Testing a human capital management platform is no longer the lengthy, labor-intensive process we endured only a few years ago. Workday®, working with testing partner Kainos has automated testing tools that lower the risks, costs, and resource requirements of testing your business processes.
Most customers, however, need an experienced testing partner, but if you have a large IT department with experience in automated testing, they will find the tools in Workday® to be useful. You can provide your tenant to automate your testing with Selenium automation tools.
By partnering with Kainos, Workday® is providing tools that make functional testing much easier. The tools include a point-and-click interface for creating automated test scripts.
Why Kainos?
The Kainos Smart platform, designed specifically for Workday®, enables end users to create test scenarios for business processes, integrations, and security. It makes your testing more efficient, more scalable, and less costly. You can build large sets of testing scenarios to test your tenant during every update so you can be confident your processes are working.
A simple user interface allows testers to analyze business processes automatically and create test scripts for them. Kainos Smart runs the process and reports in detail any failure points it encounters. It also provides reports and analytics to help manage and triage the testing.
Managing Testing
Automated testing doesn’t mean you can turn it over to machines and forget about it. In spite of the predictions about robots taking over the world, our machines still need us. We still must manage testing to ensure that business processes operate according to your specifications and the needs of your organization.
You will need to create a testing plan and maintain it throughout the process. Here are some points to consider when you are developing your test plan.
Process Mapping
Before you begin your implementation, map your business processes. Provide just enough detail for common understanding, and break out complex sub processes. Include information about integration points with other software platforms.
You may be tempted to skip this part of the preparation, but it has benefits that far outweigh the time and trouble to get it done, and can avoid problems and delays during the implementation.
- Flow charting is the primary tool for bringing functional experts together to get agreement on process design. You will avoid potential delays during the configuration phase.
- Building flowcharts is the fastest way to help people outside the processes understand them, and you gain the perspective of fresh ideas. You will gain information about upstream and downstream processes you had not considered.
- You will find it easier to identify pain points and eliminate unnecessary steps in each process.
- It will clarify approval levels and prepare your team to configure security in Workday®.
Test Parameters
List, prioritize and sequence your processes. Then, within the processes, brainstorm with your experts to uncover every possible use case, then prioritize and sequence them. Use a mix of organizations, locations, jobs, functions, and management levels. Define an expected outcome for each action. For example, in the Hire process, define what information should be in the output file for Benefits.
Negative Testing
Do not neglect negative testing. Create use cases that violate validations and business rules. Brainstorm mistakes that users might use and include them in the testing. Operate on the principle that at some time, users will do anything that is possible. As a military training acquaintance once said, “If they can, they will.”
Triage
Establish a triage procedure to exercise judgment over how critical an issue is. Develop guidelines for deciding whether an issue should be corrected before you can proceed or if it should wait for the next iteration.
UAT
Automated testing does not negate the need for user acceptance testing. Your hands-on testers should be end users who are not a part of the implementation team and should not be functional experts. End users will notice issues the implementation team overlooked. If a new business requirement surfaces, resolve it before it go-live. Addressing issues after go-live is much costlier and more troublesome than taking care of them during testing. Launch a product your users will support.
We think these guidelines will help you along your path to success, but they are only the beginning. Plan your work and work your plan. Your users will thank you.
PhenomeCloud is a comprehensive technology solutions provider committed to empowering businesses to overcome challenges, enhance their workforce capabilities, and achieve superior outcomes.
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