Well, they're close to being dead centre (ie - a bit of everything) so I guess that's no bad thing?
They mention disjointedness between the tools on offer (which is improving I believe) and also this is based on more than just TestComplete, they also factor in other tools offered (API testing, Load Testing, Test Management etc). I only really use TC from SmartBear so not sure how the rest of their offerings stack up against the opposition.
But have used HP stuff in the past and it sounds like they have upped their game. I used to find QTPro (or UFT as it became) a little restrictive. TC covers more for me than QTPro did. And allows you more scripting flexibility.
IBM stuff is OK. I've also used that in the past (mostly Performance software). But it can be over-complex to use (I never liked the interface much) and support was never great (could say the same of HP/QTPro). And Virtual User bundle licenses were CRAZY expensive.
The BIG factor as to why I'm using TestComplete over these two now (I work for a smaller company now and had most of the say in choosing the software) is the cost, support and ongoing licensing costs. Which are WAY cheaper then the two above. And most of the rest as far as I know. And it covers almost all the stuff we use.
Selenium is all well and good if you ONLY want web. But even then, it has it's shortcomings. (I've used it with the Python bindings)
Colin_McCrae Thanks for this very useful interpretation.
Colin_McCrae being in the middle doesn't really mean best of all.
The more situated to the upper right part of the graph the more vision and completeness/matureness can be expected.
I think TestComplete SmartBear has potential to enter the leadership quadrant (upperright) but the discussion here is started to think about what things need to be done to achieve this.
At least one thing I'd like to mention is TestComplete's SmartBear's interesting pricing! Definitely a pro for TestComplete. SmartBear
You keep saying "TestComplete". In isolation.
As I mentioned, that survey is about ALL automation tooling. So unless you are familiar with their other products (I'm not) then we're not looking at it from the same perspective as the survey.
