Continuous Testing for ERP Transformation- A Myth no more
Published: 2021-02-08 15:53:46

The IT industry is witnessing a once-in-a-lifetime transformation as the Covid fallout has forced enterprises to re-imagine the way they do business and the way they perceive IT. Re-imagined digital transformation initiatives are being pursued by companies to handle the challenges (and opportunities) thrown by this pandemic. ERP transformation is at the heart of most of the digital transformation initiatives. The next generation of ERP solutions, such as Oracle Cloud and SAP S/4HANA, offer even more promising capabilities, both functionally and technologically.
However, studies have shown two-thirds ERP migration or transformation projects fail to achieve the desired ROI for enterprises. And a major reason for this high failure rate is the delays associated with implementation and misaligned transformation goals.


This blog looks at some of the challenges ERP migration or transformation projects face and how an <a href="https://www.opkey.com">OpKey's</a> Continuous Testing approach powered by Intelligent Test Automation can mitigate them.

<B>The Challenges of ERP Transformation</B>
Statistically, 70% of ERP transformation projects fail to stay on schedule or within budget, and two-thirds have a negative return on investment. Large-scale ERP implementation project, often encounter any (or all) of these four issues:


<B>Unclear Scope and misaligned objectives</B>: ERP transformation often driven by activities rather than business objectives to be achieved.

<B>Poor coordination between business and IT</B>: Business and implementation teams are often not in sync regarding deliverables and value.

<B>In effective Change management</B>: Estimated 40% of implementation time is spent on managing changes leading to scope creeps.

<B>Waterfall implementation</B>: Waterfall implementations have been shown delayed feedback from business, costly change management stance and last but not the least, testing too late in the lifecycle.

And that’s the reason more and more enterprises are choosing to adopt Agile (or a hybrid Agile) approach as the methodology of choice. In short, agile practices are exactly what is needed to manage ERP implementations. But the biggest challenges faced by enterprises choosing Agile is the strain it puts on testing teams because of smaller releases (typically 3-4-week sprints) testing.


However ERP testing, in its current form and shape, can not handle the demands put by these agile ERP transformation methodologies. Teams are realizing that the only way to scale testing is implementing Continuous Testing. And the only way to implement Continuous ERP testing is by adopting Test Automation.

<B>The Proven Continuous Testing Methodology for ERP Test Automation</B>
OpKey is the Continuous testing platform for ERP applications designed keeping modern enterprises in mind. Powered by a patent-pending Artificial-Test-Intelligence (TM) engine, OpKey significantly accelerates test creation by 3X-5X compared to other Automation tools and makes maintenance a breeze with its Self-Heal technology. With OpKey, agile teams now have a test Automation platform to create reliable Automation tests significantly faster and maintain those painlessly.


<B>Extensive Technological Support</B>
OpKey Surge provides unparalleled ERP Automated Testing experience with fully automated 10,000 + pre-built components and 15,000+ test cases across multiple ERP packages. Also offers Risk-based Test Automation, and the end to end visibility into change impact across the entire application ecosystem. OpKey Surge’s Continuous testing platform enables companies to automate testing for multiple generations of commonly used ERP technologies and user interfaces, moreover test cases can be easily updated when a business process changes.


<B>Flexible Scripting Extensibility</B>
Using OpKey Surge’s test builder, readable scriptless test cases are created in real time as the user exercises the application. This allows teams to take full advantage of test automation without additional effort. Test generator relieves “maintenance load” that undermines most test automation initiatives. When business processes change, all impacted test cases are automatically synchronized and speeds up the whole testing process.


<B>End to end Test Automation Across Ecosystem</B>
OpKey’s continuous testing platform solves end to end testing challenges where it can get easily integrated with different versions of ERP’s and third-party applications. Largest ERP support in the market.over 14+ ERP applications including <a href="https://www.opkey.com/sap-test-automation/">SAP</a>, <a href="https://www.opkey.com/oracle/">Oracle</a>, SFDC, Workday and Microsoft Business Central, etc. OpKey’s in-built Change Analysis and Impact Assessment across ecosystems to provide one seamless experience to testing teams.


ERP testing, in its current form and shape, can not handle the demands put by these agile ERP transformation methodologies. The only way to scale testing is to implement Continuous ERP testing by adopting Test Automation. OpKey, with its unique Automated Testing platform, Incremental Impact Analysis, 15000+ pre-built test cases, and CIIT™ methodology for implementing Continuous testing is one-stop solution for all agile and Continuous Testing needs for enterprise applications.