Sitting by the campfire last night (actually a fire pit on my patio), I reminisced about how testing tools have changed since I started on my first SAP project in 1999.
At that time, Mercury Interactive and AutoTest were startups competing to provide the testing tools for SAP, Siebel and other up and coming players in the new world of Enterprise Application Software. Mercury Interactive became the top choice for SAP testing tools with Winrunner, Quality Center and Loadrunner. Later HP acquired Mercury Interactive followed with the SAP Partnership in 2007.
As the popularity increased for Winrunner, Quality Center and Loadrunner, Test Workbench and ECATT were the testing tools included in Solution Manager which was primarily used for Project Blueprinting during SAP Implementation projects. As part of the SAP and HP partnership, integration between the Business Blueprint / Business Process Hierarchy (BPH) was developed providing the integration of Requirements in Solution Manager Blueprint Project and HPQC Requirements Module. HPQC Test Results were integrated with Test Workbench in SAP to provide the E2E requirements traceability with testing processes. SAP introduced Test Acceleration and Optimization (TAO) as a test automation tool used to create business components in HPQC for automated test runs in the Test Lab module.
Over the same time. Solution Manager continued to mature as an integrated platform managing the application lifecycle in support of IT. From Testing Tools and Processes, an excellent Test Automation Tool, SAP Component Based Test Automation (CBTA), and Change Impact Analysis were added to Solution Manager Test Work Center in 7.1.
When customers looked at these improvements in Solution Manager Test Management, they still found limitations and pain points, specifically:
- Poor user interface and usability
- 2 different directories with different functionality for Projects and Solutions
- Limitation to 3 level hierarchy (Scenario Business Process and Process Step)
– A pain point for E2E scenario testing
– Sub Business Process level steps needed after the 3rd step for reports, interfaces, and custom development in-house projects with test requirements similar to product testing - Architectural limitations for enhancements requested
Now the good news! SAP Solution Manager Test Suite 7.2 is now here. It’s a full-blown application for manual and automated Testing. Also in Test Suite is Change Impact Analysis and Test Scope Optimization to support test preparation for change events such as EHP Upgrades, SAP Notes, SP’s, and scheduled releases.
Solution Manager Test Suite provides the capabilities needed to support the Testing lifecycle, either for a new implementation or for changes after go-live during the ‘Run SAP’ lifecycle. CBTA, Scope and Effort Analyzer and Business Process Change Analysis are part of the capabilities now supported by a robust Test Management Lifecycle Application Package.
Test Plan Management in Test Suite 7.2 provides improved navigation user experience:
- Compilation of Test Plan via selection of test cases for upcoming test cycle
- Definition of multiple Test Packages for each Test Plan with assignment of manual testers
- Definition of Test Sequences for explicit assignment of testers to test cases of a sequence
Test Plan Management changes with SAP Solution Manager 7.2:
- New application to handle test planning including test case selection using powerful filters
- Status schema mandatory to improve status information
- Test Sequence defined at Test Plan level
Test Execution, Test Defect Management and Analytics are also included within the Test Management Processes in Test Suite.
Test Suite and SAP Solution Manager 7.2 are built to support S/4 Hana implementations. Here are some of the benefits:
- Covers the entire S/4HANA solution lifecycle from implementation to operation. Once the solution is live, all the SAP Solution Manager 7.2 operational features such as monitoring and root cause analysis can be used.
- Jump start your project using SAP Best Practices content for configuration and solution documentation.
- Take advantage of a new user interface and new features designed specifically for SAP S/4HANA.
- SAP Solution Manager 7.2. can run on a HANA database.
- Enhancements to support hybrid projects that include on-premise and cloud solution
- A faster and simpler approach to importing business content such as SAP Best Practices
- Improved solution documentation including process diagrams that can be published outside SAP Solution Manager 7.2 in the standard Business Process Management Notation (BPMN).
- A single source of truth across project and support activities leads to faster decisions with lower risks.
- Reduced project management and administration costs with transparency of project phases and integration into transport management.
- Improved testing efficiency by knowing what to test when and managing test cases and test progress efficiently.
- Improved management of custom code leading to lower costs.
Lastly, a final comment that speaks loudly to Test Suite’s value: Test Suite is already included as part of your company’s annual maintenance cost for Enterprise Support and MaxAttention Customers. I will also be hosting a Test Suite Webinar Workshop on 03/31 , I hope you can join me for a deeper dive and discussion about Test Suite. RSVP for the workshop here.
Larry Wilson – SAP ALM Consultant and Test Services Lead – CoreALM
