Answer 6 simple questions and match your current situation with load testing best practices.
Test load, not only functions
| Our web projects use a solid methodology for function testing but we normally don’t do any load testing. | We perform load testing regularly, but that’s run by IT operations and is not connected to the development department’s efforts. | We always perform load testing as an integrated part of our development and deployment methodology. |
Test at new releases
| When our new web application was launched we performed load tests to verify the load capacity. | We tested at launch and have made occasional tests since. | We always run stress tests at major releases and upgrades. |
Test from several locations
| We test from our supplier’s only test center, wherever it happens to be located. | We test from several locations, all within the pre-determined test agent network of our supplier. | We specify the geographic location of our customers, and our supplier configures the test to specifically match our specification. |
Test real scenarios
| We load test the home page or a single URL of our web application. | We test several pages or components of our web application. | We create test scenarios that mimic the user paths and tasks of typical users. |
Analyze your results
| Our load testing data tells us what our capacity limit is and we try to add capacity if we feel we are too close to the limit. | Our load testing data tells us roughly where problems are located, and we try to fix them by “trial and error” on an ad hoc basis. | We regularly analyze and drill down in our load testing results to find and remove performance bottlenecks. |
Standalone or integrated web performance tools
| We have one supplier/ software for load testing and another one for performance monitoring. | We have only one supplier/software for load testing & performance monitoring, but the tools are not integrated. | We have one supplier/ software with integrated tools and methods for load testing & performance monitoring. |
Interpreting the results
If you have many results in the red column you are "just getting started" with load testing. That's good news, and you have plenty of room for easy improvements.
Most of the results in the yellow column indicate that you are on your way to a systematic approach to load testing but, compared to the best, you still have a bit to go.
If you are in the green column: Congratulations! You have the systematic and comprehensive approach to web performance management, with load testing as the most important component.