OpenText Professional Performance Engineering (LoadRunner Professional) Reviews and Pricing

Quality Assurance Analyst at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees

Oct 8, 2015

We're able to identify performance problems in the test environment before they occur in production. But while it's a mature tool, it doesn't provide integration with a monitoring tool.

Pros and Cons

"It's helped my organization to identify performance problems in the test environment before they occur in production."

"Pricing is the only thing which make people think many times before purchasing this product."

What is most valuable?

I consider all features valuable (Load Generator, VuGen, Agent Process, Analysis), but Controller is the most valuable for me.

How has it helped my organization?

It's helped my organization to identify performance problems in the test environment before they occur in production.

What needs improvement?

It's a very mature tool. Still, if they provided integration with a monitoring tool it would be great.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using it for six years.

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What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

No issues encountered.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

No issues encountered.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

No issues encountered.

How are customer service and support?

Customer Service:

4/5

Technical Support:

4/5

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

I previously used MS VSTS and JMETER. I would recommend LoadRunner as it is user friendly and has support for many protocols.

How was the initial setup?

It was straightforward.

What about the implementation team?

Implementation was easy.

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

Pricing is the only thing which make people think many times before purchasing this product.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

No other options were evaluated.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.

it_user285924

Sr. Performance Engineer at a retailer with 1,001-5,000 employees

Video Review

Sep 27, 2015

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I've seen Stability and Scalability improve with each release. I appreciate that documentation is readily available.

Pros and Cons

"LoadRunner has easy usability right now, and it's pretty much documented on the features, and has a how-to-do use of videos, learning materials."

"The demo that I've seen today, it sounds pretty cool but it still has some limitations I guess."

Valuable Features

There are actually some cool features in LoadRunner where we can have multiple users at the same time. Some of the help features in the communities, what HP has are pretty good. We have quick turnaround time for the support as well, sometimes. It is helping our application to performance test and load test. I didn't use much of the tools, and have been using these tools since eight, nine years now, so I'm more into that. I see HP is constantly improving the features of the tool.

Improvements to My Organization

We have the manpower, the resources. One of the thing which I realized is let's say if you have another tool which is equal or there are more comparable abilities, but it's kind of hard to get resources for those tools who are skilled. I see a bunch of resources easily available in the market for LoadRunner and HP products and I feel like this could be possible because it's kind of industry leader in the testing tools or something.

There are a lot of people using LoadRunner I can say that. The issues what we get from doing performance testing, some of the issues are not specific to tool, but because we have such a huge community in HP tools we kind of get some solutions easily from the outside world as well in the communities I guess.

Room for Improvement

The demo that I've seen today, it sounds pretty cool but it still has some limitations I guess. They thought it is only limited to web and mobile right now, and it's currently not supported for all the products of what we have in performance center. We'll all have to wait and see how they come up with full version of the features.

I would like to see the features what they are saying in the demo for StormRunner, if they can have the features of Performance Center and LoadRunner combined, put it in StormRunner, that would be awesome because StormRunner looks pretty good the way they are explaining, it's like all one stop shop where you can just manage everything from one webpage but it's not complete, it doesn't look like it's complete. If we can get all those other features included in the new one, then that would be awesome.

Stability Issues

I believe it's good. When it first started I didn't realize it was so good, but over the years I'm seeing that it's getting more and more stable. It looks like HP is putting some efforts to make it more stable.

Scalability Issues

Scalability, I think with the previous versions maybe I was not sure but the new version which I'm seeing, and the cool features what they are showing off, I think scalability is very good, you could scale up the tool within no time.

Customer Service and Technical Support

It's on and off at times, depends on what tech guy you are working with. Some of them I find very technical strong and they were able to help, but it has to go through some processes. You have a basic layer and if it's not resolvable there, it goes to the next level so it has a process, which may take some time.

Other Advice

I'm involved in catering the needs of my company's performance testing for all the applications. We use a variety of HP products but our team, where I'm concerned more is HP LoadRunner. We are also upgrading into Performance Center as we speak. We are more into HP LoadRunner.

LoadRunner has easy usability right now, and it's pretty much documented on the features, and has a how-to-do use of videos, learning materials. It's easy to use once you have some basic training and you can get along easily. It will give your company return of investment I believe if you're in invest in it.

Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.

