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PeerSpot user
Validation Office at a pharma/biotech company with 51-200 employees
Vendor
It helped us become compliant with GAMP and ISO requirements. The user interface is dated and not terribly intuitive.

What is most valuable?

  • Traceability from requirements to executed tests and fixed defects
  • Visibility and reporting on test execution

How has it helped my organization?

In the case of the software development company, the use of HPE QC helped us to become compliant with GAMP and ISO requirements. The process of developing the software had to meet the regulatory requirements FDA 21 CFR Part 11.

What needs improvement?

  • Reporting.
  • Project setup and maintenance.
  • The user interface is dated and not terribly intuitive.

For how long have I used the solution?

I used HPQC at a software development company for about six years. We upgraded it once from 9 to 10. As far as I know, they are still using that version, because the modifications they have made over the years would make it too difficult to upgrade.

Buyer's Guide
OpenText ALM / Quality Center
January 2025
Learn what your peers think about OpenText ALM / Quality Center. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: January 2025.
832,138 professionals have used our research since 2012.

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

I don’t remember any deployment issues. The R&D department at the software development company handled all the install and setup.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I don’t remember any stability issues (it was over five years ago that I was at that company).

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I did not encounter any scalability issues. We regularly ran test sets with over 60,000 test steps.

How are customer service and support?

The response from HPE is almost non-existent. Most of our issues were fixed by the company's R&D section.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

The switch to HPE QC was made because the existing system was not considered GAMP-compliant.

How was the initial setup?

The software development company spent considerable resources in getting the system set up correctly using modifications developed in-house, as well as developing user guides that we could use for training users of the system.

What about the implementation team?

An in-house team implemented it.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

It is totally over-priced.

What other advice do I have?

We had to modify the product considerably to get it to do what we wanted, especially reporting. It never did fully meet our needs for traceability back to user-readable requirements documentation.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
it_user544794 - PeerSpot reviewer
Business Systems Consultant at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
The most valuable features are cross referencing and traceability.
Pros and Cons
  • "Having the links maintained within the tool is a huge boon to reporting requirements, tests, and defects."
  • "Cross project reporting is limited to similar database schemas"

What is most valuable?

  • Cross referencing between the modules: Insures traceability between requirements, tests and defects with easy maintenance and reporting.
  • Traceability: Ensures that requirements are covered, test cases can be linked back to defects, and code is not pushed to production without testing or checking outstanding defects. Traceability reports are an audit requirement.
  • Having the links maintained within the tool is a huge boon to reporting requirements, tests, and defects.

How has it helped my organization?

Having a system of record that maintains traceability ensures that reporting and audit items are managed in the same system. This has simplified the need for additional documentation to meet audit requirements.

What needs improvement?

  • Cross project reporting is limited to similar database schemas
  • Requirements are not managed as well as in other applications

For how long have I used the solution?

I have used this product since 2003.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We have a large ALM instance. The biggest issue with stability is related to reporting. To offset this issue, we are working on an alternative reporting solution that would use data warehousing and not affect the application directly.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

There are scalability issues. HPE does not support clustering of database servers.

In addition, a specific number of users, concurrent usage, or databases has not been supplied by HPE as a best practice for a maximum per node. To obviate this risk, we are looking at leveraging three load balanced servers and one standalone application server.

The standalone server would be used for third party integrations, reporting, etc. End-users and automated tests would leverage a single vanity URL with load balancing spread across three servers.

How are customer service and technical support?

We have HPE FlexCare. This provides for single points of contact, which is a must with a large organization.

Training is becoming an issue again with HPE technicians. That glib answer of issues being ‘fixed’ in a later release is being provided instead of true research of the issue. This is an ongoing problem we have seen working with them over the past ten years.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We still use a variety of SDLC tools within my organization. However, HPE ALM has been determined to be the best all around solution for testing of software across the enterprise.

We are doing a number of activities to reach a common goal, including leveraging the ALM template functionality and defining fields and list values across all testing applications.

How was the initial setup?

HPE ALM Quality Center, (formerly HP Quality Center, and before that, Mercury Test Director), has been in use for over 10 years.

It is easy enough to set up an ‘instance’ of HPE ALM.

However, it is recommended to understand the business and process it will be supporting. This will ensure that standards, additional fields, etc. are incorporated early in the design.

