How SAP Best Practices are galvanizing Application Testing SAP follows certain tried and tested practices along with continuously evolving practices to come up with the BEST practice for a process. These best practices aim at designing processes / methodology to improve the efficiency of all strata of existing organizational structure. These processes focus on improving and sustaining the productivity and profitability of different domains of software development. Also as a result of the value chain started by these processes, the TCO of the applications gets reduced. These processes work by identifying and quantifying wasteful variations and indicate steps for improvement. There is a monitoring process in place which provides statistical data needed to control and review these processes and henceforth suggest changes if the current setup is not giving desired results. All in all it is a rigorous process that looks for data and allows decision making based on data. So are the Application Testing Departments benefited by this approach? The answer is yes and we can quote the example of the automation test teams for the application layer within SAP. This Test Automation team creates reusable scripts/stubs to test objects, components in the application layer.

The application components/objects in SAP expose a set of services which are also tested by these automation scripts. These tests are executed on a regular basis to get the success status of all the application areas. The team uses two methodologies to add value to their current testing cycle - . Static checks for maintenance. Coverage reports and analysis for feedback. As the development of these objects is a continuously ongoing process, to adapt the tests accordingly requires lot of manual effort. To facilitate this activity static check process is used, involving usage of a tool which reports inconsistent changes in the components/objects of the application layer. These changes can be extracted through a comprehensive report on a regular basis, which can be referred to by the test developers. Incorporation of these changes help in defect tracking and identifying new implementations. As a result the maintenance process becomes more streamlined and less expensive in terms of effort/time spent. Another process that has been followed is an extensive feedback system. This feedback system makes use of tools which report the percentage of the exposed components and their services covered through the automated tests. Through this report the test developer can identify the enhancements needed in the tests. This loop back process can lead to suggested changes to the test design itself, hence making it more comprehensive. Both these processes have with time proven to be among the best practices followed in testing.