How to conquer User Acceptance Tests (UAT) for S/4HANA with FlowShare in 5 steps

UAT documentation for SAP S/4HANA is usually produced twice: once as test evidence, and once as end-user training. It does not have to be this way. Capture the test as it runs and generate both from the exact same recording.

There is no successful migration of your company’s ERP to SAP’s S/4HANA without integration tests and especially User Acceptance Testing (UAT). This is because the end users – your employees – are the ones who actually use the ERP in their everyday work. If they struggle to utilize the benefits of S/4HANA or do not know how to navigate the system, this can pose a significant risk to the entire organization.

Süntke Remmers, seasoned SAP consultant and CEO of RES Education, has seen the full spectrum of integration tests throughout his career. With 25 years of experience in the SAP environment and contributions to over 100 integration tests, Süntke has developed a new approach to UAT using our documentation software, FlowShare. Read more about this approach in the following case study.

The Challenge: Managing User Acceptance Testing Documentation Amid Resource Constraints

The Challenge: Over 1000 Test Cases Amid Time and Resource Constraints

Migrating to S/4HANA is no small feat. According to Süntke’s experience, a release typically involves over 1000 different test cases, demanding considerable effort. This, in turn, competes with the company’s limited resources in terms of time, budget, and personnel.

In view of that, the first major challenge is ensuring that all corporate processes are actually covered, as Süntke explains:

If an employee has, for example, 50 different processes at work in the SAP environment, it takes time to document or test them all. In addition, employees often lack intrinsic motivation for these documentation and testing tasks, especially when they must balance them with their daily work responsibilities. Consequently, testing often becomes the task that gets deprioritized.

“That’s a fair question: In addition to all the tasks that I have to carry out at work, do I also have to document my processes for the integration test?”

Süntke Remmers, CEO of RES Education

Beyond the effort required for such a test process, reporting poses an additional hurdle. Süntke notes that many companies still monitor and report their integration tests using Excel. The problem? This method often provides a poor basis for decision-making. Data in Excel is often embellished and presented more favorably than reality, partly because the Excel sheet is usually not automatically linked to the actual progress of the test process. As a result, the company’s steering committee or board lacks accurate oversight of the testing process.

“Consequently, it is not uncommon for things to clash during board meetings because the level of maturity of the implementation is not what was expected.”

Süntke Remmers, CEO of RES Education

The Solution: 5 Steps to Better User Acceptance Testing Documentation with FlowShare

The Solution: 5 steps to success with FlowShare

To overcome all these challenges of the S/4HANA testing process, Süntke Remmers developed an innovative approach utilizing FlowShare which comprises 5 steps. 

In summary, employees quickly and easily record all company processes using FlowShare. These flows are stored in a wiki, such as Confluence, while a project management tool like Jira helps monitor both – the status of defective processes and the overall success of the test process.

“For the easiest recording of processes, FlowShare is the tool of choice. ´As easy as possible´ in this case means that the documentation is completed automatically and doesn’t require any editing. That’s the big advantage.”

Süntke Remmers, CEO of RES Education

Step 1: Process Mapping Made Effortless

“Many people think that integration tests are important for project management. However, a closer look reveals that it is actually most important for employees that these tests run as expected. After all, it’s the employees who have to work with the processes after the go-live. So, the tests are not just for management; they’re for everyone – ultimately, for everyone.”

Süntke Remmers, CEO of RES Education

To gain a complete overview of all company processes in the first step, it is crucial that the users who carry out these processes are the ones documenting them. To achieve 100 percent coverage while minimizing resource bottlenecks and time conflicts with other daily work processes, RES education developed its own approach to incentivize users to document.

Instead of allotting one or two weeks for documentation, RES Education extended the recording period to three months and introduced FlowShare. With FlowShare, documentation happens almost unnoticed by the key users—they simply carry out their usual processes while FlowShare runs in the background. The result is clear, automatically generated documentation with images and short descriptions that can be exported in various formats.

Furthermore, RES Education uses their Clever Learning Tool, which reminds users via daily emails to either build or maintain knowledge, automatically transferring it to the company wiki. For example, every day at 8:45 a.m., users are reminded to use FlowShare. This approach removes the decision-making burden about which processes need documenting; users simply capture the process they are currently executing.

“This creates a habit of sharing knowledge, ensuring documentation is not forgotten but is always present and is nicely integrated into everyday working life. So it’s like that good cup of coffee: right, 8:45, time to document.”

Süntke Remmers, CEO of RES Education

Süntke knows this system works well because, after three months, when the daily emails stopped, users started asking, “What’s wrong with the system? Why am I not getting any more emails?” This reaction shows that employees had truly adopted the habit of sharing knowledge and had come to appreciate it. After three months, thanks to FlowShare, they achieved full coverage of all critical processes required for a smooth SAP S/4HANA transition, with minimal effort.

As a significant bonus, the company could use these documentations not only for the S/4HANA migration but also as job descriptions for HR and work plans for onboarding new employees.

Step 2: Process Aggregation in the Company Wiki

Once a process is recorded, it must be stored in a way that is easily accessible and usable by everyone. RES Education manages this process aggregation in the cloud-based wiki, Confluence. A significant advantage here is FlowShare’s direct integration with Confluence (as well as other knowledge bases) allowing step-by-step-guides created with FlowShare to be directly uploaded to the wiki.

This makes the documentation process as convenient as possible for employees:

“The beauty of the solution lies in the fact that it truly covers all processes with virtually no additional effort for employees.”

