The development of web applications is becoming more and more dynamic. Big and small enterprises are rolling out web applications and upgraded versions in very short intervals. The faster your release cycles are, the more important it becomes to thoroughly your web applications. To support agile methodology, professionals are constantly striving to discover assets beneficial to the QA teams. One such asset is cloud testing where you perform web application or website testing over the cloud.
Cloud-based testing has enabled teams to collaborate better for faster release cycles, allowing us to build web applications at a faster pace by eliminating the restrictions of on-site development. However, I have seen that the adoption for cloud-based testing is a matter of argument in numerous startups, with an employee count in dozens, you feel that there really isn’t much of a need to opt for cloud. But trust me when I say this, cloud-based testing is not a choice anymore, it has become a necessity. And I say this after having to bear the consequences of not opting for website testing on a cloud.
Which is why I thought of noting down the top 11 benefits of website testing on the cloud. On that note, let us take a look at some striking benefits of website testing on the cloud.
1. Better Team Collaboration For Agile Workflows
Agile thrives on collaboration between teams and members of the same team. Website testing on the cloud provides a collaborative platform. Thus, it boosts agile ideas and supports the new approach to testing. Different cloud assets undergo regular updates. So, if the team needs any important information, it is available immediately.
If different teams are working on the same app, it becomes easier to monitor different activities. This approach reduces errors and redundancies. Cloud-based website testing also facilitates continuous integration. This means that the teams can carry out the deployment of new pieces of code faster. It helps teams in maintaining a schedule and deliver important functionalities and features on time.
2. Cost-Effective Infrastructure
Website testing tools on-cloud are more cost-effective when it comes to your own testing infrastructure. The reason being the resources on the cloud is being shared by a pool of users. So say you are cross browser testing on the cloud, then you are leveraging a machine hosted on cloud-based servers. Now, after you terminate the session, the cache of the particular machine will get will be cleared and then provided to some other user, as per their demands.
Upgrading the infrastructure or hardware doesn’t cost as much as one would normally expect. Moreover, the total ownership cost of cloud-based website testing tools is also less than the traditional ones. They have limited hardware needs. As a result, the depreciation costs are not high and capital expenditure is minimal.
Website testing in the cloud also allows you to ‘pay as you go’ model. It lets the team use tools only when necessary. This feature implies that you can save costs when the tool is not in use. If you are a startup looking forward to cutting down expenses, this feature can come in handy. And of course, even if you have a pretty decent flow of finances, you can divert the excess funds saved to the further development of the firm. Looks like an opportunity to crank things up a notch, doesn’t it?
3. 24/7 Access to Shared Resources
Users can access resources any time they want irrespective of the device in use. Of course, a steady internet connection is a must. The 24-hour access to resources helps teams to match the customer environment. This helps a company keep up with rapid changes in requirements.
Cloud-based website testing enables users to replicate the customer environment. As a result, testers can detect the defects at an early stage in the SDLC. Moreover, the QA teams residing in different time zones can use the resources anytime they want. This allows for better test coverage in a single day. Ensuring quality and quantity in software testing.
4. Enhanced Speed
When you are onto website testing using a local infrastructure then the speed at which you can execute your test case will be proportional to the device being used by you and your team. For instance, if we talk about automated browser compatibility testing then Selenium Grid is considered as the most viable option to go with because it offers the ability to run parallel testing with Selenium.
However, the time consumption for test execution and the number of test sessions that you can run in parallel will depend on the hardware capabilities of your machine.
Src: https://github.com/SeleniumHQ/docker-selenium/issues/549
The software run on local hardware doesn’t provide as much speed and efficiency as those hosted on the cloud. Initially, you may even have to perform a hit and trial to find the right infrastructure set up for your website testing requirements. The cloud-based test grid helps you carry out parallel testing without many constraints. This way, the testers don’t have to wait around for a single test to come to a halt before moving on to the next one.
The unlimited test infrastructure capacity also contributes to increased testing speed while using the cloud. Sometimes, tests can require a lot of resources for successful running. When you are testing on the cloud, you don’t have to fret over any compromise in speed. However, you would have to consider latency based upon the network.
5. Automatic Updates For New Devices And Browsers Over The Cloud-Based Website Testing Grid
When a testing framework lets out an upgraded framework, testers ought to add tests for different devices and OS. It’s a significant change and the team needs to carry out the configuration of a local test grid. Of course, this requires time and you might also need to get some new hardware. But when you are testing on the cloud, the updates occur automatically.
As new devices keep coming to the market, they are automatically added to the cloud. In fact, cloud test vendors free you of the responsibility to carry out updates. This way, you can focus on other aspects of your web application without worrying about keeping your Selenium Grid updated.
6. Cloud-Based Simulators Can Save You Money & Time
On a local grid, testing on real devices comes with its own limits. Not every firm has the funds to purchase new devices and test on them. Moreover, managing and hosting tests requires a significant portion of the budget. Using simulators can help you combat the limitations and cut costs at the same time. Cloud-based website testing tools such as LambdaTest can help you perform testing on real desktop devices and simulators for mobile testing, allowing you to perform cross browser testing over a wide range of browsers and operating systems.
