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Enterprise SaaS Application Testing

Enterprise SaaS software (like Microsoft Dynamics, Salesforce, ServiceNow, or Workday) are purchased by businesses to boost business capabilities. However, as companies start to integrate and customize solutions to meet their specific needs, the complexity rises. Therefore, the financial and reputational costs of failing to test the application might be significant. 

 At every level of installation, ERP software testing aids in locating and resolving issues pertaining to the system’s functionality. To provide continuous contentment and company trust, ongoing testing and quality requirements must be included in the deployment life cycle. This includes the requirement for various business scenarios as well as the tweaking and testing of extensions under pressure. The application, the type of data it contains, and the usability and scalability of the company all influence the testing’s scope.  

1. SaaS Testing  

Software as a service (SaaS) testing is the process used to guarantee that applications created utilizing this form of development work as intended. Following the completion of a particular iteration of the SaaS Development Process, SaaS testing takes place.  

SaaS platforms also gained a noteworthy position by offering a variety of services on clouds as the notion of cloud computing gained traction in various businesses and research areas. SaaS application testing kicks up after the application development process is over, and the length of the testing cycle is determined by the software service type selected.  

In addition, SaaS platform testing is defined as a process for ensuring the quality of the programme by going through several validation activities. These entail testing things like reliability, scalability, data integration, performance, security, and security. There are numerous well-known examples of SaaS programmes that are readily available online and do not require any configuration.   

Businesses are constantly shifting toward cloud computing and software delivery via SaaS models in this competitive business environment. The major factors behind it are the advantages like “on demand service” and “pay per use.” 

Additional justifications for choosing SaaS app testing are provided below:  

  • An increase in availability, scalability, and reliability 
  • Lowering the expense of deploying and maintaining software 
  • Easily fixable defects 
  • Rapid software deployment with improved accessibility
  • Testing for upgrades continuously while adding new tenants 
  • Dependencies within the system are diminished on various levels. 
  • Resource scaling and price flexibility 
  • SaaS apps are simple to update and upgrade (new releases), and they are made available to users.

It is clear from the explanation above that SaaS application testing primarily involves validating SaaS applications in terms of a variety of components, such as security, compatibility, and performance. SaaS testing is thought to produce products more quickly and effectively, but it necessitates extensive quality control at numerous stages. 

 2. Different Phases of SaaS Testing  

  • Envisioning Phase: The results of various market research are used to identify the demands and potential of the Envisioning Phase business. 
  • Platform Evaluation Phase: Performance, security, scalability, disaster recovery, and other intended features are properly examined and successfully implemented throughout the platform evaluation phase. 
  • Planning Phase: The formalization of all the information acquired, such as a project plan, specifications, staff, etc., into the technical specification needed by the developers is a part of the planning phase. 
  • Subscription Phase: In the subscription phase, crucial choices are made about the service’s high availability, such as pricing, architecture, and disaster recovery plans. 
  • Developing Phase: The setting up of the development environment, which includes numerous testing methods, occurs during the developing phase. SaaS load and performance testing is crucial since SaaS applications are anticipated to operate continuously under large loads. 
  • Operation Phase: Services are deployed during the operations phase. To improve user experience and minimize support concerns, the programme must undergo regular upgrades and security checks. 

 3. Knowing the Goals of SaaS Testing Techniques

 

SaaS testing is always in the spotlight and employs techniques that guarantee the application created using this approach is operating as intended. 

The three main parts of SaaS testing are believed to be applications, infrastructure, and networks. The main topics that SaaS testing concentrates on are diverse. 

 Some of them are listed here: 

  • Component testing includes both white box and black box testing. 
  • Functional testing to thoroughly examine whether the programme is functioning in accordance with the requirements. 
  • Integration testing is done to ensure that the SaaS system is integrated with other systems. 
  • Using fresh test cases, conduct exploratory testing. 
  • As part of the infrastructure and security testing, evaluate the network’s integrity, accessibility, and security threats. 
  • Make sure the SaaS connectivity is of the highest magnitude, and evaluate the portability and interoperability of the user interface. 
  • Regression testing is necessary before any application upgrade, release, or data migration. 
  • Reliability Testing is done to lessen the possibility of failure during deployment in real time. 
  • Every conceivable test is run to assure the network’s security. 
  • SaaS applications are anticipated to have a high load, so performance and scalability testing is necessary to confirm how the application will behave under peak loads in various situations. 
  • It is necessary to test the application’s compatibility with different browsers and users. 
  • Continuous upgrade testing is necessary for SaaS systems whenever new features are added or outdated functionalities are upgraded. 
  • To assure the functionality, security, completeness, and performance of the documentation, API testing is carried out. 
  • Operational testing includes handling customer inquiries, payments, and invoices.

