THE IDENTITY TESTING TOOL TOSCA CAN’T COMPETE WITH

Why Tosca Makes Sense — Until It Doesn’t

By Aleksander Jachowicz, IAM Expert

If you’re in enterprise software testing, chances are you’ve heard of, or are already using, Tricentis Tosca. It’s widely adopted, easy to use, and incredibly powerful when it comes to testing UI-heavy applications across web, mobile, and desktop environments.

For many QA teams, Tosca is the go-to solution because of its codeless automation, model-based design, and strong integration with CI/CD pipelines.

So, it makes perfect sense that teams might reach for Tosca when it’s time to test SailPoint IdentityIQ. After all, if it works for everything else, why not use it here too? But here’s the thing: SailPoint isn’t like everything else. IdentityIQ is built differently. It runs deep. The parts that really matter, your provisioning logic, access policies, and certification workflows, don’t live in the UI. They operate beneath the surface, in custom XML beans, rules, and connectors.

And that’s where Tosca’s value ends.

If you’re serious about delivering secure, scalable, and audit-proof IAM solutions, it’s critical to understand where your testing tools shine, and where they fall short. In this article, I’ll break down why ITF (IdentityIQ Testing Framework) was purpose-built to handle everything Tosca can’t, and why educating yourself on the difference is one of the smartest moves you can make for your identity program.

Tosca vs. ITF: Testing IdentityIQ Requires More Than a UI Tool

Let’s break this down. Tosca focuses on testing what users see and click, which is great for validating front-end functionality. But SailPoint is built on backend logic, custom rules, XML beans, and task chains. You need a tool that doesn't just click buttons, you need one that speaks IdentityIQ fluently.

What Tosca Does Well:

• Automates UI, API, and mobile tests without coding

• Supports reusable test components

• Integrates with Jenkins, Jira, Selenium, and more

• Includes risk-based testing and even accessibility checks

• Leverages AI (Tosca Copilot) to optimize tests

Those features are impressive, for UI-heavy applications. But they simply don’t go deep enough for complex IAM solutions like SailPoint IIQ.

What Makes ITF Different, and Better, for IdentityIQ

ITF was built specifically for IdentityIQ, by SailPoint-certified architects, to address the exact pain points that Tosca and other UI tools cannot reach.

Here’s why ITF is in a league of its own:

1. Native Understanding of SailPoint

ITF knows IdentityIQ inside and out. It understands the data model, connectors, workflows, identity cubes, and entitlement structures. This isn't screen-level testing, it’s business logic validation.Tosca may test whether a button works. ITF tests whether provisioning, deprovisioning, and role-based access logic work, across all connected systems.

2. Backend Testing, Not UI Scripting

ITF interacts with the core identity engine, not the surface UI. That means:

• No fragile screen scraping

• No slow execution across browsers

• No breaking tests every time the UI layout changes

You get fast, stable, and direct validations of:

• Joiner-mover-leaver scenarios

• Policy violations

• Access reviews

• Certification campaigns

• Workflow triggers

• Identity attribute propagation

3. Built for CI/CD and DevOps

Just like Tosca, ITF plugs into your DevOps toolchain, integrates with Jenkins, and supports automated regression testing. The difference? ITF’s tests are faster, less brittle, and aligned with what actually breaks in IAM deployments, the logic, not the layout.

4. Durable, Scalable, Future-Proof

ITF is built using Java and XML, the same technologies that SailPoint IIQ is built on.

That means:

• Compatibility with current and future IIQ versions

• Seamless upgrades without rewriting tests

• Easy onboarding for developers already familiar with IIQ

  
  

5. Designed for Collaboration

Working in IntelliJ or Eclipse? No problem. ITF integrates smoothly with any IDE, and thanks to clear documentation and intuitive design, it’s easy for developers, testers, and architects to align around shared test assets.

You Don’t Want Just “Good Enough” Testing

Tosca is a great general-purpose automation tool. But when it comes to IdentityIQ, you need a solution that was built for the platform, understands its inner workings, and tests the things that actually matter. That’s ITF.

So yes, I get this question a lot. But now you know the answer. Tosca is for interfaces. ITF is for identity.

Want to see the difference for yourself?

Contact Us and discover how ITF can transform your SailPoint testing strategy.