Regression testing uncovers important issues during software upgrades, yet can be a cumbersome task when resources are already stretched thin across an SAP project. To make testing more efficient, SAP created SAP Test Automation and Optimization (SAP TAO). Automated tests require fewer resources, saving time and money during busy project times.

SAP TAO was created through collaboration between SAP and HP. HP already provided a product-independent testing tool, QuickTest Professional, though the tool was cumbersome when building automated scripts to run on SAP, says Rajesh Karpe, senior manager at Deloitte Consulting LLP. In response, SAP and HP developed SAP TAO.

The tool contains components from SAP transaction screens and parameterizes them for use in automated testing procedures. “SAP TAO already has building blocks in it that mimic the way SAP screens behave,” says Karpe, “So there is very little programming that has to be done to make it work with most commonly used SAP transactions.”

Those building blocks can be fit together to represent the way different transactions are configured. Data files can then be run through the testing tool to determine how the system will act after go-live.

The fee-based tool is a part of the SAP Quality Center by HP suite. The current version, SAP TAO 2.0, integrates with SAP Solution Manager and stores data, such as analysis results, in the SAP Solution Manager repository. SAP Quality Center by HP must be installed before SAP TAO can run.

The Benefits of SAP TAO 

Through SAP TAO’s ability to automate scripts, you can save resources that would otherwise be used for previously manual tasks, such as entering test results in test scripts. Once test scripts are set up in the system, they can be executed multiple times in each deployment of the SAP solution with project resources needed only to review the results.

Furthermore, the test scripts only need updating if business processes change. This means that after the initial setup of SAP TAO and its test scripts, the time commitment for maintaining the tool is minimal.

In addition to regression testing, Karpe suggests other uses for SAP TAO:

• Day-in-the-life simulation: Karpe has used SAP TAO at clients to reproduce systems to show what a real day will look like after go-live. Instead of waiting until go-live to get a clear picture of this, with SAP TAO he can see the simulation during the project test cycles. While gathering these outcomes would involve a great amount of manual work in traditional testing, SAP TAO can reach the same results, with human involvement needed only to verify results.
• Data verification: Using SAP TAO for automated data verification during new projects, Karpe says he has saved a significant amount of time over manual processes. Based on the scripts you create, the tool runs transactions that use the master data sets converted for use in SAP systems. The transactions can run multiple times to ensure the data converts properly and is usable in an SAP system. Karpe recommends doing this at every conversion cycle to ensure the data loads correctly and is clean and usable.

SAP TAO in Action 

Karpe recently installed SAP TAO at a company with about 1,200 users, three main sites, and two satellite sites. With a dedicated team of six people, the technical installation took a week and the development of scripts took about three months. Karpe explains, “The scope of it initially was small but kept growing as we realized that we would be able to use TAO to simulate a day-in-the-life of business operations and perform mass data verification during data conversion cycles.”

The company used the tool to attempt to simulate a normal day of creating work and production orders and recording activities against them in the SAP system. With a typical day seeing 1,000 orders with 10 components each, manually issuing 10,000 components is an involved task. SAP TAO converted planned orders into production orders, issued components against them, and ran transactions, all automatically.

Moreover, data can be run as many times as needed to flesh out possible issues. “If after the first run numerous data issues are identified preventing us from processing 50 percent of the orders created, we can address those  issues, run the data again, and the next time the percentage should increase to about 75 percent. We will keep running the data and addressing the issues until we get to our goal of 100 percent.” says Karpe.

"TAO can offer SAP customers the ability to cost-effectively test multiple aspects of their SAP solution,” says Karpe, “and uncover functional defects and issues before going live.”

Laura Casasanto

Laura Casasanto is a technical editor who served as the managing editor of SCM Expert and Project Expert.

You may contact the author at lauracasasanto@gmail.com.

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