Rigorous Evaluation made Worksoft the Clear Choice for Managing Dual-System SAP Testing Workload

Thyssenkrupp’s migration from SAP ERP Central Component (ECC) to S/4HANA was already a major undertaking when an unexpected issue surfaced. As soon as test execution moved into SAP Fiori, actions that had always been quick in ECC became noticeably slower. With new S/4HANA screens rolling out and business teams relying on timely validation before every release, the slowdown quickly became a serious concern.

Running ECC and S/4HANA in parallel only increased the pressure. ECC needed to remain stable for day-to-day operations, even as S/4HANA was still taking shape. To support both systems throughout the migration, Thyssenkrupp evaluated several automation platforms—including Tricentis, Katalon, and LambdaTest—focusing on how each one handled SAP test execution under real-world conditions.

Worksoft Certify was the only platform that combined reliable execution across both ECC and S/4HANA with the ease of use Thyssenkrupp needed. Certify now gives Thyssenkrupp a consistent way to record business processes, manage variations between ECC and S/4HANA, and run repeatable end-to-end tests. As the complex, multi-year SAP migration continues, Worksoft allows the manufacturer to validate changes with less manual work and gain a clear view of how updates affect critical business processes.

THE COMPANY

Dating back more than 200 years, German-based Thyssenkrupp has grown into one of the world’s most influential industrial engineering and steel production companies. Across 47 countries, its 94,000 employees produce everything from low-carbon steel and automotive components to submarines and heavy industrial machinery. With nearly 17,000 patents and thousands of engineers in R&D, the company is heavily focused on advancing climate-friendly manufacturing technologies.

CHALLENGES

Thyssenkrupp’s Testing Center of Excellence (TCoE) approached its SAP ECC-to-S/4HANA migration knowing it would increase testing demands, especially since they were moving from an on-premises environment to the cloud. What they did not anticipate was how much the new Fiori interface in S/4HANA would affect execution speed once testing began. Even simple steps like opening a tile or creating a basic sales order took longer to run. “The real struggle began with Fiori tiles,” says Rajesh Pandey, Tech Specialist in Thyssenkrupp’s TCoE. “It was very, very slow.” The slowdown put growing pressure on the TCoE, which needed to validate changes quickly to keep releases moving.

While ECC continued to support daily operations, the S/4HANA build was changing quickly as new roles, UI behavior, and configuration updates were introduced. With each change, the team had to revalidate core business processes to make sure they continued to work as expected. Running full regression cycles across both SAP environments pushed the team’s capacity to its limits, and the lag they were already seeing in Fiori only made the testing workload harder to manage.

The TCoE began a structured evaluation of several automation platforms. Worksoft, Tricentis, Katalon, and LambdaTest were each invited to run the same workflow inside Thyssenkrupp’s SAP environment so the team could see how each tool behaved under real conditions rather than curated demos. “We needed to see the truth in our own system,” explains Pandey. “Only then could we decide what would support the migration.”

THE SOLUTION

After bringing all four vendors into its SAP environment, Thyssenkrupp set up a controlled comparison to ensure each platform would be tested equally. Each vendor was asked to automate a simple but representative workflow that included launching Fiori, navigating to the required tile, and creating a basic sales order. This allowed the TCoE to measure actual execution times, consistency, and the amount of troubleshooting required for each tool.

While each vendor had previously walked through the workflow in their own cloud or demo environments, execution changed once the tools were connected to Thyssenkrupp’s SAP systems. Tricentis had shown the sales-order scenario running quickly in its demo, but when the same steps were executed inside Thyssenkrupp’s system, the timing was much closer to the slow behavior the TCoE was already experiencing. Pandey’s team repeated the run several times to confirm it. “We did multiple executions just to see the average time,” he says. “Tricentis’ demo speed didn’t hold once it was tested against our own SAP infrastructure.”

Worksoft Certify was the only platform that ran the workflow consistently once it was connected to both SAP systems. Execution stayed steady across runs, and the team didn’t have to keep fixing objects or troubleshooting unexpected behavior. During the evaluation, ease of use also became a deciding factor. “With Worksoft, even a non-technical person can understand the flow. It’s much easier to use than the other platforms we evaluated,” says Pandey. He also pointed to the clarity of Worksoft’s reporting and the value of its lights-out execution through Continuous Testing Manager (CTM), which gives the team a way to run tests unattended across ECC and S/4HANA. Those strengths made Worksoft a better fit for the ongoing migration work and gave the TCoE a reliable way to validate changes across both SAP environments.

IMPACT

Using Worksoft for end-to-end testing across ECC and S/4HANA has given the TCoE more consistent, predictable execution. Instead of dealing with ongoing test maintenance or troubleshooting every time they run a cycle, the team can let tests run cleanly and focus on what the results mean. That stability has helped both systems stay release-ready.

Certify’s process-based automation helps the team see where ECC and S/4HANA diverge and how each change affects downstream process steps. For a migration expected to run over several years, having that visibility reduces dependencies, cuts down on rework, and makes planning future phases less risky.

Worksoft also simplified the tooling landscape. During the evaluation process, competing vendors proposed split SAP and non-SAP licensing paths—some “free,” others requiring paid add-ons for anything beyond SAP. Pandey saw this as a concern. “We didn’t want one tool for SAP and another for everything else,” he explains. “Worksoft covers the full scope of our testing needs without putting us on different tracks.”

With a single test automation platform, stable execution, and clear reporting, the TCoE can move through each S/4HANA phase with more confidence. “Keeping ECC stable while building out S/4HANA isn’t easy, but Worksoft has made the migration far more manageable,” adds Pandey.