Business Process Testing (BPT) Accelerators

Business process testing is the process of testing out an individual process in a business. This can mean that the entire process is testing out right from start to finish.

The purpose of Business process testing validation tool is to not only understand and ensure that a particular business process is failsafe, but also to safeguard against the future probability of continuation of failure and to examine opportunities for further continual improvement.

There is extensive planning, design, management, execution and reporting of tests and usability evaluations. There are several key areas in which business process testing seeks to apply evaluation skills for the assessment of - namely ergonomics, fitness and usability. As with most business consultancy tools there are several levels that are applicable to your enterprise but it is important to understand the type and size of business you are engaging as well as the horizontal dimensions of your business processes.

Business processes have gone back to the early days of management. Back then the forefather of corporate management Adam Smith described a famous example of how a pin is produced in the factory and visualized it as one long process instead of many small individual ones. To put it simply, a business process can be seen as something that consists of several steps and interactions and has the end result of adding value to a product or the customer. Modern business process testing typically involves Subject Matter Experts who are not technically trained (IT) but are able to contribute to the overall workflow process in a script free environment. This resolves the conflict of having non-technical people working with automation engineers.

To start off, we first define business components. Business components are units that are reusable and perform a specific task in ones business process. This can be automated or non-automated and can range from a worker performing an etching task on a circuit board or a buy script that runs on an e-commerce site. The key idea is that many business components (reusable) combine to form a business process. These components are often created and documented by subject matter experts, while automation engineers are more concerned with the setting and resources available to make the business process a reality.

The SMEs can now load their business component modules onto a test plan module, and this is rendered more efficient if they are automated. The automation engineer has to collaborate with the SME regarding what type of resources can be made available. The automation engineer also creates application areas and object repositories that store different objects with which to interact with. A debug function library is also available to describe functions needed to complete each task.

There are various levels with which business process testing can be done. At each level there exists additional documentation needs as well as certain continuity plans and test scenarios which are to put the BPT under more thorough scrutiny. The highest level BPT systems , factor in human conditions as well as training - allowing the business to be exposed to all kinds of unforeseen uncertainty.