# Five-Phase Methodology — RPM Solutions

1. Requirements & Workload Modelling — measurable pass criteria; workload model
   from production analytics; concurrency↔throughput via Little's Law
2. Test Design & Scripting — version-controlled scripts; correlation and
   parameterisation; semantic assertions; open vs closed load model chosen explicitly
3. Environment & Test Data — parity matrix vs production; production-scale data
   volumes; service virtualisation with realistic latency; observability readiness
4. Execution & Monitoring — run protocol and baselines; live monitoring;
   one-variable-at-a-time investigation
5. Analysis & Reporting — run validation first; percentile-based analysis;
   client symptoms correlated to server mechanisms; reports for executives and engineers

Principles: explicit pass criteria before execution; workloads from evidence;
everything version-controlled and repeatable; monitor the load generators too.