overcoming test data challenges in the application economy

APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT IN THE

APPLICATION ECONOMY

Overcoming Test Data Challenges

WHO THE HECK AM I?

Anna Czarnowski KatsPresales Consultant at CA Technologies,

for Continuous Delivery solutions

(Getting you from User Story to AMAZING

User Experience by automating & optimizing

Through Dev, Test & Ops)

linkedin.com/in/annacz

@AniaKats

WELCOME TO THE APPLICATION

ECONOMYWhat's the App Economy?

Technology has made it possible for ANYONE to start a business, and digital disrupters are crushing traditional business models.

Here, EVERY company is a software company. Those who don't go digital, die.

2015 Apple Watch sales were #2 in

global watch sales!

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN FOR YOU?

You're going through a Digital Transformation, figuring out how to make your customers happy, and how to get some of that "Unicorn" success.

How?

By developing BETTER applications FASTER.

To increase speed and quality, we move to Agile, DevOps or Continuous Delivery.

However, the challenges are always the same:

Dependencies between Dev, Test & Ops teams.

Environment constraints (access to systems).

Manual & laborious processes for test case creation & execution.

Lack of fit for purpose test data.

Poor communication between teams.

APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGES

Now, let's focus on test

data!

If you're not a DBA (database admin) or know anything about testing, let me sum it up for you:

Data is complicated!

Every app you use (mobile or online) uses MANY data sources (databases, APIs, etc.).

The differences in architecture and access to these sources, and the complex relationships between the data, are what make having good test data a challenge.

SO, WHAT'S THE DEAL WITH TEST DATA?

Till recently, the common approach to getting test data was to simply make a copy of what's in production (real data from real systems).

Problem with that?

1. It's REAL data. Meaning you'll be facing REAL fines when you get caught for not complying with GDPR, PIPEDA, DPA, etc.

2. It's not enough: production data only covers about 30% of test cases no negative test scenarios, no data to test new features.

GOOD-BYE PRODUCTION COPY!

For a world map with data protection laws

check out: https://www.dlapiperdataprotection.com/#

handbook/world-map-section

The solution to test data challenges is in Test Data Management An approach of centralizing test data in a “Gold copy database” or “Data Warehouse”

(aka. 1 DB/set of DB’s with all the beautiful data

testers want & need, & with none of the privacy/

security concerns)

ENTER: TEST DATA MANAGEMENT

1. Know your production data. Tools like CA Test Data Manager help accelerate the data profiling exercise to uncover and define logical relationships in your data, as well as where Personally Identifiable/Sensitive data resides, so the next steps will be easier.

2. Automate Subsetting. Having amazing test data starts with a slice which includes all the rich characteristics that exist in production (You don't need the 90% of records which are characteristically identical).

3. Automate Masking. Create Transformation Maps/Masking definitions which keep referential integrity, and meet testing needs (Replacing everyone's name with 'John Smith' just won't do!). Once automated, you can run production refreshes as often as you like/need - weekly, daily, hourly.

HOW DO YOU “TDM”?

4. Know your data coverage & supplement. Generate synthetic data automatically to complete your Test Data Warehouse for all those negative test cases and new functions.

5. Enable test data reservation.Know your test data usage & stop testers from burning each other's data by letting them request/create the data they need via a data shopping cart.

HOW DO ROCK YOUR “TDM”?

THANKS FOR HANGIN' WITH ME

Have questions?

Feel free to reach out to me!

linkedin.com/in/annacz

And be sure to check out CA Test Data Manager:

ca.com/us/products/ca-test-data-manager.html