<s>
Cloud	B-General_Concept
testing	I-General_Concept
is	O
a	O
form	O
of	O
software	O
testing	O
in	O
which	O
web	B-Application
applications	I-Application
use	O
cloud	B-Architecture
computing	I-Architecture
environments	O
(	O
a	O
"	O
cloud	O
"	O
)	O
to	O
simulate	O
real-world	O
user	O
traffic	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Companies	O
simulate	O
real	O
world	O
Web	O
users	O
by	O
using	O
cloud	B-General_Concept
testing	I-General_Concept
services	O
that	O
are	O
provided	O
by	O
cloud	B-Architecture
service	I-Architecture
vendors	O
such	O
as	O
Advaltis	O
,	O
Compuware	O
,	O
HP	O
,	O
Keynote	O
Systems	O
,	O
Neotys	O
,	O
RadView	O
and	O
SOASTA	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Once	O
user	O
scenarios	O
are	O
developed	O
and	O
the	O
test	O
is	O
designed	O
,	O
these	O
service	O
providers	O
leverage	O
cloud	O
servers	O
(	O
provided	O
by	O
cloud	O
platform	O
vendors	O
such	O
as	O
Amazon.com,	O
Google	B-Application
,	O
Rackspace	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
,	O
etc	O
.	O
)	O
</s>
<s>
Once	O
the	O
test	O
is	O
complete	O
,	O
the	O
cloud	B-Architecture
service	I-Architecture
providers	I-Architecture
deliver	O
results	O
and	O
analytics	O
back	O
to	O
corporate	O
IT	O
professionals	O
through	O
real-time	O
dashboards	O
for	O
a	O
complete	O
analysis	O
of	O
how	O
their	O
applications	O
and	O
the	O
internet	O
will	O
perform	O
during	O
peak	O
volumes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Cloud	B-General_Concept
testing	I-General_Concept
is	O
often	O
seen	O
as	O
only	O
performance	O
or	O
load	O
tests	O
,	O
however	O
,	O
as	O
discussed	O
earlier	O
it	O
covers	O
many	O
other	O
types	O
of	O
testing	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Cloud	B-Architecture
computing	I-Architecture
itself	O
is	O
often	O
referred	O
to	O
as	O
the	O
marriage	O
of	O
software	B-Architecture
as	I-Architecture
a	I-Architecture
service	I-Architecture
(	O
SaaS	B-Architecture
)	O
and	O
utility	B-Operating_System
computing	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
Distributed	B-Architecture
Systems	I-Architecture
and	O
Parallel	B-Operating_System
Systems	I-Operating_System
mainly	O
use	O
this	O
approach	O
for	O
testing	O
,	O
because	O
of	O
their	O
inherent	O
complex	O
nature	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Leading	O
cloud	B-Architecture
computing	I-Architecture
service	O
providers	O
include	O
,	O
among	O
others	O
,	O
Amazon	B-Application
,	O
Microsoft	O
,	O
Google	B-Application
,	O
RadView	O
,	O
Skytap	O
,	O
HP	O
and	O
SOASTA	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Minimal	O
start-up	O
time	O
along	O
with	O
quality	O
assurance	O
can	O
be	O
achieved	O
by	O
cloud	B-General_Concept
testing	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
