Effective QA Practices for Legacy Integration with

an ERP

Dr. Sundar RamaswamyMs. Robin Smith

Boston UniversityInformation Services & Technology

14th Mar 2012NERCOMP 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

Team Organization

8

Application Integration Lead

Business Analysts

Parking/FitRec

Registration / Student Employment

HR / Finance/ HR Integrations Admissio

ns /Student Accounts

ID Management

Mugar Library /Housing /Building & Space

Faculty /Financial Aid/DAR

FA&TFinancial Systems

DBAs

QA Lead

Legacy Integration SponsorsBU Works SVP and IS&T VP CIO

Legacy Integration Management TeamIS&T VP, CIO IS&T Apps AVPApps Mgmt Dir Arch Dir. PMO Dir.

Legacy Integration Project Manager

BUworks Project ManagersTechnical Lead

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

Develop Test Plan

Develop Test Case

Upload to HP Quality Center

(HPQC)

Develop Test Data

w/Users

Perform Testing w/Users

Schedule Testing w/ BUworks

Track Defects w/HPQC

Run Daily Defect Status Meeting

w/Reports

Post-UAT “Wave” testing process flowCombine UAT

scenarios into Wave Test

Plan

Upload to HP Quality Center

(HPQC)

Develop Test Data

w/Users

Combine & Evaluate Test

Results

Perform Testing w/Users & BUworks

Schedule Testing w/ BUworks

Coordinate Test Data Prep w/Users & BUworks

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,

• Sundar Ramaswamy• srajan@bu.edu (until 3/16/12)

• Robin Smith• rsmith@bu.edu