How Quality Engineering for SAP Drives Business Valu

A 403% return on investment. A payback period of under six months. A net present value of $9 million. And all of it realised in SAP quality assurance. Most organisations still think of testing as a cost to be managed. The latest Forrester Total Economic Impact™ study, commissioned by SAP and Tricentis, tells a different story: organisations that rethink how they approach SAP quality engineering are unlocking measurable business value at scale, not just reducing risk.

The figures in the study are based on a Forrester Total Economic Impact™ model that combines the experiences of multiple organisations into a single composite enterprise. The reference organisation represents a global company with approximately $30 billion in annual revenue and 40,000 employees, reflecting the scale and complexity of large SAP environments where testing inefficiencies, delayed releases, and extended hypercare periods can carry significant operational and financial consequences.

Why SAP transformations still struggle with quality and delivery

In conversations with SAP leaders across industries, one tension keeps surfacing. Organisations want to release more frequently, respond to change faster, and deliver transformations with confidence, yet their own quality processes are often what holds them back. The Forrester findings make that gap visible, and they make the case for change hard to ignore.

This is particularly relevant in the context of SAP S/4HANA transformations. Many organisations are still finding it difficult to deliver these programmes on time and within budget, while maintaining the expected level of quality. Earlier analyses have already shown that a large proportion of these projects suffer from delays, cost overruns and missed quality targets. In my experience, this is rarely due to a lack of effort or expertise. More often, it comes down to how testing and quality are structured across the organisation.

In practice, I still see many organisations relying on fragmented SAP testing landscapes and manual processes that have evolved over time. Different teams use different tools, automation is introduced in isolation, and maintaining test assets becomes a challenge in itself. As systems change, even small updates can trigger significant rework, slowing down delivery and introducing uncertainty. Hypercare periods often run longer than expected, not because teams are unprepared, but because defects are detected too late in the process. The Forrester study confirms this pattern, showing how manual and disconnected approaches to SAP testing limit scalability, reduce visibility and ultimately hold back transformation efforts.

In organisations that see better results, the difference usually goes beyond tooling and comes down to how they approach quality. They adopt a SAP quality engineering mindset that is integrated, risk-based and continuous. Testing becomes more focused on business-critical processes, automation is embedded into delivery rather than treated as a separate initiative, and quality assurance is introduced earlier in the lifecycle. This allows teams to identify and resolve issues sooner, when the impact is still manageable.

How quality engineering drives ROI, speed and business value in SAP

SAP quality engineering refers to a structured approach to testing that combines automation, risk-based validation and continuous feedback across the delivery lifecycle. When applied consistently, it allows organisations to move faster while maintaining control over quality and risk.

The impact of this shift is clearly visible in the data. The study shows that organisations are able to reduce their testing scope by up to 84 percent, while increasing automation rates to around 90 percent. At the same time, production errors are reduced by as much as 93 percent, and hypercare costs can decrease by up to 90 percent. These improvements make delivery more predictable and reduce the amount of time spent reacting to issues late in the cycle.

Perhaps even more important is the effect on speed and business agility:

• Time to release is reduced by 83 percent, allowing organisations to move from long release cycles to much shorter iterations
• Release frequency increases significantly, in some cases by a factor of five, enabling faster delivery of new functionality
• The business impact of these changes is substantial, with $7.8 million in value generated through earlier access to improvements and increased productivity

What stands out to me, both in this study and in the work we do with clients, is that the largest share of value does not come from cost savings, but from the ability to deliver change more quickly. When organisations shorten the distance between idea and execution, they create space for innovation, improve user experience and respond more effectively to market and regulatory demands. In that sense, SAP quality engineering becomes closely linked to business agility.

At the same time, these outcomes are not automatic. Many organisations invest in SAP test automation and still struggle to realise the expected benefits. The difference often lies in how well the different elements of quality engineering are aligned. Without a clear, well-defined SAP quality engineering strategy, integrated processes and the right level of governance, even the best tools can fall short of their potential.

How to realise the full value of quality engineering in SAP environments

This is often the point where organisations recognise they need a more structured approach. At TTC Global, we work with organisations across a wide range of SAP transformations, and our starting point is always the same: understanding where a client stands today. That means looking beyond tools to processes, capabilities and ways of working, then defining a path forward that is realistic, scalable and tied to actual business priorities.

In practice, our work tends to follow a consistent pattern. We begin by assessing quality maturity and identifying the gaps most likely to affect delivery. From there, we help define a testing strategy built around business risk and critical processes, rather than coverage for its own sake. We then support the move toward sustainable automation and continuous testing, working alongside internal teams as they adapt to new ways of working and take genuine ownership of quality.

Done well, this is how SAP quality engineering becomes embedded in an organisation rather than bolted on, and how delivery teams reach a point where quality, speed and control reinforce each other.

Looking ahead, I believe this shift will only become more important. SAP landscapes are becoming more complex, with cloud adoption, integration and continuous change increasing the pressure on delivery teams. In that environment, traditional approaches to SAP testing are no longer sufficient. Organisations need a way to manage complexity without slowing down, and quality engineering provides a practical path forward.

The findings from the Forrester study provide clear evidence that this approach delivers results. More importantly, they show that investing in quality is not just about avoiding problems. It is about enabling better outcomes across the organisation. For those willing to rethink their approach, SAP quality engineering can become a powerful lever for both operational excellence and long-term business value.

For organisations navigating SAP transformations, quality increasingly determines how quickly and confidently change can be delivered. If you are looking to strengthen your SAP quality engineering approach, starting with a clear understanding of your current maturity can provide valuable direction.

Contact us to explore what a stronger SAP quality engineering foundation could look like for your organisation.