I&J has moved from manual software testing to automated testing of its SAP/R3 systems using technology supplied by Mercury Interactive, the world leader in enterprise application testing solutions.
The frozen foods company, which contracted with Mercury Interactive will be using Mercury`s WinRunner tools for ongoing testing of its SAP, legacy and other software systems for functionality and regression.
Mercury`s TestDirector will also be installed to manage the total enterprise testing environment, says BPR Specialist Mike O`Rourke.
"Our thinking was that the use of automated testing tools would enable us to save the precious time of key resources and also allow us to test all possible scenarios," says O`Rourke.
"Our main business application software is SAP/R3 which has to be customised to suit specific business needs. Each project therefore requires intensive testing to ensure that systems are correctly customised before going live," he explains.
"This is particularly important because all of SAP`s modules are highly integrated and one needs to test the implications of changes to one aspect of the software on others.
"Traditionally we tested manually with a room full of senior people from IT and business management who would have to approve and sign off software that was correctly customised," O`Rourke continues.
"This process was time consuming and not the most efficient utilisation of key resources. In addition, because of time constraints, we would only test what we believed to be the most critical processes.
"There was therefore always the risk of not testing all the possible scenarios, which could result in a system failure in the live environment."
I&J investigated two competitive solutions before opting for the Mercury Interactive tools - despite the fact that they were more expensive.
"Mercury was the one that suited our needs," says O`Rourke.
He adds that the technology will also benefit I&J when it has to upgrade to future releases of SAP.
"We will use the testing tools to run the test scripts developed for old versions against the new, thereby identifying any important changes.
"This should again save significant time," he concludes.
Mercury Interactive`s WinRunner product is designed to enable organisations to verify functionality, predict system performance and test scalability prior to deployment and as additional hardware, applications and users are added to systems throughout the application lifecycle.
The TestDirector tool is used to consolidate and manage the testing process to determine application readiness.
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Mercury Interactive
Mercury Interactive (www.merc-int.com) is the worldwide leader in Internet application testing and performance management solutions.
The company offers a comprehensive line of automated tools that improve the scalability, availability, and reliability of Internet applications and ensures a positive end user experience.
Its solutions support the widest range of industry standards and, through strategic partnerships with all major industry players, are highly integrated with SAP, BAAN, PeopleSoft, Siebel, Oracle, Microsoft and others.
Its E-Business Alliance Program, which comprises visionary Internet application server, development tool and Web application vendors who have adopted Mercury Interactive`s LoadRunner(R) and WinRunner(R) for use in their benchmarking and performance testing centres, is further evidence of the company`s growing strength in the market.
Companies which have joined the E-Business Alliance Program include such technology innovators as Sun-Netscape Alliance, Symantec, Vision Software, BEA Systems, Inc., BroadVision, Inc., CommerceQuest, DoubleClick, HAHT Software, IONA Technologies, OneSoft Corp., Peakstone Corp., Selectica, TimesTen Performance Software, Allaire Corp., Ariba Inc., Bluestone Software, Calico Commerce, Inc., Gemstone Systems Inc., nCipher Inc. and SilverStream.
Mercury Interactive has its headquarters in Sunnyvale, Calif., and maintains offices throughout the United States and internationally with a network of distributors throughout the world.
Mercury Interactive (South Africa) opened its doors on June 1 last year.
Visit out web site on: www.merc-int.com