Essential Cloud Migration Testing for Oracle E-Business Suite (EBS)

When it comes to cloud migrations, the devil is in the details. This is particularly true when it comes to migrating enterprise ERP applications like Oracle E-Business Suite (EBS) to Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) cloud. The complexity and multitude of Oracle EBS applications necessitates a strong cloud migration plan that comprehensively assesses and prepares for every stage of the project and any potential contingencies or pitfalls.

In order to be successful in such an effort, your Oracle EBS cloud migration plan must also include a series of pre-migration, in-migration, and post-migration testing scenarios. Consistent testing throughout the migration process ensures that your data will stay secure, your cloud environment will be properly configured to the size and complexity of your environment, and your applications will perform as required after the migration. So let’s get you prepared for that project by looking at the most important types of testing you’ll need to execute when migrating Oracle EBS to the cloud.

1. Regression Testing

One of the first tests you’ll want to run before you migrate is a regression test. Use a production-like environment on the cloud for testing, as a minor change in the configuration could increase the number of iterations for overall testing. A regression test will verify that your applications are performing equally well on the cloud as they do on-premises.

While complete regression testing can be time-consuming, especially if you’re doing it manually, it will deliver full validation of your applications’ performance in the cloud. Partial regression tests can be executed against the most vital applications and functions, but will leave you vulnerable to issues once the migration is executed. Regression testing is important pre-migration, but it is also necessary after the migration to verify that the real-world performance of your applications is as expected.

2. Load Testing

Load testing is another performance testing technique that will ensure your cloud environment is robust enough to handle the demands of your users and your data. It also enables you to provision more resources before the migration, if necessary. When running a load test, you will subject your Oracle EBS test cloud environment to a number of different user scenarios while monitoring its performance. It’s especially important to simulate peak load scenarios in your test – when your applications are under the most stress, for example during a month-end financial close for ERP applications – to ensure even the worst-case scenario is manageable in the new cloud environment.

The major benefits of load testing pre-migration include:
 

• Reduced risk of downtime
• Ensures the availability of service post-migration
• Improves scalability
• Higher user satisfaction
• Overall peace of mind that the cloud environment can facilitate the needs of your organization

Because Oracle EBS applications are critical to organizational goals, a load test is necessary to guarantee there will be minimal business disruption during or after the cloud migration.

3. Compatibility Testing

Cloud applications are no use to you if they don’t play nicely in the sandbox with your third-party applications and tools. This is why compatibility testing is an important component of your EBS cloud migration strategy; it ensures that your applications can still send and receive data with other critical systems in your environment.

Another benefit of compatibility testing is verifying the performance of your applications against browser, database, and application versions. Oracle EBS and its SaaS equivalents are only certified with certain versions of your O/S, database, browser, and third-party tools. For an Oracle EBS cloud migration, we recommend checking compatibility against the following elements:
 

• Operating system (Unix, Linux, Windows, etc.)
• Database
• Software, either Oracle, custom, or third-party
• Browser
• Network
• Devices
• Java, Oracle Application Server, RAC

Completing both backward and forward compatibility testing will help you identify if you need to perform an upgrade anywhere in your environment to ensure optimal performance.

4. Functional Validation Testing

Functional validation testing is critical to execute as soon as you complete your migration. This kind of testing confirms the production readiness of your Oracle EBS apps. A comprehensive functional validation test should include unit testing, sanity and smoke testing, integration and regression testing, and usability testing. Your test should answer key questions like:
 

• Are your applications performing well against your SLAs?
• Are your inputs delivering the expected results?
• Are your integrations with third-party tools performing?
• Is the UI functional and user-friendly? Do any adjustments need to be made to improve the experience for users?
• Are there any bugs or sluggishness when executing standard functions in the applications?

Before performing a functional validation test, gather the performance requirements you plan to test against – remember, these are business/user requirements, not technical requirements. You want to ensure that the applications are actually delivering what the users request without issue or delay, and that the data they’re pulling matches the output of the on-premises applications. Design the input of your test around real-world scenarios and identify what the expected output should be. Then measure against that as you execute your functional tests.

Final Thoughts

The value of testing before, during, and after an Oracle EBS to cloud migration is difficult to understate. Without it, you open yourself up to a difficult and bumpy migration with a low likelihood of user satisfaction when your applications go live. Plan your testing strategy ahead of time and execute consistently across the project timeline for the greatest opportunity for a smooth, timely migration.

Our Oracle EBS cloud migration professionals at Datavail have decades of experience in application testing for cloud migrations. To learn more from our team about how to plan and prepare for your upcoming project, download our white paper, 7 Factors to Consider Before Migrating Oracle EBS to the Cloud.