SAPLIB

Testing is an activity that typically consumes the most resources and budget in any SAP implementation or SAP upgrade. When broken down into smaller subtasks, testing is expensive because it requires labor hours from multiple project resources for test planning, test automation, test execution, recording test results, resolving defects, impact analysis, retesting the application, and applying lessons learned from testing. For example, the creation, peer review, and approval of a single SAP test case may require labor hours from the business analyst, SAP consultant, system architect, quality assurance (QA) representative, subject matter expert (SME), and test team member.

The costs associated with SAP testing are primarily attributed to the following activities and/or events:

• Hardware equipment (i.e., machines, servers, laptops, printers, etc.)
• Software costs (i.e., automation, version control, and test management software)
• Billable hours for testing activities such as test planning, test design, test execution and defect resolution (i.e., hourly rate for contractors, employeefs labor costs)
• Outsourcing agreements (i.e., paying a third-party entity to conduct independent or automated testing)
• Training costs (i.e., learning test procedures for reporting defects)
• Person-hours spent enforcing quality standards and lessons learned

Accurate estimation of SAP testing costs for a given SAP test cycle (i.e., regression, performance, integration, etc.) is complex because few companies implementing SAP maintain historical records for time actually spent planning and executing test cases for previous test cycles, and because testing is typically viewed as an activity that is subject to truncation or compression when the project experiences budget cuts or falls behind schedule. In order to properly plan and estimate the costs for testing within an SAP environment it is necessary to recognize all factors and conditions that contribute to testing costs, such as historical data from previous testing cycles, expert estimates for estimating duration times for test activities, the use and maintenance of automated test tools, the thoroughness needed for documenting test cases and test results, and the level of expertise for the assigned SAP testers. After the testing costs have been estimated and planned, the project manager and test manager can spread the testing costs across the project’s schedule to produce a budget and validate the budget against project constraints.
[Testing SAP R/3, Jose Fajardo, Elfriede Dustin 2007]

Popularity: 8% [?]