Cut your Oracle EPM release validation time with test automation
Published: 2021-08-03 09:35:51

Oracle EPM Cloud Apps are ever-evolving. New features, functionality, and bug fixes are released every quarter to improve the performance of the EPM Apps. Since these updates are mandatory and applied on a scheduled date, enterprises using Oracle EPM Apps for managing and supporting business processes are finding it difficult to keep pace with Oracle EPM Cloud’s frequent updates.


In this blog, we’ll discuss major challenges that Oracle EPM Cloud customers are facing with frequent updates and how test automation can help in addressing these challenges.


<B>Why does regression testing every quarter require to ensure defect-free release?</B>

Whether you’ve enabled anything every quarter or not, you need to understand the impacts of the latest release on internal business processes to ensure business continuity. Since Oracle EPM cloud has the potential to affect a variety of functionalities, regression testing ensures that due to updates bugs have not been introduced or code changes haven’t negatively impacted system performance or user experience. Since EPM is an enterprise-grade software in which tons of transactions take place daily, you simply cannot trust updates without testing. If you’ve chosen to turn on a new feature, you need to consider how that feature is going to impact current processes and procedures.

<B>What Should You Test?</B>

All critical business functions before the patches go into Production.

Key business process flows for different roles in the organization
Critical custom reports

Integrations with other applications

Custom workflows (journal, invoice, PO approval, etc.)

Available UI and process new features that will apply to you

<B>However, testing Oracle EPM Cloud Apps is complicated</B>

In the case of Oracle EPM Cloud Apps, the updates are applied to non-production environments first. After two weeks, updates are applied to Production. This schedule is fixed and cannot be canceled unless specifically approved by Oracle. Thus, customers get the two-week window to validate critical reports, key workflow approvals, and critical integrations with other applications.


The manual testing approach is not viable for short testing window

The manual testing approach is still prevalent, it cannot be considered viable due to the following reasons.

It is time-consuming, fragile, costly, and error-prone.

Testing a complex application like Oracle EPM in just two weeks is not feasible.

It can impact business continuity due to limited testing coverage
Adversely impact time to market due to redesign, reimplementation & revisiting of strategies.

<B>Test Automation — Your pathway to digital success</B>

To avoid business disruption, lack of visibility, and project backlogs, enterprises need to bring in high-velocity automated testing. Test automation helps in increasing the overall software efficiency with faster feedback, accelerated results, lower costs, greater efficiency, and broader coverage. In fact, test automation accelerates the release, patch, and upgrade test cycles across the breadth of Oracle EPM Cloud Applications and beyond.

<B>Biggest perks of test automation</B>

Tests can be executed quickly across critical business processes and workflows.
Bugs can be detected early, saving a lot of time and life-cycles
Scripts can be maintained and reused with minimal effort
Complex test cases can be executed to provide coverage and scale
Faster feedback, accelerated release cycles, lower the costs, & minimum risks

<B>OpKey — Autonomous Test Automation Tool for Oracle EPM Cloud</B>

To transform your organization, you need to transform your testing strategies and this can only be achieved with the help of the right test automation tool. Organizations that are struggling to keep pace with frequent Oracle EPM Cloud updates should trust OpKey . Built for the Agile and DevOps team, OpKey offers enterprise-grade security, modularity, and scalability during testing while helping enterprises to reduce update certification testing time by up to 80%. Using <a href = "https://www.opkey.com/">Opkey </a>, QA teams can create optimum test models and scenarios for Oracle EPM Cloud Applications to regressively test applications across Web, Mainframe, Client Server, Web Services, and Mobile devices. OpKey’s Predictive Impact Analysis engine enables enterprises to track changes across applications’ ecosystems in real-time and alerts the users on the potential impact on their business processes along with recommended tests to execute to cover the risks.

<B>Title:</B> Cut your Oracle EPM release validation time with test automation

<B>Description:</B>In this blog, we’ll discuss major challenges that Oracle EPM Cloud customers are facing with frequent updates and how test automation can help in addressing these challenges

<B>Canonical Url:</B> https://www.opkey.com/blog/cut-your-oracle-epm-release-validation-time-with-test-automation/