1. Effective QA Practices for Legacy Integration with an ERP
Dr. Sundar Ramaswamy
Ms. Robin Smith
Boston University
Information Services & Technology
14th Mar 2012
NERCOMP 2012 Annual Conference

2. 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.

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. Legacy Integration Project Team
Project Manager
Application Technical Lead
Application Integration Lead
Business analysts
Data base administrators
Tiger Teams
Application QA Lead

7. 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

8. Team Organization Legacy Integration Sponsors
BU Works SVP and IS&T VP CIO
Legacy Integration Management Team
IS&T VP, CIO IS&T Apps AVP
Apps Mgmt Dir Arch Dir. PMO Dir.
Legacy Integration Project Manager
BUworks Project Managers
Application Integration Lead
QA Lead
Technical Lead
DBAs
Business Analysts
Parking
/FitRec
HR / Finance
/ HR Integrations
Faculty /Financial Aid/DAR ID
Management
Registration / Student Employment
Admissions /Student Accounts
Mugar Library /Housing /Building & Space
FA&T
Financial
Systems

9. 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

10. 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
Schedule Testing w/ BUworks
Perform Testing w/Users
Track Defects w/HPQC
Run Daily Defect Status Meeting w/Reports

11. Post-UAT “Wave” testing process flow
Combine UAT scenarios into Wave Test Plan
Upload to HP Quality Center (HPQC)
Develop Test Data w/Users
Schedule Testing w/ BUworks
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

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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

16. Thanks, Sundar Ramaswamy srajan@bu.edu (until 3/16/12) Robin Smith