This document serves as a comprehensive guide to SAP testing, outlining the importance of SAP software in managing business operations and detailing the various types of testing such as unit, integration, functional, and security testing. It discusses best practices for effective testing, including understanding the SAP ERP system, automation, and maintaining updates, while also addressing common challenges faced in SAP testing environments. The conclusion emphasizes SAP's prominence as ERP software and the benefits of thorough testing for organizational success.

1. S A P T E S T I N G : A
C O M P R E H E N S I V E G U I D E E

2. SAP Testing: A Comprehensive
Guide
SAP is a widely used enterprise software package that helps
organizations manage their business operations effectively. With its
comprehensive suite of modules, It provides a robust platform for
managing various business functions such as finance, human
resources, supply chain management.
In this article, we will discuss a brief overview of SAP, importance of
SAP testing, different types of testing, and best practices and
challenges when testing SAP systems.
What is SAP
SAP stands for Systems, Applications, and Products is a leading
provider of enterprise application software, offering a range of

3. solutions. It was founded in 1972 by five ex-IBM employees, and has
grown into a global powerhouse with a presence in over 180 countries
and a customer base of more than 440,000 organizations.
According to 6sense, a technology research firm, SAP ERP has a
market share of 10.66% in the ERP market. SAP’s product portfolio
includes a wide range of enterprise resource planning (ERP)
solutions, such as
● financial management
● supply chain management
● human capital management
● customer relationship management.
What is SAP implementation?
SAP implementation refers to the process of integrating SAP
(Systems, Applications, and Products in Data Processing) software
into an organization’s existing systems and processes.
The standard SAP implementation involves the following steps:
● Planning the scope of the project, identifying the business
requirements, and creating a project plan.
● The SAP software is installed on the server and client machines.
● The software is then configured to meet the specific needs of the
organization.
● Existing data is migrated to the new SAP system. This includes
data from legacy systems, spreadsheets, and other sources.
● The SAP system is tested to ensure that it works correctly and
meets the business requirements.
● End-users are trained on how to use the SAP system.

4. ● The SAP system is deployed to production, and end-users begin
using it to perform their daily tasks.
SAP customization
SAP customization refers to the process of tailoring the SAP software
to meet the specific needs and requirements of an organization. SAP
provides a wide range of standard features and functions, but
sometimes these may not fully address the unique business
processes or requirements of a particular company. In such cases,
customization can help bridge the gap between the standard SAP
functionality and the organization’s specific needs.
Consider this Scenario, a Company has a tiered sales commission
structure:
● For items 1 to 100 sold: 5% commission
● For items 101 to 200 sold: 7% commission
● For items over 200 sold: 10% commission
This tiered commission structure needs to be integrated into
Company’s SAP system to accurately calculate commissions for
salespeople. Configuring this tiered system into SAP is part of the
SAP implementation and configuration process.
What is SAP Testing?
SAP Testing refers to the process of verifying and validating the SAP
software system. Different types of tests are conducted throughout the
Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) of an SAP project, including
unit testing, integration testing, system testing, acceptance testing,

5. regression testing, performance testing, security testing, and user
acceptance testing (UAT).
It is a critical part of the SAP development and deployment process,
and helps to prevent errors and problems from occurring in
production. Additionally, whenever changes or customizations are
made, the new test cases need to be created to test the new
functionality.
The Different Types of Testing for SAP
Systems
Given the complexity and customization capabilities of SAP systems,
various testing methods are used to provide extensive coverage and
maintain quality standards. The following are the different types of
SAP testing:
1.Unit Testing: The Unit testing focuses on individual units or
components of the SAP software and ensures that each unit functions
as intended. It is usually performed by developers either during the
development process or immediately after a feature is written. When
bugs are discovered during the integration phase of software
development, it can be challenging to isolate and resolve them
efficiently due to the interconnected nature of the system.
2. Integration Testing — After unit testing, Integration Testing is
performed to ensure the seamless integration of SAP applications with
other systems, interfaces, or external components.
3. Functional Testing — Functional testing in SAP ensures that all
business modules operate as intended and align with the specified
business requirements. It verifies that the various components of the

