Every spring the Vereniging Nederlandstalige SAP Gebruikers (VNSG) organises a user conference to promote the exchange of knowledge among SAP-using companies. For test consultancy company PTWEE this was a reason to investigate the 'test maturity' of the visiting companies.
The research results give an interesting picture of how testing works in practice for SAP users. First of all, it is striking that 53% indicate having a person responsible for propagating the standard test approach, while only 40% indicate having a standard test approach. Let us positively state that the difference can be explained by a group that is responsible for the propagation of an approach, but that this approach still has to take shape. However, the most striking result of the survey among more than 100 managers is the use of test tools. For example, half of those questioned admitted to recording defects in Excel lists instead of a user-friendly solution such as Testersuite FREE. Even more striking is that 70% of the managers indicated that test scripts are recorded in Word and/or Excel files.
However, a package such as SAP is so complex and voluminous that the number of Word/Excel test scripts quickly adds up to hundreds of individual files. These files are then stored on a network drive. Although 57% indicate that they reuse the scripts, the people involved undoubtedly have a hard time with this. The loose files are distributed by e-mail and the test scripts are returned filled in. A major disadvantage here is the lack of overview, which makes it a long time before insights based on the tests are gained. Possible defects is also collected via e-mail or entered directly into a joint Excel list by the testers. In addition, the test scripts that have been carried out must also be stored, for example for IT audits. This cumbersome way of working explains why 66% indicate that they spend too much time on test execution.
It is extraordinary to see that on the one hand companies choose a proven standard package solution like SAP for the business processes, but on the other hand for an important IT component like the testing process they choose sub-optimisation and wooden-rope solutions in Excel. And that while there is a very nice proven standard package solution for testing called Testersuite...
