LoadRunner is a renowned testing tool from Micro Focus that is widely employed by businesses across multiple sectors to analyze and prevent software performance problems. As a fundamental technical skill often sought after by companies, understanding and proficiency in LoadRunner can potentially open the door to various IT job roles, such as Performance Tester, LoadRunner Analyst, LoadRunner Engineer, and more.

Mastering LoadRunner means you'll be able to design and manage performance test strategies effectively. You'll know how to administer performance testing requirements, witness, and scrutinize system behavior under load, and identify and alleviate bottlenecks in the system. By simulating hundreds or thousands of concurrent users, LoadRunner mimics real-life load conditions for the software, enabling comprehensive performance testing.

The tool offers testing support for a variety of applications like AJAX, .NET, JAVA, ERP, web services, mobile, etc. Using this leading performance validation tool, you can simulate user activities by generating multiple virtual users, implement load tests on your application, and measure your system/application/database server performance before, during, and after the load is driven to the system.

Key components of LoadRunner include the Virtual User Generator, Controller, and the Analysis, which are used to record scripts, emulate load on the application, and analyze application performance respectively.

For individuals looking to learn or master LoadRunner, it's advantageous to have a strong foundation in basic programming concepts. Knowing languages such as C, Java, and JavaScript can assist in better script development in LoadRunner. Understandings of web technologies and protocols such as HTML, HTTP, HTTPS, SOAP, AJAX, etc., can also be highly beneficial.

Since LoadRunner also involves performance analysis, a background or skills in areas like system monitoring, diagnosing and resolving performance bottlenecks, and database tuning can prove advantageous. Furthermore, having experience or knowledge in software testing (manual or automation), along with exposure to different software architectures, can significantly aid in understanding the ins-and-outs of LoadRunner.