What is most valuable?
To me as we have used most of the MQ stub," MQ recording" is the best useful feature i would say -because of its flexibility to configure various MQ recording methods as per the implementation and "pass through"feature too.
How has it helped my organization?
The tool is helping us to build various virtual services for various middle layer components: MQ, REST, and SOAP services.
Using service virtualization, we are able to accelerate the testing and development activity.
Without SV, integration testing would not have been smooth and fast in the lower environment.
What needs improvement?
As per my working experience over the last three and half years with RIT/RTVS, I would consider two following areas of improvement:
- Reporting, in the recent release of RCPT, "Usage graph" feature is included, but that still needs improvements in terms of UI and timeline, filtering criteria.
- Implementing custom functions is bit tedious job ,as ECMA script does not support some of the standard java-script functions, Also the Script editor window is not user friendly .
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this tool for the last three and a half years for service virtualization.
What was my experience with deployment of the solution?
Not so far. Deployment is quite a smooth process.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The tool has very good stability. We are running approximately 200 odd services.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The tool has a good scale.initially we purchases the license tool for about 200 services , now we are running around 400 services without no issue.
How are customer service and technical support?
Customer Service:
Customer service is excellent. It has 24/7 customer support.
Technical Support:
Technical support is excellent. It has 24/7 technical support. For any issue related to the tool, we log PMR. The IBM team reviews the PMR and the issue turns into a defect, then typically within four to five days, they release hot fixes for the identified defect.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have used many tools for service virtualization, like IBM RIT, CA LISA (now known as CA Service Virtualization DevTest Solution), and SoapUI.
Every tool has its own pros and cons.
However, CA LISA/DevTest is the best.
I would suggest IBM RTVS if cost factor is the priority.
How was the initial setup?
To set up the service virtualization framework, it is straightforward.
For every process, IBM has very good knowledge documentation along with tech notes, which is really helpful.
What about the implementation team?
We implemented the solution in-house, but yes, the IBM team is very supportive if we needed a hand with the installation or initial setup.
What was our ROI?
We had improved the productivity about 90%.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The product has a free trial available , saving on initial investment costs.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We actually evaluated couple of service virtualization options - CA LISA and IBM RTVS.
We did go for RTVS as the organization had a tie-up with IBM for other software too, hence commercial it was benefits for us. Also, RTVS has a free one month trail, so we could had a tool experience before we actually purchased the license.
Also IBM RTVS is far cheaper than CA LISA which provides similar SV solution.
What other advice do I have?
Certainly I would recommend it, as reason being that it support major latest transport and data protocols plus it has rigorous infrastructure implementation.
