Determining test objectives

Performance tests can validate sizing estimates, ensure that your deployment meets your business or organization requirements, and address performance issues. You must identify the key business questions for your organization and develop tests that answer those questions.

Procedure

  1. Identify the key questions that you want to answer in the performance tests.

    For example, you might consider the following questions:

    • Does the planned system architecture meet our business or organization requirements?
    • Does the planned deployment provide a satisfactory response time for the expected number of concurrent users to perform a specified number of transactions over specific timeframe?
    • Will a particular component create system performance issues for an expected transaction volume and number of concurrent users?
    • Is the hardware in the deployment enough to provide acceptable performance, given the expected number of transactions and users?
  2. Prioritize the risks, rewards, and costs in your deployment.

    For example, you might decide that supporting large user loads that perform many concurrent transactions is the most important factor for your deployment.



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