Testing Strategy for Cloud-Based Applications

Adopting cloud services is not an emerging trend but a practice that is growing with time.

Today, almost every organization depends on cloud services like software as a service (SaaS), platform as a service (PaaS), or infrastructure as a service (IaaS) to improve the services they render.

Cloud services offer several functionalities to businesses, but to benefit from these functionalities, QAs require testing.

An effective testing strategy for cloud-based applications includes utilizing cloud testing to simulate real-world traffic using cloud technologies and solutions.

The article highlights the benefits of testing cloud applications, challenges in drafting a testing strategy, tools and technologies that help in this testing, and some of the best practices.

Software Testing on Cloud

Cloud computing changes the management of different resources like databases, communication devices, storage units, and more. It offers reliability and scalability for applications deployed on or run on the cloud.

Testing on the cloud is essential, but only a few organizations have adopted testing on the cloud. This is mainly because it is challenging to execute test cases and monitor the performance of cloud applications.

Setting up an infrastructure that examines the application’s performance, reliability, speed, and functionality requires organizational resources. As the applications become more complex, it has become difficult for organizations to set up in-house testing facilities replicating real-world environments.

Let us dig deeper into the challenges testers face while implementing testing processes on the cloud.

Common challenges in cloud-based application testing

1. Service Challenges

Some familiar service challenges in testing cloud-based applications include service availability, cloud service impersonation as a remote service because of the distributed nature of the cloud, and validating SaaS in the cloud environment.

Additionally, testing the existing cloud services like auto-provisioned functions, examining service efficiency, and encompassing efficiency in cost savings is difficult.

2. Security Concerns

Privacy remains the top concern when it comes to cloud applications. The application data may move from one data center to another, with physical locations in different countries.

Privacy laws vary from country to country, and compliance with data storage, management, and access concerning such laws becomes vital but complex.

Some other security concerns are-

• Limited visibility- Cloud environments do not allow free access to the underlying infrastructure, including the security controls that cloud providers implement.
• Insecure APIs- To access the cloud services, applications use APIs. Sometimes, these APIs are not secured, leading to unauthorized access and data leakage.
• Shared responsibility- Third-party vendors secure the cloud infrastructure to offer cloud services. However, cloud applications and the security of sensitive data remain the organization’s responsibility.

3. Layered Testing Challenges

Layered testing implies the different levels of testing that need to be executed to ensure the reliability of the cloud-based application. A robust testing plan must address environment consistency, security testing, scalability testing, testing interactions, dependencies (for distributed systems), data inconsistencies, CI/CD, and network latency. Leveraging advanced tools and technologies can help software development companies ensure robust cloud applications.

4. Obtaining On-Demand Cloud Services

Factors like service availability, cloud service impersonation as local services, testing SaaS in a cloud environment, validating software performance, scalability, security, testing cloud concord and inter-operation competence, and testing present automatic cloud-based services pose challenges to obtaining on-demand cloud services.

Also, a lack of standards, data security, and service efficiency can impact the ability to get on-demand cloud services for testing cloud applications.

5. Utilization of Cloud Resources

Utilizing cloud resources is challenging for several reasons, such as public cloud models’ need for standards and data security. Also, cloud environments’ dynamic and scalable nature brings different resource utilization challenges.

Testers need help with resource utilization, including cost management, resource contention, and managing network and storage resources, among others.

6. Planning Test Environment

Planning a test environment is a complex process for testing cloud applications. Many reasons make this process difficult, and some are listed below.

• Resource management because of the dynamic cloud environments.
• Achieving scalability in a testing environment is challenging, considering factors like load testing and performance testing.
• Cloud environment leverages several tools and techniques for testing cloud applications. Achieving seamless integration and compatibility between all the tools is complex.

Benefits of a Testing Strategy for Cloud-App Testing

Having a testing strategy for testing cloud-based applications offers several advantages, some of which are listed below.

• Improved Quality

A comprehensive testing strategy ensures early testing of the cloud application. Early bug detection helps deliver a better quality application that eventually provides a better user experience.

• Better Security

The testing strategy covers the measures that need to be taken to improve the security posture of cloud applications. Addressing security concerns in continuity helps improve security and keep cyberattacks at bay.

