Migrating your company ERP to SAP’s S/4HANA is definitely no walk in the park. You can find more about this topic here. In this article, we want to shed light on one essential step in the blueprint of migrating your ERP: the step of integration tests and test management.
At FlowShare we strongly believe technical know-how should be equally distributed so no one involved in a project needs to invest years of time in a failed project. That is why we are building the easiest AI-digital adoption solution that enables experts to automatically capture their know-how and make it accessible to everyone in their organization. Many of our customers use FlowShare for their ERP migration projects. Within these projects, FlowShare can play a crucial role in testing and especially for user acceptance tests (UAT).
But let us start from the beginning: a good testing process is an indispensable element of the SAP S/4HANA migration, without which you cannot enter the adoption phase.
First: What SAP Testing Are We Talking About?
For implementing SAP’s S/4HANA, experts differentiate between a wide range of different tests that have to be completed: unit testing, integration testing, interface testing, security testing, regression testing, user acceptance testing and more.
While unit tests focus on small software components, isolating them from other units, integration tests are more holistic and check the integration of several components within the overall architecture. Security testing focuses on roles and authorizations, while regression tests verify whether changes to the system have caused any disruptions or problems.
However, the most important distinction is between:
- Implementation Testing
- User Acceptance testing (SAP UAT)
Step One: Implementation Testing
Implementation testing – covering among others unit testing, integration testing and security testing – focuses on ensuring the proper execution of the entire application in S/4HANA. Testers must go through all business scenarios from end to end, checking all interfaces, applications, and modules to ensure they meet the required specifications. They need to verify that all system components and external linkages work properly and that all dependencies are set. For example, if a company is producing and selling machines, a tester would check the sales function by making a complete sales order, including the customer name, customer address, ordered item and other details, to validate that the order is correctly processed.
Step Two: User Acceptance Testing (SAP UAT)
If these functional tests are successful, the next step is User Acceptance Testing (UAT). Unlike the technical implementation tests, these tests focus on the end users of S/4HANA. The focus shifts away from integrators, consultants, and the IT department to include those who will be working with S/4HANA daily.
That is also why some SAP experts consider the UAT the most important testing phase. Its goal is to validate that the new system meets the requirements and expectations from the user’s perspective and that it is easy for them to operate. If users struggle to complete their workflows, it may be necessary to adapt the configuration or provide better guidance on how to succeed.
Why Do We Need Testing for the ERP Migration?
The migration of the ERP to S/4HANA (or any other new ERP system) comes with significant risks for your business. Studies show that most ERP projects fail to meet their goals, with some even leading to major business disruptions or significant revenue loss.
This is where SAP testing comes into play, taking on an essential role in the success of the migration project. After all, a good testing process can drastically reduce the risks associated with migrating to SAP S/4HANA.
Even in the best-organized migration process, minor errors and bugs can occur. This is perfectly fine, as long as these errors are corrected before the new system goes live. Testing S/4HANA is a vital tool for identifying and addressing the small issues that arise during migration. Furthermore, User Acceptance Testing (UAT) involves users and ensures that business processes can be executed by all necessary members of your organization. This means that a robust testing process not only focuses on the technical aspects of the implementation but also addresses human components and needs.
A testing process minimizes business risks, facilitates a smooth system transition, and prevents disruptions. But what exactly constitutes a good testing process?
8 Steps for Comprehensive SAP S/4HANA Testing
“In the really big S4Hana release that I’ve been working on now, we’ve created around 1,000 test cases.” — Süntke Remmers, IT Consultant and CEO of RES Education
1. Define Test Plan
The first step is to set up a comprehensive plan for testing S/4HANA. This plan should include the scope, objectives, and timeline of your testing, along with roles and responsibilities within your organization and regarding external integrators or advisors. It also defines criteria for success. Additionally, the plan should outline the resources needed for your test process, such as data and tools. Most importantly, the plan must specify exactly what needs to be tested: the test cases (also called “test scenarios”). To manage your test scenarios, you can use a traceability matrix. This is a document which maps the test scenarios to their corresponding technical requirements and current state. That way, the traceability matrix provides an overview of the different test cases and allows you to trace relationships and requirements.
2. Set Up Sandbox Environment
Once the test plan is finalized, you can set up the sandbox environment for testing S/4HANA. This involves configuring hardware, installing specific software, and making any other necessary preparations. Additionally, you should prepare the data required to execute the test cases, ensuring everything is in place before starting the testing phase.
3. Implementation Testing
Implementation testing typically involves your IT department and/or external integrators. Even if external resources are supporting this step, it can be valuable for internal staff to be at least partially involved in the test procedure.
Implementation testing includes various tests, such as unit testing, integration testing, and functional testing, all tailored to the new S/4HANA system. Depending on your use case, it may also be beneficial to employ automated tests and use specific tools to accelerate the process. One crucial aspect of the testing process is given its own step: Comprehensive documentation and Reporting.
4. Documentation and Reporting I
Whether conducting unit tests, end-to-end tests, or UAT, migration tests must always be carefully recorded and documented. This ensures that all administrators can understand which tests have been carried out, what the results were, and where bugs occurred. Special care is needed here, even if it can be tedious.
Testers must record the test cases they are working on, and document the results in a way that can be easily reproduced by others, using log data and screenshots, for example. This thorough documentation enables bugs to be identified and resolved effectively.
