SAP Regression Testing | What it is & Why it Matters?

SAP stands as a stalwart in ERPs, with more than 450k customers in over 180 countries from different industries like finance, healthcare, retail, manufacturing, etc. Businesses worldwide rely on SAP to streamline business processes, enhance productivity, and ensure seamless operations. 

As businesses evolve and SAP systems undergo updates, enhancements, or customizations, the need for robust testing becomes increasingly critical. That is where SAP Regression Testing emerges as a pivotal player.

In this blog, we will discuss SAP regression testing and why it is important in SAP testing.

What is SAP Regression Testing?

SAP regression testing is a type of SAP testing that ensures that new changes or upgrades made to the SAP application work as intended and do not impact existing functionalities. This testing is crucial because SAP applications are highly integrated and complex, and any new change can have unintended consequences on other parts of the application.

With regression testing, businesses can minimize the risk of new defects and ensure that their SAP applications continue to meet business requirements and work smoothly. It is essential in environments where SAP is critical in supporting core business processes.

SAP Regression Testing: Why Does It Matter?

As businesses frequently update their SAP application to include new features, upgrades, or bug fixes, regression testing becomes essential to identify and mitigate any issues caused by these changes. 

SAP regression testing verifies that existing functionalities continue to work as intended, even after changes are made to the system. Given the intricate nature of SAP applications, even minor changes can have widespread impacts. Thus, thorough regression testing helps maintain the integrity of the SAP environments, minimize business disruptions, and ensure a seamless user experience.

The impact of neglecting SAP regression testing can be really huge. The cost of fixing issues after production is much higher than addressing them during testing. Regression testing, therefore, serves as a cost-effective preventive measure, saving organizations from potential financial setbacks and reputational damage.

How to Increase SAP Regression Testing Coverage?

As an organization’s SAP ecosystem expands, the risk of failure rises, too. If businesses choose to perform regression tests manually, the cost of bug fixing and the number of bugs are likely to rise.

Comprehensive Test Cases

Create comprehensive test cases that cover common and edge scenarios. To do so, include both positive and negative test cases to validate expected behavior and error-handling mechanisms.

Automate Regression Tests

Large enterprises can utilize SAP test automation to maintain agility in testing without sacrificing quality. Use SAP testing tools like Testsigma for fast and high-quality SAP testing.

Automate your SAP regression tests, with Testsigma

Low-code Test Automation

A codeless test automation platform like Testsigma can be valuable for SAP testing, enabling swift, error-free, and high-quality testing. This approach helps reduce complexity and ensures secure testing.

Data-driven Testing

Implement data-driven testing by varying input data to cover different scenarios. Test with a range of data sets to ensure the system behaves correctly under various conditions.

Cross-browser Testing

Perform cross-browser and cross-platform testing to ensure SAP applications work correctly on different browsers, platforms, and versions.

Regression Testing in DevOps

Integrate regression testing into your DevOps and CI/CD pipeline for continuous testing and faster feedback. 

Regularly Update Test Cases

Regularly review and update test cases based on new updates and user feedback.

How to Effectively Perform SAP Regression Testing?

The following are some steps to effectively carry out SAP regression testing,

Understand the Scope

Clearly define the scope of the regression testing. Identify the areas that are impacted by recent changes and determine the critical business processes that need to be tested.

Create a Test Plan

Develop a comprehensive test plan that outlines the testing strategy, objectives, scope, resources, and schedule.

Create Test Cases

Develop comprehensive test cases that cover the identified scope. Test cases should include positive and negative scenarios to ensure thorough testing.

Create Test Data

Create test data that simulate real-world scenarios. Ensure that the test data is representative of the production environment to validate the accuracy and reliability of the SAP system.

Choose a SAP Test Automation Tool

Use SAP test automation tools like Testsigma to help increase test efficiency, reduce human errors, and speed up the testing process.

Execute Regression Tests

Run the regression test cases. Consider automating repetitive and critical test cases to increase efficiency and reduce the testing cycle time. 

Record and Monitor Results

Record the results of each test, including any deviations from expected behavior. Monitor system performance and check for any anomalies during testing.

Review and Analyze Defects

If defects are identified, report it for bug-fixing. Analyze the root causes of defects and communicate to the development team for fixes.

Retest 

After the development team fixes the identified defects, re-run the relevant test cases to confirm that the issues are resolved.

Continuous Monitoring

Implement continuous monitoring practices to identify and address any issues that may arise after the changes are deployed to the production environment.

