Adapting to Change: Why Regression Testing is Key for SAP Updates

SAP platforms, such as SAP S/4 HANA, ERP R3, CSP, and Ariba, offer comprehensive software solutions that help organizations manage, automate, and optimize a range of business processes. From supply chain and human resources to customer relationship management (CRM) and supplier relationship management (SRM), these platforms provide the critical infrastructure that companies rely on to streamline operations, enhance efficiency, and leverage the latest technological advancements integrating them into their business models.

To keep pace with evolving business needs, regulatory changes, and security standards, SAP regularly releases updates to its platforms. Updates to the SAP platform are essential to ensure that companies are always at the cutting edge of technology, benefit from improved functionality and can fix security-related vulnerabilities. The regular updates on the SAP platform are designed to improve the functionality, security, performance and user-friendliness of the systems. They enable companies to use new technologies efficiently, meet legal requirements and optimize their business processes.

However, with each update, there is a risk that these changes can have unintended effects on existing processes and systems, potentially impacting critical business functions. This is where regression testing plays a critical role.

Regression testing in a few words

Regression testing is a software testing approach that ensures newly introduced changes, updates, or patches do not negatively affect existing functionality. It involves re-running previously successful test cases after each update to confirm that no issues have been introduced.

In the context of SAP platforms, which often receive regular updates and patches, these tests play a particularly important role in maintaining stability. By validating the integrity of all critical functions, regression testing ensures that businesses can implement SAP updates with confidence, minimizing risk to operations.

Why are regression tests so important for SAP platforms?

• Complex business processes
  SAP platforms support a variety of business processes such as finance, logistics, sales, production planning and more. An update can have ripple effects across multiple modules, potentially disrupting workflows and impacting business outcomes.

• Regular updates
  SAP continuously delivers updates to add new features, close security gaps or fulfill legal requirements. Without regression testing, each update could disrupt existing configurations or customizations, leading to costly operational issues.

• Customer-specific customizations
  Many SAP customers have highly customized systems that go beyond standard solutions. Updates can interfere with these customizations, necessitating regression tests to verify that core functions remain intact and that custom configurations continue to perform as expected.

How does regression testing for SAP work?

For each update or patch, SAP system administrators and quality assurance teams run existing test cases to confirm that no unexpected issues arise. Regression testing can be either manual or automated, but automation is highly recommended in the SAP environment, where systems are complex and updates are frequent.

The process, which is based on the experience of experts or companies and has already proven to work particularly well in certain situations, includes the following aspects:

• Test Automation
  As SAP systems are often extensive and complex, it is advisable to automate tests in order to save both time and costs.

• regular testing
  With SAP's monthly or quarterly update cadence, it’s essential to carry out regression tests continuously. Regular testing helps detect issues early, preventing disruptions before they reach production environments.

• Coverage of all critical business processes
  The tests should cover all essential business processes to ensure that the main functions remain stable and error-free.

In summary, regression testing is a strategic approach for maintaining the stability and reliability of SAP systems amidst regular updates. Through automation, regular testing cycles, and extensive process coverage, companies can optimize their SAP platforms, ensuring they remain robust, secure, and aligned with evolving business needs.