Here are two interesting propositions. Number one; test managers should focus on getting as quickly as possible to a state where it is obvious that further testing offers little benefit compared with finding out how the system survives in the wild. Number two; it is easier to make the decision to release a system when delaying the release to permit further testing is not likely to put you in any better position than you are already in.

After doing a fair bit of performance testing and troubleshooting we have seen the effects of performance only receiving attention at the end of the project. We encounter teams making herculean efforts to ring acceptable performance out of systems; we encounter systems that do not reach and never will reach acceptable levels; we encounter cancellations.