Tricentis Tosca Reviews

There are a lot of features that I love within Tosca. To name a few:

• Model-based automation
• Scripting knowledge is not required
• Requirement traceability
• Usage of built-in aid packs

Before implementing Tosca, the average time that we took for completing regression was about four days. After we started using Tosca, it has been reduced to six hours.

I personally feel like the pricing is a little bit on the high end.

I have been using Tosca for almost four years.

As of now, I have not encountered any deployment issues.

I have not encountered any stability issues.

I have not encountered any scalability issues.

Customer Service:

Tosca customer service is one of the best in its class.

Technical Support:

The people involved in technical support really know what they are doing. This significantly reduces the amount of time it takes the end user to find solutions.

I was using a different solution, but it required scripting knowledge, which most of my team members did not have.

An in-house team implemented it.

Pricing is a bit on the higher end.

Before choosing, we evaluated QTP, Selenium, and so on.

Testcase design is most valuable, as it has helped in 2 different aspects. Storing the test data in one place, and deciding how many test cases are needed for a given scenario using one of the inbuilt algorithms, thereby ensuring the test coverage.

We used the TCD (red folder to design the test flow), and it was easy to get the tests reviewed by the subject-matter experts as it allowed systematic review of Testcases. Once it was OKd by the SME, we could confidently run the tests for regression.

Most of us have had the complaint that loop statements are missing, without which testing in reality was difficult, as many times Test scenarios needed to be run in iteration and version 8.4 has included this feature.

When I did work with v7.4, I often noticed that the Tosca executor abruptly hung and only way out was to kill the process. But this has been drastically improved in the later versions.

I would rate 3/5 as there is not much knowledge base available on the internet for one to independently solve the issues encountered, which is easily available and in abundance for other tools like QTP.

We previously (for six years) used QTP, and the client chose to have only Tosca for test automation as the license costs were lower compared to the HP tools.

The initial set up was complex as we had always used keywords and integrated Excel, pdf and word documents for storing Test evidence, it was difficult to achieve the same standard of Test evidence with Tosca. Not having the flexibility to code was posing a problem in the initial days.

The tool was always installed by a dedicated team from the vendor as we had not had an opportunity to know in detail how the installation worked.

ROI has been pretty high, but only in comparison to the tools we had from HP earlier. However, maintenance costs, and not having Tosca experts available, are the factors that have adversely affected the ROI in some cases.

I would advise that, if one needs to install Tosca for test automation, always go for the latest version, as Tricentis is implemeting all the user feedbacks genuinely in their tools and it is evolving and has a great potential.

• Test cases design
• Model based test automation

From a services perspective, it allows us to scale up test automation teams very quickly, because test analysts can contribute to the test automation effort without the need for scripting/coding skills.

From our clients perspective (e.g. large banks, government organisations etc.), it has allowed them to decrease their total execution effort, improve their time to market, and increase their total risk coverage.

I've used it for three years.

Customer Service:

Customer service is very good. The online chat has extremely quick response times (average of 10s wait), and the staff are knowledgeable.

Technical Support:

Technical support, is very good. The online chat has extremely quick response times (average of 10s wait), and the staff are knowledgeable.

The Test Automation team at TTC use many other test automation tools/solutions, and have chosen Tosca as our preferred tool because of it's unique model based approach to test automation. We have found this approach to have many benefits including; ease of use, extendability, robustness, maintainability and scalability.

The initial set up and install for Tosca is very straightforward. The client install takes less than an hour, and the only other components required are a license server, and a database. If the right people are available (e.g. System Administrator and DataBase Administrator) then the full infrastructure can be set up on day one.

Generally we see our clients achieve positive ROI within one to three years. This is along with other non-financial benefits which can be achieved immediately e.g. decreased execution time.

We would always advise customers to have experts involved during a test automation implementation. Generally, we recommend conducting a POC to prove that the solution works technically for your systems, then we recommend a pilot project, to prove that the business benefits can be realized, and to provide experience about the product. Along with the POC and the pilot, a portfolio analysis should also be conducted to determine which test suites should be automated.

