For over twenty years, Witbe has established itself as a leader in quality assurance thanks to its automated testing and proactive monitoring solutions.
Today, Witbe has over 300 customers worldwide, including telecom operators, broadcasters and content providers.
Although the company has always offered general web monitoring solutions, it has decided to put an end to these offerings to focus exclusively on video player testing.
In this article, we explore Witbe's added value today and in the future, as well as the testing alternatives available to carry out your web monitoring with confidence if your company is no longer part of Witbe's evolving target.
The new era of Witbe - an all-in-one platform for video service providers
A pioneer in the field of automated monitoring and testing of video services, Witbe has found a real niche in the world of video streaming, a fast-growing sector with ever more demanding requirements.
Today, Witbe offers a unified testing approach for supervising the quality of user experience offered by streaming video services.
This approach is particularly relevant at a time when the complexity of distribution methods and the multiplicity of streaming devices make assessing service quality more difficult than ever.
Ultimately, the only way to measure the true user experience of these services is to test them on real devices.
Witbe has developed a technology capable of testing and monitoring any video service running on any device anywhere in the world.
Whether for live, replay or on-demand services, Witbe guarantees optimum performance on all types of device (PCs, smartphones, set-top boxes, Smart TVs, etc.) and via any network (fiber, 5G, OTT, etc.).
Witbe's key features, developed specifically for the requirements of video testing
Monitoring video services
Witbe's video services monitoring technology helps operations teams respond quickly and efficiently to service interruptions.
Thanks to immediate alerts and video traces, teams can quickly identify and resolve service quality issues.
Advertising monitoring and verification
Witbe's ad monitoring and verification enables video service providers to identify and resolve problems caused by dynamic ad insertion.
This feature offers the ability to precisely measure ad performance on real devices, and access video recordings to verify ad impressions that can be shared with third-party advertisers.
VoD content verification
Witbe's VoD (video-on-demand) content verification ensures that video libraries work as intended.
It verifies that every piece of content is available and reads correctly, using the same metrics as a real user to assess performance.
Remote device control
This feature eliminates the constraints associated with service interruptions in specific locations.
With remotely accessible test devices, you can control a device located anywhere in the world from anywhere.
What forms do Witbe solutions take?
Witbe's technology combines the Witbox hardware range and the Witbe Software Suite.
The Witbox
These compact devices make it possible to test real devices from anywhere in the world.
WitboxOne: flagship device for testing and monitoring streaming video, ideal for testing set-top boxes, OTT devices, game consoles and Smart TVs.
Witbox Plus: powerful, compact model capable of testing up to four 4K or mobile devices simultaneously.
Witbox Net: designed for web video testing, with specific web monitoring capabilities.
The Witbe Software Suite
An ecosystem of interconnected programs designed to simplify the video delivery process:
Remote Eye Controller (REC): access and control any device connected to a Witbox.
Workbench: tool for programming automated test scenarios on real devices.
Smartgate: a solution that sends alerts and video traces as soon as a quality interruption is detected, with detailed reports highlighting key KPIs.
Witbe's strategic shift - implications and alternatives
Witbe recently announced a major strategic reorientation: the company is moving away from web monitoring to focus exclusively on video player testing.
This choice, while understandable from a strategic point of view, creates a gap for companies in need of a complete solution combining web and video monitoring.
Witbe's limits in the current context
Lack of versatility: Witbe will no longer meet web monitoring needs.
Reduced adaptability: some industries require a solution capable of handling both web and video, which Witbe no longer offers.
Impact on companies
Companies using Witbe for web monitoring face a major challenge:
Identify a reliable, high-performance alternative to maintain a flawless web user experience.
Viable automated testing alternatives - how to choose?
Before choosing an automated test solution, ask yourself the following questions:
- What features are you looking for?
- Who will use the tool (developers or QA teams)?
- What technical skills do users have?
- Can the tool be integrated into CI/CD pipelines?
- How easy is it to manage scripts and reuse test resources?
- What's your team's budget?
- Where can I get help with technical problems?
Depending on the answers, you may opt for an open source tool(Selenium, Cypress) or a more intuitive SaaS solution (Mr SuricateTricentis).
Among these solutions, Mr Suricate stands out thanks to several key features:
- Test script creation and execution can be easily carried out thanks to an easy-to-use user interface.
- Its template-based approach saves you time when creating tests.
- Alert system that immediately informs testers when a test fails, exceeds a predefined threshold or when undesirable behavior is detected.
- All-in-one solution (Web, mobile app, API, accessibility, SEO, performance, load and datalayer)
- Personalized support and full assistance in using the platform.
Here are a few articles that may help guide you:
- Mr Suricate vs Serenity BDD vs Pingdom
- Mr Suricate vs Alfred Monitoring vs Tosca
- Top 8 cross-platform testing tools
- Top 5 best automated testing tools 2024
- Mr Suricate vs Datadog vs Contentsquare: Differences and complementarity
- Mr Suricate vs Agilitest vs Cerberus testing
- Software selection and reviews - Katalon vs Leapwork vs Tricentis
Mr Suricate - the no-code tool to detect all bugs on all platforms
Mr Suricate is a French no-code solution that guarantees optimal user experience by detecting bugs before and after production.
It makes it easy to test applications and websites on different browsers, operating systems and platforms, reproducing user journeys at regular intervals.
Its ease of use enables non-technical users to create automated test scripts, run them on different browsers and analyze the results with clear, detailed reports.