6. SAP system, including the user interface, backend processing, and
database operations, work together seamlessly to support the
organization’s business processes.
For example — If a company uses SAP for its supply chain
management. As part of functional testing, the company would test the
following scenario:
1. A user creates a new sales order in SAP.
2. The sales order contains the following information:
3. Customer name and address
4. Product code and quantity
5. Price and currency
6. The user saves the sales order in SAP.
7. The sales order is approved by the designated approver.
8. The sales order is sent to the customer via email or EDI.
Regression Testing — Regression testing is typically performed after
any changes, updates, or enhancements have been made to the SAP
system. The purpose of regression testing is to verify that the changes
made to the system have not caused any problems with the existing
functionality and to ensure that the system still performs as expected.
User Acceptance Testing — After completing functional and
regression testing, the next step is User Acceptance Testing (UAT).
UAT verifies that the SAP system is easy to use and meets the needs
of its intended users. End-users execute the UAT by running different
test cases that cover business processes, features, and
documentation, such as operating manuals and quick reference
guides. By doing so, they can familiarize themselves with the new
system.

7. Performance Testing — Performance Testing evaluates the SAP
system’s ability to handle large volumes of data, high traffic, and peak
loads without affecting response times or causing failures. It identifies
bottlenecks and areas of the application that might be slowing down
operations to optimize system configurations and performance.
Security Testing: With sensitive data and critical business processes
involved, security testing is crucial for SAP systems. It is an important
part of the overall SAP security strategy, and it helps to protect SAP
systems from unauthorized access, data breaches, and other security
incidents.
Companies hire experts to look for problems in the network,
connections, and application. This helps us fix issues that other tests
might miss. They examine high-risk areas like authentication,
authorization, encryption, source code audits and access control to
identify vulnerabilities.
Best Practices for SAP Testing
Understanding SAP ERP System and Modules:
It’s essential to have a good understanding of the SAP ERP system
and its various modules, including their functionality and integration
points. This knowledge will help you identify potential testing areas
and create effective test cases.
Comprehensive Test Planning
Make a Comprehensive test plan and identify the functional and
non-functional requirements of the SAP system to ensure that your
test cases cover all critical business processes and scenarios.

8. Test in Different Environments
To ensure that the SAP system works correctly in different
environments, test it in various configurations, including different
operating systems, browsers, and hardware setups.
You can test Testgrid to test your web-based SAP Application in
different environments. Testgrid is a cloud-based testing platform that
allows you to run automated tests on a variety of operating systems,
browsers, and hardware setups.
Look beyond UI
While user experience is important, SAP systems are primarily used
by businesses for critical operations. Therefore, it’s essential to focus
on functional testing and other aspects beyond the user interface. This
includes testing the underlying logic, data processing, integrations,
and performance.
Use Automation Testing Where Possible
Automation testing is an integral part of the SAP testing process, and
it is considered a best practice for efficient and effective testing.
SAP systems are complex and interconnected, and any change or
enhancement in one area can potentially impact other modules or
functionalities. By automating regression testing, organizations can
ensure that all previously tested functionalities are working as
expected after any changes or updates.
SAP systems often interact with other applications and interfaces, and
testing these integrations manually can be time-consuming. By
automating integration testing, organizations can ensure seamless

9. communication between different systems, validate data exchanges,
and identify any compatibility issues.
Additionally, automation testing can greatly assist in performance
testing for SAP systems. By simulating multiple users and load
scenarios, organizations can assess the system’s performance under
different conditions and identify any bottlenecks or performance
issues.
TestGrid provides an end-to-end solution for SAP automation testing,
including regression testing, integration testing, performance testing
and Compatibility Testing. With TestGrid, you can automate your SAP
tests and run them on a cloud-based infrastructure. This will help you
save time and resources, and ensure that your SAP systems are
always up and running.
Shift left testing
Shift left testing is a practice of moving testing activities to the left in
the software development lifecycle (SDLC). This means that testing is
done earlier in the process, closer to the development phase. This can
help to catch defects earlier on, when they are easier and cheaper to
fix.
Continuous Maintenance
After configuring, customizing, and deploying the SAP system, it’s
crucial to maintain it. This involves monitoring and testing the system,
identifying issues, and addressing them promptly.
Stay Updated