Expert consultants, like our test automation specialists, should conduct the POC and be heavily involved in the pilot. With an ongoing involvement during subsequent projects, and can also be brought in to supplement the team.

Try the Tosca Udemy course and download a trial to get a feel for Tosca as a product. Then, reach out to the local Tricentis Partner or the Tricentis Services Team for help with a POC and ongoing Tosca implementation. Ask for case studies and reference sites from any consultancy company when implementing any test automation tool. These case studies/references should ideally be local and tool specific. Expertise in other tools doesn't always translate to successful implementation in another.

Our primary use case is UI-based regression tests on Microsoft Windows.

Compared to the old tools, WinRunner and TestDirector by Mercury Interactive, it accelerated building, performing, and maintaining regression tests by a factor of approximately ten times.

This solution is easy to use for everybody, including those who are not IT-educated.

It allows for effective test management and an effective test case design.

The most valuable features are:

• Non-scripting test case building
• Test cases are easy to maintain
• Very good test case design module
• All of the features are well integrated into the suite

I would like to be able to manage different projects in one repository or have better data exchange between repositories.

I have been using Tricentis Tosca for ten years.

Prior to this solution, we used WinRunner and TestDirector by Mercury Interactive.

The performance with Tricentis Tosca is better.

• Scriptless tool -- great for those, like me, who don't have a lot of knowledge in coding to test software
• Works quickly and easily

I have worked a lot with Tosca for the past year, and it has helped our organization complete many tasks which most of the other tools couldn’t.

Being a scriptless tool was pretty helpful for me, as I don't have a great knowledge of coding. Its features helps us complete the work soon, and in an easy way.

It’s been one year I have been using this tool and it's been pretty good working with it.

Customer Service:

5/5

Technical Support:

5/5

It was easy, and a straightforward approach.

With it being a scriptless tool, it helps people without coding knowledge to work with ease.

The amazing features provided by Tricentis takes automation to a different world and it's fun working with it.

For me there are three outstanding features:

The first one is the test case design feature. When using the feature in your project - I definitely recommend using it – it forces you to think about your test approach, and your overall test strategy. Using this feature you have to define valid and invalid states and conditions of your SUT from a business perspective (e.g. defining a valid age or a valid combination of two business properties). The tool helps you here by generating all necessary combinations automatically out of your prior definitions. You link them to a test case template and all the necessary combinations of your test cases are generated automatically. In most cases you need to adapt the generated test cases for the specific test case, but the fundamental work is done by the tool.

The second one is the simplicity of creating test cases and the underlying model based approach. The process of creating a test case is pretty straightforward. In case of a GUI application you “scan” the current screen of the SUT first. Afterwards all UI controls are displayed and you can choose the relevant one for your test. A representation of the screen – a module – is created and stored in a module folder. You can then simply drag and drop this module into your test case. In the test case, you select, for each UI control, an action e.g. “click” or a specific value. Afterwards, you can arrange the test cases in different execution lists, which are the representations of a test run from a business perspective (e.g. smoke test, regression test, etc.).

Overall, everything is reusable simply via drag and drop, and you will always have a single point of maintenance (e.g. in a future release of your SUT a button was added, you just need adapt the module. Linked test cases and execution lists are updated automatically).

The third one is the support of multiple UI technologies as well as non-UI technologies. In addition, there are (extra payable) features like mobile testing support and service virtualization capabilities.

The tool is meant to be an enterprise solution for automating software tests. The vendor has its own test philosophy and wants you to follow it. It tries to hide all technical information of the SUT and forces you to always look at your SUT from a business perspective.

The target audience are business domain experts and software testers without technical knowledge. This can be confusing for testers with a technical background who are used to scripting their way through the SUT.

Introducing the Tricentis Tosca Testsuite in a company goes ideally along with changing the whole business process of software test. I would say the company needs to adapt to the tool, and not the other way round, which is not always bad.