Better apps come with more difficult problems. Security issues are the main cause for concern because the SaaS system is accessed directly by the consumer over the internet. Despite this worry, a lot of companies are using SaaS applications due to their advantages.  

4. Best Practices for Testing SaaS Platforms 

Let’s look at the best approaches for testing a SaaS-based application after recognizing the difficulties:  

  • Improve SaaS testing efforts by identifying different organisational trends 
  • Utilise a robust hardware programme to assess how well the application performs with more resources. 
  • Determine that you have complete access to the testing specifications required for SaaS apps. 
  • Test the application’s performance occasionally by raising the burden by including concurrent users from different environments. 
  • After receiving the testing requirements specification, it is advised to create a test strategy in advance. 
  • Regularly check the security issues, especially during integration and migration. 

SaaS models require less time to undertake and finish testing processes than do traditional approaches. In comparison to standard techniques, several testing components are thus omitted. Adopting agile practices and making the most of automation testing technologies is the best way to include this. 

 5. Technology Category and its Use Cases 

 

Technology Category  Use Case  Example Technologies 
Test Management   To inform teams about software quality, use traceability, communication integrations, and reporting tools.  PractiTest 

HelixALM 

qTest 

XRay 

Zephyr 

 
Functional Test Automation  Verify that specific elements, situations, or entire business processes behave as anticipated.  AutonomIQ 

Trincetis 

Testcraft 

Worksoft 

Kainos 

Leapwork 

OpKey 

Provar 
Test Data Management  Providing test data that is accurately shaped and securely delivered to represent production data.  GenRocket 

Broadcom 

Hazy 

K2View[Text Wrapping Break]MOSTLY AI 

Informatica 
API Testing  Use production and design artefacts from APIs to speed up mocking, functional testing, and performance testing.  Pact  

Parasoft 

SmartBear 

SpeedScale 

Stoplight 

 
Visual Assertions  Visual assertion technology verifies an application’s functional outputs as well as the user interface’s design, text, and color schemes.  Applitools 

Browserstack 

Mesmer 

Eggplant 

Saucelabs 
Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery  The common development, testing, and release management chores can be orchestrated by CI/CD and release technologies for teams who are creating unique applications and experiences on their business application platforms.  AutoRabit 

Circle CI 

CloudBees 

Copado 

GitLab 

 

 6. Tools for SaaS testing 

 SaaS testing methodologies take application security into account in addition to the fundamental testing components like functional, performance, and unit testing. 

 6.1 PractiTest 

Agile procedures are supported and improved by the SaaS QA management application PractiTest. Flexibility is essential when functioning agilely. With PractiTest, you may dynamically arrange your data according to your sprints, cycles, or any other method that would help your process. You may visualize your data in the most pertinent way with custom fields and dashboards that you can customize. Agile processes are streamlined by REST API and sophisticated automation and CI/CD tool integrations, and bug tracker integrations give you the finest approach to monitor and control all of your testing activities. 

 6.2 QMetry 

This tool serves as an interface, connecting the project’s test cases and defects to its requirements. This aids in both the end-to-end coverage and traceability of project progress. 

These are some of its characteristics: 

  • At the moment a test case is executed, results and status can be logged. 
  • A link is used to control defects as well. It is simple to locate all previously logged issues for a specific test case. This makes it easier to prevent duplicate defect logging. 

 6.3 qTest 

A project management, bug tracking, and test management tool is called qTest. It adheres to the centralised test management philosophy, which promotes easy communication and quick task development among the QA team and other stakeholders. 

7. Conclusion  

Almost all of the information you need to know about SaaS testing has been covered in this post. People have learned about numerous parts of cloud testing and its issues as a result of its advancement. 

 For enterprise applications, it’s crucial to have a model-based strategy, which guarantees that investments are safeguarded and allows for the reuse of current automations in later iterations of the SaaS service.  

TestDel can assist you in various activities:  

  • Test all important SaaS programmes (CRM, HCM, and ERP) 
  • Keep up with your supplier’s frequent updates. 
  • Time and money savings 
  • Ensure that your SaaS applications, extensions, and integrations are functioning properly. 

 Contact us for more information. 

Sanjeev Joshi