July 20, 2009

[Software] Tools Don't Make You a Mechanic

FYI: Learning LoadRunner does not mean that one has learned Performance Testing. LoadRunner is only a tool. Learning to use one of these:

...does not mean that one can disassemble and reassemble one of these:

[via JakeBrake]

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

"i want to be exposed to automation"

Calkelpdiver said...

It's like the old AAMCO TV advert with the goofy looking guy playing with a spray hose saying "Hey boss, I always wanted to fix a transmission... yuk yuk yuk"

And I've seen a lot of those situations, and fixed quite a few.

Mark Tomlinson said...

Yeah - there are degrees of skill, experience and certification to all engineering roles. You are right that LoadRunner (and other tools) still rely heavily on the intelligence of the engineers. Moreover, I have always found it more successful to be a load tester using LoadRunner with other engineers on the inter-disciplinary team: network, database, storage, application and server admins.

When I worked on customer engagements in the Microsoft Services Labs, we always had a virtual team of the best performance-minded gurus we could find.