A Novel Approach to Automated Performance Testing for Web Applications using JMeter and BlazeMeter

Software delivery is accelerated by the use of CI/CD pipelines. However, they are accompanied by a very high risk of introducing performance regression, especially when high-stakes workloads such as those in the financial sector are involved. This paper proposes a methodology known as Continuous Financial Performance Assurance (CFPA) methodology which integrates Apache JMeter for realistic scenario test design, BlazeMeter for scalable cloud execution, and Jenkins automation for pipelining all together. The CFPA methodology brings into existence automated performance Quality Gates based on deep SLOs explicitly mapped to business KPIs, hence making a contribution at the core of this methodology. This SLI-to-KPI correlation model will move performance testing from being reactive in defect-detection to being proactive in financial risk management regarding build promotions that are likely to surpass an organization's allowed financial error budget.