
Read full answer
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
13%
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Government
9%
Financial Services Firm
27%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Computer Software Company
11%
Government
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

Which is better - Jira or Microsoft Azure DevOps?
Jira is a great centralized tool for just about everything, from local team management to keeping track of products and work logs. It is easy to implement and navigate, and it is stable and scalabl...
See all answers
Which is better - TFS or Azure DevOps?
TFS and Azure DevOps are different in many ways. TFS was designed for admins, and only offers incremental improvements. In addition, TFS seems complicated to use and I don’t think it has a very fri...
See all answers
What do you like most about Microsoft Azure DevOps?
Valuable features for project management and tracking in Azure DevOps include a portal displaying test results, check-in/check-out activity, and developer/tester productivity.
See all answers
Is Jira better or would you go with Micro Focus ALM Octane?
Hi Netanya, Basically , it all depends on the use cases for your environment and the business needs. Hope the below data may be relevant to you for identifying your needs and deciding on the approp...
See all answers
What do you like most about Micro Focus ALM Octane?
The platform's most valuable feature is pipeline integration or continuous integration services.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Micro Focus ALM Octane?
The tool's price is extremely high. When I was using Micro Focus, there were ten licenses, costing around 1,38,000, which was outrageous.
See all answers
 

Comparisons

GitLab vs Microsoft Azure DevOps Logo
GitLab vs Microsoft Azure DevOps
Compared 41% of the time
Jira vs Microsoft Azure DevOps Logo
Jira vs Microsoft Azure DevOps
Compared 16% of the time
Rally Software vs Microsoft Azure DevOps Logo
Rally Software vs Microsoft Azure DevOps
Compared 7% of the time
OpenText ALM / Quality Center vs Microsoft Azure DevOps Logo
OpenText ALM / Quality Center vs Microsoft Azure DevOps
Compared 4% of the time
Jama Connect vs Microsoft Azure DevOps Logo
Jama Connect vs Microsoft Azure DevOps
Compared 1% of the time
More Microsoft Azure DevOps Competitors
Jira vs OpenText ALM Octane Logo
Jira vs OpenText ALM Octane
Compared 52% of the time
OpenText ALM / Quality Center vs OpenText ALM Octane Logo
OpenText ALM / Quality Center vs OpenText ALM Octane
Compared 28% of the time
TFS vs OpenText ALM Octane Logo
TFS vs OpenText ALM Octane
Compared 3% of the time
Rally Software vs OpenText ALM Octane Logo
Rally Software vs OpenText ALM Octane
Compared 2% of the time
GitLab vs OpenText ALM Octane Logo
GitLab vs OpenText ALM Octane
Compared 2% of the time
More OpenText ALM Octane Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
Microsoft Azure DevOps
January 2025
Microsoft Azure DevOps reportDownload Microsoft Azure DevOps product report
Buyer's Guide
OpenText ALM Octane
January 2025
OpenText ALM Octane reportDownload OpenText ALM Octane product report
 

Also Known As

Azure DevOps, VSTS, Visual Studio Team Services, MS Azure DevOps
Micro Focus ALM Octane, Micro Focus Octane
 

Overview

Microsoft Azure DevOps is a cloud service that enables developers to collaborate on code development projects and create and deploy applications quicker than ever before. The service helps unite developers, project managers, and software development experts through a collaborative experience while using the application. For the users' convenience, Azure DevOps offers the user cloud services through Azure DevOps Services or an on-premises service using Azure DevOps Server. In addition, it supports integration with additional services and adding extensions, including the ability for the user to create their own custom extensions. 

Azure DevOps provides a variety of unified features that can be accessed through their web browser or IDE client, such as:

  • Azure Pipelines - Develop and deploy services to support ongoing application integration and delivery. Azure pipelines, which work with almost every project type and most languages, will automatically test code projects in order to make them available to others.

  • Azure Artifacts - Share packages and integrate package sharing between teams. Packages include NuGet, npm, and Maven, in addition to other private and public sources. Developers can now share and consume packages with other developers from different public registries.

  • Azure Repos - Offers source control of your code through Team Foundation Version Control (TFVC) or Git repositories. Developers can now keep track of any changes that are made in their code over the course of their project.

  • Azure Test Plans - Offers continuous and manual/exploratory app testing through several tools. Test Suites, or a collection of Test Cases, are grouped together in a container called a Test Plan.

  • Azure Boards - Provides a suite of Agile tools to track work, support planning, code defects, and general issues while using Kanban and Scrum software. Teams are in need of tools that are flexible and will help them grow. Azure Boards is a service that helps developers manage their software projects. 

Benefits of Microsoft Azure DevOps

Microsoft Azure DevOps offers many benefits, including:

  • A quick setup and easy deployment
  • An elastic scale
  • Exceptional security
  • No-maintenance operations
  • Effortless collaboration through domains
  • The ability to create and deploy products faster than traditional software

Reviews from Real Users

Microsoft Azure DevOps stands out among its competitors for a variety of reasons. Two major ones are its ability to forecast how long each task will take and the ability for users to follow the entire development process.

PeerSpot viewers note the effectiveness of this solution. An executive chief operating officer for a cloud provider notes, “We can forecast tasks and the number of hours a task will take and can compare it with how long a task actually takes.” 

Carlos H., a product and system director at SPCM, writes, “I think the most usable thing is that you can follow the whole progress of the development process. This makes it very useful for us.”

Microsoft

OpenText ALM Octane helps organizations implement a “quality everywhere” approach and improve Agile and DevOps development and testing processes to improve the flow of work across the software delivery value stream. You can tightly align quality efforts from development to release, employ a broad range of tests anchored by automation, and continuously monitor and improve for increased throughput. OpenText fosters an open approach so that quality is visible, traceable, and continuously improved. By synchronizing quality and testing with Agile and DevOps processes, risks are mitigated early in the software delivery value stream – speeding the way for faster delivery and improved customer satisfaction.

ALM Octane facilitates a tailored and scalable approach for large enterprises. You can deploy your way and minimize infrastructure needs with deployment options spanning on-premises, SaaS, and public cloud (Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure Marketplaces). Similarly, various licensing options can tailor the features to meet specific needs with support for thousands of concurrent users in geographically disperse locations.

OpenText
 

Sample Customers

Alaska Airlines, Iberia Airlines, Columbia, Skype
Orange, Airbus, Haufe Group, Kellogg's, Claro, Bon Secours, World Wide Technology
Buyer's Guide
Microsoft Azure DevOps vs. OpenText ALM Octane
January 2025
Free Report: Microsoft Azure DevOps vs. OpenText ALM Octane
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Azure DevOps vs. OpenText ALM Octane and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
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See our Microsoft Azure DevOps vs. OpenText ALM Octane report.

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