Chapter 14. Testing in an SAP Production Environment

The axiom of a production-based SAP system is upgrades and system changes. In the human body a medication that cures some symptoms may cause unintended side effects. In the software world, particularly in the world of SAP with the promise of data and process integration among modules, a single change to an area of the system may cause "side effects" on previously working system functionality. Many factors trigger changes and upgrades in a live SAP system (i.e., applying OSS [On-line Service System] notes, graphical user interface [GUI] upgrades, etc.). These system changes must be thoroughly tested to avoid adverse cascading effects within the SAP landscape. Introducing vital system changes to a live SAP system is compromised when a project relies on manual testing and does not have an automated testing framework.

Commercial automated tools provide a bona fide solution to support and facilitate upgrades and changes to an SAP production environment. Automated test tools facilitate and expedite the execution of test cases for regression testing. Despite the promise of implementing an effective automation framework with commercial test tools as a means to support testing of SAP production changes, many SAP projects struggle to do so. Regression and performance testing with automated test tools can lead to the creation of a library of test SAP scripts that will help maximize investment in test tools while increasing the dependability ...

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