Why SAP Test Automation?

The purpose of testing SAP with automation is to ensure that business critical processes work. Every time a new process is set up, it must be tested, every time a process is adjusted it must be tested, and every time SAP updates their system it must be tested.

That adds up to a lot of testing, and the only way that this is feasible is to automate the testing.

By automating tests, enterprises are not only given the ability to test everything they need within a short time frame, they are also given the confidence that their most critical processes work, and notification if something doesn’t, so that they can fix it before it affects the end-user and customer experience.

The processes that require testing will naturally vary from business to business, but regardless of which processes these are, there are a number of things that are good to know when getting started with SAP test automation, and when looking for the right test automation tool.

Read more: Increasing Your Coverage - Regression Testing SAP

What to look for in a SAP test automation tool

There are two things in particular your SAP test automation tool should offer:

• Cross-technology functionality, allowing businesses to test across all
• Intuitive and visual language rather than code, making automation design and maintenance easy.

The first is critical because SAP processes typically span across multiple applications and platforms, even within a single business transaction, and the last thing you want to do is add additional complexity by using several partial testing solutions under one roof.

The second is important for keeping testing fast and agile. SAP is, like any other software, updated from time to time, and if test automation requires you to write and maintain code every time a change occurs, testing will become an extremely time-consuming affair, eating away at your available tester and developer resources.

Another advantage of choosing a no-code automation tool is that anyone in the organization, whether they are business experts or technology experts, can understand the automation flows that have been set up. This is a benefit in test automation in general, but particularly in the case of SAP because it’s used so widely across the organization.

Why test automation is important when migrating to SAP S/4 HANA

SAP S/4 HANA is the successor of SAP R/3 and SAP ERP, and is thus SAP's new version of their platform for enterprises.

SAP S/4 HANA is supposed to be easier and more agile to use and administer, plus it helps enterprises solve more complex issues and handle more data than its predecessors.

However, to reap those benefits enterprises will have to set up their systems anew in S/4 HANA, which is a big pain due to the amount of time it will take as well as the risk involved in tampering with business critical processes.

The deadline for migrating is not until 2027, but you must consider now how you want to approach the migration, which will probably take you at least a year. And you’ll need to have a test automation plan in place for it to happen.

It can be a good idea to get experts to advise and guide you through this difficult transition.

It’s needless to say that a robust test automation platform will also be needed for the transition, and in this respect, you should be looking for the same features and qualities mentioned in the previous section.

Read: SAP S/4HANA: Are you ready for the move?

What can you achieve with SAP test automaton?

If SAP test automation is approached as described above, enterprises can expect several returns:

• Higher quality: With increased test coverage and less human error, quality of delivery can be raised significantly.
• Reduced risk and cost: By putting robots to work, less time can be spent on tedious, repetitive tasks, and fewer errors occur as a result of these. Individuals can instead focus on higher-value work.
• Increased speed and agility: Automation lets businesses test faster. By using an intuitive, no-code tool, speed increases further. In addition, no-code means less maintenance and developer dependency, resulting in more agile processes.

Leapwork for SAP test automation

Choosing the right tool is crucial to success with SAP automation. It can also get you off to a fast and efficient start.

The right tool should first and foremost be codeless and work across all technologies, allowing you to automate anything with ease.

Leapwork is such a tool. Leapwork allows you to:

• Do end-to-end automation inside and outside SAP
• Execute robust, lightening-fast automation for maximum efficiency
• Easily generate master data and build flows to verify processes
• Implement test automation and RPA without writing a single line of code

Learn more about Leapwork and SAP automation in our webinar: SAP Automation with Leapwork. Or download this solution brief to learn how to ramp up and benefit from SAP automation faster.