Establish and Document the Application's Performance and Load Testing When Required

This chapter explains how to establish and document performance and load testing for Applications that require it.

When Performance and Load Testing Is Required

Performance and load testing confirms that an Application meets its performance requirements under expected and peak demand, and reveals where it breaks under excessive demand. It is typically required for Applications with demanding performance requirements, large or variable user populations, significant peak periods, or high business criticality, and it should be repeated before Releases that are likely to affect performance.

Establish Performance and Load Testing

For Applications that require it, establish the performance requirements to be verified, the load profiles to test (such as normal, peak, and stress), the test environment and how closely it resembles Production, the tools and test data used, the acceptance criteria, and the triggers for retesting.

Document and Share Performance and Load Testing

Record the test approach, results, comparisons against requirements and performance baselines, any shortfalls found and how they were resolved, and the sign-off, in the Test section of the Application Documentation. Use the results to establish or update the Application’s performance baselines and capacity plan.

Best Practice: Establish and Document the Application’s Performance and Load Testing When Required

It is a best practice to both establish and document the solution for verifying performance where an Application’s requirements demand it: test against defined load profiles and acceptance criteria in a representative environment, record results against requirements and baselines, and feed them into the capacity plan.

Benefits: Performance testing exposes slowdowns and failures under load before users experience them, which is far cheaper than discovering them during a peak business period. Feeding results into baselines and capacity planning keeps performance expectations grounded in measured fact.

Connections to Related IF4IT Practices and Inventories

The Non-Functional Requirements (NFRs) Framework for Software Systems addresses performance and scalability requirements. The IT Operating Environments Best Practices addresses governing performance and specialized validation requirements by Environment Instance.