A Detailed Overview on Cloud Testing: Benefits, Types and Tools

Cloud testing is an increasingly popular way of testing applications due to its lower maintenance costs compared to on-premises testing. It utilizes cloud-based tools to simulate real-world traffic and measure performance, scalability, security, and reliability.

Through this article, let’s uncover the basics of cloud-based testing, including its types, benefits, and tools.

What is Cloud Testing?

Cloud testing also referred to as cloud based testing, is a comprehensive process of leveraging cloud computing services to validate software applications. These may be in the form of:

• Platform as a Service (PaaS)
• Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), and
• Software as a Service (SaaS)

PaaS – It is a comprehensive cloud-based Dev and deployment environment. It enables the teams to deliver solutions for developing, testing, and deploying simple to advanced enterprise applications. Components of PaaS include servers, storage, Dev tools, BI, networking, and database management systems.

IaaS – It is a cloud computing service that offers on-demand computing, storage, and networking resources.

SaaS – These services enable the utilization of cloud-based applications via the network. The infrastructure, data, and applications are in the cloud or data center.

Use Case of Cloud Testing

Let’s assume a team worked on developing app features. In case the business has limited availability of resources and infrastructure to perform cross browser testing, it is not advised to release the product by merely testing on a few web browsers.

However, the scenario may be avoided with cloud-based testing. Cloud offers a comprehensive platform for cross-browser testing, ensuring teams can perform efficient testing over a wide range of browsers, OS, and devices.

In this case, the business does not have to worry about the infrastructure as it is not its responsibility to ensure its scalability. As a result, leveraging cloud testing provides improved test coverage, quicker deployments, and the best possible product quality. Next-generation cloud services, namely VPS cloud plans, give you even better stability and increased flexibility. It’s up to you to choose the operating system, customize the virtual instance’s hardware configuration, and set numerous other parameters according to your requirements.

Why Should You Adopt Cloud Testing Automation Tools?

Cloud-based test automation tools provide unmatched and competitive advantages over the traditional tools available for test automation.

• Cost-Effective Alternates: Cloud testing automation tools slice down the Total Cost of Ownership in cloud-based automation tools. Cloud-based tools typically have fewer setup requirements, ensuring the least possible capital expenditure and depreciation. Cloud-based tools offer high reusability of test components. They are highly scalable, which makes them ideal for load and performance testing scenarios. Pay-as-you-use based service model provides ease of scaling up and down based on the business requirements.
• Enables Virtualization: Cloud-based tools bring in the benefits of virtualization. They allow businesses to better streamline their resources through effective and comprehensive testing. With the advancement in the application, companies can also scale up and leverage virtualization to enable resource sharing and keep testing costs low.
• Promotes Collaboration: Cloud-based automation tools enable teams across different locations to collaborate efficiently. Testers can quickly test from other locations and access test reports from anywhere worldwide without the pain of uploading and downloading them.
• Enables Faster QA: Automation tools enable competitive advantages of higher productivity with quicker test cycles. Cloud-based automation tools bring the additional benefits of quick setup deployment. Unlike traditional tools, cloud-based test automation tools do not involve a lengthy structure and installation, ensuring that testing may take place as soon as possible and from anywhere.
• Reduces the Role of IT: Cloud-based tools cut down many dependencies associated with IT management, such as hardware or software installation, licensing, allocating user access, software upgrades, and so on. With the lesser need for IT management, employees have more time to focus on core activities that make a difference in a company’s business.

Challenges With On Premises Testing

On-premise testing means testers test on devices or systems set up at the office. This surely seems convenient on small scale, but as organizations grow, it gets expensive & challenging. Here are some of the limitations of on-premise testing:

1. Creating the Environment

For executing on-premises software testing, businesses need to make considerable investments in setting up an infrastructure. This includes gathering the tools, network configurations, hardware, data setup, etc. A testing infrastructure should have all the necessary components for testing, debugging, and storage – everything adds up to the setup and maintenance costs. Hence, an on-premises testing setup is not recommended for software testing.

2. Maintaining Devices and Software

Regarding on-premises testing, keep in mind that there are many costs involved. This is because the equipment and machines need to be upgraded regularly. Maintaining a slew of tools, systems, servers, and software is no easy task.

3. Cost for Infrastructure

Machines are stored in one primary site or scattered across multiple locations for on-premises testing, depending on the nature of the organization. This may necessitate the use of virtual and physical storage areas, as well as data centers. On-premises testing also requires a big team with various professionals. With the rapid advancement of technology and software development, this team must constantly learn new skills and keep up with the latest innovations, which is only sometimes practical.

