Workday Optimisation: A Guide To Client-side Testing.

Amidst various stages of the release and change management process, client-side or end-user testing stands as the bedrock of quality. It empowers you to validate configurations, assess user experience, and mitigate risks before releases. For release managers and optimisation leads, recognising the criticality, importance, and role of client-side testing is essential in driving positive change initiatives.

In this article, we’ll delve into the significance of client-side testing: its definition, importance, responsible parties, distinctions from supplier testing, risks of inadequacy, and compelling arguments for prioritising testing.

What Exactly is Client-Side Testing?
Simply put, client-side testing, also known as end-user testing, is about verifying Workday configurations, customisations, and enhancements built for you as the client by your technical teams and implementation partners. It’s about taking responsibility to prove that solutions are effective and meet your specific needs with regards to business processes, user requirements, and organisational goals. Unlike supplier testing or smoke tests conducted by implementation partners, client-side testing focuses on evaluating functionality, usability, and performance within your preview or E2E tenant.

Importance of Client-Side Testing
Client-side testing powers the release and change management process in a way that facilitates Workday optimisation initiatives, including:

Alignment with Organisational Objectives: Ensures Workday configurations and enhancements align with your organisation’s strategic objectives, business processes, and user requirements. By validating bespoke functionality and usability, you minimise the risk of deploying solutions that do not meet your needs.

Enhanced User Experience: Improves the overall user experience within the Workday ecosystem. By assessing usability, accessibility, and workflow efficiency, you can optimise user adoption and satisfaction, driving productivity and engagement among your end-user community.

Risk Mitigation: Identifies and mitigates risks before releases, reducing the likelihood of post-implementation issues, unplanned outages, and downtimes. By uncovering defects, inconsistencies, or usability challenges early in the process, you can proactively address them and minimise their impact on business operations.

Responsibility for Client-Side Testing
Client-side testing is a collaborative effort that involves multiple stakeholders within the organisation:

Business Stakeholders: Clarify business requirements, user stories, and acceptance criteria for Workday configurations and enhancements.

Test Teams/Testing Partner: Conduct client-side testing activities, including functional testing, usability testing, and performance testing.

End-Users: Actively participate in user acceptance testing (UAT) to validate system functionality and provide feedback on usability and user experience.

IT Teams/Vendors: Responsible for defect and issue resolution and fix deployments.

Comparisons with Supplier Testing and Smoke Tests
While supplier testing and smoke tests form an important preliminary level of testing to check the basic setup, functionality, or connectivity of delivered solutions, client-side testing is much more robust and focuses on several key aspects including:

Bespoke Configurations: Ensures custom configurations are tailored to your specific needs and are working as intended. This covers settings, user roles, custom fields, and specific workflows configured to match your requirements.

Standard Out-of-the-Box Functionalities: Confirms that default features are operational within your tenant. This includes verifying user interfaces, default workflows, and basic operations.

Business Processes: Confirms that the solution supports your core business processes and life cycles. Testing full business process life cycles such as order processing, inventory management, and customer relationship management (CRM) confirms that these processes work seamlessly and produce the expected results.

3rd Party Integrations: Validates the interaction between your solution and third-party systems. Testing file formats, transfer processes, and error handling protocols confirms that data flows accurately and securely.

Custom & Standard Reports: Verifies reporting features and capabilities to ensure accurate and meaningful insights. By testing custom reports built for you, you can confirm the accuracy, completeness, and integrity of the data presented in these reports.

Risks of Inadequate Client-Side Testing
The consequences of inadequate client-side testing can be significant:

Deployment Delays: Unidentified defects or usability issues may lead to deployment delays as organisations scramble to address issues post-implementation.

User Dissatisfaction: Poor usability or functionality can result in user dissatisfaction, resistance to solution adoption, and decreased productivity.

Operational Disruptions: Critical defects or performance issues can disrupt business operations and impact organisational performance.

Compelling Arguments for Prioritising Client-Side Testing
There are several compelling arguments for client-side testing including:

Enhanced User Satisfaction: Ensures that Workday solutions meet user expectations, driving user satisfaction and adoption.

Risk Mitigation: Early identification and mitigation of defects and usability issues reduce the risk of deployment delays and operational disruptions.

Cost Savings: Investing in client-side testing upfront helps you avoid costly rework, post-implementation fixes, and user training efforts.

Competitive Advantage: Organisations that prioritise client-side testing benefit from high-quality, user-centric Workday solutions that drive business success.

How We Help
Here at Clientside Testing, we empower you with comprehensive client-side testing support, focused on your unique needs and requirements. Our approach is centred on two critical aspects: client-side test representation and advocacy.

Client-Side Test Representation: We act as your dedicated representative during the testing phase, ensuring your specific configurations, business processes, and integration needs are thoroughly tested.

Client-Side Test Advocacy: We advocate for you throughout the testing lifecycle, championing your interests and mitigating issues through collaborative work with your implementation partners and suppliers, to ensure that discrepancies or defects are rectified swiftly.

Conclusion
In conclusion, client-side, also known as end-user testing, plays a pivotal role in the release and change management process. By validating configurations, assessing user experience, and mitigating risks before deployment, you can ensure seamless transitions, optimise user satisfaction, and drive organisational success.

As a Workday manager or optimisation lead you have a duty to recognise the criticality, need, and responsibility for client-side testing, as well as its role in optimisation and change initiatives.