ERP Testing: What, Why and Benefits
As enterprises across all industries aim to increase the efficiency of their operations, the demand for ERP software is continuously growing. ERP stands for enterprise resource planning, and it is the process needed to create an ERP system aptly referred to as the “central nervous system of an enterprise.” This software facilitates the management of various business processes, from HR departments to finance, sales, and more, into an integrated system.
An effective ERP software system ensures the automation, homogenisation, and technology a business relies on to streamline all business operations. As the backbone of the core functions of a business, ERP systems must be flawless. This is where ERP testing comes in to ensure the functionality and effectiveness of the system. The testing must also be effective and efficient, and while some organisations have the in-house ability to implement testing, others typically trust a vendor that offers ERP testing services.
Importance of ERP Systems
With the dependency on ERP systems to maintain a business, enterprises must ensure the ERP solution they select fits their business model and objectives. However, many make the mistake of choosing an ill-fitting solution. Although criticising this crucial mistake would be easy, ERP software and testing are complex. They require proficiency in various aspects of software development, such as quality assurance (QA) and multiple types of software testing.
The combined necessity and difficulty of ERP systems and development skills make outsourcing ERP testing services paramount for many businesses, regardless of size or industry. Ideally, the system contains all of an organisation’s data for centralised access for all departments to quickly and reliably access the information they need for day-to-day operations.
ERP Testing Methodologies
Various methodologies exist for enterprise software testing, and their importance for an organisation is equal to that of the ERP system. ERP testing aims to ensure the system is stable, scalable, and efficiently facilitates the seamless automation of performance demands.
The types of ERP testing methods include but are not limited to:
Functional Testing
This testing technique ensures all solutions from an ERP system meet an organisation's needs and that all features run successfully. Defining clear testing goals and objectives promotes efficient functional testing.
Acceptance Testing
Also referred to as User Acceptance Testing, focuses on verifying an ERP system functions as expected in end-users day-to-day scenarios before the final launch. Contrary to functional testing, this type ensures the system is user-friendly and accessible to the people who will use it regularly.
Automation Testing
This technique performs tedious and repetitive tests without human intervention. With the proper automation tools testing coverage and speed are enhanced, and teams have more time to focus on completing their important tasks.
Integration Testing
Determines whether an ERP system fits with a business's daily operations and its ability to connect and transmit data in those operations successfully.
Performance Testing
This testing technique validates the performance of an ERP system in high-demand situations using KPIs to gauge whether it is where it needs to be or not.
Regression Testing
These tests are performed upon ERP system launch in an implementation phase and after any patches or changes are made after production to ensure system functionality is not affected by existing or new elements.
Security Testing
Ensures that security measures effectively prevent unauthorised access to an ERP system and that all data is adequately safeguarded. These tests identify any vulnerabilities making them a preventative measure for the risk of a breach.
The methods used in your ERP software testing depend on the different components of your system. There are many types of ERP systems that businesses rely on differently, with some systems supporting industry-specific requirements. An ERP system consists of integrated modules with specialised purposes for different aspects of a business. Some of the most common modules include the management of:
- Company Assets
- Finance and Accounting
- Human Resources
- Sourcing and Procurement
- Manufacturing and Engineering
- Supply Chains and Logistics
- Sales and Customer Service
Beyond basic functions, ERP systems and modules are not a one-size fits all solution. It’s crucial to select the appropriate ERP system, modules, and testing methodologies that cover all these different management areas. Many ERP projects fail when they don’t consider every aspect of an organisation and its specific requirements. Selecting methodologies requires extensive planning by evaluating the performance of current processes to identify priorities that implementing an ERP system targets. The most important questions to ask of your business are what the corporate and individual objectives are and how the system will benefit your specific day-to-day operations.
Defining & Building an ERP Testing Setup Plan
Although there are essential steps in an ERP testing setup plan, every testing plan is different, so no specific one fits all enterprises. The vital steps of defining and building a setup plan include:
- Testing preparation
- Determining whether testing will be done in-house or outsourced
- Designing a testing process
- Launching that process
These essential steps are just the basics. There are multiple actions to take within each.
1. ERP Testing Preparation
The best strategy is to define clear and measurable testing objectives to help choose the appropriate methodologies for your ERP platform. KPIs (key performance indicators) help define objectives and measure an ERP system’s success. KPIs to consider are project margins, IT costs, revenue, downtime, the number of test cases per iteration, test automation rate, and test execution time.
2. In-House vs Outsourced
Whether you will manage your ERP needs in-house or use ERP testing services (fully or partially managed) depends on your organisation’s resources, such as testing tools and your teams’ expertise. The key components of ERP testing require skills in quality assurance (QA) management and software testing, including automated testing. If you opt for outsourcing, choosing the right vendor depends on their experience, certifications, resources, and proven work on ERP projects. Outsourcing is advantageous because the provider already has the resources, skills, and frameworks for ERP implementation, which saves time and money.
3. ERP Testing Design
Whether your ERP testing is in-house or outsourced, the testing process design includes a test strategy, creating test scenarios, deciding which tests to automate or perform manually, and establishing necessary tools. Besides designing the technical aspects, business owners must consider the efforts, responsibilities, and costs of the teams working on the project.
