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| SAP Testing Lessons Learned
(Submitted by: Jose Farjardo, Company: ) |
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7. Flaws with BPPs
For those projects adhering to the ASAP SAP methodology BPPs (Business Process Procedures) are artifacts or outputs from the realization phase. BPPs are documented based on stand alone or for single SAP transactions. The BPP provides detailed information in the form of instructions with screen shot print outs for how to execute a given SAP transaction (i.e. SAP transaction MM01 – Create Material).
Admittedly, BPPs can assist a tester or end user on how to execute a given SAP transaction based on the project’s specific customizations. However, and this is often the case the SAP configuration team will document BPPs in a given environment such as the configuration environment with configuration data and then the SAP configuration team fails to update the BPPs to reflect the changes of the QA environment. The failure to update the BPPs diminishes their value for the testing team.
When BPPs are not updated they contain obsolete data, and may lack the necessary information to execute an SAP transaction for an SAP environment that has had customizations since the time the BPPs was initially created. Furthermore, many organizations do not perform any form of version control on BPPs which makes it difficult to discern whether a BPP is finalized, completed, peer-reviewed or still undergoing changes.
Poorly documented BPPs or outdated BPPs have a propagating effect on the creation of test cases and test scripts. Since BPPs are documented per stand alone SAP transaction, the testing team will need to link multiple BPPs for end to end SAP test cases (i.e. Hire–to–Fire test case) that involve multiple SAP transactions with pre and post conditions. A single poorly written BPP or outdated BPP can inhibit the creation of a test case containing several SAP transactions. |