Furthermore, a clear dashboard can be very helpful, allowing all testers to see the company’s progress in the testing process. For instance, the dashboard should show how many test cases have been processed, which were successful, and which issues have been resolved. According to Süntke Remmers, longtime SAP consultant and CEO of RES Education, many companies still use Excel to report test cases. Even though Excel is a powerful tool, it might not provide the necessary overview of the complete testing process for all team members, making other tools more effective. Remmers, for example, uses a wiki to store the workflows documented with FlowShare and monitors the status of defective processes in Jira. Read more about this here.
5. User Acceptance Testing (SAP UAT)
“Many people think that integration tests are important for project management. But if you take a closer look, it is actually most important for the employees that these integration tests run the way they expect them to. After all, it is the employees who have to work with the processes after the go-live. So the tests are not just for the management, but for everyone, ultimately. For everyone.” — Süntke Remmers, IT consultant and CEO RES Education
After technical issues have been tested, tracked, and resolved, the next stage of testing is conducted with key users. Test cases should be defined clearly together with the users to ensure they align precisely with actual business requirements. According to SAP expert Remmers, the biggest challenge is often achieving complete test coverage. This means covering all processes that employees execute at least once a day in the SAP integration test. To ensure complete coverage, it is useful to involve employees themselves in the selection of test cases.
The goal of UAT is for end users to verify that the new S/4HANA setup meets their needs and expectations. Ultimately, they should be able to approve the system and confirm that they can use it effectively in real-life production.
6. Documentation and Reporting II
For UAT, careful monitoring, tracking, and reporting are even more critical than for implementation tests. Therefore, involved users must be comprehensively onboarded for the testing process and educated on what exactly they need to do and how to report it.
One way to achieve this is through comprehensive test tickets. The ideal test ticket contains all the information required for the test case: the process being tested, its requirements, the desired outcome, and so on. For migration expert Remmers, it is crucial that the ticket does not have so-called “expert status”, but is universally understandable. 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. This approach distributes the testing workload and reduces the burden on key users.
Additionally, this method improves change management within the organization. When all employees have tested and approved their processes, no one can reject the migration afterward by claiming it doesn’t work. Shared testing creates shared responsibility for positive outcomes.
“When employees are involved in the testing process, they begin to understand that while the new S/4Hana system may differ slightly in its interface, the process itself remains the same.” — Süntke Remmers, IT consultant and CEO of RES Education
Another important aspect of UAT is the transparent reporting of results. SAP consultant Bruno César emphasizes the importance of using a tool where all test scripts can be loaded (step by step for each process), data can be stored, and bugs can be reported. This is crucial because bugs or issues need to be communicated to IT in a way that allows them to be addressed and resolved efficiently.
Our automated documentation software, FlowShare, serves both purposes: to give detailed information about the process to be tested and to document the subsequent test. With FlowShare you can generate dozens of step by step instructions in a short time. These can be used as guides for the testing process and are super easy to follow for everyone. On the other hand, FlowShare can work in the background during testing, capturing all steps automatically. This eliminates the need for manual logging, screenshot capturing, or writing descriptions, as FlowShare does all this automatically. Testers simply need to store the completed flows in a database accessible to all team members involved in the testing process.
7. Adaptation and Re-testing
Based on the reporting from the previous step, your IT has sufficient information to adapt S/4HANA and ensure it meets user needs. If there are many issues, it can be helpful to categorize and prioritize them using tags and labels.
By the way: a high number of bugs does not indicate a poor migration process but rather an effective testing process. It’s better to identify these issues now than after going live.
As in step four, again a well-organized dashboard is useful for tracking the testing process: Is the traffic light red, indicating many issues still need to be addressed? Or are we approaching the green phase, with few bugs remaining? Additionally, assigning tickets to responsible team members ensures clear accountability.
After adapting the system, further tests such as security testing or regression testing should be conducted. Regression testing ensures that all applications and processes still function correctly after changes have been made.
8. Final Validation and Go-Live Preparation
If all issues have been resolved and all tests have been successful, a final round of testing may be conducted to ensure S/4HANA is ready for the go-live. Summarizing key learnings from the testing process and involving business stakeholders for final approval is also recommended.
To ensure a smooth transition from testing to the adoption phase, it is important to meticulously plan the go-live activities (e.g., data migration, system configurations) and ensure comprehensive, high-quality training documents and IT support. Documentation created during the testing process, such as detailed test tickets made with FlowShare, can be repurposed as training material for other employees after the S/4HANA system is released.
More information on the other phases of the migration to S/4HANA can be found in our article on the blueprint for migration. If you want to learn more about testing and how FlowShare helped set up a successful testing process for S/4HANA, check out our case study with RES Education here. And if you are eager to try out our software FlowShare – no problem! You can start a free trial here
FAQs
What is the difference between Implementation Testing and SAP UAT?
Implementation testing focuses on technical execution, checking that all modules, interfaces, and external linkages across the S/4HANA system function correctly end-to-end. User Acceptance Testing (SAP UAT) shifts the focus to end users, validating that the system meets daily operational requirements and is easy for employees to navigate.
Why is testing important during an ERP migration?
ERP migrations come with significant business risks, and many projects fail to meet their goals without thorough validation. A good testing process identifies and resolves bugs before going live, prevents major business disruptions, and ensures shared responsibility across the organization.
How does FlowShare assist with SAP S/4HANA migration testing?
FlowShare runs in the background during testing to capture process steps automatically, eliminating the need for manual logging and screenshot capturing. It creates step-by-step guides that can be linked directly to test tickets and repurposed as post-migration training documentation for employees.
