Best-of-breed and best-of-suite tools are both good options, but how do you know which will work best for you?
In today's fast-paced business world, software solutions have become an integral part of every organization. The test automation market is no exception, with the options of best-of-breed and best-of-suite solutions available. It's hard to know which are going to decrease your time to market and ensure that your quality meets customer expectations, as well as which will merge best with your testing team. Let's explore what each type of tool looks like, along with the advantages and disadvantages of both approaches in test automation.
Best-of-breed solutions are software solutions that excel in a particular area or function. Rather than providing a comprehensive suite of features, best-of-breed technologies focus on delivering exceptional performance, functionality, and usability for a specific task or industry. This approach allows companies to tailor their software solutions to their unique needs, rather than being dragged kicking and screaming toward using an all-in-one solution. Best-of-breed solutions are often preferred by businesses that require highly specialized tools, as they can provide superior performance, efficiency, and ROI compared to more general software alternatives.
On the flip side, best-of-suite software is a type of software solution that offers a wide range of features and functionalities across multiple areas or functions. Unlike best-of-breed software, which focuses on providing exceptional performance in a specific area, best-of-suite software provides a comprehensive suite of tools that can be used for many different tasks. This approach can be great for businesses that require a broad range of capabilities, as it allows them to use a single software solution for multiple purposes.
Alright, we've looked at what best-of-breed and best-of-suite software are, but let's compare them. Best-of-breed solutions do their very specific job very well, and that can cause more costs down the line if you use multiple tools, but they offer more flexibility because you get to pick and choose the tools that are right for each area of the business. You also take less risk; if one of your tools breaks, all the rest will still function, as they're independent. The same can't be said for best-of-suite. If your entire suite of products and tools fails, then you lose everything, affecting both your user experience and ROI. On the flip side, you might not get as good results with best-of-suite tools, since they're more jack-of-all-trades tools: they can do many things, but only averagely.
So, what do these two types of software look like in test automation? Best-of-suite tools handle many different kinds of testing, like TestComplete which encompasses native, mobile, web, and packaged apps. Best-of-breed test automation tools focus on something incredibly specific like unit tests or mobile testing. For example, Waldo focuses solely on mobile-centric testing.
And wouldn't you know it, there's another great best-of-breed product as well! Virtuoso is a best-of-breed testing tool. We do one thing - test web applications - and we do it excellently. But we've also got you covered! Between visual regression testing, API/UI testing, cross-browser testing, Continuous Testing, and self-healing tests, you've got all you need to test your web app to perfection. We also help alleviate one of the top concerns with best-of-breed tools (cost) with our ROI calculator. But if you're still not convinced, our two-week free trial is for you! Take Virtuoso for a spin to see how seamlessly we fit into your tech stack while ensuring the best quality in the timeliest of manners.
