I spend a lot of time talking about the testing that companies running JD Edwards EnterpriseOne (JDE E1) do during their projects. I have never come across a company that does not do a lot of testing. It is the nature of ERP software, and ERP projects. ERP systems like JDE are highly sophisticated and complex. They can be parameterized, configured and personalized to meet very exacting requirements. Additionally, ERP systems are transactional and are often the sole system of record within a company. Testing thoroughly and accurately therefore is not only important, it is vital!
When I think about my own experiences of ERP systems, I know that no new update, release or version of software is perfect. Software gets shipped with bugs (sometimes with one or two critical bugs, sometimes with lots of bugs) in spite of all the testing that has been done by the author. This is because no two implementations of an ERP like JDE E1 are ever the same and it is virtually impossible (if not impossible) for the author of the software to test every conceivable implementation.
In this day and age, when thinking about testing an ERP, you pretty quickly get to a point where you would like to somehow automate everything. This is where Robotic Process Automation (RPA) might come into the conversation. But what is everything? And it is in answering this question that Artificial Intelligence (AI) might come into the conversation.
For me RPA and AI are not really the answer when you think about JDE E1 project testing. (At least not now!) Let me explain why:
Whether you agree or disagree, what steps are you taking to evolve and innovate? (To evolve as a team looking after JDE E1. To innovate by using the best available tools and technologies. To ensure you are improving and reducing your total cost of ownership.)