With the increasing pressure to deliver perfect, defect-free applications, testers ensure they comprehensively test their mobile and web applications using the most advanced techniques. Most organizations have automated their cloud testing processes to reap the advantages of test automation, such as faster testing, greater accuracy, greater test coverage, and more.
As businesses face growing demands to test applications across countless browsers, platforms, and devices remotely, cloud automation testing is becoming the go-to solution. In cloud testing, applications are tested through a cloud computing environment on a massive scale across multiple environment configurations and hardware without installing and maintaining physical hardware and infrastructure. The popularity of cloud computing and the importance of cloud-based applications and services is increasing daily. As per MarketandMarkets, the cloud application development market is expected to reach 356 billion by 2025.
In this blog, you will study cloud testing in detail, including its different types, benefits, and challenges.
What is cloud testing and what are its types?
Cloud testing refers to using cloud computing services to validate software applications. Cloud-based testing service providers offer testing environments you can configure per your application’s requirements. It includes cloud-based testing labs, tools, management services, and other resources.
The primary types of cloud testing
Cloud testing covers a wide range of practices; here are the primary ones:
1. Functional testing
This includes testing all the application features and functionalities in a cloud environment. Basically, it verifies whether the software works as it is supposed to. Conducting this test with a fully integrated automated testing platform is more advisable than doing it manually.
2. Load testing
This test evaluates how your app performs under different load conditions. It simulates many users using the application simultaneously.
3. Compatibility testing
It entails verifying how your app performs across different devices, browsers, and platforms. The process ensures that your software works efficiently in the intended environment.
4. Security testing
This process ensures your application is safe from attacks by hacking from malicious users and viruses. It scans your application for vulnerabilities and verifies if your security systems are dependable.
5. Disaster-recovery testing
If your data is lost due to unforeseen circumstances, then this testing can be done to check how quickly and how much of the data you can recover.
6. Interoperability testing
It checks if an application is flexible and compatible enough to perform consistently even after the infrastructure changes.
7. Acceptance testing
It verifies whether the application meets the consumer base’s expectations. Testers gather end user feedback and relay it to developers for quick rectification.
Benefits of cloud-based testing
Cloud based testing offers unique advantages that traditional testing techniques cannot offer, such as:
1. Scalability
You can scale your computing resources up or down according to your evolving requirements. One key benefit of cloud testing is that the cloud’s capacity is unlimited, making it the best solution for comprehensive testing.
2. Testing from any location
It has become necessary for the testing team and other project stakeholders to collaborate on the same task. With cloud testing, you get the tools and resources to collaborate with each team and manage the process seamlessly.
3. Comprehensive test coverage
Cloud testing enables you to enhance the testing coverage, ensuring your application performs consistently across various platforms and browsers. With all the latest and legacy devices, browsers, and operating systems available through your cloud environment, you can verify the app comprehensively and ensure a top-notch user experience.
4. Timely releases
In these competitive times, organizations must meet project timelines and release the final products within the expected time frame. Cloud testing is a much more viable option than on-premises testing, where you may have to wait for devices to be available and ensure proper network connectivity. It allows you access to resources you want whenever you need, ensuring you test your applications across multiple user scenarios before release.
5. Better team collaboration and quick feedback
Analyzing test reports is crucial to getting the best results out of your testing processes. Cloud testing services offer analytics and reporting features that give actionable insights into the application, enabling stakeholders to correct the code and enhance the software quality.
6. Test apps against real user conditions
When performing software testing services, you are restricted by factors like network or device availability. Moreover, it becomes necessary to constantly update and maintain the infrastructure, hardware, and software. Conversely, cloud testing allows you to simulate real user conditions, like call interruptions, poor network conditions, and more, for targeted and accurate testing.
7. Cost-effectiveness
In on-premises testing, you need a dedicated space where physical hardware has to be installed with a dedicated team of professionals to take care of the constant updation and maintenance. However, in cloud testing, you save on the expenses of setting up physical hardware and their installation and maintenance. You do not have to worry about hiring specialized experts since your service provider takes care of maintenance and upgrading. Moreover, you only pay for what you use, making cloud testing a viable option for your project.
Challenges of cloud testing
Despite these advantages, certain challenges need to be addressed while conducting cloud testing:
1. Bandwidth issues
Shared resources on the provider’s side can lead to bandwidth issues. Efficient resource management is essential to handling heavy traffic with the available infrastructure.
2. Security of data
The cloud needs to be regularly monitored, and essential precautions must be taken to preserve data privacy.
3. Selecting a vendor
When choosing a cloud testing services provider, it is possible to rely too much on a particular vendor, thus limiting your options for selecting another vendor in the future.
Cloud testing is still the most preferred method of testing because it provides many benefits compared to other methods.
Conclusion
Cloud testing empowers you to enhance your mobile and web applications’ reliability, scalability, and security, leading to better software quality and customer satisfaction. What you need is a reliable end-to-end testing solution that offers the capabilities you need to test your software applications comprehensively across a secure cloud infrastructure.
If you need further help with custom cloud solutions for businesses, you can contact us at [email protected] .We will schedule a free consultation session to explore how Xavor can assist you.