SaaS or Software as a Service has undoubtedly been a buzzword in the technology game for the last 2 decades. Companies such as Microsoft, Salesforce, Shopify, Slack & even Netflix, have taken advantage of the explosion in interest to accessing software that can improve business processes. However, as the world becomes smaller and more connected, an outsourcing model provides many benefits and savings on costs to companies that don’t want to do any software testing in-house. So it begs the question, what is TaaS?
Testing as a service (TaaS), allows organizations to understand user scenarios better while working out the bugs
What is TaaS?
TaaS stands for Testing as a Service. In software development, especially when using agile development, one agile process that is crucial, especially when developing an MVP, is testing.
Application testing & user testing can be difficult for teams who keep the whole testing process in-house. By using testing as a service, organizations can move their testing activities to testing providers that can provide quality assurance and a test execution model that may not be accessible within the organization.
Testing as a service (TaaS), allows organizations to understand user scenarios better while working out the bugs in a safe test environment using third-party service providers rather than the company’s employees.
Doing this allows companies to save on cost (as in-house developers can spend time on development rather than testing) and increase test execution speed.
Key TaaS Features
With testing as a service (TaaS), there are some common features that companies can expect:
- A SaaS self-service portal to execute & run application tests and access to test data
- Available on-demand automated test labs that allow organizations to run complex applications, tools & scripts
- Application diagnostics that allow for tracking tests and checking costs of unit testing
- A bottleneck detection system that can help solve problems during performance testing
- Shared cloud hardware to minimize resource contention and manage security, and;
- A test library that saves all user assets with configurable parameters, security controls, and descriptions of user scenarios
Types of Service TaaS
Software Testing Services
The software testing service is a process where companies verify a system by identifying any errors or missing requirements in the software infrastructure against the actual requirements.
Split into two different categories – Functional & non-functional – software testing gives organizations the tools they need to ensure software quality.
This type of testing should be done as early as possible in the software development process to eliminate costs and reduce the time needed to re-work to create software that is free of annoying bugs.
Functional Testing
Like software testing, functional testing is the process of testing software performance against specific functional requirements.
TaaS companies test each function of the software application by providing traditional inputs and verifying whether the output matched the specific functional requirements.
This type of testing predominately focuses on checking user interface, APIs, and client/server communication.
Security Testing
When it comes to using TaaS for security, the clue is in the name. Organizations can outsource their security testing as a service to a TaaS provider.
Performance Testing
Since applications are expected to run smoothly despite the number of users on the platform, performance testing performs a stress test on the application by using virtual users to mimic real-world customers.
Regression Testing
When making updates, companies must make sure that a new feature or piece of code does not affect the existing functionalities of a software project. Regression testing allows organizations to rule out any side-effects of new code that could affect overall performance.
Automated Testing
This type of testing is automated using specific software rather than using an outsourcing model that relies on a human to perform the testing process. A testing as a service company is likely to use automated software testing activities to save time and cost while providing testing data to clients in real-time.
The real advantage behind automated testing is that it allows for test automation tools to record a test and then run it repeatedly without human intervention. This helps a company reach the goal of running infinite tests to solicit reams of data in an efficient delivery model.
It’s essential to continue to stress test your product or service to iterate your way to success.
Service Providers
So you want to find a Testing as a Service provider? Maybe you have an MVP, and you want to make sure it stands up to scrutiny regarding performance, security, and regression testing. With the following 5 TaaS service providers, you can’t go wrong in outsourcing a key part of any software development.
- Amazon Web Services (AWS) – This behemoth of a “side-project” for Bezos and Co. is undoubtedly one of the biggest and best TaaS companies out there. It allows you to essentially plug & play your testing facilities, effectively allowing you to build your own TaaS.
- LoadStorm – This cloud-based company offers load testing specifically for mobile and web apps.
- Neustar – Allows developers to test website traffic capacity prior to an application’s launch. We already spoke about how vital performance testing is above; Neustar is here to show you why.
- Oracle – When it comes to automated infrastructure, Oracle offers providers many benefits and quality assurance and acceptance testing. Oracle is a huge company, so you know this service provider comes with all the bells & whistles.
- Qualitest. For those looking for functional testing and cloud-based security, mobile, and performance testing
Development Process
Throughout this article, we’ve shown the importance of Testing as a Service (Taas). We’ve also spoken a lot about MVPs & testing them here. While an MVP is a necessary part of any application development, it’s essential to continue to stress test your product or service to iterate your way to success.
The last thing you want is to have a beautiful-looking website or application that has ticked all the boxes when it comes to design and functionality but breaks down when more than 100 people are using it simultaneously.
Success doesn’t happen overnight. While an Olympic champion continues to test himself against the best to improve, you too must test your product or service to make sure it provides what users are looking for and is safe & fast enough for your ideal customers.
So when you’re developing your MVP, start by getting in touch with an MVP development service and then adopting the mindset that the development process is more than just a shiny looking end-product; it results from thousands of tests. And as we all know, often the journey is more important than the destination.
