The test system is used to test business objects before they are
transported and applied on the production system. Therefore, it is
important that the business object data on the test system is as close as
possible to that on the production system. If there are substantial
differences between the business objects on the test system and those on
the production system, the validity of the tests performed on the test
system will be compromised.
There are two procedures that may lead to divergence between the test
system business objects and the production system business objects:
- If change sets containing business objects are
transported and applied on the test system, but never transported and
applied to the production system, then over a period of time, the
business objects on the test system will diverge from those on the
production system.
- If new business objects are added or changes are made to
business objects directly on the production system, then the test system
and production system configurations will differ. Please note that this
practice of adding or changing business objects directly on the
production system is strongly discouraged - see the section Business
Object Creation and Modification policy, above, for further
details.
In order to avoid the possibility of substantial differences between
the test system and production system emerging, it is recommended that a
policy is adopted to ensure that the business object data on the two
systems is kept in sync. It is suggested that the following elements form
part of this policy:
- When the set of business objects in a change set has
passed testing on the test system, ensure that they are transported and
applied on the production system as soon as possible. That is, as soon
as a scheduled maintenance window is available.
- If the business objects fail testing on the test system,
ensure that the issues with the business objects are addressed on the
development system as soon as possible, and then retested on the test
system. This will help in ensuring that the test system does not contain
invalid configurations that can never be migrated to the production
system.