Groundhog Day

For me, one of the more interesting aspects of a typical performance and load testing engagement is how much bad news we deliver and how often we hear in response “OMG – that was horrible.  Thank you!  When can we do it again?”

As I think of it, the “can we do it again” sentiment describes the big picture when it comes to performance and load testing of a new contact center or communications solution.  Proactive performance testing shouldn’t be thought of as a one-off activity.  When most effectively applied it’s a process that allows you to try things out until you get them right.  Kind of like Groundhog Day, but with you playing Phil Connor.

Something always turns up and most of the time it’s a big deal, which means you really do have to stop and think about what to do to get it right.  Often, you need more than 5 or 10 minutes.  Most often, you need a few days or even a week to get it right.   Experience tells us that things aren’t usually right the 2nd time either, so you have to plan to do it more than twice too…sometimes more than three times.

The advice I give early in every project is to budget enough resources (your team, internal & vendors & suppliers) and plan enough time to test and re-test at least three to four times over a two to three week period. 

Yes.  Multiple sessions, two to three weeks, time in between. 

If your team is prepared for the do-overs and you include the time and resources in your schedule and budget, the Groundhog Day type experience can have a positive effect on your project, your team and eventually your customers.

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Mike Burke