Test Data Strategy at The Enterprise

Test Data at the Enterprise series from Curiosity Software 

Rich Jordan, Enterprise Solutions Architect from Curiosity Software, introduces six tenets for a better Test Data Strategy. A POV on overcoming the much-cited industry analysis of Test Data being as one of the biggest blockers to fast and effective testing within organisations today.

So, delve into the six key ideas you should really be able to put answer to as part of your Test Data Strategy, to ensure that data isn't a blocker to your testing efforts:

• Data Regulation: what regulations do your organisations near to adhere to, but more broadly, what are those regulations underpinned by in terms of policies and standards in your organisation; and how do they affect the way that you handle data and the way that you would design your IT systems.

• Architecture and Technology: organisations will have a spectrum of technologies, both old and new. How do these technologies and the way they integrate create challenges in the way that you test and the way that you get your data into your systems to allow you to test.

• Delivery Methodologies and Test Approach: with many organisations working in an agile methodology of some capacity of, say, two-week sprints, an effective Test Data Strategy also needs to be agile to be able to deliver to those same timelines.

• Organisational Debt: many organisations will struggle to maintain a good or up-to-date understanding of the data within their systems or how the data flows between their systems, especially in organisations that have legacy platforms or many systems that are highly coupled.

• Who Delivers the Data: many delays in testing are down to testers waiting for data to be delivered to them.

• Tooling to Meet the Strategy: too many organisations rely on rudimental tools and techniques to create test data. 

At Curiosity Software, we've compiled individuals and technologies helping many organisations overcome these types of challenges over the past few years. In the next video, the first of an initial six, we'll cover the topic of Data Regulation.