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it_user204486

CEO at Infuse Consulting

Apr 29, 2015

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We use it along with Performance Center and other tools in delivering performance engineering services.

Pros and Cons

"The analysis capability is simply best of breed as it allows you to take data from any source and correlate it with your results."

"HP as a company has been slow to move to support modern technologies e.g. Oracle ADF."

What is most valuable?

The breadth of protocol support means that you can get LoadRunner (and its sister product Performance Center) to test almost any application with useful built-in functions. The programmable scripts allow for the creation of sophisticated reliable and robust frameworks and scripts. The API potentially allows you to extend the tool to support applications that it cannot support, but how to do this is not well documented or supported.

The analysis capability is simply best of breed as it allows you to take data from any source and correlate it with your results. In other tools, analysis is more problematic and therefore a bit of a black art.

How has it helped my organization?

We use LoadRunner and its sister product Performance Center as two of the key pieces in our corporate tool kit along with other tools in delivering performance engineering services. Some of our customers insist on using this, and for them, it has helped administer payroll, deliver luggage in airports, and enabled them to support tax returns.

At Infuse, we have integrated such tools very early into early performance validation at the unit test level. This enables our customers to find defects early on in development, and combined with performance modelling in design, enables them to fix performance issues early and cheaply.

What needs improvement?

HP as a company has been slow to move to support modern technologies e.g. Oracle ADF. HP took a long time to support the protocol. The support could be better.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have, as a performance engineer, been using LoadRunner since 1999, in multiple different versions. As a business we have been using it since 2002, and it features in around 80% of our performance engineering assignments along with other tools.

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

The tool itself is very easy to set up and install the various components. 90% of the time there are no deployment issues. The biggest issue really, is setting up the connections from the load generators to the controller component. However, these are are normally network related issues that, with the correct input from the network/infrastructure team, can quickly be resolved.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

No, the application is very robust. The only time issues are experienced is when it is running for extra-long period soak tests, e.g. for 24 hours. Then, only on odd occasions, does the system sometimes experience issues with results files, which become corrupt. Usually this is because of issues during the test with the AUT causing very large results files being generated.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

No, the application is scalable. Additional load testing capacity can be added quickly and easily by adding another load generator. Also, some GUI based scripting protocols such as TruClient do utilize large amounts of memory and CPU power, which needs to be planned for carefully if running tests over long periods with lots of users.

How are customer service and technical support?

Customer Service:

Average, to occasionally good, but no better.

Technical Support:

HP LoadRunner technical support is adequate, with implementation issues and functional problems that may arise. However, it doesn’t include scripting support, but there is a wealth of information on numerous public forums regarding LoadRunner to assist most technical issues which helps.

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

As an independent vendor we use JMeter, The Grinder and Oracle Application Tool Suite’s load test module, but all of these tools don’t have the breadth of supporting protocols and so are not always suitable for our client’s applications and systems being tested. They are also sub-optimal from an analysis perspective, but do a good job.

How was the initial setup?

The setup for LoadRunner is straightforward as the installations are via wizards, and this makes them quick and easy. Make sure though, that the instructions are followed as written, and be aware that virus detection software can adversely affect the installation. The most complex area is in ensuring connectivity between the load generators and the controller, which may involve firewall changes as load generator machines should be located where the users are situated or externally on the cloud. The complexity is often getting permissions from the IT support teams and explaining what you are doing rather than changing the firewall itself and setting it up. It requires good communication skills.

What about the implementation team?

We implement it ourselves.

What was our ROI?

Considering the performance issues that we have found and prevented moving into production on client sites is enough to show that there is a positive ROI with the tool. This is despite the initial expense, as assets produced can be re-used on each implementation reducing the cost for subsequent releases.

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

The set up costs depend on the protocol type (there are standard and premium types), the number of virtual users being simulated, the terms, and the number of, load generator machines that are needed. Then there is an annual support maintenance fee that allows for free upgrade and access to the support functions.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We would evaluate all the tools on the market for a customer before making a recommendation. We do an evaluation based on the customers dynamics/culture, budget, and delivery methodology, and then offer our client a choice.

Other tools though don’t provide the breadth of support for different protocols and so this tool is limited to the applications it compatible with. It also has more basic reporting and analysis features. But then other tools are also generally cheaper.