Süntke Remmers, CEO of RES Education

Thanks to its innovative approach using FlowShare and the Clever Learning Tool, RES Education successfully aggregates virtually all SAP processes in the company wiki. A key aspect of this aggregation is that it can be continuously updated, ensuring it always reflects the latest state of the processes. If a process changes, it simply needs to be re-documented with FlowShare, and the wiki can be updated with just a few clicks.

Step 3: Ticket System – Linking Processes for SAP UAT Testing

Once users have mapped all their processes and aggregated them in a knowledge base, the foundation for the actual testing process is set. RES Education organizes this using a ticket system in the project management software Jira.

One central element of the success of such a ticket system is the high quality of the test tickets. The ideal test ticket…

1. contains complete information, 
2. is universally understandable for everyone in the company, and 
3. is user-friendly in its design. 

This means the ticket should contain enough information so that anyone in the company – even a working student or trainee – can carry out the test case. Furthermore, it should avoid expert jargon and be easy to follow. This approach distributes the testing workload and reduces the burden on key users.

“The test ticket should not have so-called expert status and, for example, only contain keyword-like information.”

Süntke Remmers, CEO of RES Education

To ensure that all the necessary information for a test case is included in the ticket – such as the process being tested, its requirements, and the desired outcome – users only need to attach a link to the documented process in Confluence. This way, testers have an easy-to-follow, step-by-step guide with screenshots and short explanations at their disposal.

“You provide a document that has been recorded by an employee and serves as a step-by-step guide for reproducing the test case.”

Süntke Remmers, CEO of RES Education

Another charming benefit of linking a wiki to a process management system is that if a process in the wiki changes, the ticket automatically updates as well. This means users don’t have to make changes in two places or worry about whether the ticket is still current. This approach ensures that the correct process is always available, effectively “killing two birds with one stone.”

Step 4: Workflow Between Testers and IT

With the ticket system in Jira and the aggregation of all company processes in the wiki, RES Education ensures a well-functioning workflow between IT and the rest of the organization during the S/4HANA migration.

The IT department can maintain oversight about the migration process and manage it via Jira. At the same time, they can involve key users for testing as needed by assigning test tickets to them.

The process management tool offers the advantage of centralizing and streamlining communication. SAP expert Süntke Remmers has found that coordination between IT and testers in many companies still occurs via email or, worse, through informal conversations. This can lead to important information being overlooked, IT losing oversight, and the test process descending into chaos. However, by managing the process transparently in Jira or a similar tool, these issues are avoided.

If the IT assigns a test case to a tester, the user receives a notification and can check the process. If it works, they set the ticket status to “done”; if not, to “error.” The IT employee responsible for the ticket then automatically receives an email via Jira notifying them of the status change and can address the issue if necessary.

Step 5: Dashboard – The Ultimate Decision Template for your Steering Committee

The final step of RES education’s five-step-approach focuses on transparent monitoring and reporting. It is essential that all tickets and test cases include a status indicating whether they are completed, still open, or in progress. Additionally, process management can include further details such as indicating the “responsible department” for specific test cases, grouping test cases into phases, or prioritizing tickets according to their importance .

Centralized and transparent data collection enables real-time visualization of the information in a dashboard. This dashboard provides a realistic overview of your test process’s current status at any time. It also allows for evaluations, such as KPIs for specific departments or for certain units within the S/4HANA system.

“There are very attractive reporting options, all based on the status of the tickets. So, you don’t use Excel to sugarcoat; instead, you access the database online, reflecting reality at the exact moment you view the dashboard.”

Süntke Remmers, CEO of RES Education

For a successful S/4HANA migration, it is crucial that all high-priority error tickets are resolved and closed. The dashboard should reflect this, though it’s possible to go live with a few minor bugs that are less relevant to the release. These can be addressed after a successful go-live.

Unlike Excel, the real-time dashboard provides the steering committee with a one hundred percent reliable decision template. It offers real-time insights into the current status of the test process, allowing the committee to manage the S/4HANA migration accordingly.

The Result: A 100% Employee-Centered Approach and Better Change Management

The result of RES Education’s five-step-approach with FlowShare are insightful User Acceptance Tests and – based on the UAT – a successful S/4HANA migration.

The key benefits can be summarized as follows:

• Effortless and Quick Documentation: Thanks to FlowShare, users can capture processes with minimal effort and in a very short amount of time.
• Seamless Integration with Work Routines: By giving employees time for documentation and integrating it into their daily work habits, the process fits smoothly into the users’ work routines.
• Getting Everyone on Board: FlowShare’s step-by-step guides with screenshots enable everyone in the company to follow the instructions and take responsibility for the success of the migration process. This approach relieves the burden on key users and IT.
• Successful Change Management: Employees, as key players in the testing process, become accustomed to new processes in the S/4HANA system at an early stage. This increases their acceptance of and satisfaction with the changes.
• Efficient Communication: Thanks to centralized collaboration between IT and testers in Jira, responsibilities are clear, and no information is lost.
• Full Disclosure for the Management: The real-time dashboard gives management comprehensive insight into the company’s status in the testing and migration process.

All in all, RES Education’s approach is an employee-centered strategy, targeting precisely those who are most critical to the success of the migration: your employees.

Check SAP Case Study

Conclusion: Testing Without Pain With FlowShare

The case study of RES Education showcases how the software FlowShare eliminates the pain of User Acceptance Tests (UAT) in the migration process to SAP’s S/4HANA. FlowShare reduces effort and complexity, is easy for everyone to handle, and ensures efficient knowledge transfer.

Along with RES Education, several other companies have already successfully completed their migration to S/4HANA and managed SAP processes with the help of FlowShare. To learn more about the S/4HANA migration process, check out our blueprint for migrating your ERP. And if you are eager to try FlowShare, you can start a free trial here.