Numerous organizations across the globe bank on the Oracle E-Business Suite to run critical
business operations.
Oracle E-Business Suite (EBS) is a robust tool and one of Oracle’s major product lines that offers an
entire
suite of benefits for organizations — from cutting costs to improving key performance indicators.
A robust enterprise management suite, Oracle EBS consists of SCM (Supply Chain Management),
CRM (Customer
Relationship Management), and ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning). It follows a modular architecture and
supports
customizations. Hence, businesses leveraging the Oracle EBS suite can tailor it based on their unique
business
needs and seamlessly integrate it with other applications within their ecosystem.
The need for Oracle EBS testing
When it comes to Oracle E-Business Suite implementation, one size doesn’t fit all.
Since
EBS is not just software
but a business process, enterprises adopting it must maintain and test it regularly.
The Oracle EBS Suite is generally configured to map to highly integrated and often complex
business processes.
Each configured suite is unique and hence must be tested thoroughly before going live. Many scenarios
related to
the Oracle EBS suite– such as new implementations, new modules, upgrades, patches, instance
consolidations,
and
so on, make testing necessary.
Thorough testing is needed to ensure 100% quality implementation of the Oracle EBS
infrastructure. Oracle also
releases patches and upgrades of varying sizes and scope for performance optimization and bug fixing. While
upgrading a patch, you need to determine whether the problem is fixed and whether the patch has not broken
any
existing functionality.
Challenges with Oracle EBS testing
Continuous updates
Oracle E-Business Suite is known for its regular updates, introducing numerous changes
simultaneously. It can be
challenging even for the most skilled testing professionals to keep up with this pace. Minor oversights and
manual errors can result in costly downtime across the enterprise.
End-to-end integrations
Oracle E-Business Suite integration with several dependent business processes and
applications makes testing
complex. After every update, end-to-end integration testing needs to be done to check if any
business-critical
processes have been affected, which can significantly delay the release cycle.
Poor test automation implementation plan
The complexities in Oracle require numerous changes in test scripts, resulting in testers
spending considerably
more time coding. Moreover, testing an Oracle EBS application requires more domain and technical knowledge
and
coding skills than most organizations have in-house.
Choosing metrics and KPIs
Because Oracle EBS is so far-reaching, it can be challenging to identify and test all
relevant functionality and
business scenarios. The need to test custom developments is understandable, but what else needs to be
considered? How to ensure that the test scope is comprehensive yet not so broad that it will consume too
much
resource and time?
Oracle EBS testing – Best practices
The following best practices are recommended for successful Oracle EBS testing and quality
assurance –
Formulating and optimizing test scenarios
Within most business processes, there are many scenarios or variations to what can occur.
Perform a deep dive
into your business processes and integrations to fully analyze and assess what needs to be tested and why.
This
will help formulate test scenarios accurately and optimize them efficiently. Failure to do so can lead to
over-testing, wasting valuable time and money, or under-testing, which may expose the Oracle EBS
implementation
to risks.
Creating test data volume and variety
Test data is used to check if the Oracle EBS applications under test work as expected. It
is also used to test
the application’s limits or breaking points. A high volume and variety of test data can be created by
conducting
user surveys, doing performance audits, or tracking user activity over time. Additionally, engaging with a
reliable testing partner can help with automatic test data management, which eliminates the guesswork in
finding
the right test data.
Test early and continuously
Testing early (or shift-left testing) is an efficient way to test and helps evade potential
issues and
bottlenecks down the road. Moreover, fixing a bug early in the development process is less expensive than
when
fixed later in the process. Testing continuously ensures that your Oracle EBS application is always working
optimally and also helps keep pace with the continuous delivery model of Oracle updates.
Leverage a no-code testing framework
No-code testing empowers business users, no matter their technical expertise, to contribute
to testing. This is
especially important for Oracle EBS applications, as the employees using these systems typically
aren’t
technically trained. With a no-code testing framework, the issue of test script writing and maintenance can
be
easily managed. This will help non-tech personnel to develop and deploy tests quickly.
Robust test automation solutions
One of the most important and recommended best practices when testing the Oracle EBS suite
is to use a robust
test automation solution. Oracle EBS test automation is less expensive, provides more significant risk
reduction, and is far faster than manual testing, which empowers businesses to respond faster to evolving
business needs. Since Oracle releases updates on fixed dates with very little time between releases, a
robust
test automation solution helps achieve high test coverage and require minimal coding to accelerate testing.
Conclusion
The complexity and customizability of Oracle EBS applications can make them hard to test.
By following the
above-mentioned best practices and leveraging scalable test automation solutions, organizations can meet the
rigorous testing demands of the complex Oracle EBS environment and scale their Oracle EBS applications. As a
leading software quality assurance and testing services provider, Testree offers comprehensive Oracle
EBS Testing
services.
Learn how we
help businesses maximize the ROI of their Oracle EBS applications with scalable test automation.