Cloud computing is an approach to technology that has taken the tech industry by a storm. It’s not only changing the way we use resources, but it is also changing the way companies deliver products and services. The cloud computing market, albeit already strong enough, is expected to grow by 17% in 2020, with a revenue of $227.8 billion. That comes to show how relevant this approach is for all kinds of companies.
The reason for cloud computing’s popularity is that it provides many advantages. Among its many benefits you can find:
- Smooth scalability: You can increase or decrease resources as needed and on-demand.
- Cost Cutting: Since you are only using a certain amount of resources, you only pay for those. Additionally, you’re only “renting” the resources rather than having to buy them, which cut investment and maintenance costs.
- Time: In the cloud, your application can run on many systems simultaneously. That saves a lot of time. Also, you don’t have to spend time upgrading and fixing your testing environment. Cloud testing uses automated tools, and that also helps in saving time.
- All-inclusive environment: The cloud environment is all-inclusive, so you have a host of features at your fingertips.
But there are some significant challenges companies face when moving their testing to the cloud environment. To counter that, you should hire fully qualified people who know how to handle cloud testing. Cloud vendors should understand the common issues and should be able to resolve them. For example, BairesDev, a QA company that provides stand-alone and integrated testing services to startups and large organizations.
What are the biggest issues you might find when using a cloud testing environment? Here are the top 5:
1. Security
This is one of the main reasons people are still not using the cloud. Even though the cloud has many security features like disaster recovery and frequent data backup, it still has a long way to go. Encryption is incapable of adequately securing data in a cloud environment. Hence, even though 94% of companies who use cloud report significant benefits, the cloud’s data protection is still not considered at par with its alternatives.
As most companies are outsourcing their software development these days, testing in the cloud is a great concern for companies that don’t want to compromise their data. Since it is a third party infrastructure, providing and enforcing security standards can also be a problem if not stated in the contract.
Even though you can have your own testing environment in the cloud, you can not assure where your data will be stored, what are the standards and policies of that area, etc. Testing over the internet is also a problem. You have to make sure that no data is leaked from the vendor’s side or through the network.
2. Cost Estimation
Many companies have concerns about the business part of the cloud. There is a concern regarding ROI estimation, hidden costs, etc. SLAs are not clearly defined in many cloud-vendor contracts. That means there are extra costs you can incur by merely adding users or using a little bit of extra space. There are also other cost-related problems that you might face that are worth checking out.
3. Integration problems
Application Integration can be a huge concern in the cloud environment, as existing applications may not connect seamlessly with the new software. Also, the infrastructure required for an application may not be available. Creating a test environment in such constraints can be a challenging task.
Ideally, the infrastructure should support all configurations and technologies you might need to perform your test. But a lot of the time, engineers are forced to integrate different applications in BlackBox view, with nothing but few existing API’s to guide them.
4. Service Problems
If a business moves its work to the cloud, you can’t be sure about the kind of service you’ll get. Also, you can’t be sure you’ll get the same level of service with third-party vendors as you’ll get from your employees.
Other problems are beyond the control of the tester, such as loss of connection during testing, malware, etc. Sometimes there are performance-related issues too. But these are primarily dependent on your vendor. For example, system downtime, not having on-demand solutions available for testing, etc. Also, the vendor may not be able to maintain QoS quality standards.
5. Component testing
Component testing becomes a huge hassle when QA vendors have to test a wide variety of cases. Many times, multiple tests need to run in multiple environments before you can sign off on a release. After that, you have to do a cumulative test on the client cache as well. Singular component testing creates problems and increases time and costs, as you don’t have control over all the components at once.
Conclusion
Cloud testing is an excellent tool for organizations looking to reduce their cost and time overhead. It also has other benefits, such as high scalability levels, customizable features, and faster and more comprehensive testing. Also, it allows for better collaboration with fellow testers and developers whenever they want.
There are problems with cloud testing too. But these problems can be easily solved by taking the appropriate steps. For example, you should always control the testing environment. You should ask the cloud vendor to do proper settings and configuration so that the QA tester doesn’t have to worry about integration. You should also have an airtight SLA so that you don’t have to pay hidden fees and extra charges.
Overall, if you fix the underlying issues, cloud testing can be a dependable source for scaling your business and generating significant results.