7. Automated Website Testing Using An Online Selenium Grid
As new devices enter the mainstream every day, QA teams need to ensure the proper functioning of websites on all of them. Businesses nowadays have to ensure that they facilitate mobile testing and are not glued to their desks. But when the teams don’t specifically test for particular hardware, problems can arise and your users can start using alternative apps due to compromised user experience. Which is why you need to ensure that your test coverage is as wide as possible. However, performing manual website testing can be exhausting and monotonous over time, and this is where automation testing can help you pace your release cycles. There are many cloud-based website testing tools to help you perform automation testing over different areas such as performance testing, accessibility testing, cross browser testing, and more. These website testing tools on the cloud can help you boost your go-to-market rate and deliver web applications much faster.
If we talk about browser compatibility testing then LambdaTest allows you to perform interactive testing over different browsers and OS test environments. This ensures that your web application runs flawlessly by every visitor on your website. And you can fast track your test validation by implementing automation testing from scratch using our Selenium Grid.
8. Test Your Changes Even Before They Go Live In The Production Environment
Bad internal communication has been a cause for so many outages. Especially, if your process and pipeline aren’t made transparent during the test cycles. To make sure your code changes don’t end up abrupting the functionality of your web application, you opt for a locally hosted web applications. The problem of doing it on-site is that every tester is busy with testing their locally hosted web application’s module and then they encounter a UI bug, collect screenshots, write a bug report regarding that and then write email chains regarding the bug, or push it over an agile dashboard. That is a lot of tasks and when too many bugs are encountered then there is a good chance that one of your testers would end up reporting something critical.
Performing locally hosted web application testing on the cloud using website testing which can take away this problem.
9. Consistent and Detailed Test Reporting Dashboard
The secret to successful website testing lies in quickly identifying and addressing issues. But if the testing report comes after the process is complete, it delays the resolution of problems. Website testing on cloud enables real-time report generation. The project team members can collaborate on a test in real-time. This means that the team members can generate test reports at any point during STLC(Software Testing Life Cycle). As a result, it identifies any problems quickly and focuses on rapid resolution.
Another factor is the consistency in test reports when you are working with a pool of remote testers then everyone will prepare a bug and test report according to their own perception and comfort. You are their managing consistency standards before sending the reports to the higher-ups. Website testing tools on cloud offer a consistent dashboard using which you can extract reports for every tester working under your organization.
10. Better Efficiency and IT Management
Cloud-based tools offer better productivity but don’t take as much time as traditional testing tools. They are also free of lengthy setups and installations. As a result of quick testing, the time to market is reduced. Such efficiency provides firms with a major competitive advantage.
In cloud-based testing, employees don’t have to dedicate a lot of time to IT management. With the cloud taking care of installation, adding and replacing users, licensing, and upgrades, employees are free to focus on core company activities. Cloud also offers better reliability than a locally maintained server. This frees up the time of the IT department and enables them to concentrate on improving the end product.
11. Parallel Execution and Generating Real-Time Reports
Website testing on cloud-based Selenium Grid can help you trim down your test execution time by multiple folds, with the help of parallel test execution. This means that you can run tests on multiple configurations and environments simultaneously. A cloud offers simulated network conditions to try different OS, device, and browser combinations for testing. To top it off you can leverage Selenium test automation tools for leveraging parallel testing to reduce your go-to-market launch time.
How Jack Benefitted From Website Testing On The Cloud?
Let us understand this with the help of a story where Jack is a QA Lead who wishes to perform cross browser testing for his web application. However, Jack works in a startup who manages a team of freelance web testers who are testing different modules of the application remotely. Jack is troubled while managing these different testers and is spending most of his time in managing different bugs reported by different testers until he landed on LambdaTest.
This platform can provided Jack the option to perform cross browser testing on the cloud on over 2000+ real browsers. He was able to add all of his remote testers under a single organization and could collaborate with them better by leveraging cloud-based website testing with in-built functionality to highlight and mark any UI bug that is encountered while testing. Jack was also impressed by the feature to log any UI bug directly onto his favorite project management tool, in just a single click.
That wasn’t all. Jack wanted to make up for the loss of time that happened due to mismanagement in the past, so he leverages LambdaTest’s Selenium Grid to allow his pool of testers to perform Selenium automation testing in parallel. To his surprise, he favored the website testing on the cloud a lot more than how he used to do, on-site. Especially, due to the hassle of eliminating the need of IT professionals to make sure the requirements of Selenium Grid infrastructure are not failing. Also, the hassle of keeping track of new devices and browsers that were launched in the market. LambdaTest addressed all the latest additions of browsers and operating systems as soon as they were introduced in the market, allowing his team to focus only on testing, without worrying about anything else.
Website Testing On the Cloud: Paving The Way For Enhanced Web Applications
Cloud-based testing combats traditional testing as the scaling capacity is greater than conventional testing. This way, the return on investment is higher. As firms move towards agile, teams can adopt website testing on the cloud to achieve faster and efficient workflows. Every firm is looking forward to building cost-efficient apps with less operation and maintenance expenses. But the key is to achieve that goal without any compromise in quality. Therefore, to ensure building high-quality apps without breaking your bank, you must give cloud-based testing a try!
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