By following the above steps, you can ensure a thorough and effective SAP regression testing process, minimizing the risk of introducing new defects while implementing changes in the SAP system.

Automate your SAP regression tests, with Testsigma

Biggest Challenges of SAP Regression Testing

SAP regression testing, like regression testing in any complex software environment, comes with its own set of challenges. Here are some of the biggest challenges of SAP regression testing,

Complexity of SAP

SAP systems are often highly complex and customized to meet the specific needs of an organization. Testing such complex systems requires a deep understanding of the business processes and the SAP modules in use.

Interdependencies

SAP modules are interconnected, and changes in one module can have ripple effects on others. Identifying and testing all the interdependencies is challenging, and overlooking them can lead to issues in production.

Large and Complex Data Management

SAP systems often deal with large volumes of data, and managing test data that accurately represent real-world scenarios is crucial. Maintaining data integrity and consistency across various testing environments is a challenge.

Test Environment Setup

Setting up a realistic test environment that mimics the production environment can be complex. SAP systems may integrate with external systems, and ensuring the availability of these systems for testing can be a challenge.

Integration Testing

SAP modules often need to integrate with other third-party applications or systems. Ensuring smooth integration and data flow during regression testing requires careful planning and execution.

Time and Resource Constraints

Regression testing can be time-consuming, especially for large and complex SAP implementations. Limited time and resources may lead to compromises in the depth and coverage of testing.

Addressing these challenges requires a well-structured regression testing strategy, collaboration between business and software teams, and the use of appropriate test automation tools and strategies. 

Automate your SAP regression tests, with Testsigma

SAP Regression Testing Best Practices

Regression testing in SAP environments is crucial to ensure that new developments or changes to existing functionalities do not adversely affect the overall stability and performance of the system. Here are some best practices for regression testing in SAP,

• Leverage SAP automated testing tools to reduce manual effort and increase test coverage. Automate repetitive and time-consuming test cases, especially those related to critical business processes.
• Ensure that your test data is representative of real-world scenarios and covers a wide range of data inputs.
• Identify and prioritize test cases for regression testing. Focus on high-impact areas to increase test coverage and efficiency.
• Maintain separate testing environments to mirror production as closely as possible. 
• Maintain clear documentation on the SAP system’s configuration, interfaces, and dependencies.
• Build a comprehensive and reusable regression test suite that covers both core and critical business processes. Regularly update the test suite to incorporate changes made to the SAP system.
• Integrate regression testing into DevOps and CI/CD pipeline to automate testing as part of the SDLC.
• Foster collaboration between development, testing, product teams, and stakeholders.

How Can No-Code Automation Increase SAP Regression Testing Coverage?

No-code test automation can significantly enhance SAP regression testing coverage by providing a user-friendly environment for creating and executing automated tests without the need for extensive coding skills.

By leveraging low-code/no-code test automation for SAP regression testing, organizations can achieve higher coverage, faster test execution, and more efficient test maintenance, ultimately improving the overall quality of SAP applications.

Choose Testsigma for Effective SAP Regression Testing

Testsigma is a robust, low-code, cloud-based test automation platform that allows you to automate web testing, along with mobile, desktop, and API testing, in one place. Using Testsigma, you can automate the complex testing process of Salesforce, SAP, etc. 

Testers can create comprehensive SAP test cases in plain English using NLPs without writing extensive code to test their SAP applications. 

Its scriptless test automation approach allows testers, developers, and stakeholders to collaborate effortlessly in the testing process, thus ensuring optimal test coverage and efficiency.

Automate your SAP regression tests 10x faster with Testsigma for free

With codeless test creation, adaptive self-healing capabilities, and seamless integration with popular CI/CD tools, Testsigma empowers teams to achieve faster, more reliable regression testing.  

Sign up for a free trial and start automating your SAP regression tests in less than 2 minutes.

Conclusion

Regression testing in SAP is critical in ensuring the seamless functioning and evolution of SAP systems. As organizations continue to rely heavily on SAP for their business processes, the need for a robust regression testing strategy becomes more pronounced than ever. 

Also, regression testing is not merely a one-time activity but an ongoing process. So, automated regression tests can save time, cost, resources, and effort in your testing process.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why regression testing in SAP is so important to your continuous delivery strategy?

Regression testing in SAP is crucial for continuous delivery because it ensures that new changes or updates don’t introduce unintended defects or impact existing functionalities. 

SAP systems are complex and have too many integrations, and regression testing helps detect and prevent unintended issues, maintaining the stability and reliability of the SAP environment during frequent updates or releases in a continuous delivery pipeline.