Launching a new feature or platform that both improves customer experience and meets compliance standards is impossible without adequate testing. While functional testing is, of course, imperative, it is also critical to prioritize non-functional testing, which assesses aspects like performance, security, and usability.

Traditional testing methods typically leave these crucial, non-functional testing requirements until the tail end of the development process. But a proactive approach that includes these aspects in the design and initial development phases allows insurers to catch and resolve issues before they become arduous and costly to address.

Integrating both functional and non-functional testing requirements early in the software development life cycle is called a shift-left approach, and it has become a vital strategy for insurers aiming to enhance their user experiences and reduce their time to market.  

Why a Shift-Left Approach?

As insurers transition from legacy platforms to modern architectures, these systems must integrate flawlessly with third-party, legacy, and internal applications, which is where shift-left performance testing and engineering come in. By proactively addressing performance challenges during the early stages of development, insurers can optimize these critical applications to handle real-world demands.

There are four key reasons why shift-left performance testing is an essential part of insurers’ modernization efforts:

• Proactive performance issue detection. It rigorously tests systems’ performance as they are designed and built — not after they’re integrated with current applications. This helps insurers avoid cascading failures when the system scales.
• Improved scalability and efficiency. As insurers prioritize their strategic growth plans, they need systems that can scale alongside the business. Shift-left performance engineering ensures that platforms can scale seamlessly, maintaining efficiency even as transaction loads increase.
• Enhanced system resilience. Resilience is key to safeguarding stability and reliability in customer-facing and core operational systems. By conducting performance testing early, insurers can confirm that these platforms, along with their integrations, can handle real-world workloads without degradation.
• Cost and time efficiency. Addressing performance issues early significantly reduces the cost and complexity of resolving problems later in the development cycle. By identifying and fixing inefficiencies during the initial stages, teams can avoid expensive rework, shorten development cycles, and allocate resources more effectively.

Shift-left performance testing is not just a best practice but a necessity for insurers navigating the complexities of application modernization. By integrating this approach into their development processes, insurers can ensure their systems are prepared to meet the demands of today’s digital-first customers.

Putting Shift-Left Into Action

As with any new methodology, insurers should leverage a strategic approach to incorporating shift-left testing into their quality assurance workflow. Here are five key steps to implementing a shift-left approach to testing and engineering.

1. Test for code performance.

Establish SLAs around response time and volume, then ensure that the code is developed to handle them. Cementing these basic requirements from the very beginning prevents costly rework throughout the application stack and eliminates unnecessary workarounds.

In addition, let developers create and run load tests using their integrated development environment (IDE) to confirm that the code performs as needed to scale. This initial level of functional testing will provide the baseline capabilities needed to continue developing the feature or application.

2. Test for vulnerabilities.

The next step is to adopt built-in security at the code level. Incorporating these non-functional requirements at the code level helps amplify the security, reducing the effort needed to resolve any vulnerabilities at a later stage.

3. Create an automation plan.

After the baseline functional and non-functional testing has been conducted, develop a plan that outlines automated test creation, execution schedules, and resource allocation.

Planning these elements out ahead of time provides a structured approach for integrating automation into the sprint activities.

4. Set up the test environment and tools.

Once the automation plan is in place, it is vital to ensure the necessary automation tools and test environments have been established. Preparing everything that is needed for automating testing from the outset minimizes delays and allows for smooth execution of these tests.

Enable centralized tool management to manage the tools, upgrades, proofs of concept, and licensing from one team. Centralizing these efforts lowers the risk of using multiple toolsets with overlapping functionality and helps the organization stay current with the latest versions of tools in use.

5. Monitor and refine the plan as development progresses.

Setting up a performance Center of Excellence (CoE) that is a subset of the insurer’s quality assurance CoE ensures that organizational standards are maintained across the organization. This includes developing default SLAs, sharing knowledge across departments, standardizing reports and dashboards, and enabling best practices.

As part of this CoE, develop metrics that are true application performance indicators. The standardized reports and dashboards ensure that these metrics are proactively monitored and that the team can provide feedback on any issues they discover.

In addition, create and destroy performance environments when they are not in use, and make the exact environment for testing using an Infrastructure-as-Code approach. This not only create a realistic environment for an easier interpretation of results, but also reduces infrastructure costs.

While no two insurers’ systems are alike, adopting this approach can help any insurer striving to modernize its core systems and provide exceptional customer experiences through its digital platforms.

Staying Competitive With Shift-Left Testing and Engineering

By addressing performance issues early in the development life cycle, insurers can enhance scalability, improve system resilience, and reduce costs, all while ensuring their platforms are optimized for seamless integration with third-party, legacy, and internal applications.

As the insurance industry continues to evolve, adopting a shift-left approach will be key to staying competitive. Proactively embedding performance engineering into the development process not only mitigates risks but also positions insurers to adapt to future demands with confidence.

If you’re interested in learning more about different approaches to quality engineering, download our infographic, “Achieving Quality Engineering” to gain insights into key investments that are necessary for quality engineering success.