10 Logics Proving the Need for Performance Testing

Let’s get straight to the question…when was the last time you heard of a website crash because of its heavy traffic load?

Various incidents of website crashes and performance issues are observed on frequent basis. Remember the Nordstrom’s website crashed on its big anniversary day? And what about the suffering “Game of Thrones” fans faced when HBO’s website went down? Imagine selecting your favorite items on sale and just when you click on ‘check out’, the website crashes!! Or, visualize the misery faced by millions of worldwide fans who had been eagerly waiting for their favorite show to begin. And just when it went live, the website crashed in front of their eyes! Tsk tsk. MAJOR DISAPPOINTMENT!

THAT’S why you need to invest in Performance Testing! Big enough a reason, isn’t it?

Performance testing can help in checking the behavior of an application across multiple situations. A system might work commendably with a selected number of parallel users, however, if a couple of thousands are added in during a peak traffic session, chances of dysfunctionality arise to 100%. Performance testing ensures maintaining speed, dependability, scalability, and the stability of the software application, in addition to help simulating several different possible user scenarios for understanding the applications’ behavior.

Since applications are built upon user expectations and anticipated results, hence it is essential to have a fool-proof way to ascertain that it doesn’t fail on you right when you cannot afford to.

Performance testing is not always about displaying defects in an application. Rather, it helps guarantee that regardless of the network fluctuations, bandwidth availability, or traffic load, it continues to perform with sustainability. It is basically a fragment of performance engineering that focuses on performance issues within the design and architecture of an application. That’s why planning and executing these tests are imperative for certifying the website’s stability.

Performance Testing is executed following the industry-specific benchmarks with ultimate precision and close scrutiny of the testing results in order to ensure that the application works perfectly in all conditions.

Continue reading to get some hands-on learning on why investing in Performance Testing is critical for enterprises/businesses:

1. Attract more customers with a fast loading website

There is no way you can gather your customers if your website runs at a snail’s speed. Automated testing tools can assist you in checking the speed and performance of your website easily. This way, even those customers using a basic connection and bandwidth access will be able to load the site easily, thus, helping you sustain their interest and loyalty.

2. A fast website can generate revenue faster

This formula works for all websites, however, it holds more significance for businesses that require direct interaction with customers. For example, banking and e-commerce applications need to provide an easy and secure access to their customers. As a result, they receive a better traction and recurrent visits on their application or website.

3. Identifies glitches before hitting the market

Different types of Performance Tests can help you identify all the glitches in your application or website and resolve the risks that can create hindrance in meeting user expectations in the real world scenario.

• Fail-over Tests validate redundancy mechanisms
• Reliability tests guarantee the possibility of failure-free operation with high-level loads for longer period
• Stress Tests estimate the load that a system can endure

Applying these tests can help in disclosing glitches, if any, in the application, hence, making it ready to hit the market.

4. Improve the application’s agility

It is essential for enterprises to make sure that their application or website remains robust and secure even at highly critical times – including network issues, cyber-attacks, or other kinds of virtual threats. This can help in sustaining its standard in the competitive market and ensure relentless performance at all times. Targeted Infrastructure Tests, for example, are isolated tests that examine the application in and out in order to pinpoint performance issues that can cause malfunctions.

5. Sustain market claims

Undoubtedly, it is crucial for businesses to confirm that the application or website works absolutely the way it claims to perform. This aspect is most applicable for online gaming applications. It is expected to take the load of parallel gamers and deliver the results as pledged.

Statistical data is gathered throughout the execution of tests to reassure that the performance goals, particularly, speed, scalability, and stability objectives are all met.

6. Boost scalability

With a tough competition in the digital space, enterprises need to create applications that are scalable and can easily be upgraded in real time whenever the need be. Performance Testing can reveal probable vulnerabilities within an application and detects where it needs to be strengthened for future upgrades or requires modifications needed for scalability. The statistics taken from test executions can help in discovering any possible issues and reveal capabilities of an application.

7. Maintain stability and dependability

For any application, it is indispensable to ensure that it is stable and capable enough to deliver reliable results, regardless of any modifications made in its features. Performance testing teams can classify whether any recent adaptations or frequent releases could possibly be causing any kind of disruption in the application’s behavior.

8. Verify diverse technology stacks

With software applications getting more and more complex, it has led the execution of various technology stacks. This helps in making sure that expected performance and deliverables are generated. Performance testing helps recognize any weak links within the technology stack used for the application.

9. Create responsiveness of an application

There is a wide range of free as well as paid tools available for checking the speed of websites and applications. You can use both open source and licensed tools for implementation that further ensure performance tests.

Most of the Performance Testing tools are browser-based, making it easy to test simultaneously and ascertain the application is compatible across various platforms as well as browsers. Responsiveness is an absolute need for enterprises to accomplish their business objectives.

10. Detect issues associated to Database and APIs

Performance tests, including Load or Stress tests, not only facilitate teams to determine the application’s behavior but also checks whether the server responds to the user with data in a specified time slot. It further helps to measure the API’s behavior and performance under heavy load.

In a nutshell, investing in performance testing is absolutely essential for the success and prosperity of organizations whether they select open source or licensed testing tools for ensuring the best performance of their application. However, for ensuring the best speed, bugs reduction, identification of DB issues, and creating a robust and responsive website or application, it is vital to frame clear testing objectives before opting for the right software testing tool, infrastructure, and technologies.

Convinced enough? Get in touch with our experts and get your website or application tested today! 🙂