When you are deciding to whether or not to automate – or if you’ve already made the decision to do it – the choices surrounding which automation tool to use can be overwhelming. There are dozens out there, from free to highly expensive, simple to complex. Do you get more than one that each focus on very specific aspects of testing, or try for one that encompasses a wide range of functionality? Do you really need a defect or test management tool? What about security or load testing? How about a mobile testing tool or maybe a website links verification solution?

The answers are as varied as the tools and depend on so many factors: the size of your business, the type of applications under test, the goals of testing, the development scope, the number of people who will be using it, the QA or development processes in place, and so much more. Each tool requires not only an investment of money in most cases, but also an investment of time to learn and successfully integrate into the current processes.