Challenges with Cloud Testing

In this testing, a unique set of challenges must be addressed to ensure the quality and reliability of cloud-based applications. These include:

1. Network Latency: Cloud-based testing can be affected by how long information travels over the internet, which can slow down how well the app works. This is especially a problem for apps that need fast response times, like those that need real-time updates.
2. Data Security: Testing in the cloud can raise worries about keeping data safe since important info could be stored there. Companies must ensure their cloud services have enough security to protect their info.
3. Integration: Testing in the cloud can be challenging because different cloud providers don’t always work well together and have different rules about what they will provide (called SLAs).
4. Cost: Cloud-based testing can save you money in some cases, but if you don’t manage it properly, it could cost you. Ensure you’re only paying for what you need so your wallet doesn’t take a hit.

How to Test in the Cloud?

Instead of setting up a physical testing environment, you can use cloud computing and its resources. This offers scalability, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness compared to on-premises testing. You must choose a reliable and secure cloud provider for your tests, manage the resources you use for testing carefully, and ensure that your test environments are well-configured for optimal performance.

Manual cloud testing involves manual processes like manually writing scripts, configuring the system, and verifying data. This can take time and money but gives you more control over what’s being tested.

On the other hand, automation uses tools to run tests in a cloud environment. This is faster as it can run multiple tests at once, allowing multiple users to access the application and giving detailed reports about how everything went. Automated testing on the cloud saves money; you don’t need extra people or hardware resources.

When doing this type of testing, it’s important to think about things like scalability (how much you can increase or decrease usage), performance (how well it runs), security (keeping your data safe), reliability (it works when you need it to), availability (it’s always there when you need it), cost-effectiveness (how cheap is it?), scalability across different platforms, compatibility with existing systems, and how well the application or service links up with other apps/services. It’s also vital that any changes made during development don’t mess up the rest of the system.

Advantages of Cloud Testing

Cloud testing is software testing that uses cloud computing resources to test applications and services. It has become increasingly popular in recent years due to the cost savings and scalability offered by cloud computing. This testing offers many advantages over traditional testing methods, including:

1. Enables Testing from Anywhere and Anytime

With project teams becoming more distributed, they must be able to collaborate and work on the same task simultaneously. Cloud testing provides the tools to manage the process through Dev, QA, deployment, and more. Cloud testing makes it possible to collaborate and meet project deadlines in real-time.

2. Higher Scalability for Testing

For a higher level of scalability, the cloud environment is a recommended resource for testing. A test cloud’s capacity is limitless, meaning businesses can upscale and downscale their QA process per the project requirements.

3. Comprehensive Test Coverage

Cloud application testing elevates the testing coverage. To ensure the seamless performance of the application over a wide range of platforms, it is essential to test the application over various devices, browsers, and OS versions. It also provides access to all the required resources to test the application and ensure a top-notch user experience.

4. Facilitates Real User Conditions

Software testing is restricted when performed on premises. QA engineers must continuously face limitations such as on-premises restrictions, network availability, device availability, etc. Moreover, there is always a need to keep the infrastructure updated. Alternatively, a cloud-based testing infrastructure enables infinite testing possibilities without limitations, as in the case of on-premises testing. Testers could validate the software like real users and leverage simulators and emulators for targeted and accurate testing. During cloud testing, testers can facilitate actual user conditions like:

• Location
• Preferred devices
• Network coverage
• Other apps running in the background
• Degraded network conditions
• Conflicting apps
• Call and text interruptions

5. Ensures Timely Releases

It is always a task for QA engineers to keep up with the project timelines. In the case of on-premises testing, testers might have to wait for their devices to be available and ensure they have regular network connectivity while performing application testing. Cloud testing is a relatively better option here, as testers can use the network and devices whenever they need and ensure seamless test coverage. Testing across various devices, networks, and operating systems ensures the application is validated on multiple user scenarios before the final release.

6. Improves Infrastructure Security

Cloud testing is more secure than an on-premises software testing setup. A dedicated cloud that features the testing devices and network ensures a safe and secure platform for testing and adherence to security compliance regulations.

7. Enables Faster Feedback

Analyzing the test reports is critical for yielding the maximum ROI from testing. Cloud testing comes with analytics and customized reporting to efficiently manage test data. Custom and prompt test reports provide actionable insights to the stakeholders for making the necessary product enhancements.

8. Promotes team collaboration

Since cloud-based testing enables collaboration among departments, it helps businesses adopt effective DevOps methodologies into their existing workflows. Testers can use the cloud environment to set up and automate testing of the applications over various permutations.

Types Of Cloud Testing

Cloud test environments enable a relatively broader scope of functional and non-functional tests. The following are a few examples of testing performed in cloud environments:

System Testing

This ensures all the application features perform as per the expectations.

Interoperability Testing

Interoperability testing validates if the application performance is hampered in case of infrastructural changes.

Performance Testing

This includes stress testing and load testing, ensuring consistent application performance in higher load or stress conditions.

Availability Testing

This ensures no outage in case any functional changes are made at the cloud level.

