In the previous posts, I explained about the various concepts surrounding Test data creation and maintenance, namely Data Subset, Data Masking, Test Data Ageing, Test Data Refresh, Data Archive and Gold Copy. In this post, I will focus on the life cycle of Test Data.
So what is meant by a life cycle. Life Cycle is the various stages that a product/service/artifact goes through before attaining its end of life. So a Test Data Cycle explains the various stages through which the test data goes through in order to reach its end of life or alternatively start a recurring life cycle.
So similar to a test life cycle or a software development life cycle, Test Data goes through the following phases. They are
Requirement Gathering & Analysis
This is pretty straightforward. In this phase, the test data requirements pertaining to the test requirements are gathered. They are categorized into various heads
- Pain Areas
- Data Sources
- Data Security/Masking
- Data Volume requirements
- Data Archival requirements
- Test Data Refresh considerations
- Gold Copy considerations
This phase is typically carried out in the form of a TDM assessment or Test Data Assessment. Since that topic requires separate attention, I will dedicate a blog post to it.
Planning & Design
