Somerville, MA — May 13, 2015 — SmartBear Software, the leader in software quality tools for the connected world, was among the companies Forrester Research invited to participate in its April 17, 2015 report, “The Forrester Wave™: Modern Application Functional Test Automation Tools, Q2 2015” (access requires subscription). In this evaluation, SmartBear was cited as a Strong Performer in modern application functional test automation (FTA). Evaluation criteria focused on current offering, strategy and market presence of tools and the report states that companies should test beyond the graphical user interface (GUI) to verify and validate business and technical services.
 
The report states that modern applications require a shift from the current 80 percent UI automation down to 5 percent to 10 percent approximately, shifting about 80 percent of that test automation to be replaced by API test automation. One of the crucial aspects that “The Forrester Wave™: Modern Application Functional Test Automation Tools, Q2 2015” evaluated vendors on is their ability to create and execute API and Web services testing, besides support for UI.
 
The report states, “SmartBear is leveraging its strong open source SoapUI solution through the commercial duo of FTA TestComplete and Ready API.” The report also mentions, “SmartBear TestComplete and Ready API together complement each other with one focusing more on traditional GUI testing and the other offering a lean approach to functional API testing. Ready API appeals to developers in the same way SmartBear’s open source API testing tool SoapUI does. It includes more sophisticated, but not over bloated, Service Virtualization features. SmartBear scored quite high for the types of APIs it supports and does a good job in combining manual with automated GUI or automated UI in the same testing workflow.”
 
SmartBear also scored among the highest in install base/growth under Market Presence.
 
“We are honored to be recognized as a Strong Performer in ‘The Forrester Wave™: Modern Application Functional Test Automation Tools, Q2 2015’,” said Nikhil Kaul, Product Manager for Testing Products at SmartBear. “The past year has been critical for increasing our global footprint and our scores, and in our opinion, reflects this momentum. We believe that to be successful in an Agile environment, a tightly integrated API and GUI testing solution is required, especially given the increasing use of third party APIs in mobile and IoT. We will continue to deliver on this vision through product innovation and market expansion efforts over the coming year.”
 
According to SmartBear, modern applications span across Web, mobile and cloud, and are often composed of application programming interfaces (APIs) that determine the information on the GUI. Automated functional tests just based on the GUI are often brittle as these tests can break when an unexpected change occurs to the backend layer or even when the layout changes. As a result, for organizations that want to achieve high levels of automation in an Agile and DevOps environment, a switch must be made from GUI only approach to an integrated GUI and API testing approach.
 
TestComplete is one of the world’s most recognized automated testing tools, winner of four Dr. Dobb’s Jolt Awards since 2010, and most recently, a winner of a DeveloperWeek 2015 Award. For the latest updates, follow @TestComplete on Twitter. For more information, visit: http://smartbear.com/product/testcomplete/overview/.
 
Ready! API is the first fully integrated, extensible and affordable platform to help development, testing and operations teams build reliable, scalable and secure APIs. For updates, follow @ready_api on Twitter. For more information, visit: http://smartbear.com/product/ready-api/overview/.
 
To access the full report (subscribers/clients or for purchase only), visit:
https://www.forrester.com/The+Forrester+Wave+Modern+Application+Functional+Test+Automation+Tools+Q2+2015/fulltext/-/E-res115627