TrustRadius: an HG Insights company

IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management vs. Zephyr Enterprise

Save this comparison

Save this comparison

Add Product

Recommended Comparisons

    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management

    Score5 out of 10
    N/AIBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) is an integrated suite for managing requirements, engineering work, system and software models, and verification activities across complex product-development programs. It is used by systems engineers, software teams, test organizations, project managers, and compliance teams in industries such as automotive, aerospace and defense, medical devices, and public infrastructure.N/A

    Zephyr Enterprise

    Score8 out of 10
    N/AZephyr Enterprise provides optimization, quality, speed, and processing of testing activities in a single tool. Other features include creating test cases, defining user requirements and generating reports.N/A
    Pricing
    IBM Engineering Lifecycle ManagementZephyr Enterprise
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    IBM Engineering Lifecycle ManagementZephyr Enterprise
    Free Trial
    NoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details—Contact vendor for pricing information.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    IBM Engineering Lifecycle ManagementZephyr Enterprise
    Considered Both Products
    IBM
    No answer on this topic
    SmartBear
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    78%
    Would buy again
    7 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    88%
    Delivers good value for the price
    7 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    89%
    Happy with the feature set
    8 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    5 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    86%
    Implementation went as expected
    6 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Features
    IBM Engineering Lifecycle ManagementZephyr Enterprise
    Test Management
    Comparison of Test Management features of IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management and Zephyr Enterprise
    Feature
    IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management
    -
    Ratings
    Zephyr Enterprise
    9.3
    1 Ratings
    14% above category average
    Centralized test management00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
    Map tests to user stories00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
    Test execution reporting00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
    Defect management00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    IBM Engineering Lifecycle ManagementZephyr Enterprise
    Small Businesses
    Polarion ALM
    Score10 out of 10
    No answers on this topic
    Medium-sized Companies
    PTC Windchill RV&S
    Score2 out of 10
    No answers on this topic
    Enterprises
    Polarion ALM
    Score10 out of 10
    No answers on this topic
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    IBM Engineering Lifecycle ManagementZephyr Enterprise
    Likelihood to Recommend
    3.0
    (22 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    8.0
    (6 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    4.0
    (5 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    5.0
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    IBM Engineering Lifecycle ManagementZephyr Enterprise
    Likelihood to Recommend
    IBM
    The software is robust enough to handle highly complex software development or other product development and can be used well beyond the range to do what a client needs. However, because of the inability to hold its users to proper best practices, things can get wildly out of hand and cascade over the years, creating unnecessary technical debt. The system has a lot of usable features, but they don't funnel users toward the correct processes and practices.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SmartBear
    1. Well suited for companies having several applications which need rigorous continuous testing cycles due to periodic upgrades to products/features.
    2. Ideally suited for use cases where there is a need to run sanity and regression suites very frequently.
    3. It is very helpful to have a traceability matrix across Stories/tasks and easy to link all the test cases to be covered to stories.
    4. Variety of reports for Quality Dashboard.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    IBM
    • Open Services supporting Lifecycle Collaboration (OSLC).
    • Required definition management and managed capabilities enabling.
    • Rational DOORS Web Access for local on the test field presence.
    • On-sites established reporting system.
    • Approved linking requirements to test plans
    • Engineering Requirements Management DOORS traces requirements thereby eliminates manually processes and spreadsheets, for improved productivity.
    • Returns the investment efficiently.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SmartBear
    • Creation of Folders, Sub Folder and Releases for various Teams/Projects
    • Ability to create cycles and adding cases to these
    • Ability to copy/clone entire test cycles for regression/sanity needs
    • Linking of defects to Test Cases
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    IBM
    • I feel like it is too heavy sometimes and updating is not very straight forward. For example, if I want to change an incident ticket (IN) to a service request (SR) and add some comment for the change, I have to first change the IN to SR, then click refresh which takes a few seconds, then add a comment. If I forget the refresh step, my comment will be discarded without warning like my ticket is not in the latest status. This also happens when somebody else changes the ticket during my edit as I can not lock the ticket exclusively.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SmartBear
    • Better Test case Upload Utility
    • Ability to quickly map test cases from excel to JIRA fields
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    IBM
    At the moment we are required by contract to continue to use the IBM DOORS software for our current client. Given that it can be expensive, if we were to use it after our current client's needs were met, we would have to secure other projects in order to justify the continued use of the software.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SmartBear
    No answers on this topic
    Usability
    IBM
    The UI is terrible and not intuitive. Users need training in order to complete tasks. Much like SAP, it's not the clearest tool. The tracing feature is especially complicated because you must write the scripts yourself. There is a learning curve. Also, even the setup, installation, and logging in each time takes a considerable amount of time.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SmartBear
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    IBM
    It does a basic job and has the potential to complete some robust reporting tasks, however, it really is a clunky piece of software with a terrible user interface that makes using it routinely quite unpleasant. Many of our legacy and maintenance projects still use DOORS but our department and company use many alternatives and are looking for better tools.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SmartBear
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation Rating
    IBM
    No problems
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SmartBear
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    IBM
    It was easier to do all the change management-related activities, even configurations were handled very effectively. New process definitions and initiatives made it easier for better project deliverables. Effective resource allocations and better reporting and defect management. The overall cost of the tool is great too and well within budget.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SmartBear
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    IBM
    • It's part of CLM suite so it can be used to manage the whole lifecycle with tight integration with development module (Rational Team Concert) and quality module (Rational Quality Manager).
    • Comprehensive reports and dashboards provide better visibility.
    • License cost is on higher side.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SmartBear
    • Time saving and productivity enhancement for QA teams by preventing context and tool switching
    • High observability to management via QA Dashboards
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots