Ensure Successful M3/CloudSuite Go-Live with a Robust Testing Strategy

Whether it’s a multi-site rollout or a minor fix, testing your ERP ensures that it works as expected. An error-free ERP implementation adds to the user experiences across the supply chain, and helps increase stakeholder productivity. A buggy, slow ERP can hinder operational efficiency. A carefully-planned ERP testing strategy ensures that the ERP performs optimally from the go-live itself, without hatching unprecedented errors, which not only require costly rework but also affect the smooth functioning of the organization’s operations.

In your M3/CloudSuite journey, testing may be required at any of the following stages:

• Implementation
• Version upgrade
• Strategic or optional product rollouts
• Product upgrade
• Product fix

In addition, testing may be required after a configuration change or any custom development which is integrated to M3/CloudSuite.

During any one of these stages, an organization can face one or more of the following challenges:

1. Unavailability of key users for testing
2. Risk to business continuity due to gaps in testing
3. Time and cost required for testing repetitive scenarios
4. Maintaining test coverage and consistency

A solid Infor M3/CloudSuite testing strategy should foresee these challenges and must be equipped with skills and tools to respond to them effectively.

When testing M3/CloudSuite, adopting a shift-left approach can yield significant benefits, eliminating the pitfalls of the traditional shift-right approach.
In shift-right testing, testing occurs at the end of the ERP implementation life cycle, which is the far right of a typical implementation process.
In shift-left testing, testers do not wait until the end of the ERP implementation life cycle. Instead, testing occurs at each step of the life cycle. Shift-left testing practices can be successfully applied to ERP testing.

Due to the time advantage in shift-left testing, testers have the freedom to develop optimal test plan and test design specifications, analyze requirements, identify correct data combinations, and to validate business flows, including end-to-end integrations. The shift-left approach significantly reduces the possibility of showstopping errors from occurring at the ERP go-live and ensures functional and technical accuracy, the first time.

Fortude executes its unique Infor M3/CloudSuite testing strategy through a Testing Center of Excellence (TCoE). A TCoE brings together strategy, resources, testing methodologies, best practices, automation, and tools as a centralized service. The TCoE measures the quality of every phase of the Infor M3/CloudSuite implementation through industry-known test metrics such as Requirement Clarity Index, Defect Removal Efficiency (DRE), and Defect Severity Index (DSI). Fortude’s in-house-developed industry-specific test accelerators ensure high quality, reduce time-to-market, and cut costs.

Fortude can help you to plan your testing end-to-end by selecting the appropriate testing types. Our TCoE is equipped with domain testers, reusable assets, and a range of enablers to be used in both manual and automation testing.

A test automation framework developed by Infor, Infor Testing as a service (TaaS) is a unique tool in the Fortude M3/CloudSuite testing strategy.

Infor TaaS provides a range of benefits:

• Cycle Time Reduction: Due to parallel execution and the speed of test execution, TaaS reduces testing effort by nearly 90%.
• Business Continuity Assurance: Assures quality of production releases with proper test coverage and maintain consistency of the test execution.
• Cost Reduction (ROI): Reduces cost by reusing automated baseline test scripts and assigning fewer QA resources.
• 24×7 Test Climate: Facilitate automated test execution according to the client’s schedule and data.
• Virtual Execution: Scripts can be executed remotely, and results can be checked in a very user-friendly manner.

Our methodology has ensured smooth ERP Rollout/Upgrade experience to our clients with proven results.

When speaking to a potential business partner regarding your M3/CloudSuite testing, it is reasonable to ask about their testing strategy and their experience circumventing common pitfalls in ERP testing. If you invest in a robust testing strategy, it will reap rewards throughout your M3/CloudSuite journey.

Written by Harshana Kuruppu – Head of QA at Fortude