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Effective QA Practices for Legacy Integration with an ERP. Dr. Sundar Ramaswamy Ms. Robin Smith Boston University Information Services & Technology 14 th Mar 2012 NERCOMP 2012 Annual Conference. SAP Implementation Project ( BUworks ).
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Effective QA Practices for Legacy Integration with an ERP Dr. SundarRamaswamy Ms. Robin Smith Boston University Information Services & Technology 14th Mar 2012 NERCOMP 2012 Annual Conference
SAP Implementation Project (BUworks) Objective: To provide BU with an integrated set of administrative tools and processes needed to support a leading research university. SAP implementation went live in July, 2011, for HR/payroll, finance, and sourcing/procurement. Integration of SAP with impacted legacy applications was a significant effort.
Legacy Integration with SAP Project Background • 25+ legacy applications • Approximately 2,000 legacy application modules impacted • SAP HR data “replenishment” to legacy reduced integration requirements significantly • Formal project management, software development & QA practices • Project team of 50+ over 10 months
Impacted Key Legacy Systems • Identity & access management • Library and door access control • Student Systems • Admissions, FinAid, Registration, Student Accounts • Student Employment/Student Payroll • Fitness & Recreation center memberships • Parking & MBTA Tpass • Cashier (credit card and ACH payments, etc) • Other Miscellaneous systems
Legacy Integration Key Objectives • Ensure successful integration of impacted Legacy applications with SAP using real-time and other suitable interfaces • Involve Business Stakeholders to comprehensively test integration interfaces to eliminate surprises • Implement formal functional design and test planning templates/methods • Align SAP Implementation and Legacy Integration QA objectives • Leverage common test repository to track testing progress • Ensure successful coordination with BUworks team during • Two rounds of Integration Testing • One round of User Acceptance Testing (UAT) • Multiple rounds of “Wave” testing – post-UAT before Go-Live
Legacy Integration Project Team • Project Manager • Application Technical Lead • Application Integration Lead • Business analysts • Data base administrators • Tiger Teams • Application QA Lead
Tiger Teams • Eight teams organized by business area • Each team responsible for several applications • Each team contained • Team lead • Subject matter experts • Programmer/analysts • Application architect • BUworks/SAP team contact
Legacy Integration Sponsors BU Works SVP and IS&T VP CIO Team Organization Legacy Integration Management Team IS&T VP, CIO IS&T Apps AVP Apps MgmtDir Arch Dir. PMO Dir. Legacy Integration Project Manager BUworks Project Managers Application Integration Lead Technical Lead QA Lead DBAs Business Analysts Parking /FitRec HR / Finance / HR Integrations Faculty /Financial Aid/DAR ID Management Registration / Student Employment Mugar Library /Housing /Building & Space FA&T Financial Systems Admissions /Student Accounts
Key Challenges • Introducing formal functional design and QA practices to a large team for the first time • Involving top management appropriately • Effective coordination between BUworks and Legacy teams for test schedule / defects • Establish interface readiness before stakeholder testing • Implementing HPQC as test manager platform (as a common repository) • In a time crunch, conduct post-UAT QA
Integration/UAT QA process flow Develop Legacy Functional Design Upload to HP Quality Center (HPQC) Develop Test Plan Develop Test Case Develop Test Data w/Users Schedule Testing w/ BUworks Perform Testing w/Users Track Defects w/HPQC Run Daily Defect Status Meeting w/Reports
Post-UAT “Wave” testing process flow Combine UAT scenarios into Wave Test Plan Upload to HP Quality Center (HPQC) Schedule Testing w/ BUworks Develop Test Data w/Users Coordinate Test Data Prep w/Users & BUworks Perform Testing w/Users & BUworks Combine & Evaluate Test Results Track Defects w/HPQC Run Daily Defect Status Meeting w/Reports
QA Practices • Developed formal Functional Design Specification template • Engaged Tiger Team leads to develop template/sample • Developed comprehensive test scenarios across related legacy systems • Workshop with Tiger Team leads to develop scenarios • HPQC orientation to familiarize team leads • Provided support for test case upload to reduce load on team leads
QA Practices • Engaged top management to communicate test schedule/expectation to Business Owners • Conducted Business Owner QA orientation to set testing and defect tracking expectations • Daily meeting between BUworks and Legacy teams to check interface readiness and plan test schedule • Unified communication to Business stakeholders for AM/PM schedule
QA Practices • Daily defect status meeting with top management, BUworks/Legacy teams to track defects • Prioritization of defect fixes, workarounds, and verification were key focus areas • Post-UAT “Wave” testing to mimic payroll cycles for processing deductions and student payroll • “Wave” testing covered impact of SAP HR actions on impacted Legacy systems • Hire, Leave of Absence, Retirement, Promotion, and Termination
Benefits and Summary • Created of a test scenarios KB for use with enhancements • Introduced standard QA practices to Legacy application team members • Promoted adoption of QA practices with templates, samples, and coaching • Enhanced communication, collaboration, and consistency across teams and applications • Established several useful communication workflows • Built useful design documentation for future testing & audit • Provided executive level summaries of testing progress to management
Thanks, • SundarRamaswamy • srajan@bu.edu (until 3/16/12) • Robin Smith • rsmith@bu.edu