If decisions on how the application will be used are not defined early on, then a later project to standardize it may be required.

Without standards, data cannot be shared easily between ALM projects, databases, and third party tools.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

If you have more than five users, a concurrent licensing model should be considered. With concurrent licenses, there is no need to search for machines with unused licenses.

What other advice do I have?

  • Be thoughtful and consistent.
  • Know your current business process and incorporate it into the application.
  • Ensure that the management is handled at an enterprise level, as opposed to a department or group level. This allows the application to grow in a supportable direction, while allowing a certain amount of flexibility.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
OpenText ALM / Quality Center
January 2025
Learn what your peers think about OpenText ALM / Quality Center. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: January 2025.
832,138 professionals have used our research since 2012.
it_user468276 - PeerSpot reviewer
QA Technical Lead at a consumer goods company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Vendor
Provides us with a faster regression testing cycle than when doing it manually.

What is most valuable?

The Central Repository is key for us.

How has it helped my organization?

It has sped up our regression testing cycle almost three times what it is if we do it manually.

What needs improvement?

Tighter integration between ALM and UFT, especially from a reporting perspective, for automation reporting. We currently run into reporting issues.

For how long have I used the solution?

We've been using it for around a year.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

ALM's been pretty rock solid for us. Getting it to interact with UFT nicely has been a challenge for us sometimes. There's good integration in my opinion, but it just needs to be a little more rock solid.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It's been able to scale to our needs.

How are customer service and technical support?

Good, sometimes a little slow, but overall pretty good.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We didn't have any other solution in place, and needed to have a much better solution than doing testing with Excel files.

How was the initial setup?

It's straightforward.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

HPE was one of the very few that we actually had on the list. We went with HPE because my boss was very familiar with the product, and felt it fit our organization's needs extremely well.

What other advice do I have?

Give it a shot, if you take the time to invest in it, it works.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
it_user2739 - PeerSpot reviewer
Head of QA with 51-200 employees
Real User
I always recommend it as the tool to implement for test management

I've installed and configured Quality Center for multiple clients. They have found it to be a robust and reliable tool for managing their test assets and efforts. One of the top Test Management tools for a good reason. I always recommend it as the tool to implement for test management. It also interfaces well with other HP tools such as QTP and Loadrunner. The new ALM version (v.11) has some very nice functionality that users at all levels can leverage in their test work.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
it_user4401 - PeerSpot reviewer
it_user4401Developer at a transportation company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Vendor

From my point of view, HP Quality Center seems mainly to be liked by managers who can get reports out of it, and who've never done any testing. It is very useful when the user manages the requirements traceability and the coverage. A con is that test case structure it provides is simplistic, and mostly inappropriate. This product has the power the users need for serious testing, but it's not easy to understand and integrate.

PeerSpot user
Assistant Director Quality Assurance at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Real User
A single tool for all our needs including ​​requirements, testing, and defect management

What is most valuable?

Requirements, testing, defect management, all integrated in one solution.

How has it helped my organization?

In my previous organization, various tools like Excel and other open source test management tools were used. This was causing issues in sharing Test Management data. Once HPE ALM was brought in as a single solution, and data from all other tools were migrated to it, there was a single tool for all needs.

What needs improvement?

Agile, Devops.

For how long have I used the solution?

Seven to eight years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

No.

Agile, Devops

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

No.

How are customer service and technical support?

Good.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Need of a single solution for all needs.

How was the initial setup?

Not straightforward, it was a complex architecture.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Expensive tool which could become an overload on the budget in the future.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Bugzilla.

What other advice do I have?

Be aware of the cost aspect, it is very expensive.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
it_user566988 - PeerSpot reviewer
Test Manager
Vendor
Centralized And Unified Repository Of Requirements And Testing Artifacts In Real Time

What is most valuable?

Test planning, Test Execution, and Defect Tracking, as these are the code artifacts/deliverables for testing.

How has it helped my organization?

A centralized and unified repository of requirements and testing artifacts with access across geographies in real time, which improved efficiency and efficacy of application lifecycle management, including integration of Test Automation tool (HPE UFT tool).

What needs improvement?

