uSwitch provides an online and phone based comparison and switching service that helps customers compare prices on a range of services including gas, electricity, home phone, broadband providers and personal finance products. Their software applications evaluate a number of key factors including price, location, service and payment method, to help customers choose the deal that best meets their needs.
uSwitch embarked on upgrading their existing ASP architecture to a .NET solution. This included them rebuilding all of their core components and developing KPIs to ensure that the investment provided improved performance, functionality and user experience (look and feel).
The programme objective was to enable a more cost effective platform using the latest technologies and improve the system and business process performance. The programme had a fixed deadline with a tight timeframe.
uSwitch decided to engage a consultancy who could provide them with the expertise and services they required to test that the new systems improved performance would cope with the forecast increase in demand.
Acutest were selected in open competition because they provided the most beneficial combination of testing tools and testing service. Acutest implemented the HP software load testing tool, LoadRunner, and built and executed an automated test suite to measure performance. The tests simulated 2000 concurrent users, across five core business processes.
During the engagement, Acutest identified a number of bottlenecks and issues which affected performance. These were quickly fixed and the performance tests were rerun to quantity the performance improvements.
In addition to supplying the automated test suite for use in future projects, Acutest also supplied hands on training for uSwitch technical staff. This covered the key elements of performance testing and how LoadRunner had been set up and used at uSwitch.
Acutest’s load testing solution enabled uSwitch to go live with confidence to their original timescales. The testing proved that all of the KPIs were met or exceeded and the new infrastructure was faster, more reliable and scaleable than the previous system.
Additionally, Acutest trained uSwitch staff so that they had in-house capabilities to maximise their investment in the load testing toolset and automated test suite.