What other advice do I have?

it is a best of breed product with some minor frustrations around product support.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Infuse is a HP Gold Business Partner and HP Gold Partner of the Year 2014. Infuse is an Oracle Gold Partner

it_user147360

IT Analyst at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees

Sep 19, 2014

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Truclient Ajax makes it a strong web Performance tool.

Pros and Cons

"Scripting for web is faster and easier."

"Remote Load Generators has issues in identifying objects on dynamic web pages"

Valuable Features:

Truclient Ajax

Improvements to My Organization:

Scripting for web is faster and easier

Use of Solution:

1 year

Deployment Issues:

Stability Issues:

Scalability Issues:

Yes, Remote Load Generators has issues in identifying objects on dynamic web pages

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.

it_user129477Performance Tester/QA at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees

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Jul 7, 2015

True Client Ajax is quite effective for simple Http based Web applications. It saves lots of scripting time. Script modification is also quite easy.
But True Client has few constraints, I may effect the test results as it consumes quite an amount of memory per vuser instance. So an injector may support X no. of users for WebHttp protocol, but it may not support the same for Ajax True Client.

Ajax True Client is good protocol to use, but with few constraints.

it_user129477

Performance Tester/QA at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees

Aug 5, 2014

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One of the best performance testing tools available but expensive and time consuming

Pros and Cons

"It is one of the best performance testing tools available."

"We encountered issues with stability -- the system hangs many times."

What is most valuable?

It is one of the best performance testing tools available. It supports many protocols and technologies. It can be integrated with many systems.

How has it helped my organization?

These features have helped a lot in improving the performance and scalability of application. Moreover, they have improved our brand value.

What needs improvement?

Takes lots of time in scripting which can be improved; The scripts are generally not reusable with change-in build; Does not support MAC OS.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for three years.

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

No.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We encountered issues with stability -- the system hangs many times.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Yes licensing cost is too much for Load Runner to scale it to more virtual users.

How are customer service and technical support?

Customer Service: I'd rate the customer service 3.5 out of 5.Technical Support: The technical support was a 3 out of 5.

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

No.

What other advice do I have?

It's good to use LoadRunner if you have lots of money and time. It’s really good but expensive and time consuming.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.

it_user129477

Performance Tester/QA at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees

Jun 26, 2014

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Overall LoadRunner is a good tool to use, but it’s quite expensive and complex to script at times.

Pros and Cons

"Available protocols."

"Scripting should be simpler, it becomes very complex many times."

What is most valuable?

Available protocols

What needs improvement?

Scripting should be simpler, it becomes very complex many times.

For how long have I used the solution?

3 years

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

Yes

How are customer service and technical support?

Customer Service: 7 out of 10Technical Support: 5 out of 10

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

No, but I have evaluated many other solutions.

How was the initial setup?

Not very long.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.

it_user98394

Engineer at a tech company with 51-200 employees

Mar 31, 2014

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Analysis tool is of great value to me. Initial setup straightforward.

Pros and Cons

"LoadRunner helped identify bottlenecks during the testing phase in several instances especially before launch of major projects."

"Customer Service: Very poor Technical Support: Strictly ok"

Valuable Features

Analysis tool

Improvements to My Organization

LoadRunner helped identify bottlenecks during the testing phase in several instances especially before launch of major projects.

Use of Solution

5 years

Deployment Issues

The load generators make use of all available NIC to send traffic. Some NICs on a machine were not configured for external access, hence causing http requests to fail.

Stability Issues

Occasionally it crashed when it had to crunch large amounts of data.

Customer Service and Technical Support

Customer Service: Very poorTechnical Support: Strictly ok

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.

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: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.

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_user97128

QA Manager at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees

Mar 13, 2014

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We evaluated other options but decided to stay with LoadRunner because of the depth & breadth of the protocols available

Pros and Cons

"LoadRunner is the standard choice for performance testing before any critical applications are allowed to go live, preventing any performance issues."

"LoadRunner is a well-rounded, polished tool – but it does need more improvement when it comes to it application of load, more flexibility mid-test would be nice."

Valuable Features

The feature I find most valuable is the ability to find performance issues before putting a new application live.

Improvements to My Organization

LoadRunner is the standard choice for performance testing before any critical applications are allowed to go live, preventing any performance issues.

