PeopleSoft Upgrade: Testing Phases You Should Execute

DEFINE YOUR TESTING STRATEGY

Once you have evaluated your testing requirements, yo
u will determine the type of testing you need. Use the testing type definitions below, defined from the PeopleSoft upgrade instructions, to determine the levels of testing required for your applications in your organization.

Sometimes, certain organizations may not require all testing stages listed. Every organization will develop their testing strategy slightly differently from others, as each organization is unique. The testing types below do not necessarily run systematically, one after another. Different test conditions can sometimes run in parallel. Review the following testing types. Define what you will need for each testing type.

UNIT TESTING

In this stage of testing, you have completed your upgrade tasks. Your database is now at the new release level. However, you will want to unit test before you use the new system. You will test your logon process. In addition, you will test to ensure that you can access existing data and enter new data successfully.

During this phase you will test individual transactions and processes of your application. In addition, you will be testing customizations, and verifying access to data and pages. There is no need for testing scripts in this phase.

SYSTEM TESTING

This stage of testing ensures that all your functionality works together. In addition, the test eliminates conflicts with old and new customizations.

In this phase, you will use a full functioning and separate testing environment to test all business processes, interfaces, batch programs, security, reports, and customizations. This phase will require testing scripts to follow and record the results. You should not move on to the next phase unless this is successful.

INTEGRATION TESTING

In this stage, you will test to ensure that your business processes work as designed. In addition, you will ensure that any design flaws are resolved before User Acceptance Testing. This stage is optional but is very useful in that you can perform a test move to production that  creates a new environment. Then, you can test all of the integration points between modules, and external applications.

PARALLEL TESTING

This stage of testing is optional and is mostly used for those customers with extensive Payroll customizations and setup
. During the upgrade, you would be performing parallel tests throughout
all testing stages to ensure that your upgrade was successful.

PERFORMANCE TESTING

This stage of testing measures your current system performance against the new release level performance. You’ll want to monitor the performance during this phase and even perform load testing, if necessary.

USER ACCEPTANCE TESTING

In this stage of testing, you validate your data, business rules, and business processes requirements. You will also define the acceptance criteria for your upgrade. This is where your end users and business process owners will run through all of the test scripts and execute key business processes such as hiring, terminating, paying, etc. This phase should require testing scripts and an issue resolution process to resolve any open issues.

REGRESSION TESTING

This stage of testing validates the test move to production and move to production parts of the upgrade.

You have now finished developing your testing strategy and you should document this information thoroughly, because you will use it later in the upgrade process when you complete the upgrade of your copy of production.

CONCLUSION

This upgrade planning guide should give you enough information to start
planning, training and putting together a solid project plan, testing strategy, and testing plan for a successful upgrade. We covered the following topics.

1. Acquire all pertinent upgrade information and materials
2. Training for your team
3. Determining Business Requirements
4. Producing a Fit Gap Analysis
5. Layout your technical requirements
6. Define the upgrade plan
7. Define and layout your testing Strategy
8. Make sure you fully understand the process