Manual testing is an important aspect of the software testing process and plays a critical role in ensuring the quality of software applications. While automated testing can help speed up the testing process and reduce the workload of testers, there are certain scenarios where manual testing is necessary.
Why Manual Testing is Still Relevant
Exploratory Testing
Exploratory testing involves testing a software application without any predefined test scripts or test cases. This type of testing is necessary to uncover defects that may not be found through automated testing. Exploratory testing requires the tester to think creatively and interact with the application in different ways to find defects.
Usability Testing
Usability testing is the process of testing how easy it is for users to interact with the software application. This type of testing requires manual testing as it involves the tester taking on the role of an end-user and evaluating the software application from a user’s perspective.
Ad-hoc Testing
Ad-hoc testing involves testing an application in an unplanned and unstructured manner to identify defects. This type of testing is often done to verify that the application is functioning as expected and to uncover any unexpected behavior.
Edge Cases
Edge cases are scenarios that are not covered by automated test cases. These scenarios may be complex or rare, and require manual testing to verify that the application behaves correctly.
Compatibility Testing
Compatibility testing involves testing the software application on different hardware and software configurations to ensure that it works correctly in different environments. This type of testing requires manual testing as it involves verifying the software application on different systems with different configurations.
How Does Tricentis Tosca Support Manual Testing
Tricentis Tosca supports manual testing. Tosca provides a manual testing module that allows testers to create and execute manual test cases. The manual testing module provides a user-friendly interface for creating and managing manual test cases, test data, and test results.
With Tosca’s manual testing module, testers can create manual test cases that are linked to automated test cases, requirements, and test data. Testers can also execute manual test cases and record their test results directly within Tosca. Additionally, Tosca supports exploratory testing, allowing testers to perform ad-hoc testing and record their findings.
Tosca’s manual testing module is fully integrated with the rest of the Tosca suite, providing seamless integration with automated testing, test data management, and requirements management capabilities. This allows organizations to have a unified view of their testing efforts and improve overall testing efficiency and effectiveness.
TestSteps for manual TestCases can either be recorded automatically or manually created simplifying your repeatability of executing the Tests. You can easily record your manual TestCases on Tricentis Tosca, and with a click on the Manual Test Case icon in the Tosca Commander Home menu. If a Requirement is selected when recording starts, Tosca will automatically create a TestCaseLink. Post this you can execute your manual tests.
Testing with Tosca has become very simple. Tosca tool uses manual TestSteps with several manual TestStepValues to perform the corresponding actions. To create manual TestSteps right-click onto a TestCase and select Create Manual TestStep from the context menu.
Challenges in Manual Testing for ERP Applications
Manual testing of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems such as SAP, Oracle EBS, Oracle HCM, Oracle Fusion Cloud applications, can be challenging due to the complexity and scope of these systems.
Here are some of the main challenges faced by testers when conducting manual testing:
High level of complexity: The ERP systems are often complex and have a vast number of modules, functionalities, and integrations with other systems. Manual testing of these ERP systems requires a deep understanding of the business processes, functional requirements, and technical aspects of the system.
Complex but critical Data management: ERP systems require large amounts of data to be generated and manipulated during testing. Manually entering and managing data can be time-consuming and prone to errors, which can affect the accuracy of the test results.
Integration testing: ERP systems often integrate with other systems and applications, which makes it challenging to identify and test all possible scenarios. Manual testing of integrations requires a thorough understanding of the underlying systems and protocols. Check out why performance testing for Oracle environments is important in this ebook
Security testing: ERP systems often contain sensitive data, which requires careful consideration of security testing. Manual testing of security features requires a deep understanding of security protocols and practices.
Regression testing: ERP systems require frequent updates and enhancements, which can impact the functionality of the system. Regression testing is essential to ensure that changes to the system do not break existing functionality. Manual regression testing of ERP systems can be time-consuming and requires a large number of test cases to be executed.
Lack of documentation: ERP systems may not have comprehensive documentation, which makes it challenging for testers to understand the system’s functionality and requirements. This can lead to incomplete or incorrect test scenarios being developed.
Overall, manual testing is important in ensuring that software applications are thoroughly tested and meet the quality standards expected by end-users. While automated testing can help speed up the testing process, manual testing is still necessary to uncover defects that may not be found through automated testing, and to verify that the application is functioning correctly in different scenarios and environments.
Manual testing is crucial to ensure that software applications meet quality standards. While automated testing speeds up the process, manual testing uncovers defects that automated testing may miss and verifies correct application behavior in different scenarios and environments.
Transitioning to Model-Based Testing with Tricentis Tosca
As service-centric companies grapple with the complexities and challenges of manual testing, the need for more efficient and scalable testing solutions becomes increasingly apparent. This is where model-based testing (MBT) comes into play, offering a transformative approach that enhances testing efficiency and coverage.
Model-based testing (MBT) involves creating a model of the system under test and using this model to generate test cases automatically. It decouples the technical layer of an application from the automation model, making test maintenance faster and less error-prone. Due to their complexity, this approach is particularly beneficial for testing ERP applications, including Oracle EBS and Oracle Fusion Cloud.
Benefits of Model-Based Testing
- Improved Test Coverage: Ensures all possible scenarios are tested, as the model includes all combinations of inputs and outputs.
- Faster Test Case Generation: Models based on requirements and specifications eliminate the need for manual test case creation.
- Reduced Testing Costs: Automatic test case generation reduces the time and resources required for manual testing.
- Early Defect Detection: Enables early testing, reducing the risk of defects in the final product.
- Better Traceability: Ensures test cases are aligned with the system’s requirements.
Tricentis Tosca Model-Based Testing
Tricentis Tosca model-based testing is a codeless approach that enables anyone to create and manage sophisticated tests, offering high reusability, resilience, and scalability. This approach significantly reduces the effort and time required for testing, driving automation rates above 90%.
In the Gartner report “Critical Capabilities for Software Test Automation,” Tricentis received the highest scores among vendors in Multi-Experience Development and Cloud Native/Migration and SaaS testing use cases. Consider Tricentis if your organization needs a low-code/no-code approach for a modern model-based testing strategy.
With IT Convergence’s expertise in Oracle and Tricentis, you can ensure on-time, defect-free service delivery, agile processes tailored to customer needs, and the availability of automation expertise for Oracle Applications.
In summary
Manual testing of ERP systems remains crucial despite the advancements in automated testing. Challenges such as high complexity, data management, integration, security, and regression testing require meticulous manual testing efforts. However, integrating model-based testing with tools like Tricentis Tosca can significantly enhance testing efficiency and accuracy. This combination provides a comprehensive testing strategy that leverages the strengths of both manual and automated testing, ensuring the highest quality standards for ERP applications.
