Timing of the Solution performance review
Frequently, addressing solution performance becomes a reactionary activity after a solution goes into production and users are experiencing poor performance. In reality, solution performance needs to be planned and implemented at every stage of the project life cycle. Activities to address performance reviews need to be built into the design, development, and testing phases. To be well prepared, we recommend that you schedule the solution performance workshop early in the implementation phase.
The following questions and answers are typical regarding the Solution performance review:
Question: How can we review performance aspects of a solution when we haven’t started (or only now started) the design and development of the solution?
Answer: Most implementations begin with a planned timeline, or at least a target go-live date, and a defined budget. These factors should be based, at a minimum, on a conceptual solution and approach. Performance is impacted by more than code. Having a scalable design is a key starting point. Environmental factors can also impact performance. Defining your environment strategy is a first step that you should take before you start to build. The Solution performance workshop can be an important tool to help you make some of these key decisions early in the project.
Question: We haven’t made decisions on the ways to implement the solution. Would it make more sense to wait until development is complete to conduct the Solution performance workshop?
Answer: If needed, the Solution performance workshop can be implemented as an iterative process. The benefit of starting this activity early is that the project team will have awareness of best practices, techniques, and resources that they can use as they design and develop the solution. Having knowledge and awareness early will help the team build the solution with performance in mind instead of having to return to fix issues after completion.