The world of performance testing is continually evolving, and in 2024, it has evolved to be more challenging than ever. Technology is more complex, customer expectations are higher, and an increasing number of people and departments need to be involved to make performance testing effective. Yes, performance testing is essential and can be quite fun, but getting it all set up is the closest thing to herding cats I’ve ever experienced.
The ongoing global digital transformation (for want of a better phrase) has put performance front and centre.
Companies are moving an ever-increasing number of processes online, with more of their solution exposed to demanding customers who won’t tolerate laggy or buggy software. Whether you order at a McDonald’s screen, check stock for a click-and-collect order, or use smart scan at the supermarket, technology has to respond instantly.
Digital transformation has also placed a greater emphasis on real-time processing instead of batch jobs. Again, examples abound, from financial payments and transactions to personalised e-commerce experiences to supply chain monitoring.
Plus, the underlying architecture is increasingly complex and disparate, with myriad systems working together to provide an end-to-end solution.
Fortunately, there are ways to minimise the pain and maximise the gain. In this insight, I’ll shine a light on four strategies that you can use on their own, or in combination, to make your life easier and help you execute successful performance test cycles in 2024.
1. Increase Your Focus on User Experience
Performance testing in 2024 is all about ensuring users get a great experience with your solution.
Previously, the goal was often to ensure that your solution could handle sufficient load and not degrade too much under peak traffic.
But now, your users expect, even demand more. They need pages that load fast, apps that respond instantly, and no crashing or lagging when trying to do even the most trivial tasks. It used to be that you could focus on your critical processes, but now all your responses must be timely and stable, or your user experience will suffer, and that could lead to negative consequences for your business.
In 2024, everyone is online all the time, using lots of different devices, from laptops to watches. A site that loads quickly on a desktop but crawls on a mobile phone is a no-go. And with so much competition out there, users will jump ship to something better if your solution is slow. They’re not going to wait around, and they’re definitely not going to be shy about letting the world know your app’s performance is poor.
You need to focus your performance testing on what users are actually experiencing, not just the server-side performance. It’s not just about crunching numbers, testing API endpoints and checking off technical benchmarks. It’s about asking, “Will someone using this solution from a coffee shop Wi-Fi or their couch be happy with how it works?” This means looking at load times, how smooth scrolling is, and if there are any annoying delays when interacting with the solution.
2. Shift to Cloud-Based Performance Testing
Cloud-based load testing takes the hassle out of setting up and running tests compared to traditional on-premises testing.
Going with cloud options means you can start testing your solution without the pain of setting up your own servers or worrying about updating software.
The cloud is all about flexibility. You can quickly scale your testing up or down depending on how much traffic you need to simulate without buying and maintaining additional hardware.
Cloud-based testing also lets you generate from difficult cloud hosts and many countries, anytime, without having to set up servers yourself. This is a huge benefit in simplification and time-saving for anyone with a solution used in multiple regions.
Then there’s the speed factor. With cloud-based testing, you’re just a few clicks away from starting a test. No waiting around for equipment to arrive or software to install or update.
On top of that, cloud platforms often come with built-in analytics and reporting tools. So, you can set up and run tests fast and get quick insights into how your app is performing.
In short, cloud-based performance testing cuts out a lot of the prep work and waiting, letting you focus on what really matters—making sure your app can handle whatever is thrown at it.
3. Embrace Professional Test Tools
In 2024, professional performance testing tools will serve your needs better than open-source options and probably cost less in the long run.
I’ve spoken many times about how open-source performance tools are not worth the extra time, hassle and hidden costs, how they require you to knit together many different tools, lack support, and require more effort to extract meaningful results.
With professional tools, however, you get a support team ready to help you sort out any tricky problems. This is useful when you’re up against tight deadlines and need answers fast. These tools also come with comprehensive user guides and training, making it easier for your team to learn how to use them effectively.
Professional tools pack a lot of advanced features that let you dive deep into analytics, generate detailed reports, and test your solution under a wide range of scenarios and conditions (like Network Virtualization with the LoadRunner suite, for example). They’re also designed to work with lots of different technologies and platforms, so you’re covered no matter what you’re working on.
Security and compliance are other big pluses. I have seen an increase in the number of security audits prior to tool purchases and the much greater depth of these audits, checking for security credentials. Professional tools are built (by professional software houses, not hobbyists) to protect your data and help you meet industry standards, which is crucial if you’re in a field like finance, retail, healthcare, or any sector where you value your data security, and regulations are tight.
4. Unlock The Power of Service Virtualization
Service Virtualization, also known as mock services, lets you simulate parts of an app or system that aren’t available or are too costly to use during testing.
This approach means you can test how different parts of your system work together under load, even if some are external services you don’t control—for instance, your credit card provider or an SAP backend system.
Imagine you’re trying to test drive a car, but half the parts aren’t even there yet. You wouldn’t get a real feel for how the car drives, right? Service Virtualization is like having all the missing car parts appear so you can take it for a proper spin, even if those parts are still being built or are too expensive to use for a test run.
Unlocking the power of service virtualization in performance testing lets you test early and include all/more of the total solution, which saves you time and money and helps ensure your solution is production-ready on time.
Conclusion
In 2024, solutions are more complex; everyone expects them to work perfectly on any device. And because of this, performance testing is more important and challenging than ever.
In this insight, I’ve shared modern trends and best practices that help to make the whole process smoother and more effective. Like using professional tools instead of open-source to save time and money or how cloud-based testing makes everything much easier and faster.
In 2024, a slow or buggy solution just won’t cut it. Users expect quick, smooth interactions; if they don’t get them, they’ll find an alternative. The four strategies above will help you achieve that goal in less time and with less expense.
