Most people have encountered frustrating software errors. While the Windows "blue screen of death" was a necessary evil in the 1990s, customers have much more choice in today's software-as-a-service market. A single error or broken workflow is often enough for a would-be customer to switch over to a competitor. Of course, many software businesses mitigate these risks through testing and quality assurance.

Today, API-driven microservices applications are a source of speed to innovation and competitive advantage – according to SmartBear’s most recent State of Software Quality – API report: However, this modern way of architecting software doesn’t come without challenges. Neglecting to adapt a new approach to service architecture design with a new approach to the underpinnings – API design and testing – can undermine the efforts.

As the rate of delivery for applications and services continues to rise, performance testing often takes a backseat in the race to delivering apps on-time. This 2022 holiday season is expected to be bigger than ever, with holiday shopping growing 15.5% to $236 billion. During this make-or-break time of year, companies can’t afford for their apps to become unreliable under heavy load.

Financial services innovation continues to progress at a breakneck pace. For example, fintech developers can programmatically spin up accounts, move money, and issue and manage cards with Increase or embed financial services into their marketplace with Stripe – capabilities that were unimaginable just a few years ago.