10. The SAP testing landscape is constantly evolving, with new
methodologies, strategies, and tools emerging every year. It’s
essential to keep track of the latest SAP release updates to ensure
that your testing strategy is aligned with the latest software versions.
SAP Testing Tools
In order to perform the different types of testing mentioned, we will
require an efficient tool that works in the specific domain for best
testing results. We will explore the tools that SAP offers and other
third party tools
Automation Testing for SAP
Applications
TestGird
If your SAP application is web-based, you can use TestGrid’s
AI-powered to codeless automation write and run automated tests in
minutes. TestGrid uses natural language processing to convert your
English-based test cases into executable actions and commands, so
you don’t need to know any programming.
Here are some of the benefits of using TestGrid:
● TestGrid can test your apps on hundreds of real devices ranging
from Android, iOS, Samsung, Oppo, Pixel and more.
● Users can perform codeless automation & save their time on
testing complex use cases.
● Integrate with custom scripts or code, which can give you more
flexibility in your testing process.

11. ● It also offers AI-driven auto heal to reduce maintenance and
automatically identify and fix defects.
● Allows you to create custom dashboards to visualize your test
results and get insights into the performance of your apps.
● TestGrid integrates seamlessly with popular CI/CD tools,
allowing users to automate their entire testing process.
● Reserve a device for a period of time for exclusive access. This
can be useful if you need to test a specific app or feature in a
controlled environment.
eCATT
extended Computer Aided Test Tool (eCATT) to create and execute
functional tests for SAP Applications. ECATT can be used to automate
a variety of SAP testing tasks, including Functional testing,
Regression testing, Data-driven testing and security Testing.
Features:
● Test transactions, reports, and scenarios
● can be used to Call BAPIs and function modules
● eCATT can be used to check authorizations
● eCATT can be used to test updates that includes the ability to
test database changes, application changes, and GUI changes.
● eCATT can be used to test the effect of changes to customizing
settings that allows you to test how changes to the configuration
of SAP affect the system.
IBM Rational Functional Tester
IBM Rational Functional Tester is an automated functional testing and
regression testing tool that can be used to test SAP applications. It

12. can be used to test the functionality of a new SAP module, you can
use RFT to automate the execution of test cases that exercise the
new functionality.
Selenium
Selenium is a popular open-source tool primarily used for automating
web-based applications. While it is not specifically designed for SAP
testing, Selenium can be employed for SAP testing in certain
scenarios, particularly when SAP applications have web-based
interfaces or when integration testing between SAP and web-based
components is required.
Performance Testing for SAP
Applications
JMeter
This is a popular open-source load testing tool that can test the
performance of both dynamic and static resources, such as files,
servlets, and databases. JMeter can be used to simulate a large
number of users accessing the SAP application, which can help to
identify performance bottlenecks.
LoadRunner
LoadRunner is a software solution for application performance and
load testing widely used in the industry. LoadRunner puts your entire
system through its paces to isolate and detect potential client,
network, and server bottlenecks, allowing you to test new technologies
alongside your legacy applications.

13. It can help to identify performance bottlenecks and improve the
performance of SAP applications.
Common Challenges in SAP Testing
● SAP systems are often large and Complex, which can make
testing challenging. Testers need to understand the
dependencies between different modules and how they interact
with each other.
● SAP environments are dynamic, with frequent updates, patches,
and changes. Managing and testing these changes to ensure
they don’t introduce new issues is a continuous challenge.
● SAP testing requires a unique skill set, combining knowledge of
the SAP platform with testing expertise. There’s often a shortage
of professionals who possess both these skills, leading to
potential oversights during the testing process.
● With the increasing number of cyber threats, ensuring the
security of SAP systems is paramount. Testing for potential
vulnerabilities and ensuring data protection is a significant
challenge.
● SAP systems are often integrated with other systems, such as
third-party applications, databases, and web services. However,
integration issues can arise due to differences in technology,
data formats, and communication protocols.
Conclusion
SAP is a non-arguably the top choice for ERP software, trusted by
many large and small businesses around the globe. Its wide range of
features and capabilities have made it a popular choice for
organizations in diverse industries. We hope this article has provided

14. you with a useful introduction to SAP Testing, which will come in
handy for your future projects.
By investing time and resources into thorough SAP testing,
organizations can reap numerous benefits, including improved system
performance, increased user satisfaction, and reduced costs
associated with fixing issues down the line.
Source: This article was originally published at testgrid.io.