Challenges in SAP Testing
Established commercial implementation methodologies for SAP typically fail to address how requirements will be met, the criteria for testing, the framework for utilizing test tools, necessary resources for testing, estimating testing budgets, specific testing roles and responsibilities, and how test defects will be managed and resolved. Furthermore, many factors hamper successful testing at most SAP projects such as unclear requirements, inability to trace the system design to requirements, missing dedicated test teams, waiving defects without appropriate workarounds, and inadequate involvement of needed participants for testing such as subject matter experts (SMEs) for capturing requirements and end users for user acceptance testing.
Despite these testing challenges, many SAP project managers perceive that their SAP implementation is successful or “fine” even when the production help desk team is flooded with complaints that the system does not perform necessary functionality, the production system does not meet intended performance SLAs, security roles are not defined and implemented correctly, the system produces short dumps because it cannot perform exception handling or not enough negative testing was conducted, data is not converted properly from legacy systems, and end users cannot find even the most basic data or necessary reports.
The SAP arena is replete with functional, development, and technical consultants that moonlight and parade as SAP testers for various testing efforts but often lack sufficient knowledge to establish a successful testing strategy and framework. What is more puzzling and baffling at SAP projects is that it is the individuals with the least amount of knowledge and skills in the area of testing who are the ones in charge of leading and managing the testing effort since many SAP projects do not have dedicated test managers or centralized test teams. Admittedly, testing at any SAP project is an integrated effort that requires the expertise and skills of several resources such as SMEs, functional configuration resources, ABAP developers, and business analysts. Yet executing testing activities without the guidance and help of testing professionals is analogous to taking a trip without knowing what the final destination will be.
Frequently, an individual moonlighting as an SAP tester will state that “testing is breaking or exploring the system” or that he “knows how to test,” which undoubtedly leads to a misconception about what SAP testing is really all about. The truth is that many companies fail to adequately test an SAP system and rather deploy the system into production because testing is taking too long, which consequently forces the production support team to fix the system for the first six to eight months after the system is deployed because it was never properly tested prior to its release into the production environment. Whether by accident or on purpose, often the modus operandus for many corporations is to deploy an unstable and/or poorly tested SAP system into production because defects and system problems can be dealt with at a later date in the production environment, even while there is substantial and empirical data that demonstrates that removing system defects is least expensive when done in the early stages of testing.
Testing SAP R/3 - A Manager’s Step-by-Step Guide. Jose Fajardo & Elfriede Dustin. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.page 5-8
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