Room for Improvement

LoadRunner is a well-rounded, polished tool – but it does need more improvement when it comes to it application of load, more flexibility mid-test would be nice.

Use of Solution

Since 1999

Deployment Issues

Stability Issues

Scalability Issues

Customer Service and Technical Support

Customer Service: The Customer Service is good, the sales guys are not overly aggressive to sell, as the product does sell itself.Technical Support: The Technical Support is OK. It’s not as good as the Pre-HP acquisition days at Mercury.

Initial Setup

LoadRunner runs an automated install which is quite simple.

Implementation Team

LoadRunner was installed in house.

Other Advice

Research your strategic requirements. Think long term, it WILL work out cheaper. LoadRunner is not a tactical solution.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.

it_user49908

Architect at a healthcare company with 501-1,000 employees

Feb 28, 2014

Excellent load testing capabilities & reports. Quick visibility focusing in on a problem area is extremely helpful.

The main reason that we decided to implement LoadRunner was because of our serious lack of insight into exactly where flaws were stemming from when a problem arose or how we could fix those problems earlier and more efficiently in the future. When a problem was found, solutions could only be given after the fact, making the losses bigger and causing more damage than necessary. We needed to increase our awareness of the challenges and issues that could come up before they arose, or at least catch the problems faster than we currently were, in order to tackle them properly.

As the company grew and our infrastructure increased, the task of testing and debugging our entire system transformed into a colossal and costly problem. Our service, which includes providing healthcare and insurance services to a wide range of patients and clients, was becoming inefficient as well, making the need for in-house testing of our various software flaws urgent.

LoadRunner seemed to be an obvious solution since it recreates real life scenarios on a virtual plane in order to test the performance rate, speed, efficacy and functionality of the system during those actual situations. In this way, we could easily pinpoint problem areas, bugs and other flaws to the system prior to the real time launch, avoiding tremendous issues from ever arising.

We tried out three different virtual assessment products concurrently. Each of these products was tested in a wide range of areas that were either commonly known to be problem areas or were considered to be of great importance to remain problem-free. Some included:

Secure systems
Overall system substructure
Performance speed and accuracy

The system that came out as superior during the testing was HP LoadRunner, and we purchased the package immediately upon reviewing the results of the trials. This choice was made primarily for the software’s extensive capabilities, though HP’s greater overall presence within the technology field also contributed to the ultimate decision.

Installing LoadRunner was an uncomplicated procedure, needing no third party or outsourced services or tools. The successful implementation of this software led to the acquisition of some 250 licenses from the onset and an additional 1500 in subsequent months.

We proposed a three-year window to view the results and overall ROI of the product. To our surprise, LoadRunner provided positive effects even faster than we would have expected in a real and tangible example as described below:

One of the portals that our company used for selling various insurance packages and products developed major issues. As a result, brokers were losing sales because of the inaccessibility of their services. With the use of HP LoadRunner, the entire issue was simulated, examined and solved within a week of the initial symptoms. The software actually paid for itself within that first month simply due to the efficient manner in which the problem was able to be recreated, analyzed and dealt with.

Other members of the staff also found the product to be more effective and easier to work with due to the alacrity and smooth, automatic functions that were performed. As a result of these faster protocols, team members were able to meet strict deadlines that were otherwise unrealistic prior to theLoadRunner implementation.

The load testing capabilities and efficient performance were rated as the most integral aspects of this software, though the adeptness at getting to the core of the issue was a very close second.

Other features that people found generally helpful were the reports and the quick visibility focusing in on a problem area. Using HP LoadRunner in combination with the SiteScope software from HP has made all of these inevitable mishaps easier to deal with in a timely manner.

Our use of LoadRunner has become a standardized process, a part of our regular routine. The software is repeatedly used to discover the source of a problem when code freezes pop up. What is more, the usage of these tools is not limited to IT techs; everyone from the developers to quality assurance and even management is actively using this software to hone in on the problem areas and solve the issues quickly.

HP LoadRunner has been a gateway into the implementation of other invaluable HP tools such as Application Lifecycle Management products. In general, there has been a vast improvement to the performance and output of the company since the use of this product has been initiated, and everyone has seen positive results in the form of fewer problems, greater visibility and faster response times to issues that will come through. Having a central database for problem solving tools and resources has also contributed to the efficacy of our staff individually and as a team.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.

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Buyer's Guide

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June 2026

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