• Cost Saving

Delays in addressing the issues in the prod environment can cause an increase in costs. The comprehensive testing strategy helps mitigate this risk and save money while taking care of the issues from the beginning of the development process.

• Increased Reliability

Continuous and rigorous testing ensures the cloud app performs as expected throughout the workloads and conditions. The testing strategy covers different types of testing that need to be performed to achieve better reliability.

• Compliance Adherence

The testing strategy includes compliance testing so the cloud app meets the compliance requirements and industry standards. Adhering to the compliance policies, the organization can avoid legal penalties in the later stages.

• Faster Time to Market

A good testing strategy speeds up product development while resolving issues promptly. The development becomes optimized and helps the product be released faster in the market.

Cloud application testing types and examples

Several testing types can be included to test a cloud application. Some popular ones are discussed with an example (each).

• Functional Testing

The testing ensures that the cloud app’s functionalities meet the user’s expectations. For example, examination of the user login and account creation. Some testing types included in this head are listed below.

• Unit testing

It includes testing individual components of the cloud application. The testing is done in isolation. For example, a tester tests a specific function or method in the code.

• Integration testing

The testing is done to ensure that the cloud app’s components or modules work with each other seamlessly. For example, the connection between the front-end and back-end of the application must be examined.

• Non-functional Testing

Testing the non-functional aspects of the cloud application helps in understanding its characteristics beyond functionality. Some testing covered under this head are listed below.

• Usability testing

It evaluates how easy or intuitive the cloud app is for its target audience. For example, testing the user interface to understand usability, accessibility, and user experience and conducting user acceptance testing (UAT) to examine how the app meets the user requirements.

• Scalability Testing

It helps understand how the cloud application will behave or adapt to increased load and user traffic. For example, conducting stress testing and volume testing.

Best Practices for Creating an Effective Cloud-based App Testing Strategy

Several practices can make the testing strategy highly effective for testing cloud applications. Some of these best practices are mentioned in the following points.

Understanding Service Availability

The practice helps in ensuring that the app meets the uptime requirements of users and business needs. It is tied to tasks like defining the testing goals, prioritizing the test cases to influence service availability, and continuously monitoring the cloud application’s performance.

Quality Assurance of Cloud-Based Services

It is essential to have quality assurance for cloud applications to ensure their reliability, security, and ability to meet user expectations. QA integrates with cloud app testing using the shift-left approach and security, performance, and usability testing.

Intero-Operation Competency Testing

It is commonly known as interoperability competence testing, and the practice focuses on ensuring seamless interaction of cloud apps with other systems and services. It is helpful because it verifies that the cloud app can flawlessly exchange data and functionality with external systems. It also reduces integration issues that can lead to data consistency and better user experience.

Testing Automated Cloud-Based Services

The practice is crucial because many cloud apps rely on automated functionalities to execute different tasks, orchestrate workflows, and interact with other systems. Including automated services in the testing, strategy ensures that the cloud app and its components work as intended.

Such services help proactively identify and address issues, improve reliability and efficiency of operations, and reduce security risks.

On-Demand Services

Fitting on-demand services in the testing strategy for cloud-based applications can provide access to a vast pool of testing resources. Such services can be scaled up or down depending on the testing requirements. These services offer a more comprehensive range of expertise and can help execute tests faster (with a pre-configured testing environment and infrastructure).

What computing is used in cloud applications?

Cloud computing is used to develop cloud applications. It has become a significant norm when a business aims to expand its operations.

It is a cloud technology that allows organizations easy access to cloud-based storage, services, and networking, among other things.

IBM Cloud, Amazon Web Services, and Google Cloud Platform are popular cloud computing service providers.

The following figure illustrates cloud computing services and deployment models that make cloud computing infrastructure.

Conclusion

Creating an effective strategy for testing cloud-based applications guarantees their success. Understanding the crucial aspects like the app’s service availability, QA practices, and interoperability lays the groundwork for delivering secure applications. Further, incorporating best practices like testing automated services and on-demand services empowers testing professionals to optimize the testing processes.

Continuous monitoring of the cloud application remains paramount in making it resilient and secure.