Testing in the Production Environment – Everything to Know

Testing in production, or "production testing", is the testing of software in its real, live environment. This practice was previously an idea that was met with reservation, but now it's gaining acceptance as a valid tactic. As the software industry rapidly moves ahead, people have changed their minds. An unconventional strategy in the past is now viewed as a positive in most situations. Nevertheless, concerns arise, doubts regarding its reliability and the associated risks keep coming up. If you're unclear about testing in production, this article tries to demystify its purpose and benefits. 

Knowing Testing in Production

Production testing is the process of testing new code changes in real-time within the live environment with actual user interactions rather than in isolation within a staging environment. It's not intended to supplant other methods of testing, such as functional or non-functional testing, but rather augment them. Adoption of this practice by a team is often based on risk assessment upon launch.

When done thoughtfully, testing in production gives valuable insights based on actual usage to make the application better. Nevertheless, it should be handled with care considering the potential effect on users.

Some of the most important challenges are:

• The possibility of rolling out buggy or unstable code
• The risk of exposing confidential information
• System overloads that can impact performance
• Compromised tracking or analytics data
• Rolling out underdeveloped features to users too early

Pro tip:

Continuous testing in production can quickly expose issues with new code. Automated platform testing, web, mobile, desktop, and APIs, can make the release process easier and increase speed and reliability.

Determining the Feasibility of Testing in Production

Why test in a live environment? At times, it's the most convenient or even only solution. Creating a staging environment might be too resource-demanding or unable to mimic live circumstances. If so, production testing then becomes unavoidable, particularly for performance-based testing.

For instance, in load testing, the most precise results are achieved when done under real usage. Load testing in the live environment enables developers to test how good the application scales and behaves with actual traffic.

Generally speaking, even the most efficient QA processes and tools cannot detect every problem before release. Production testing practices serve as a safety net, trapping those pesky bugs that only appear in real scenarios. They aid in identifying problems that are tough to reproduce or catch during development.

How to Test in a Production Environment

What are best practices for production environment testing? Listed here are tried-and-tested methods that enable teams to harness the benefits of production testing:

• Real User Monitoring (RUM): Monitors real-user interactions with the application, providing insights into performance, behavior, and experience.
• A/B Testing: Tests two variations of a page or feature with real users to see which one performs best, allowing evidence-based optimization.
• Canary Releases: Deploys updates to a limited subset of users before rolling it out system-wide, allowing monitoring of updates in real-time.
• Feature Flagging: Enables developers to activate or deactivate specific features without pushing new code, making it easier to test and control feature behavior.
• Load Testing: Applies simulated high-traffic conditions to assess system stability under pressure.
• Chaos Engineering: Intentionally injects failures into the live environment to evaluate system robustness and fault tolerance.
• Synthetic Monitoring: Deploys scripted user simulations to find problems before they impact real users.
• Shadow Testing: Directs traffic at the same time to the live and a copy site, enabling safe comparison without impacting end users.
• Blue/Green Deployments: Switches traffic between two production sites, one for the current version, the other for the new one, with seamless cutovers and less downtime.

Which Tools to Use?

Production testing's success relies largely on the tools you employ. Below is an overview of must-haves in each category:

• Performance Monitoring: New Relic and Datadog provide real-time feedback about system performance.
• User Analytics: Google Analytics facilitates measuring user behavior and pinpointing points of friction in the user interface.
• Feature Flag Management: Products like LaunchDarkly enable feature control without redeploying code, thereby making it safer to test in production.
• Automated Testing: Tools like Selenium (web), Appium (mobile), and JMeter or LoadRunner (load testing) facilitate end-to-end automated checks.
• Manual Testing: Tools like JIRA and TestRail help with planning and tracking manual testing efforts.
• User Experience Monitoring: RUM tools like LogRocket and Raygun give rich insights into user interactions and expose errors in real time.

A toolkit with a structure that has both automated and manual solutions facilitates smoother testing, safer testing, and ultimately better application reliability.

Insights from Industry Professionals

Is production testing really worth it? We spoke with three industry experts who practice production testing to learn their insights on its value and challenges.

Advantages of Testing in Production

So, why is production testing worth it? Here are some of the greatest benefits:

True User Experience

There is no better gauge for usability than in your own production environment where your customers are actually using it. Testing in production provides a clear, unfiltered view into real-world usage.

Anticipating Unpredictable Behavior

QA teams test extensively, but users will be unpredictable. Production testing brings out these unexpected edge cases that may get missed by structured tests.

Accurate Payment Process Validation

Certain features, such as payments, can't be completely emulated outside the live environment. Production is best for guaranteeing these processes function correctly under actual conditions.

Disadvantages of Testing in Production

Even with its benefits, testing in production is not always the best course of action. When done incorrectly or utilized in cases where it's inappropriate, it can do more harm than good.

Achieving correct production testing is a complicated task. It is neither a shortcut nor a quick fix, here are some of the major disadvantages industry insiders have pointed out:

Operational Limitations

Running performance tests within a live environment can affect all customers and even contradict legal or compliance demands on the utilization of real data. Certain QA experts are opposed to the concept strongly, as there are a great number of scenarios under which testing within production just is not possible or practical.

Potential for Customer Loss

Subjecting actual users to bugs during testing has a significant impact on customer trust and satisfaction. When a user suffers from problems during a production test, they may churn, provide negative feedback, or perceive the product as inconsistent. Hence, such companies performing production testing need to be ready to bear and endure this risk.

Risk of Catastrophic Failures

Failure to properly execute production testing can lead to huge issues, ranging from service outages to security intrusions. As Cindy Sridharan points out, testing within production demands profound knowledge and prudent methods. Left without experienced guidance, a mere error might grow into a grave operational issue.

Conclusion

Running tests in production is not to be taken lightly. While it has unquestionable advantages, the QA community cautions that you should go into it cautiously and with deliberate planning. That doesn't mean avoid it at all costs. Actually, it can be made a valuable weapon in your testing arsenal if you exercise responsibly.

Evaluate your system's risk tolerance and balance potential drawbacks versus actual-world benefits. Provided the necessary precautions, production testing may be an ideal addition to your development pipeline.

Interested in how QA Genesis can assist you with testing, pre-launch or post-deployment? Contact us and arrange a call today!