Salesforce isn’t like every other CRM. In fact, many features and terminology are unique to the platform and are not applicable when testing other customer relationship management tools.
If Salesforce user acceptance testing is so different, where does your team begin?
In this Salesforce UAT U A T guide, we’ll go over some of the most pressing questions, including:
User Acceptance Testing (UATU A T) is the process of the end user and/or clients testing a software application to verify whether or not the system is ready to be deployed to the production environment. UATU A T, which is also known as beta or end-user testing, is the final phase of testing during the development cycle, and takes place once the software is validated within the Dev and QA environments.
This type of testing occurs in a separate testing environment and features data that’s similar to what will be live in production. Since the central purpose of UAT U A T is to confirm that the software can support all business requirements, end-users who are familiar with the business needs of the application are crucial for testing. Note that User Acceptance Testing does not test for design errors, typos or system functionality.
Salesforce UAT U A T is the process of confirming or denying that a desired version of the CRM meets the business needs that are required before deploying Salesforce. UAT U A T should always be included within your Salesforce test plan so that end users and/or clients have the opportunity to explore the CRM from a business standpoint within the Salesforce UAT U A T sandbox.
Surprisingly, Salesforce UAT U A T requires more people beyond testers. Mentioned below are the various roles across departments that are necessary for Salesforce UAT U A T sandbox testing to be successful.
Salesforce user acceptance testing relies on end users to test the system and to confirm that Salesforce is ready for the production environment. When end users are not available, Salesforce user acceptance testing can also be carried out by those with extensive domain knowledge and familiarity with business requirements for Salesforce.
This role serves as the owner of the Salesforce UAT U A T sandbox. The project manager (PM) manages the process, determines the next steps for development cycles and owns any final decisions. PMs often serve as the bridge between testers and business owners by keeping everyone updated on the status of tests.
Also known as the project sponsor, this role is responsible for upholding the project’s requirements and ensuring that the Salesforce test plan supports these goals during Salesforce UAT U A T. Business owners weigh in on the decision-making process when defects are found and own responsibility for any approved change control items, including managing required funding and additional approvals.
Developers are brought into the Salesforce UAT U A T process whenever bugs and defects are detected within the UAT U A T environment. Once documentation is received, the software development team can review the issue and work towards a resolution so that UAT U A T is Salesforce compliant for the production environment.
While both Salesforce UAT U A T and functional testing focus on the functionality of application, there are distinct differences between these two types of Salesforce CRM testing processes.
In Salesforce user acceptance testing, testers follow a series of test steps to verify if specific requirements perform as expected for the end user. When it comes to UAT U A T, testers check if Salesforce (or rather, the sandbox instance of Salesforce) is able to support the required business needs if deployed to the production environment.
Functional testing, in contrast, tests specific functionality requirements and technical specifications of the software. Because these test cases are not user-focused, a Salesforce test plan can receive passing results during functional testing but fail during Salesforce UAT U A T testing if the software application does not function as expected for the user.
With a Salesforce UAT U A T login, testers can carry out test cases designed to examine the business-friendliness and usefulness of Salesforce before launching it to all end users. Here are the types of user acceptance tests you should expect to run when implementing Salesforce.
During this type of software testing, testers are not aware of the internal structure, design and/or implementation of the software application. In other words, testers are only aware of the requirements to be met within the UAT U A T and do not have any behind-the-scenes information prior or during testing.
This type of software testing executes test cases early within the development cycle to detect any defects or bugs prior to end-user testing within the Salesforce UAT U A T environment. Alpha testing is carried out by internal testers, not end-users or clients, within the development environment.
Also known as field testing, beta testing allows end users to extensively test the software application within a safe testing environment and provide feedback on how to improve the application product. Test cases for this type of software testing are executed within the Salesforce UAT U A T environment and occur towards the end of the development cycle.
This kind of software testing ensures that proper workflows are in place so that the software application can operate correctly. Operational testing confirms that there are workflows in place for security checks, user training, backup plans and maintenance processes.
The best way to support your Salesforce UAT U A T testing process is by incorporating tools designed to provide easier, more efficient ways to test your Salesforce CRM. We recommend applying these tools to your UAT U A T testing process:
Before you can accept your Salesforce UAT U A T login, your team must first set up a sandbox instance so that there is an isolated instance of your Salesforce CRM product. Once this is set up, you should receive a notification email that you can access this environment.
To set up your Salesforce UAT U A T instance, first, go to https://test.salesforce.com and type in your login information for the production environment. Before you hit the Log In to Sandbox button, you must make a slight change to your username.
When your team created the sandbox, they were asked to give it a name. For example, let’s assume the name created was “xyz.” For your Salesforce UAT U A T login to be successful, you'll need to add that to the end of your username.
For example, here's the change you’ll need to make:
Production Login: name@company.com
Salesforce UAT LoginSalesforce U A T Login: name@company.com.xyz
Ready to include Salesforce UAT U A T within your development cycle? Start by partnering with a QA services provider like QASource. Our team of Salesforce UAT U A T testing experts is skilled in all types of testing required by Salesforce and can help you set up a strong user acceptance testing process that leads to successful production deployments. Get a free quote today.