Multi-Tenancy Testing

This ensures there are no performance or security loopholes in the application, and the application performs seamlessly even when more number of users are accessing the app.

Security Testing

This type of testing is essential to ensure the application is prepared to tackle any data or security breach. By running security tests, testers are able to find and eliminate all possible security vulnerabilities in the application.

Disaster Recovery Testing

This software testing ensures that no critical data is lost in downtime or memory outages.

Browser Performance Testing

It resembles browser compatibility testing, in which the application is tested over a wide range of browsers, operating systems, and devices. Browser performance testing ensures the application delivers a seamless user experience regardless of the hardware or software being used for testing.

Examples of Cloud Testing

Cloud testing refers to software testing activities that are performed using cloud-based infrastructure. Here are some examples of cloud testing:

1. Load Testing: Load testing is like giving your app or website a check-up. It’s when you simulate lots of users using the app or website simultaneously to see how it performs. You can do this in the cloud using tools like Apache JMeter, BlazeMeter, and LoadRunner.
2. Security Testing: Security testing is a way to make sure your application or system is safe from hackers. There are lots of tools available, like WhiteHat Sentinel, Nessus, and OpenVAS, which can help you scan for weaknesses and check that your security measures are working.
3. Compatibility Testing: Testing an app or system to ensure it works on different phones, computers, and web browsers is called compatibility testing. Services like Testsigma, Sauce Labs, BrowserStack, and CrossBrowserTesting can help make the process easier and make sure everything works correctly.
4. Functional Testing: Functional testing is when you check if something works as it should. Tools like Selenium, Appium, and Testsigma can make the testing process faster by doing some of the work for you – so you don’t have to do as much manually.
5. Performance Testing: Performance testing is like a check-up for an app or system. It ensures that it’s running as quickly and smoothly as possible. Tools like LoadNinja, LoadView, and Gatling can ‘trick’ the app or system into thinking there’s a lot of people using it at once so you can see how well it performs under pressure.

How Testsigma can help as a Cloud Testing Tool?

Testsigma is a cloud-based test automation platform that eases and speeds up the automation testing process for web and mobile apps. The tool is simple, allowing users to write the test cases in simple English.Testsigma makes it easy to quickly create and run automated tests so that you can make better apps in no time. It’s cloud-based, meaning everything is online, so you don’t have to spend ages setting it up. Plus, even if you’re a beginner, Testsigma’s natural language interface makes writing tests simple – plus, there are loads of other cool features too!

• You can run various tests simultaneously, schedule them for later or repeat them regularly without doing anything manually.
• Headless browser automation makes testing faster by reducing UI interaction complexity.
• If something goes wrong, you’ll get test failure logs, screenshots, and videos to help debug the issue.
• You can customize notifications and generate bug reports from your favorite tracking tools. Plus, it’s easy to collaborate and review with other team members to maintain quality.
• And don’t forget – it integrates easily with all CI/CD tools on the cloud!

Wrapping Up

The right product testing strategy and resources unearth issues that may harm the user experience in any form. In today’s extremely competitive times, companies must make use of advanced cloud infrastructure to maximize the return on testing.

Cloud-based testing is a proven way of accelerating the QA process and simultaneously bringing down the costs involved in setting up and maintaining the QA infrastructure.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is AWS cloud testing?

AWS Testing is a practice that helps businesses ensure that their applications and services are working as expected. It validates the functionality, performance, and security of an AWS application or service. AWS Testing aims to find and fix issues in an application before they become a problem for customers. You can identify issues early and prevent them from impacting customers by testing an application with different scenarios and conditions or by implementing continuous infrastructure monitoring.

Does cloud testing require coding?

Cloud testing generally requires coding for setup, maintenance, etc. However, there exist tools like Testsigma, a unified cloud test automation platform built to accelerate automation testing for web apps, mobile apps, and APIs by offering ease of writing test scripts in simple English. By leveraging Testsigma, QA teams can create, run, and maintain automated tests to build and deploy high-quality applications at a quicker pace. Simply put, Testsigma doesn’t require frameworks, setup or coding to test applications.

Why do we need cloud testing?

Here are some primary benefits of cloud testing below:

• Cost Savings: Cloud testing saves a lot of expenses for businesses. Where traditional testing comes at a price, cloud testing proves to be an inexpensive alternative.
• Joint effort: Cloud testing ensures there are a significant number of helping hands if required, unlike testing traditionally, where only testers handle the testing phase.
• Timesaving: Cloud testing is a time saver, as it saves a lot of time for performing tests that traditionally take a lot more time.

What is cloud platform testing?

Service providers such as AWS, Azure, and IBM provide cloud platforms that ingest and analyze data at scale. Cloud platform testing involves validating the application’s functional correctness and testing for performance, analytics, and scalability.

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