The business technology landscape is ever-evolving, and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems form the cornerstone of operational efficiency, irrespective of the size of the organization. But as these systems become more intricate, testing their functionality becomes an even more critical task.

Businesses are not only aggressively adopting advanced ERPs but also revolutionizing the way they assure the quality and reliability of these mission-critical systems. So, let’s take a look at some noteworthy trends that are reshaping the landscape of ERP testing; from predictive analytics ensuring preemptive bug detection to harnessing the brilliance of AI and machine learning integrations. Keep reading to uncover cutting-edge strategies that could become pivotal for your ERP ecosystems.

Trends in ERP Test Automation

Object healing
The functionality of Object Healing revolves around attempting to locate and interact with Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) that have undergone updates, bug fixes, or design modifications. When such changes take place, test scripts can break if they rely on static references. Object healing addresses these challenges by maintaining automated scripts so that changed properties can be identified. It allows businesses to minimize maintenance needed to keep automated tests functional and confidently test ERP systems as they evolve.

AI and Machine Learning Integration
Even as the topic continues to dominate every conversation, AI and machine learning technologies advance as you read this. AI can also be integrated into ERP test automation tools to enhance testing capabilities. This might involve predictive analytics to identify potential issues, intelligent test case generation, and adaptive test execution based on changing business processes.

Integration with IoT
The creation of intelligent systems that can monitor changing market conditions and respond to unique needs is predicted to grow in demand. This is exemplified by ERP systems integrating with the Internet of Things (IoT) to create smarter manufacturing processes. Devices such as sensors and tags will enable businesses to track inventory, survey production and optimize other business areas.

Shift Left Testing
Just like in software development, there’s a growing emphasis on “shift left” testing in ERP implementations. This means testing starts earlier in the development process; detecting issues at the initial stages so that you can reduce cost as well as the effort required for fixes later. The concept of shift left testing, in a nutshell, is to “test often, and start as early as possible.”At Fortude we’ve taken the concept of ‘Shift Left’ forward, building a cutting-edge product named   – a test automation tool that has been developed using open-source tools with outright support for Infor M3 to make software test automation simple and easy. Providing early visibility on test results, Fortest enables businesses to eliminate last-minute holdbacks and make smart decisions.

Test Driven Deployment – TDD
When you take the concept of Shift Left Testing further back to the coding phase, it falls into the realm of TDD. This refers to the practice of creating test cases first and developing the solution further from the initial test cases. Why? In software development, test cases for each functionality are created and tested first. If the test fails, then the new code is written to pass the test making the code bug-free. It is a framework that instructs developers to write new code only if an automated test has failed; thereby avoiding duplication of code and leaving no room for fixes later.

End-to-end testing
Traditional ERP testing focuses on individual modules, but the new trend includes end-to-end process testing. This approach ensures that various modules interact seamlessly to deliver a complete business process, simulating real-world . We recommend businesses to consider automating these workflows to facilitate their use as automated regression testing flows.

Continous testing and DevOps Integration
It’s no secret that ERP systems are becoming more agile, and consequently so are testing processes. Integrating ERP testing with DevOps practices allows for early bug detection, reduction of human errors, and continuous testing. By automating the process, a business gains a simplified process and increased reliability.

Low-Code/No-Code Automation
As low-code and no-code platforms become more prevalent, they might also influence ERP test automation. Test scripts and scenarios could be created without extensive coding, allowing speedy development cycles and better scalability. This type of accessibility also empowers teams to be more collaborative in problem-solving as well as strategic planning.

Security and compliance testing
Risk and compliance components of an organization are rooted in all business areas – from a company’s foundational blueprint to its cloud server documenting a plethora of sensitive data. As such, it will come as no surprise that new developments in ERP test automation will focus on robust security and compliance testing mechanisms to maintain the safety of classified company data.

Test data management
Handling realistic and diverse test data for ERP testing is a challenge. This is where Test Data Management (TDM) comes into play. TDM includes multiple data sources to help support development and testing. This coverage enables businesses to speed up application development, generate large volumes of data for scalability testing, and carry out testing with relevance amongst many other benefits. Future trends might include more sophisticated test data management solutions like data masking, data generation, and data subset capabilities.Prerequisite test scripts are an efficient approach to test data management given their consistent and automated testing characteristics. These scripts create data and pass that (created) data to the next script. Using such data, these test scripts enable businesses to proceed with total independence.

Notable features of Fortest  also include its Infor M3-specific reusable library and industry-specific scripts that help fastrack manual regression testing cycles up to 90%. With pre-built business scenarios for the Food and Beverage and Cloud Suite Fashion industries, it has also proved to reduce scripting time by 50%.

Remote and distributed testing
With the accelerated adoption of remote and distributed work models, ERP test automation tools need to adapt to facilitate collaborative testing among teams working from different locations. Although the COVID-19 pandemic stressed the need for this, the new normal will continue to highlight the necessity for remote and distributed testing.

User experience testing
ERP systems are used by a wide range of stakeholders, as such, ensuring a positive user experience is crucial. Future trends could involve more comprehensive user experience testing to identify usability issues and improve user satisfaction.

Integration with ALM tools
Integrating ERP test automation with Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) tools can streamline the testing process by providing end-to-end visibility and traceability.

Mobility
Working on the go has long been a necessity and will continue to be so. Allowing stakeholders to execute both front and back-end tasks with access to crucial data, collaborating with workforces functioning across several time zones, and the need for real-time documentation will see mobility at the forefront of industry priorities.