Testing, Acceptance & Deployment
Thorough testing before anything reaches production — functional, integration, security, performance and user acceptance testing — followed by a controlled deployment with a rollback plan, not a fingers-crossed launch.
Functional & Integration Testing
Testing that every feature works correctly according to the agreed requirements, and that all components work together as a system — not just in isolation. Both automated tests (unit and integration) and manual exploratory testing are used to build confidence before client review.
- Unit tests for critical business logic
- Integration tests for API endpoints and data flows
- End-to-end feature testing against requirements
- Cross-module integration testing
- Edge case and exception scenario testing
- Regression testing after each change
QA & Device Testing
Manual quality assurance testing across browsers, devices and screen sizes — ensuring the system looks and works correctly for every user, not just on the developer's machine. Covers the major browser and device combinations your actual users will use.
- Cross-browser testing (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge)
- Mobile device testing (iOS and Android)
- Responsive design verification across screen sizes
- Accessibility check (keyboard navigation, screen reader basics)
- Form validation and error state testing
- Slow network and degraded connectivity testing
Security Testing
Reviewing the system for common security vulnerabilities before deployment — checking authentication and authorisation, input handling, API security and access control. Prevents the most common categories of security failure from reaching production.
- Authentication and session security review
- Authorisation and access control verification (no privilege escalation)
- Input validation and injection prevention (SQL, XSS, CSRF)
- API endpoint security review
- Sensitive data exposure check
- Dependency vulnerability scan (known CVEs)
- OWASP Top 10 review checklist
- Third-party penetration testing available on request
Performance Testing
Load testing, response time measurement and query optimisation before the system goes live — ensuring it performs acceptably under the expected number of concurrent users, not just under test conditions with a single user.
- Page load time measurement and optimisation
- Database query performance profiling
- Load test at expected concurrent user levels
- Memory and CPU usage under load
- Caching effectiveness review
- Performance benchmarks documented before and after fixes
User Acceptance & Sign-Off
The client reviews the completed system in the staging environment — working through agreed test scenarios, confirming that requirements have been met, and formally signing off before production deployment. This is the client's opportunity to verify everything before going live.
- UAT test plan agreed with client upfront
- Client team given access to staging environment
- Test scenarios mapped to requirements
- Client feedback documented and resolved
- Outstanding issues triaged and agreed
- Formal written sign-off before production deployment
Production Deployment
A controlled, planned deployment to the production environment — with a rollback plan in place, post-deployment verification checks, and monitoring active before users are directed to the new system. Not a single rushed push, but a managed go-live.
- Deployment plan documented and agreed
- Rollback procedure prepared and tested
- Database migration plan and backup taken pre-deployment
- Deployment executed in a low-traffic window
- Post-deployment smoke testing immediately after go-live
- Monitoring and alerting active from deployment
- Communication plan for stakeholders on go-live