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The Sign-Off Table

Lesson 4 of 5

Cloud ALM integration

10 min

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Gates stop bad changes. Sign-off needs something more: a single view of what was tested, manually and automatically, against which requirements, with what result. In an SAP program that view usually lives in SAP Cloud ALM test management. This lesson shows how automated results can be surfaced there next to manual tests, and how pipeline and ATC evidence can be connected to the same change.

Test management in SAP Cloud ALM

SAP's learning material describes three apps: Test Preparation to create and mass-import test cases, Test Plan to group test cases for a cycle, and Test Execution to run them and record results. Test cases start from solution processes, can be linked to requirements and user stories, and defects are created from failed steps. Cloud ALM supports both manual and automated test cases, and its traceability links processes, requirements, user stories and defects to both kinds.

Cloud ALM traceability: test cases start from processes, link to requirements and stories, and failed steps raise linked defects.
The Sign-Off Table · thesignofftable.com/academy/sap-tau-304
Processes and requirementsWhat the business needs: the solution process, requirements and user stories.
Test casesManual test cases and automated test cases, each linked to the process and requirement.
Test plansThe selection of test cases for a cycle, such as regression for a feature pack stack.
Executions and defectsResults per run; defects raised from failures and linked back.
Analytics and traceabilityCoverage and status across manual and automated tests for sign-off.
How SAP Cloud ALM structures test evidence.
The Sign-Off Table · thesignofftable.com/academy/sap-tau-304

Where automated results come from

Automated test cases reach Cloud ALM through integrations. For SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition, the embedded Test Automation Tool integrates with Cloud ALM, and SAP's learning material states that its execution results appear in Cloud ALM alongside manual test plans. Beyond that, Cloud ALM exposes open interfaces so that test automation tools can synchronize automated test cases and report their executions; SAP has a partner engine integrated this way and states that Cloud ALM remains open to other tools. The pattern is the same whichever tool you use: the automated test case is mastered in the automation tool, the information Cloud ALM needs is synchronized, and executions are triggered from or reported to Cloud ALM.

  1. Register the endpointAn administrator connects the automation tool to Cloud ALM as a service endpoint.
  2. Synchronize test casesAutomated test cases appear in Cloud ALM and are linked to processes and requirements.
  3. PlanAutomated and manual test cases are added to the same test plan.
  4. ExecuteRuns are triggered from Cloud ALM or by the tool's schedule; results flow back.
  5. AnalyzeFailures become defects; analytics show coverage and status for both kinds.
Surfacing automated tests in SAP Cloud ALM.
The Sign-Off Table · thesignofftable.com/academy/sap-tau-304

Connecting pipeline and ATC evidence

Not every automated check is a test case. ATC findings and ABAP Unit results gate the transport; CAP unit tests gate the pipeline. These usually do not belong in a business test plan, but they are evidence for the same change. A practical approach is to link them to the Cloud ALM feature: the feature shows the transports and their release status, and the pipeline or release step attaches a summary or link to its results. Process-level automated tests, the ones a key user like Maria would recognize, belong in the test plan as automated test cases.

Gate evidence attaches to the feature; process-level automated tests sit in the test plan; the go/no-go reads both.
The Sign-Off Table · thesignofftable.com/academy/sap-tau-304
EvidenceWhere it livesHow it reaches sign-off
ATC and ABAP Unit at releaseABAP system; ATC resultsTransport release status on the feature; exemptions listed
CAP and UI5 unit testsPipeline job resultsLink or summary attached to the feature or release record
Automated process testsAutomation tool, synchronized to Cloud ALMAutomated test cases in the test plan with executions
Manual and exploratory testsCloud ALM Test ExecutionManual test cases in the same plan
Where each kind of automated evidence belongs.
The Sign-Off Table · thesignofftable.com/academy/sap-tau-304

What would you do?

Contoso's automation results are in the automation tool's own dashboard, and manual results are in Cloud ALM. Dan, the finance process owner, refuses to sign off because he cannot see whether the automated tests cover the requirements he raised. What is the best fix?

Key points
  • Cloud ALM test management uses Test Preparation, Test Plan and Test Execution, with traceability to processes and requirements.
  • Cloud ALM supports manual and automated test cases; automated ones arrive through integrations and open interfaces.
  • Test Automation Tool results for Public Edition appear in Cloud ALM alongside manual test plans.
  • Link ATC, ABAP Unit and pipeline evidence to the Cloud ALM feature; put process-level automated tests in the test plan.
  • Sign-off works best from one plan showing manual and automated coverage together.

Check your understanding · not graded

Lesson check

  1. 1. Which Cloud ALM app is used to run test cases and record results?

  2. 2. Where do Test Automation Tool results for Public Edition appear in SAP Cloud ALM?

  3. 3. Where do ATC release results best fit in Cloud ALM-based sign-off?

  4. 4. Dan cannot see whether automated tests cover his requirements because results live only in the tool's dashboard. What fixes this?