4. ERP Testing Launch
At this point, your team is preparing to launch the ERP software testing process. A QA team is necessary for this preparation to establish the testing environment, design test cases and scripts, and manage test data. After launch, the QA team is responsible for regularly reporting on the progress of the tests. These reports allow teams to collaborate and improve the tests to ensure the ERP system is efficient, stable, secure, and easy for users to interact with in their daily tasks.
Benefits of ERP Testing With CelticQA
17+ years in software testing services
Serving clients with different QA needs in the US, Irish, and UK markets.
Expertise in 15+ industries
Including financial services, insurance, pharmaceutical, healthcare, logistics, manufacturing and technology.
Proprietary Frameworks & Methodologies
Tried and trusted processes that suit our client's specific requirements.
The right team bandwidth for your project
Access to an expert QA team when you need it. Our response is extremely fast.
Vast test automation toolkit
We identify the right tools for you and optimize tool utilization. We are certified partners of Ranorex.
Multi-Award winning QA testing company
We implement the most effective, efficient and profitable solutions for clients
CelticQA ERP Testing Tools
A benefit of partnering with Celtic QA is access to our vast range of testing tools and technologies, from test management tools to continuous integration and automation tools and frameworks. Our QA and testing specialists have successfully implemented complex enterprise software testing and systems, maintaining high-quality and best practices.
This allows us to identify the right tools for your business objectives and maximise their utilisation. Some of the testing tools in our arsenal include:
Test management tools like Jira and QA Connector have features for test planning, forecasting, and execution with real-time reporting and defect management. Our team of testing engineers are experts in all facets of the testing process, and our experience using these management tools enhances our services and improves the quality of your operations.
At Celtic QA, we specialise in automated testing. With our automation skills and tools, including Selenium, Ranorex, and IntelliJ, the challenges of implementing automation in your projects are removed, even in the tools that are tedious and complex. Automation software is tricky, and even the smallest mistakes impact the whole system. Our automation engineers know the best strategies for implementing and using these tools to create, run, and improve testing processes, especially Ranorex, making us a gold-level partner of Ranorex.
Every ERP solution is unique, but our experience as an industry leader in testing and automation allows us to tailor our services to exceed your expectations. We’ve seen a lot and know that selecting the appropriate tools for specific use cases is essential for success. Each tool has different features, and while some are user-friendly and don’t require programming expertise, having support from experienced professionals ensures the utilisation of all their features is maximised.
Specialising in automated testing and frameworks allows us to provide you with valuable strategies for regression testing, continuous integration, and continuous deployment that improve efficiency and productivity. With our support, your testing speed and coverage are increased, delivering projects on time, within budget, and with zero critical defects.
ERP Testing the Celtic Way
Partnering with Celtic QA ensures essential methodologies in ERP software testing are implemented, including:
- Functional testing: Our end-to-end functional testing verifies your ERP software works quickly and accurately in all scenarios, even in high-demand circumstances of organisation-specific operations.
- Integration testing: Our integration strategies enhance software quality by detecting errors or inefficiencies in ERP modules working together and transmitting data. We automate appropriate integration tests to further improve productivity and cost-effectiveness.
- Performance testing: We optimise the performance of systems with stress, load, spike, and soak testing to identify and resolve any slowdowns or bottlenecks caused by high activity levels.
- Acceptance testing: We strive to provide our partners with excellence, and our acceptance testing is a QA process that ensures our deliverables meet or exceed expectations.
These methods are vital for ERP system functionality and effectiveness by enhancing the speed and coverage of testing, identifying and resolving inefficiencies quickly, and ensuring the system works in high-pressure situations. When an ERP system has these benefits, your organisation and individual objectives are improved to reach high levels of success from the simplest of tasks to the most imperative tasks.
ERP Testing Best Practices
Although selecting the best testing and ERP software is important, the implementation team determines whether or not they are effective. Without a skilled team, even the most expensive, feature-loaded software won’t improve an organisation’s ERP project. Our teams at Celtic QA have the experience to select, design, implement, and maintain the best ERP software, no matter the industry. In our 17+ years of service, we have optimised processes for diverse industries across the US, UK, and Irish markets.
Our proactive approach to building quality and testing into the software delivery life cycle ensures the success of building healthy ERP systems that can be managed and maintained through essential Quality and testing methodologies such as risk-based, agile, and continuous testing. Our risk-based testing focuses on risk mitigation by prioritising the most critical functions to improve software quality, improving business performance. Agile testing detects defects in software earlier, saving time and costs while delivering high-quality results faster. Continuous testing ensures quality in every part of development, reducing the risks of new implementations negatively impacting the system.
Following best practices ensures excellent quality, and our focus when dealing with ERP solutions includes:
- Using effective methodologies
- Optimising testing across the board
- Enhancing integrations
- Improving collaboration & communication
- Selecting appropriate technology & optimising its use
- Utilising teams with expertise
- Enhancing processes & their organisation
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