A global biopharmaceutical company has made it their mission to develop and deliver innovative treatments to patients all over the world. When they identified a need to improve efficiency and effectiveness around SAP user acceptance testing (UAT), they leaned on their existing partnership with CAI to enable more efficient testing processes while incorporating neurodiversity in the workplace.
A large digital ecosystem and limited resources
For this large, global company, their digital ecosystem was quite robust and complex to maintain. Numerous applications, software, and workflows to keep track of posed enough of a hurdle, but testing all the items in a tech stack added another challenge. Specifically, the company’s information technology (IT) teams were experiencing challenges with the existing SAP testing framework.
Business representatives, from outside the IT team, would have to execute each step of the test scripts, manually verifying functionality and behavior in the system against anticipated outcomes. This reliance on manual testing was impeding the company’s ability to yield consistent, repeatable test cases that would grant efficiency and time savings across the IT organization.
In addition to significant business changes, the IT team also felt increasing strain from consolidating functions onto the SAP platform. These consolidation efforts meant that more frequent UAT cycles were necessary. However, the test script details lacked continuity, meaning additional input from subject matter experts was needed. This all contributed to inconsistent test results.
With a push for shorter product cycles, faster time to market, as well as factoring in plans for adding other acquired businesses into the platform, the company knew that test script automation was a necessary improvement to achieve their desired objectives. Automating their UAT testing would also remove the burden placed on the subject matter experts who had to carve out time for this lengthy, manual testing process.
Efficiency gains through application development and maintenance
The CAI Neurodiverse Solutions team began their work by reviewing the manual test scripts and identifying several instances of overlap and redundancy. To address this, the team revised the test cases and designated standards and parameters. Then, they were able to begin application development and maintenance work – a CAI solution called ADM360. This solution automated individual test scripts and chained them into a series, allowing testers to complete UAT activities significantly faster, with less manual effort, while generating comprehensive test evidence.
Previously, capturing the test evidence required a screenshot at each step, which slowed down the testing procedure. The evidence capture being built into the automated process significantly streamlined the testing procedure. An assessment process was also created by the team to determine which scripts were candidates for automation; this helped to ensure that the script development efforts provided the most value. A highly skilled team of neurotypical and neurodivergent individuals delivered these automated test scripts across more than 25 business areas.
This not only streamlined the UAT processes, but it also reduced error rates and freed up valuable internal resources for other critical projects. Standardizing test scripts provided step-by-step detail, alleviating the need for subject matter expert input. Transitioning to automated testing enabled these business representatives to redirect their attention and efforts toward their core responsibilities. The increased testing efficiency provided wider test coverage, enhanced accuracy, and reduced the risk of defects in the application.
Impressive results achieved with automation and standardization
A key aspect of how ADM360 drives success is by tapping into the talent pool available through CAI Neurodiverse Solutions. The strengths that neurodivergent individuals possess – attention to detail, keen focus, acute problem-solving abilities, and excellent pattern recognition – can lend themselves to higher throughput, decreased error percentages, and optimized service delivery.
The predefined templates and testing guidelines saved time and effort for the testers, and this contributed to better overall quality testing, as it ensured critical test scenarios weren’t overlooked and that each case was designed to provide maximum coverage of the functionality in question.
Throughout the engagement, the team standardized over 2,000 test scripts and automated more than 2,700 test scripts. Test execution increased by more than 200% while using 50% fewer resource hours. This reduction in time necessary for test script execution saved an estimated 4,000+ resource hours and helped pave the way for smooth SAP upgrades and seamless regression testing in the future.
