BlazeMeter, provider of the JMeter-based performance testing cloud, announced FollowMe, scriptless performance testing for its cloud-based platform.

FollowMe rapidly speeds up and simplifies performance testing by eliminating complex, costly and time-consuming scripting procedures. Developers can run large-scale performance tests of their API, mobile app, mobile website or Web app in real-time by simply clicking through their product, with virtual users following their every move to simulate load.

Fifty four percent of companies spend between $25,000 and $100,000 to develop a mobile app, and another 25 percent spend more than $100,000 per app. Between $8,000 and $30,000 of that budget usually goes to testing and debugging, which, until now, has required scripting to complete. The personnel alone needed to create, support and maintain these scripts cost organizations an average of $852,187 . But, with BlazeMeter’s new FollowMe module, scripting is eliminated altogether, allowing companies to redirect that budget and staff toward other core competencies. For small companies developing their first mobile app, the savings that FollowMe provides can significantly lower go-to-market barriers.

By activating BlazeMeter’s new FollowMe module, a single developer can trigger virtual crowdsourcing of up to 1,000,000 users to imitate their actions online as they browse the Web or use applications. This gives developers an extremely cost-effective way to determine the scalability of their product and ensure that it will perform under the most strenuous loads. FollowMe can be used from any device with an Internet connection and browser, which means there’s no need to lose additional time spent on launching an application or program. What’s more, performance analytics are displayed in real-time, so developers can make changes on the fly.

“API, Web and mobile app developments are being brought to market much more quickly thanks to Agile practices,” said Alon Girmonsky, founder and CEO, BlazeMeter. “But, if each iteration can't be properly tested on demand, the speed and efficiency benefits gained by Agile methodologies are lost. With FollowMe, developers can simply use their app or website as they normally would, or even turn the testing over to a marketing team, making the process faster than ever before. Now, there’s no need to write load testing scripts on applications like HP Loadrunner or Apache JMeter, allocate servers or schedule tests. FollowMe makes testing more accessible, accurate and, most importantly, instant.”

Traditional performance testing requires developers to plan ahead for the Q&A process and script exactly how they want the functions of the application to be tested weeks or months in advance. Several iterations usually need to be completed before their app is ready to bring to market. This can amount to several hundreds of scripts each year, which require experienced teams and resources to sustain. FollowMe’s scriptless, instant testing capabilities represent agility and simplicity. Companies will reap significant savings on DevOps and QA resources and maintenance, allowing them to allocate just one individual to test a product’s scalability.