SaaS Testing Guide: What You Should Know

If you’re just starting to learn the concept of SaaS Testing, this is the place to find out what is SaaS, What is SaaS Testing and the following.

What is SaaS?

Software as a Service, also know as SaaS, is a cloud-based service where Software Vendors deliver applications over the Internet as a service.

It comes in a subscription basis (say SaaS users subscribe to an application rather than purchasing it) and there is no need to install & maintain complex software and hardware. Software Vendors do take care of hosting and maintaining the servers, databases and application code.
Users can log into and access the SaaS application from any compatible device with a web browser and an interenet connection.

SaaS applications are also known as cloud-based software, Web-based software, on-demand software, or hosted software.

What are examples of SaaS?

Common examples of SaaS are:

Google Workspace
Microsoft Office 365
Dropbox
Salesforce
GoToMeeting

The SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) model has gained huge popularity during the past few years. The facility of cloud computing in research communities has helped SaaS in context to providing cloud services. Other features of SaaS include its authenticity of resources, reduced dependency on internal systems, low upfront expenses, and short development process. With an expanding market in online platforms, the companies are always under real pressure to launch updated features in a short time. However, there has always been a concern to provide quality software to users.

What is SaaS Testing?

SaaS testing is done to ensure that the application built using the Software as a Service model is working as intended. Testers who do SaaS testing should do functional testing and non-functional testing.

So we need to follow the following testing types to test a SaaS application.

Functional testing
Performance Testing
Security Testing
Load Testing
Stress Testing
Compatibility Testing
Reliability Testing
Scalability Testing
Network Testing
Availability Testing
Integration and migration testing

Reasons Behind opting for SaaS Testing:

It is considered that SaaS provides the most agile and efficient products. SaaS app testing is the validation of SaaS software to know about its performance, security, and compatibility. Besides quality checking, the following are some reasons why you should go for SaaS testing.

Cost saving
Better scalability
Easy to recover
Better accessibility
Superior resilience in resource scaling and pricing
The up-gradation and installation process of SaaS Applications Development are very short and clear.

SaaS Testing Challenges

While running the test, the users are bound to face some challenges. These challenges are different for various kinds of tests. Following are some challenges naturally faced by the users.

Upgrades and releases in a very small period do not provide ample time to check the reliability, efficiency, and security of the application.
Back-end components that are in link with the user interface of the application are left to be validated very often.
Many user behavior and individual details come in the place. So, it is difficult to keep the customer details completely closed.
Testing of the performance of the application is required for the SaaS application, but the actual challenge and tension in this regard is to identify the most used areas and to test them with a massive number of users from various places.
At the time of integration and migration of the SaaS applications, it becomes very difficult to keep up with the integrity and flow of the test materials.

Whenever there is a new release, SaaS testers must test all the licensing factors, including number of users, usage, and functionality of the application.

The standard applications are not likely to be available here.

However, a SaaS user should address these challenges by following some steps:

Automation can be activated to avoid the hazard of frequent updates and installation.
Based on the observation, determine the application areas that are accessed more often. This will aid in improved performance testing when there is a restriction in the time limit.

Users should go for strong encryption at the time of integration to keep the data secured.

Follow the Practices to Test SaaS Products:

One should set aside the resources and time to measure the performance of the SaaS app.
The subscribers also need to ensure the circumstances and working environments in which SaaS can work.
The users and clients are the main people you need to satisfy. The design of your product should be such that in time of system breakdown, the clients do not suffer much. You need to have an alternative plan to get the project going for your clients.
With the frequent release, set aside some time for exploratory testing in every release that helps in getting new test cases and bugs.
Performance of upgrade testing is very necessary. Data migration testing with frequent upgrades and changes of SaaS application platforms is also crucial.
Often it becomes necessary to make a connection with third-party APIs. This helps to restore the efficiency, performance, and security of the user. You need to set an estimate for your test automation efforts. When executing a task, just try to set the alarm according to the time it should take to the completion of the testing.
The users have to know beforehand which tools he is going to use for SaaS testing.

SaaS Testing Tools:

SaaS testing is a rigorous process that requires ample time and effort to be executed. The information and steps necessary for SaaS app testing should be taken care of. There are four basic tools needed for SaaS testing.

PractiTest:

PractiTest is an end-to-end SaaS test management platform that centralizes all your QA work, processes, teams and tools into one platform to bridge silos, unify communication, and enable one source of truth across your organization.

With PractiTest you can make informed data-driven decisions based on end-to-end visibility provided by customizable reports, real-time dashboards, and dynamic filter views.

Improve team’s productivity; reuse testing elements to eliminate repetitive tasks, plan your team’s work based on AI-generated insights and enable your team to focus on what really matters.

PractiTest helps you align your testing operation with business goals, and deliver better products faster.

qTest:

It lets the testers add notes and notations to create a detailed sheet of defects.
It provides an easily accessible dashboard.
qTest provides a scalable testing solution and effortless communication. This is also a cloud-based testing technology.
One can share this tool with fellow users and probably get a free trial.
One can manage to keep track of the project, the process, and test outcomes.

QMetry:

QMetry is a connection between the demands of the project, processes, and defects. One can keep track of the entire execution of the test. This tool offers some features:

The process and result of the test are so explicit that one can record the outcomes.
Through the execution page, the test cases can be modified in real.
Old testing cases can be reused in the current test. This provides much flexibility.
It is very easy to find and manage the issues that were addressed in the previous testing parameters.

The procedure can be different every time. To get a clear test result, QMetry can help to eliminate the previous login. It is necessary to manage the basic tools. We also need to keep track of various SaaS platforms.

Conclusion:

Like every other business, SaaS is also built for profit motive. So, keeping in touch with a maximum number of customers should be the primary goal of SaaS application builders. The provider must take notice of the quality of what he sells. SaaS test is an umbrella project under which quite a few tasks are executed in quick succession. These include Security, Load, Performance, Cross-Browser, and functional testing. There has been an advancement in SaaS testing with the advent of cloud testing. The entire suggestion given till now is very helpful to execute the SaaS testing efficiently.

Author Bio: Harikrishna Kundariya, a marketer, developer, IoT, ChatBot & Blockchain savvy, designer, co-founder, Director of eSparkBiz Technologies, A Mobile App Development Company. His 8+ experience enables him to provide digital solutions to new start-ups based on IoT and ChatBot.

Follow him: Website, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn

This post is recently updated by STM Admin.

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