How to Choose the Best Performance Testing Tool for Your Business

Performance testing is typically the most common activity that Systems Performance Engineering teams perform during the delivery life cycle. It involves validating the various non-functional attributes of a system or component under test.

Performance testing is often regarded as a black art in systems performance engineering. This HowTo and other resources at Practical Performance Analyst aim to help dispel this myth and make the discipline more widely understood.

So, this article aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the various aspects of software performance testing services, including the need for automation, the different types of tests, and the approach to identifying a suitable tool.

But first…

What exactly are the how-tos in performance testing?

A HowTo is a document that describes a set of outcomes that can be achieved through a series of steps. It does not use too much technical jargon and is written logically. This style of writing makes it easy to read and is designed to help the reader navigate through the various steps involved.

The HowTo’s start with a summary of the information that is provided and any background knowledge that is required to implement the plan is typically highlighted at the beginning. These are typically written for professionals who clearly understand what they need to accomplish but do not know how to do it.

What is the goal?

The goal of HowTos is to provide exhaustive instructions, but they do not necessarily offer the most efficient method of doing the job. Instead, they should be viewed as a step-by-step guide that helps users get up and running with their tasks without learning anything new.

How To Select The Best Performance Testing Tool?

Before you start using the performance testing tool, you should first analyze the requirements and budget approved by your higher management. You can register for a free trial license by visiting the vendor’s website. It will give you the full software version for about 10 days.

Prepare for a warm-up test by generating the results and analyzing them. Then, explore the tool’s features and try to implement them in the script. Doing so will help improve your confidence level. You can also go online to find more information about vendor support.

Before you build an application, analyze your requirements and develop a strategy that fits your needs. The key factors that will affect the development of an application include the type of technology it is built on, the budget, and the multiple license types it supports.

Why Do You Need to Use a Performance Testing Tool?

In most cases, a performance test requires the ability to generate thousands of concurrent users to replicate a specific workload model. This can be done by analyzing the transaction throughput or the agreed transaction rate.

Getting the most out of your testing efforts is very challenging due to the number of people involved in the process. Besides having multiple testers working on the same project, coordinating all of them to do the same thing and eliminate manual errors is also very difficult.

A performance test tool can measure the system’s behavior and put a demand on a system. Instead of simulating the interactions between the user interface and the applications, it generates messages between the components. The messages can be stored as scripts or generated using the tool’s recording feature. The performance test tools also provide robust reports and analyses that can be used to analyze the results.

What is the main advantage of using a performance testing tool?

One of the biggest advantages of using performance testing tools is their ability to scale out automatically when additional workloads are added to the system. Most commercial and open-source tools allow for this type of horizontal scalability. For instance, adding new load generation servers to the pool can allow for the generation of additional virtual users.

A performance testing tool can help you automate various aspects of your operations, such as the measurement of outcomes and the ability to scale them on demand. This is ideal for small and medium-sized businesses that are looking to improve their efficiency.

What Are the Factors to Consider When Choosing the Best Performance Testing Tool?

Before you start working on performance testing, you must choose the right tool for business. There are a variety of factors that can be considered when it comes to choosing the right tool for your project, and it can be hard to navigate in the dark. Here are eight of the most common factors that will help you find the ideal tool for your needs.

License availability on the customer machine.
Customer Preference Tool

Availability of the Test Environment
License Cost
Additional Protocol Support

User Options for Testing
Efficiency of a Tool
Vendor Support

What Are The Best Performance Tests That You Should Perform Using The Best Tool For Your Business?

Load Tests

A load test is a type of test that involves injecting a set of business processes into a SUT. It aims to analyze the behavior of the system when it’s run against a given workload. Besides the usual performance metrics, a load test also aims to collect other details, such as the end-user response times.

Soak Tests

The goal of a soak test is to analyze how the system performs over an extended period of time. Usually, these tests are conducted for a long time, such as up to 8 hours. They are usually performed on a similar schedule to the normal user workload, and the results are replicated.

Break Tests

The concept of break testing is quite clear. It aims to understand the state of the system under test. As part of this process, one would typically increase the workload to the point where it can no longer cope with the increasing number of concurrent users. This is usually indicated by the behavior of the performance testing tool, which doesn’t increase the transactional throughput.

Stress Tests

The concept of stress testing involves testing the system under load at various peaks and troughs of its demand. Depending on your business’s model, this process can be performed to predict the system’s behavior. The trough and peak should be determined by the model that your business uses to predict the system’s behavior once it’s live.

Bottom Line

Using a performance testing tool for your business is a great idea. You can assess the workloads in your system while helping you automate the different aspects of your operation. But choosing the best performance testing tool is a challenging task.

You can refer to this guide and make an informed decision when choosing the best performance testing tool for your business.