OpenText LoadRunner Professional Reviews, Competitors and Pricing

it_user487383

Senior Systems Engineer at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees

Jul 31, 2016

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We're able to test standalone from individual machines.

What is most valuable?

For me as a user, the flexibility in different protocols and things like that which can be tested with the tool.

How has it helped my organization?

We're able to test standalone from individual machines.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability on the old versions is good. On the newer versions, the bleeding edge is still being worked on.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It's very scalable. No issues with scalability.

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OpenText LoadRunner Professional

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How are customer service and support?

Premium support is great, but before that when we just had general support, it was not all that great. We had issues with trying to get support to call us back on tickets and turnaround time on resolution.

How was the initial setup?

It's not exactly straightforward. Their instructions were not all they could have been, but we still got it installed.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

it_user363321

Director at a tech company with 10,001+ employees

Jan 3, 2016

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It includes protocols which support our business requirements, such as Java, HTTP, and Citrix.

Valuable Features

It's got a lot of protocols that support all our business requirements, such as Java, HTTP, and Citrix. It gives us one tool that supports all this technology.

Improvements to My Organization

We don't have to work on another platform as we only have to learn one tool. There's a lot of information, help, and best practices available. It's a market-leading tool so there are lots of people with knowledgeable experience. Our employees are productive from day one.

Because we're a telecommunications company with millions of subscribers, we run very high volume tests for 24-48 hours. LoadRunner has been very, very stable during these tests and has gotten us results. It gives us expert diagnoses of our tests with very detailed, in-depth analyses.

Room for Improvement

We'd like for it to incorporate a tool for ordering module that would work with our proprietary in-house ordering module scripting protocol.

Deployment Issues

We have no issues with deployment.

Stability Issues

It's very stable.

Scalability Issues

It scales very, very well.

Customer Service and Technical Support

They're very good. We have issues, we contact them, and they help us solve the issues.

Initial Setup

Setup was very straightforward. We installed, applied the licenses, and started using it.

Other Advice

I would definitely recommend using LoadRunner. Use the latest two client protocols for object scripting.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

Buyer's Guide

OpenText LoadRunner Professional

February 2025

Free Report: OpenText LoadRunner Professional Reviews and More

Learn what your peers think about OpenText LoadRunner Professional. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: February 2025.

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838,713 professionals have used our research since 2012.

it_user470436

Monitoring Systems and Performance Engineer at a retailer with 1,001-5,000 employees

Aug 21, 2016

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It gives me more flexibility into writing my own code.

Valuable Features

The custom scripting that it allows me to carry out sections and find my own variables in LoadRunner.
I can use True Client, which is also an HP product, but LoadRunner gives me more flexibility in writing my own code.

Improvements to My Organization

We use LoadRunner to script our applications and then run those as synthetic monitoring from BPM. So the BPM are not only proactive if any of our solutions or if any of our applications are down, but also gives us features like the screen capture editor, such as what are we seeing on the webpage while we are seeing on the application. So that kind of synthetic monitoring. We have three data centers, and we have BPM all through the data centers, and isolating and troubleshooting through a data center is helpful with BPM, and LoadRunner is indirectly helping with that.

Stability Issues

The stability is good.

Scalability Issues

We don't use it for performance testing so scalability is artificial for LoadRunner for us.

Customer Service and Technical Support

I don't remember the last time we reached out to tech support.

Other Advice

I'm really happy with what they’re giving me for what I do, but because I don't do performance monitoring or performance testing using LoadRunner, I'm not completely aware of everything else, but for what I do it's a great tool for me.

Do a POC with your own environment and don't rely on the list of capabilities that a solution just gives you doing a demo in your environment. That's what is the key thing for you to decide on what is the solution that you want.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

it_user92376

IT Manager with 1,001-5,000 employees

Mar 18, 2014

By measuring performance and identifying bottlenecks, we have reduced costs, minimized testing and deployment times

My company needed a better way to introduce new applications and update existing software releases efficiently. Our past system hindered us from delivering new products and services quickly. To maintain rapid business growth, we realized that seeing the entire IT process during such projects was essential. We required appropriate testing tools to assess processes, manage change, determine application performance, resolve problems and improve defect visibility.

We wanted to move away from simply dealing with defect management and introduce a new testing regime with a sound methodology. We needed well designed testing processes, the correct software tools to support requests and a quality platform for test management and release. My company researched the market and approached several software specialists including HP. To evaluate proposed solutions, we presented each vendor with several testing scenarios. We liked the adaptability, ease-of-use and reporting capabilities of the HP Software solution.

The HP solution comprises a comprehensive package of software tools to help us reduce risk, lower cost and increase real-time visibility – key business drivers within the financial services industry. HP QuickTest Professional offers us automated functional and regression testing to lower the time, risk and cost associated with application testing, whilst HP Project and Portfolio Management Center provides real-time visibility and control over IT projects that are important to our business strategy.

To decrease problem resolution times, we deployed HP Service Manager 7, a comprehensive and fully integrated IT Service Desk suite containing seven foundation components, a Help Desk and a Change Management module. Moreover, HP Quality Center, a web-based application, accelerated the application lifecycle by presenting consistent, repeatable processes for planning tests, analyzing results and managing defects.

