Shared Business Systems Branch of the Victorian Department of Primary Industries Shortens System Test Planning from Two Weeks to Two Days
 
 

Shared Business Systems Branch of the Victorian Department of Primary Industries Shortens System Test Planning from Two Weeks to Two Days

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The Shared Business Systems branch (SBS) provides an integrated HR, payroll, and financial application suite and associated support services to the Victorian Department of Primary Industries (DPI). The DPI is a government agency that works across Victoria, Australia to develop the state’s agriculture, fisheries, earth resources, energy, and forest industries. It employs more than 2,600 staff based in 82 locations across the state.

SBS supports the departments of sustainability and environment, planning and community development, VicForests, and CenITEx under a shared services arrangement. Its support services include advice and information on financial and human resources management systems, financial, accounting, and taxation processes, and project management and change management services.

SBS was using a variety of disparate spreadsheets and Microsoft Word documents to plan and record thousands of system tests and upgrades. This was time consuming and difficult to manage, so in January 2011 SBS implemented Oracle Application Testing Suite to centralize testing processes, enhance reporting capacities, speed up planning and testing times, and reduce the risk of error.

 
 

 
 

Challenges

A word from Shared Business Systems, Department of Primary Industries, Victoria

  • “Oracle Application Testing Suite enables us to plan and implement system tests, and produce related reports and statistics, faster, more efficiently, and in greater detail.” – Kimberly McGinnes, Manager, Change and Communications, Shared Business Systems, Department of Primary Industries

  • Replace decentralized, overly time-consuming financial, project management, and HR system testing processes with consolidated, automated planning and testing systems
  • Provide a solid testing infrastructure from which to customize tests, such as payroll functionality, without having to reinvent the business systems’ testing process each time the test is required
  • Reduce the risk of human error, and cut the time taken to complete complex testing processes that require every test to be completed five times
  • Improve reporting capacity so that departments receive updates during the five-to-six-week testing processes, enabling them to better track the progress of their application development rather than only receiving a single, concluding report once tests are complete

Solutions

Oracle Product and Services

  • Oracle Application Testing Suite
  • Engaged Oracle Partner Acolade Consulting to implement Oracle Application Testing Suite, to consolidate and fully automate the planning and testing of business-critical departmental systems
  • Cut the time taken to plan system tests or upgrade packs containing up to 1,000 tests, such as payroll functionality or purchase order capabilities, from two weeks to two days
  • Reduced the time taken to consolidate test results and produce a final report at the end of the testing period from two or three hours to about one hour, so that the report can now be validated against stored test results, providing greater accuracy and access to detail
  • Produced up to five or six detailed weekly updates for department project managers during the system testing period, with each report taking five minutes to produce and providing information on exactly what tests are being carried out based on the module being tested, rather than just producing a single consolidated report at the end of the test period
  • Reduced the number of full-time staff required for planning and testing systems from two or three to one, which enabled operational staff to work more efficiently on other projects, such as running payroll and cash management services for the DPI and other departments, and only engage in testing procedures when their specific expertise is required
  • Developed a suite of tests that can be built on and replicated depending on the specific requirements of DPI’s different departments and systems, rather than having to develop tests from scratch each time
  • Laid the foundation for substantial reductions in time, effort, and errors once automated functions go live

Why Oracle

SBS uses Oracle applications for its HR, payroll, and financial functions. The organization looked at a variety of test management applications from several IT providers but preferred the Oracle Application Testing Suite’s ability to integrate with its existing Oracle applications, provide centralized planning, and fully automate testing processes.

Implementation Process

SBS purchased Oracle Application Testing Suite in early September 2010. The initial implementation process took five months. Tn January 2011, SBS went live with the application’s management tool, followed by the automation tool in June 2011.

Partner

SBS engaged Acolade Consulting to provide implementation support and ongoing training. Acolade worked with the organization to understand its business needs then upgraded and developed the Oracle application accordingly. Acolade has continued to work with SBS during the extended implementation period to ensure the application’s automation tool is deployed effectively and that SBS staff is fully trained.