Though the tool claims to be an enterprise solution, it lacks some enterprise features. I would like to see a central management capability for admins, where you define initial workspaces, parametrize settings or update all clients centrally. Furthermore, the tool needs a real versioning functionality.

The out-of-the-box support for third party ALM tools must be improved. Embedding it in an existing application landscape often goes along with developing an adapter for third party components. In terms of extending the product from a technical viewpoint, the documentation for APIs is rare and incomplete. It definitely needs more code examples and a platform for developers.

The tool always gives the user one specific view where you create your test cases. This works perfectly for GUI applications, but not always for non-GUI applications. For instance, when defining test cases for web services, you have exactly the same layout as creating a test case for a Java application. Technology specific characteristics are somehow mapped into the existing view, which increases the complexity. Furthermore, the abstraction at non-GUI tests is not given as in GUI tests. You really need to have the technical understanding of web services or XML to create test cases, this runs counter to the target audience.

The test case design functionality is really complex, and tends to be rocket science, so this needs to be simplified. It goes along with the reporting functionality, when you want to create your own layout and customize the report. I didn’t really get it to work.

It would be nice to distribute test cases to different machines for parallel execution. Especially when it comes to mobile test or multi-browser test where the test case keeps the same but the underlying technical base changes.

I ‘ve been working with the Tricentis Tosca Testsuite for more than four years in the context of software test consultancy. I have a decent overview how the tool is used in different companies over several projects. I have gained experience in all functional areas of the tool. Furthermore, I have developed a lot of technical extensions to enhance the tools capabilities.

Overall I would rate the customer service as excellent. The support is available via email and phone 24/5 and is located in the headquarters of Tricentis. This means that the support staff is sitting next to the technical experts which, nowadays, is rare. You get a quick response that is often the solution for your problem. In case it is a more difficult inquiry, and is not solvable with first level support, you’ll be informed that your inquiry will be passed to an expert. Depending on the complexity, you can count on having a solution within one or two working days, which is pretty fair.

Furthermore the support team offers remote sessions, together with technical experts, to find a solution directly on your machine. The support is available in German and English.

On the downside, the community outside the Tosca support portal seems to be pretty small, or is nearly nonexistent. You hardly find solutions, or best practices, for a specific problem on the web. Other vendors have a more active community, and you can often simply Google a solution to the problem. In most cases with Tricentis, you need the support team or you have to contract on-site consultancy.

It depends on your environment and your company policy. Basically, you have three components: a license server, a database and the desktop application which needs to be installed on the same machine where the SUTis located. If you want to use the mobile and/or service virtualization feature you need additional components and preparations.

You will not find an official pricing list. You have to contact the local sales team.

The tool is a desktop application and comes with all advantages and disadvantages of a desktop application in terms of deployment and scalability.

There is a cloud version (TaaS), but this version is only suitable for manual tests and web tests. Web applications need to be publicly accessible within the cloud environment (so it is not suitable for internal testing environments). It would be a nice feature if the cloud version of Tricentis Tosca Testsuite is able to drive your locally installed application.

Do not buy this tool if you simply need a driver for your automation, as open source solutions (e.g. Selenium), or technology specific solutions are more suitable here. Also, if you are looking for a complete ALM solution, there are more capable tools out there. If you have a testing department full of techies, they will feel too restricted with the tool. It’s also not suitable for manual testing only, as there are better solutions for this purpose out there. But, if you have the plan to test multiple technologies, and your testing departments consists mainly of business domain experts or software tester with few technical background, and you are planning to introduce this tool as an enterprise solution and/or want to replace existing fragmented solutions, then it is worth evaluating it.

You definitely want to have a product training first prior to implementation, and you definitely want to have on-site consultancy while making your first steps with the tool. In most cases, you also need technical consultancy in cases the tool does not recognize UI controls.
Focus on a small prototype project first together with on-site consultancy. Take the learnings from that project, and do the next one on your own.

The company is a lot smaller than the top dogs, but they are compensating it with passion and a lot of new features in every release.