In addition, before we introduce a new application or upgrade a release, we utilize HP LoadRunner to detect potential performance problems within the production environment. By measuring end-to-end performance along with identifying application and system bottlenecks, we have reduced costs by 31 per cent and minimized application testing and deployment times.

With the introduction of the HP Software solution, the analysts and developers in our IT department have witnessed a transformation of the company’s testing methodology. We now have a comprehensive testing environment which previously lacked scope. Quality management, quality assurance and defect management have improved significantly, and application performance issues are readily resolved.

We estimate that IT efficiency has improved 24 percent. A recent return on investment study looking into the deployment of HP Quality Center indicates that over the last three years we have saved approximately $6.75 million. Moreover, annual quality management process efficiency estimates stand at $1.26 million and the annual financial benefit of avoiding application support costs is at least $820,000. With this dynamic HP solution, the number of defects resolved over a three day period increased to 44 per cent and problem resolution times have fallen by 60 per cent.

Disclosure: PeerSpot has made contact with the reviewer to validate that the person is a real user. The information in the posting is based upon a vendor-supplied case study, but the reviewer has confirmed the content's accuracy.

it_user135393Works

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Jun 23, 2014

Never used any testing tools before and couldn't figure out how such tools could help us to trace defects, logic errors and bugs in our in-house developed applications (desktops and web based).

it_user68019

Head of Development at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

Nov 3, 2013

What’s new in LoadRunner 11.52 ?

On 12^th June at HP Discover, I attended one of lecture sessions led by Shane Evans and Silvia Siquiera. During the presentation, they introduced the new features of LoadRunner 11.52. They started the presentation by introducing the new features that came in LoadRunner 11.50 (last year) and then highlighted the features that had been added since then.

Key new features:

Improved application performance (particularly VuGen startup and Analysis).
Integration with HP Live network. (HP Live network connects partners customers etc.)
Replay summary report displays detailed statistics.
Improved run time settings interface.
Can now configure round robin ramp up across load generators.
Integration with Visual studio and eclipse for agile CI/CD.
Support for Junit, nUnit and Selenium in LR scenarios.
LR scenarios as part of unit testing.
Can add performance tests as build steps in Jenkins.
VTS 2 is a big feature.
Mobile traffic recording apps for Android.*
New, improved proxy recording feature.
Shunra network virtualisation enhancements, a single load generator can now simulate different network types simultaneously e.g. some users on 3G, others on DSL etc. this removes the requirement to have a load generator for each “network type”.
Additional support for Linux load generators (different Linux versions).
(This alone could be a reason to migrate to 11.52, Linux load generators can significantly reduce license costs for your test equipment).

*Whilst the new mobile recording engine is useful, I can’t help but feel that HP has scored an “own goal” in marketing terms. A number of their competitors are making lots of noise about their ability to test mobile applications and this announcement implies that HP are only just getting their act together on mobile testing. HP has been able to test mobile (and many other) applications via a proxy recorder for as long as I can remember and I’ve been using LoadRunner since 1999. This is new proxy recording engine undoubtedly makes scripting easier but it isn’t their first foray into mobile testing and their competitors are disingenuous if they try to make that claim.

Future trends
64-bit VuGen
One customer asked about whether HP had any plans for 64-bit VuGen or Load Generators. Shane Evans said that they didn’t perceive particular demand for this especially since load generators could each spawn multiple 2GB processes for load generation but that they would consider this if there was sufficient customer demand.

This question prompted a few others and one customer asked whether dcripting languages other than C were being considered. Shane said that JavaScript was being considered as a possible scripting language. This could pave the way towards using NoJS as a test engine.

Network simulation
The discussion then moved to network simulation and Shane asked the room whether people were using network simulation tools like Shunra or WANEM as part of their tests. Only 2 people in an audience of approximately 90 were using network simulation tools.

Diagnostics tools
Only one customer was using HP diagnostics and two or three others were using Dynatrace or other diagnostics/profiling tools like Wily Introscope. I would be very surprised if network simulation and application diagnostics weren’t significant growth areas for specialist testers in the coming years. These products add significant value to testing engagements and are becoming more important as users become more mobile and applications are increasingly hosted on virtual platforms where performance optimisation is more important.

VTS2 – Virtual Table Server
Shane then did a small demonstration of VTS2. I was a big advocate of the original VTS (virtual table server) and since it’s demise I’ve looked at various ways of managing test data in scripts (such as using MySQL) . VTS was always an unsupported add-on (originally written by Mercury engineers) to allow parameters to be passed from script to script. This worked well but had a number of limitations. As well as being “technically” unsupported, the database had to be loaded with parameters from a CSV file before tests and you had to remember to save the “database” to a file each time that you shut it down.

VTS2 doesn’t have these limitations. It is based on the MongoNoSQL database and can handle up to 2000 txns/sec easily (I can’t wait to try this properly). Media for VTS2 comes with LoadRunner 11.52 or is downloadable from HP SSO.

