Highly effective data management using a test data warehouse

"The increased functionality of the Grid-Tools product over our existing product meant that many actions were considerably simplified and accelerated. For example, migrating of data forward to a new release in the old tool took one month of manual effort. However, Datamaker can do this task in less than a day."

Project Manager, Large UK Government Agency

"The pricing model Grid-Tools offered gave us the opportunity to switch from our previous solution. If it would have been more expensive, I am convinced that we never would have been able to migrate to a better solution. We looked into other tools in the market which have the same features as Datamaker, and they cost quite a bit more. The pricing for this tool is very reasonable because it is project based."

Jochen Westheide, The ARAG Group

The Grid-Tools Test Data Warehouse

Store: Import your data from various sources and store in the warehouse ready for use.

Manage: A central location for all your test data, data no longer stored in multiple locations.

Manipulate: The Test Data Warehouse automatically updates all data pools, providing testers with the right data at the right time.

Share: High quality data is available across numerous teams and projects throughout the organisation allowing teams to work in parallel.

Often data storage is disparate, making it difficult for teams within the enterprise to access and manipulate the data. The disparate systems do not replicate changes in one data pool across projects, causing miscommunication within teams and inconsistencies in the data. Testers need the right data at the right time in order to meet with time constraints. While testers are waiting for the “right data” they will often try to manually create data, a tedious task which often results in data which isn’t fit for purpose being used in tests and the quality of the software being compromised.

What is a Test Data Warehouse?

A Test Data Warehouse is an original concept from Grid-Tools. Not dissimilar to a library, it provides a central and controlled place where high quality data can be stored, managed, manipulated and shared. A Test Data Warehouse is designed to make the testing process more automated, eliminating the need to spend valuable time on mundane and error-prone tasks. Managing your data in a Test Data Warehouse means you no longer need to wait for the “right data” and ensures that you have easy access to data that’s fit for purpose.

Testers often spend weeks sitting idle, waiting for the “right data” to flow down the traditional “waterfall” lifecycle. In order to meet time constraints, some teams will manually create data, an inefficient and tedious task which leads to them creating data that does not accurately reflect the data they are due to receive. Adopting a Test Data Warehouse allows high quality data to be shared across teams and projects within the organisation, “shifting testing left” and allowing teams to work in parallel with each other. By eliminating the need to rely on other teams for the “right data” means that testing can be conducted earlier in the lifecycle, as a result, high quality software will be delivered to the market much earlier too.

Often data is spread across multiple sources which causes inconsistencies in your data and consequently, your data will lack quality. The Test Data Warehouse automatically replicates any changes in one data pool across projects, to ensure that teams are communicating and using accurate data to make their test cycles more valuable, more precise and more efficient. By storing all your data in one user friendly, central location and working in parallel with other teams it minimises the risk of miscommunication and lifts dependencies between teams.

Managing your data within a Test Data Warehouse allows you to re-use your data again and again for all the different test cycles. This means that good work is returned to the warehouse and ready to be used in other teams or projects within your enterprise. This enables you to maximise the value of work done as test cases can be used repeatedly, without generating any extra effort.

One benefit of having a centralized knowledge base is that you will dramatically improve communication within teams and help them to form a better understanding of each other’s data needs. Improved communication often increases productivity by as much as 50% in teams who do not understand the data needs of supplies and consumers. Another benefit of having a central location for your data is that you have version control. Users are able to have various versions running at the same time, each version is independent from the others. Core data is transferred so that any changes made do not affect the other versions or the core data.

Working in parallel with other teams through a Test Data Warehouse has the benefit that you can avoid delays in fulfilling requests for data which reduces elapsed project time by 20%, leaving teams to focus on getting other projects to market.

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