08-10-2018 9:33 AM - edited 02-03-2024 9:06 PM
The 1805 release will be in our Quality system in a little under 2 weeks, and I'm curious how other companies prepare and test for each release and the changes that come along with them:
1805 will be our third release since go live and we do use the test automation tool which has made testing our business processes easier and less time consuming. The things we struggle with are getting ahead of the changes that are coming and knowing what new functionalities may be useful to us. Our Quality environment is mostly in line with Production, but since our users are in it everyday it doesn't have the same amount of variants. We do have our users test specific issues we know are being fixed in the release in Q, but they don't have the time to do their existing jobs and fully test all of their day to day activities.
Ryan,
Our SAP Activate Roadmap Viewer (https://go.support.sap.com/roadmapviewer/) concisely describes everything that's involved in the being set up for success with respect to S4HC quarterly updates:
There are three things I see worthy of a special mention:
i. Roadmap chapter 'Prepare for Quarterly Upgrade' outlines the core steps essential for each cycle - it's these that should be operationalised for customers; planned, funded, resourced, etc.
ii. An upgrade timeline, applicable for each upgrade, is pictured in the Onboarding Presentation https://support.sap.com/content/dam/SAAP/SAP_Activate/S4H_399%20Onboarding%20Presentation.pptx , answering core questions including what are the deadlines for configuration, when should testing occur and when will the newly released capability be available?
iii. Roadmap Chapter 'Review Legal Changes' simplify how customers are remain apprised of legal changes (e.g. tax rates, reporting) and what to do to stay compliant.
As a final note, regular review of the content provide on the Roadmap Viewer is essential as, along with S4HC, it is maintained for currency.
I hope this helps.
Regards,
Gerard
SAP Australia
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I have (in very basic form) dropped the key release milestones on to a timeline, as that just seems to work better for me. A few things came to mind while pulling it together:
> The process of adding new scope items (from the new release) to your existing S4HCE system isn't clear
> In the literature its states that new transports can not be released to P after the new release is in your Q system, but I assume we can still create transports as we might need to fix bugs in existing extensions
> An automated testing capability is going to be absolutely critical moving forward.
KR
Simon
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Hi Ryan,
First of all I don't have a silver bullet, but here are some thoughts.
I echo what Gabor has said in that this is a really interesting subject and one that we're going to not only make work, but make work in a very efficient way. SAP activate methodology is great for onboarding but then there is small matter of "keep running" which I don't think is thought through well enough in the activate methodology
I think there are three main elements:
1 - Existing Scope Items
2 - Extended Scope Items/functionality
3 - New Functionality (scope Items)
In each release we need to make sure we regression test the first two items to be sure the solution works as expected, (I assume SAP will have tested the standard scope items?), this will mean creating your own custom test scripts and running them alongside the standard SAP test scripts (scope Items) as a Testing Project?
Then there is the matter of analysing the new functions and features of the new release (Scope items), working out which have value for you and then activation.
I wonder whether we can look at other industries to see what they, do after all this iterative approach isn't new.
I think we need to either extend activate (run phase) or build another methodology entirely. I might have a go at putting a schedule together counting backwards from release date.
Does that make sense?
KR
Simon
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Ryan,
Great blog/question - would be good to share experiences, see how other customers are handling the quarterly upgrades. I'm glad to see you are leveraging the test tool! Maybe you could share more details for the benefit if other customers.
In order to prepare, please keep an eye on the https://help.sap.com/viewer/p/SAP_S4HANA_CLOUD for the current release: within few weeks prior the next release you will see a preliminary What's New document, e.g.:
https://help.sap.com/doc/15f1680efadc49d1b0b02d2c647dde5e/1805.500/en-US/PRELIM_WN_CE1805.pdf
This document should help identifyin the new capabilities, changes.
Also, look for events on this Jam group - you will see upcoming Early Release webinars or their recordings. If you sign up for notification from this Jam, you won't miss anything.
Best,
Gabor
You can find documentation and details about the Test Automation Tool
within the SAP Activate Methodology for SAP S/4HANA Cloud (select the Application: Testing workstream)
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