Performance testing: Importance and objectives to keep in mind

Organizations which depend on applications for mission critical activities are increasingly turning to performance testing to overcome bottlenecks. Through effective performance testing, such small and mid-sized businesses can evaluate whether their application performance is up to the established standards. It also helps them in avoiding down time which affects bottom lines of their business. Such a defined performance testing process ensures that all service level agreement conditions are met. The following are some importance and objectives of performance testing to keep in mind.

Importance of Performance Testing


• If mission critical activities depend on applications, performance testing improves the overall quality of services which are provided


• Performance testing is needed to make sure that all applications are running on time so that end users do not face any problem and have a smooth and satisfactory experience


• It also helps in meeting the terms of the service level agreement


• Clients can be satisfied by providing them with a fast and reliable application through performance testing of all important applications

Objectives of Performance Testing


• Helps when IT teams need to compare the performance of multiple applications


• Performance testing minimizes application costs


• Enables faster response time of applications


• Is useful in spotting application bottlenecks and solving them


• Helps in meeting service level agreement terms


• Through performance testing, IT teams can meet application criteria set by a company and its clients

The importance of performance testing in a business setup cannot be over stressed. Most of the small and mid-sized businesses have started using customized packages from experienced vendors for testing their applications. Spotting the need for custom performance testing solutions, a lot of APM vendors have also entered the market. A customized performance testing solution will not only help in spotting and eliminating application performance issues, it will also help with service level agreement conditions.

Thinking of undertaking performance testing for your applications? Some tips to help you out

Performance testing may seem a simple enough task, but it troubles a lot of businesses. When a business owner is asked the reason of undertaking performance testing, he/she might be unable to point to specific reasons. However the main objective of performance testing is to determine application performance in some pre-determined conditions. It helps track the performance of an application, so that the IT department can overcome problems, if any. It can also help IT managers undertake business service management effectively. Performance testing has different purposes for different businesses. They may be:

• Identifying problems in application performance


• Making sure that all applications are of a certain standard


• Comparing application performance of different applications

Some tips for effective performance testing are:

Set specific performance criteria for your applications

Keep your end users in mind when you are setting application performance criteria. You need to meet the expectations of your end users, so keeping them in focus while setting the criteria is very important. Inquire about the problems end users face and the kind of expectations that they have. That way, you will know what your applications need to achieve at the end of performance testing experiments. Most businesses undertaking performance testing have two goals: to meet customer expectations and to meet IT service management goals.

Database is very important for performance testing

Performance testing is usually undertaken by stimulating user sessions and then noting the response times of applications. Load testing is also a part of application performance testing to check the effects and problems, if any, of multiple user sessions. This is especially true in case of businesses which give importance to IT service management. The database has a very high impact on the end user experience. For example, an end user may complete a transaction fast if it is inserted in and empty table, but the response time will be slow once the table grows. The database is hence very important for the performance testing objectives.

Plan for performance testing

If you want the performance testing to be successful, you need to plan in advance. For instance, application performance can be ensured by getting scalable architecture, hardware resources etc. with such strong resources, IT managers can see to it that all applications are performing as per the standards established. A lot of vendors offer custom performance testing solutions, which can help ensure that applications across the organization are working well. Such solutions also help in meeting business service management goals. You should also get to know from end users which applications they use frequently so that you can save time on performance testing of applications which are rarely used.

Looking for a monitoring tool? Some questions to ask

While the need for a strong monitoring tool for your business is justified, you need to ask a lot of questions in order to determine that it is the right one for you. After all, your IT budget needs to be judiciously spent, and the monitoring system that you bring in should justify the spending. The number of APM solution providers in the market has increased exponentially, so you need to tread carefully while looking for one. So in addition to keeping your requirements in mind, ask the right questions before signing an agreement for a monitoring tool. Following are some of the questions you should ask:

1. How detailed is the monitoring tool? Many products out there only pinpoint the problem, but will not identify the root of the problem. A good monitoring system should not only identify the problem, but also its cause so that the IT team can take appropriate steps to solve the issue. Only if the problem is identified quickly will the bottlenecks be solved and service level agreements met.
2. Does it cover all applications? There are a lot of elements in the business infrastructure which can affect the performance of applications. If your monitoring tool cannot monitor all such infrastructure, it at least needs to be able to pull in data so that the IT team can get the true picture of all the applications. An effective monitoring system hence has to become the eyes of the IT team, so it can spot and prevent problems in applications.
3. Is the monitoring system easily manageable? Some monitoring tool available today are very efficient, but require constant tracking. Also check whether the tool requires any element to be installed on your production environment. Vendors now offer totally non-intrusive monitoring systems, which will help ensure that there is a reduction in down time. This also ensures that he promises made in the service level agreements are delivered.
4. Does the vendor offer support with the monitoring tool? An elaborate monitoring system may be very complex and you will require proper support to unravel it and put to use. Be sure to match find a monitoring tool which fits your requirements best. If there is no support provided with the system, go for one which provides less features but comes with full support. A simple monitoring system would be much more helpful than one which is complicated and requires expensive assistance.

Due to the popularity of monitoring tools and their importance in maintaining service level agreements, many APM solution providers have come forward with innovative solutions. Look for a monitoring system which matches your requirements closely, so that it can help you reduce downtime of all applications within your business.