As you can see so far, a lot goes into planning an effective performance test.

Below are the most important elements that need exploring while planning a performance test. Focusing on them will ensure the test is effictive and efficient.

• Identify the types of performance tests required (stress / load / endurance) based on the business requirements provided.
• Ensure that you have up-to-date performance targets and any Service Level Agreements (SLAs) determined before starting the performance tests.
  
  • Note: If your organization does not have Service Level Agreements for performance in place, you should work on identifying and documenting one.
  • Note: Your technical team(s) must be aware of, and discuss SLAs and their feasibility with all stakeholders before plans are final, or updated.
• Performance tests should not occur on production environment sites and servers except for acute or specific scenarios;
• Ensure that the performance test environment is an exact (or close to exact) replica of production environment;
• Base all performance tests on business targets, objectives, or potential issues that require validating - don't try to conduct tests without a clear objective or scope;
• Add "ThinkTime" and "pacing time" to scripts. They should replicate the production scenarios;
• Use co-relation points and data files to make scripts more dynamic and the test scenario more like production;
• The test environment should be manually tested to ensure that workflows execute properly with one user;
• Clear all logs from the controller and load generator machines after every 3-4 tests so that the test numbers are not affected in a negative manner

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