LoadRunner 12.0 ?
Silvia mentioned the fact that there were so many new features, some people within HP felt that this could merit a new major version number rather than simply adding 0.02 to the last release. This reminded me of Stuart Moncrieff’s summary of 11.50 last year. Having seen the new features, I think that she’s probably right, LoadRunner 12.0 and Performance Center 12.0 are probably already here :)

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

it_user332454

Project Lead at a tech services company with 5,001-10,000 employees

Nov 22, 2015

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It supports Citrix and SAP protocols, which is very helpful for our clients to understand bottlenecks if there are any on their network, though it should support GWT and mobile testing.

What is most valuable?

It allows you to create your own customized code.
It provides an analysis report after running a test scenario.
It supports maximum protocols.
It's user-friendly.

How has it helped my organization?

It generates reports in a format that's very easy to understand for both our own internal use and other audiences. It supports Citrix and SAP protocols, which is very helpful for our clients to understand bottlenecks if there are any on their network.

What needs improvement?

It should support GWT and mobile testing, including network virtualization.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used it for eight years.

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

We didn't encounter any issues during deployment.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We haven't encountered any stability issues.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We haven't encountered any issues while scaling.

How are customer service and technical support?

Customer Service:

I'd say that customer service is not good.

Technical Support:

Technical support is also not good.

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

I used NeoLoad, but it does not support Citrix, so we chose LoadRunner.

How was the initial setup?

Initial setup was not that difficult.

What about the implementation team?

We did the implementation through an in-house team.

My advice is for you to have a load generator machine that has a good configuration for handling large volumes of users.

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

It is very costly, but LoadRunner works perfectly. It fits our needs in the way we use it, but you should make sure your use justifies the cost.

What other advice do I have?

We have only web-based services, mobile testing in scope, and the user load is maximum 1000, so we could have used NeoLoad, but there were lots of other factors in switching.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

Diego Caicedo LescanoChief Innovation Officer at SAGGA

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Nov 24, 2015

Hi Anupam,

The following features were introduced or enhanced in Network Virtualization for LoadRunner and Performance Center version 12.50 within the 12.50 Release:
- Full protocol support. You can now define virtual locations for all supported LoadRunner and Performance Center protocols.
- NV Analytics report integration with VuGen. Analyze your script before using it in your tests. After you run a script in VuGen, review the NV Analytics report in the replay summary.
- Integrated installation. NV 12.50 is now a part of the LoadRunner and Performance Center installation process. At the end of the LoadRunner and Performance Center installations, you have the option to install the NV 12.50 components.
- Integrated licensing.
- Unified licensing management. LoadRunner and Performance Center now manage licensing for Network Virtualization Vusers, which enable you to run scenarios that incorporate NV virtual locations.

NamNguyen8

Software Automation Engineer at FPT

Oct 7, 2022

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Stable and easy to set up and use

Pros and Cons

"I recommend LoadRunner Professional as it supports many protocols and applications and is very easy to set up and use."

"LoadRunner Professional's parameter data could be improved."

What is our primary use case?

I mainly use LoadRunner Professional for performance testing of web applications.

What is most valuable?

LoadRunner Professional's best features are that it's easy to capture scenarios and create scripts for testing, the testing runs smoothly with small resources, and it's very easy to create reports with a variety of indicators.

What needs improvement?

LoadRunner Professional's parameter data could be improved.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using LoadRunner Professional for over ten years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

LoadRunner Professional is quite stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

LoadRunner Professional is scalable for small organizations but struggles with more than twenty or thirty agents.

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

We've also been using IBM Rational Performance Test but have found that LoadRunner is better than the IBM tools.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was quite easy, and the deployment took one to two days.

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

The fee for LoadRunner Professional is very high - about US$500 per user.

What other advice do I have?

I recommend LoadRunner Professional as it supports many protocols and applications and is very easy to set up and use. I would rate it eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner

reviewer906219

Senior Architect at a computer software company with 5,001-10,000 employees

Jan 16, 2020

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Easy to use, good protocols, and good reporting

Pros and Cons

"The reporting mechanism is a valuable feature that generates good reports."

"The debugging capability should be improved."

What is our primary use case?

We have several use cases for this solution. One of them is an automobile website for a huge dealership and we are doing load testing for them. We have projects in the hospitality industry, like hotel bookings. Our projects involve both API testing as well as browser-based load testing.

What is most valuable?

The reporting mechanism is a valuable feature that generates good reports.

The auto-correlation is much better than the different protocols that it supports.

LoadRunner is easy to use.

What needs improvement?

The debugging capability is difficult to use and should be improved. This is one area where some of the other products we use are better.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using LoadRunner for five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We use LoadRunner on a daily basis and it is good.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is easier to scale when you have the online, cloud option.

We probably have about 200 users and in the future, we may increase our usage.

How are customer service and technical support?

We have been in touch with technical support but not very often. They were helpful when we did contact them.

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

We have used multiple testing tools like Visual Studio and NeoLoad. We have all of these as options. LoadRunner is easier to use and has support for better protocols.

How was the initial setup?

Five to six engineers are required to maintain this solution.

What about the implementation team?

Our in-house team deployed this solution.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

NeoLoad was one of the options that we considered, but we ultimately went with LoadRunner.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.