ERP Migration with Test Automation

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions are business-critical to any business. Companies are slowly adapting to the next-generation ERP solutions, as the major players manage to end support to their traditional ERP systems.  

The traditional enterprise resource planning era is finished. The ERP model of a single integrated suite to manage every process for every division within the company did not work. They are realizing that the rigidity of their traditional ERP systems is not persisting to support their digital transformation efforts.

Post the pandemic, companies have accelerated their ERP migration as digitalization and new forms of working patterns became the standard. In terms of resilience and operational flexibility, the decisions the companies take about their ERP systems will set the trajectory in the coming years. 

Drive towards Digital Transformation 

While producing a nuanced cloud approach around digital transformation is already happening, now it is about growing the cloud landscape and using it as an efficient innovation platform. 

An intelligent core ERP powered by Machine Learning (ML), Artificial Intelligence (AI), analytics, and test automation can help balance innovation and link functional and business silos.  

Today’s digital ERP systems such as SAP S/4HANA, and Oracle Cloud have made multi-cloud compatibility a fundamental feature configured and integrated for popular cloud services. This allows new use cases to appear when the ERP systems are capable of securely spreading across clouds. 

Without modernizing their ERP software, many companies focusing on digital transformation have recognized that the full potential of their investments cannot be unhitched. 

According to Gartner, “Nearly 75% of all ERP deployments fail to satisfy their expected business objectives in total.” 

For a successful ERP transformation, accelerated and efficient ERP testing across all the phases remains a major roadblock.  

As enterprises manage the transition to next-gen ERP systems incorporating cloud features and digital solutions, they must first decrease the risks by addressing all the business challenges. 

The business challenges of ERP Migration 

Inefficient Change Management: It is calculated that on average more than 50% of the implementation time is spent on maintaining changes driving to scope creeps. 

Data Quality Issues: While organizations transfer their legacy data into a new ERP system, data quality performs a relevant role. Experts tell that 1/5th of the most common problems with ERP implementation is linked to poor data integration. In the new ERP reality, the old data that continued in the legacy systems is more error-prone.

Compatibility issues with ERP modules: Businesses associating multiple vendors to implement various ERP modules might welcome many compatibility issues that require to be addressed. 

ERP System Selection Criteria: It is important to do enough groundwork before finalizing the ERP system for your business. Without a clear business aim, one may face consequences if the ERP system that you select doesn’t match your business requirements. 

Technical Setbacks: While you are on the way to ERP migration, it is essential that your internal network is examined and modernized if needed. It is also likely that you may need to repair your existing servers and other hardware to adjust to the new ERP migration unless your company is a cloud-based ERP system. 

The extent of complications may differ depending on the sector in which your company operates. 

Postmodern ERP 

According to Carol Hardcastle, research vice president at Gartner, “The growing complexity of the ERP application portfolio is driving the requirement for a defined postmodern application integration approach. Without addressing the integration interests in a strategic manner, cost and complexity will begin to spiral out of control and any advantage will be quickly consumed.” 

The Postmodern ERP as put forth by Carol describes a fundamental shift away from a single vendor mega-suite toward a more loosely coupled and unified ERP environment and this new environment ensures more business agility, but only if the enhanced complexity is acknowledged and addressed. 

Testing is a bottleneck for teams utilizing Agile ERP migration methodology 

One of the major bottlenecks for companies adopting agile ERP migration is the pressure it puts on the testing team. Moreover, ERP testers are understaffed and require to go through a complex test procedure. 

This often leads to difficulties like regression fatigue, incomplete test coverage, and insufficient testing. 

While the agile methodology is majorly executed by companies for its huge benefits, the possible way to go ahead is to find the correct approach to overcoming these challenges.  

This is where most of the thriving ERP migrations have been known to adopt an integrated and accelerated ERP Test Automation strategy. 

Continuous Testing and Test Automation for ERP Migrations 

Effective continuous testing cannot be accomplished without test automation. However, it is no easy task to perform continuous testing for ERP systems.  

While large data volumes and multisystem integrations make continuous testing a hard nut to crack, other factors like customizing localizations, improved security needs, and omnichannel UX testing demonstrates to be challenging. 

According to a recent report published in SDTimes, “While companies continue to move towards agile, agile testing continues to be one of the pertinent issues for teams. 70% of respondents supported agile while only 30% deployed automated testing.” 

Smart Test Automation – Hyperautomation – is apparently the only method to accelerate ERP migration and make continuous ERP testing a reality. To achieve this, it is important to choose the correct tool for your ERP Test Automation. 

Key factors to pick the right ERP Test Automation tool 

Picking the right ERP Test Automation tool for your ERP migration initiatives is usually half the battle won. Knowing what is appropriate and what is wrong mainly depends on the business requirements and not the tool by itself.  

Few questions to be asked while picking the right ERP test automation tool for your ERP migration involve–  

• Is it versatile to your agile ecosystem? 
• Can it work with all your integrated business applications and interfaces? 
• Will it hold the end-to-end ERP testing landscape? 
• Does it have the versatility of the No Code/Low code method(Scriptless Test Automation) for testers to simply adopt? 
• Will it adapt to any ERP customizations? 
• Can it promote administrative and operational ERP approaches? 

Companies implementing large-scale ERP migration plans are predominantly adopting Cloud, Agile, and DevOps for effective change management and early visibility. However, ERP testing in its modern form cannot manage the challenges posed by these technologies.  

It is further realized that the only method to scale testing is by implementing continuous testing and to implement continuous ERP testing, it is imperative to adopt Test Automation. 

Concluding thoughts 

If you are beginning an ERP migration project, it is important that you realize the expected benefits and justify costs. Assure end-to-end testing of ERP packages with quality, speed, and cost-effectiveness. 

TestUnity’s end-to-end testing services ensure seamless functionality, performance, and integration of your ERP applications. It has forged important partnerships with various testing tool vendors and gives an additional business advantage to its clients. It helps consumers the option to choose the appropriate tool based on their requirements and budget. 

Are you looking out for any help concerning test automation? Contact our team of test automation experts to leverage seamless business method centralization & integration. 

TestUnity

Testunity is a SaaS-based technology platform driven by a vast community of testers & QAs spread around the world, powered by technology & testing experts to create the dedicated testing hub. Which is capable of providing almost all kind of testing services for almost all the platforms exists in software word.