What Testing Method Suits Your SAP S/4HANA Migration Best?

As an array of customer experiences shows, transitioning to SAP S/4HANA is no walk in the park. The same sentiment can be applied to testing – one of the most vital processes in SAP S/4HANA migration.

Typically, organizations would opt for end-to-end (E2E) testing when it comes to updates or process validation, in which E2E testing would verify an application’s functionality and performance from start to finish. However, experts from INT4, an integration and automated testing software provider, say that with the complex processes of SAP S/4HANA, this may not be the best approach because it requires a comprehensive and nuanced understanding of each aspect of the software, meaning that businesses would have to create and execute time-consuming and costly E2E test scripts.

Instead, Int4 said a component-based testing method would be the best option for SAP S/4HANA users. Specifically, component-based testing allows you to test individual modules or components rather than the entire system. This way, in SAP S/4HANA projects, you can independently focus on each segment of your landscape, such as inbound sales orders or outbound invoices, which can help you start testing earlier in the project lifecycle, identifying and resolving issues before they become even bigger obstacles.

According to experts, this type of testing can be even further enhanced through component-based test automation in which automated tests are “executed repeatedly across environments or project stages, aligning well with the shift-left approach – a testing methodology that you might be familiar with, where testing is initiated early in the development process to catch potential issues sooner.” Michal Krawczyk, co-CEO of Int4 and Michal Ibrom, solution architect of Int4, explain the added resources that need to be taken into consideration when moving forward with automated testing here:

As an example, think about an order-to-cash process in an SAP system. Int4 explained that in an E2E scenario, the testing team would normally validate each process stage, from receiving a sales order from an EDI partner to creating a delivery, generating an outbound Advanced Shipment Notification and issuing an invoice to the customer.

However, in component-based testing, SAP teams can independently test incoming sales order data from EDI partners to ensure the order is posted accurately in SAP. Furthermore, the process can be validated separately to ensure that the right delivery is created in reference to the sales order. Invoice creation can also be tested independently to ensure accurate invoicing before sending it to customers. So, all things considered, it is possible to confirm the functionality of each segment without requiring all other components or systems to be available.

But how do you effectively apply component-based testing? According to Int4, Service Virtualization is the answer here: “It allows SAP teams to simulate external systems, applications or partner integrations, which are often unavailable or challenging to test against in real-time. For instance, in SAP S/4HANA transformations, external applications (like warehouse management systems or customer portals) might not be accessible during initial test phases.

“With Service Virtualization, SAP teams can emulate these external dependencies, allowing them to test each component independently. This isolation significantly reduces dependencies on external systems, enabling faster, more comprehensive testing across different SAP modules.”

All in all, if you find yourself overwhelmed with the complexity of SAP S/4HANA migration testing, you might want to assess whether the E2E approach is the right one for you. By opting for a component-based testing approach, you might find yourself completing your testing steps much faster, therefore reducing costs and inefficiencies long term.