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Client:
The leading provider of real-time mapping and traffic data
Industry:
Transportation and Logistics
Technology and Platforms:
Akamai CloudTest (performance testing platform)
The Goal
Identify risks ahead of mobile app launch
The leading provider of real-time mapping and traffic data was preparing to launch a mobile routing and traffic alert application for transportation providers in North America. The client estimated an initial 20,000 concurrent users across the United States and Canada. With subsequent releases to Europe and Asia planned, it was important to understand how the app would behave under load.
The team had tested the app in their lab, but with limited experience designing and executing load tests at this scale, they knew they needed support to design a test that would mimic real-world production usage.
The client’s Program Director for Global Development had worked with Forte Group before and knew performance testing mobile apps was an area of expertise. With a tight timeframe, she wanted to work with a team that had the talent and skills to move quickly.
Forte worked with the client’s team to design a performance test that would simulate the appropriate user and load profiles along with their associated concurrency and throughput characteristics.
The Forte Performance Testing Framework was leveraged to ensure the right tests were efficiently designed, built, and executed.
In addition to planning the test and developing the test scripts and scenarios, Forte implemented a monitoring solution to ensure test results contained actionable data.
Top Obstacles
Previous mobile app testing experience was confined to small in-lab tests.
The client’s app was expected to have 20,000 concurrent users across the U.S. and Canada.
Outcome
Critical limitations identified and fixed before launch
The test was executed from eight different cloud regions and made use of network virtualization technology to simulate lower bandwidth and higher latency associated with mobile networks.
During the performance test a critical configuration issue was identified. If not discovered and fixed prior to launch, the application would not have been able to support more than 50% of the expected load. The client prevented an issue that would have severely limited its capacity to serve users on day one of deployment.
Further analysis of test results led to the development of several performance-related enhancements that reduced the duration of the user authentication process, significantly improving the end user experience.
Just as importantly, the client earned an additional benefit from the collaborative process of designing and executing the test with Forte: they now had a roadmap for planning and executing future performance test activities independently.
Key Benefits
No Impact “Failure”
Forte identified a critical flaw in the system configuration that the client was able to fix prior to launch.
Improved User Experience
Forte delivered performance enhancements that reduced the user sign in time by over 85%.
Repeatable Process
At the end of the engagement, the client had a roadmap for planning and executing future performance test activities independently.