  • Integration with other open source test automation tools such as Selenium WebDriver.
  • Dashboard reporting including test plan versus test execution progress (overall and module-wise), forecasting test planning or test execution progress based on the past progress run rate.
  • More options to slice and dice/analyze defect trends, e.g. open defects count/numbers component wise, open defects count/numbers linked to Test Case IDs, defects linked or converted to change requests (CRs), etc.
  • For Agile SDLC support, option to define sprints or iterations, effort estimation, release planning and sprint planning and tracking.
  • Ease of reuse of Test Automation scripts for performance testing with HPE LoadRunner integration.
  • Mobile Testing support with option to assign/mark test cases for mobile testing with mobile device specification of OS, make, screen size, integration of mobile testing on Cloud e.g. Perfecto Mobile.

For how long have I used the solution?

Two years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

No.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

No.

How are customer service and technical support?

Nine on a scale of one to 10.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Had used Quality Center and Test Director in the past and HPE ALM is much more enhanced and useful.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is more secure and procedural.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Pricing may be a factor prompting a look at competitor products and differentiators or open source options with limited product features. Licensing could leverage combo packs with HPE ALM such as HPE UFT, HPE LoadRunner, etc, as well as continued usage of product post-expiration of license without upgrade and technical support.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

No.

What other advice do I have?

Get input regarding the evolving core customer's unmet needs to help choose the right solution.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
PeerSpot user
Senior Configuration / SQA Engineer at a pharma/biotech company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Vendor
The ability to have visibility of manual and automated test results within the one product certainly cuts down on the management overhead.

Valuable Features:

The tool provides invaluable bi-directional traceability from requirement --> test case--> test execution --> defect.

The ability to have visibility of manual and automated test results within the one product certainly cuts down on the management overhead and eases the creation of project health reports.

Room for Improvement:

The UI is becoming somewhat dated but that shouldn't be a deal breaker.

Out of the box, the tool is very flexible in what it allows the user to do. This can go against data integrity in a regulated world but the tool can be customised to improve data integrity. For example, you could customise the tool's workflow to ensure tests cannot be re-executed after a set of executed tests have been peer reviewed.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
it_user361545 - PeerSpot reviewer
.NET developer at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Vendor
Requirements traceability, the dashboard, the camera, and customized notifications of different instances are valuable features I've seen.

Valuable Features:

I administer it, and from what I've seen you can create defects and follow up the resolution with defects based on the scenarios that you have created in default program.

Other valuable features I've seen are:

  1. Requirement traceability 
  2. Dashboard
  3. Camera, which helps us to take a screenshot at a particular instant
  4. Customized notifications of different instances

Improvements to My Organization:

It centralized all the defects in our organization. It also allows us to test scenarios in only one bullet, one database, so it’s easier to manage. All the methodology around the testing scenarios is gathered into the same product, so it’s easy for communications between the business side and the testing side because they all know where to find the information.

I’m not an expert in ALM, but if I have to look into some issues or other occurrences, I can easily find my way around. It’s quite user friendly, I would say.

Room for Improvement:

I supervise the team using and providing support for the product, and there are a couple of things my team feels that could be improved upon.

1) We need to move test cases manually from Test Case module to Test Execution module. This consumes more manual interaction. If this could happen with any in-built functionality, that would reduce the manual work and time involved.

2) Email notification list. Emails are not triggering to any member of the email notification group if just any one of the email addresses is incorrect. So, if one email address is wrong in a group of ten email addresses, no one receives the email notification that they're all supposed to receive.

Deployment Issues:

It has deployed just fine for us.

Stability Issues:

Stability is fine, except for a few pop ups sometimes. We don't understand why we're getting them, but it's generally quite stable.

Scalability Issues:

Scalability hasn't been an issue.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
it_user351915 - PeerSpot reviewer
it_user351915Technology Lead at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Vendor

I'm curious what the authors definition of "traceability" is. What is the requirement traced to? In today's DevOps focused world traceability can't just be from the documented requirement to the test case. Traceability needs to be complete. It should encompass requirements, regardless of SDLC process, to code, test and defect (pre and post production). There are real Application Lifecycle Management tools that do this much better. If you are shopping for an ALM I would encourage you to keep looking.

Buyer's Guide
Download our free OpenText ALM / Quality Center Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: January 2025
Buyer's Guide
Download our free OpenText ALM / Quality Center Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.