Test data management is the future of large-scale industries. With data amounts becoming so massive by the day, test data management has proven to be the savior.
One glance at the market growth and you’ll see for yourself. The question arises—what are the major trends that can be seen here? What are the trends seen in the test data management market? Here are 4 of them that you must be aware of.
1. The Market’s “Big Data” Outlook on Healthcare
The name says it all. “Big data” is essentially management, handling and everything else in between when it comes to larger datasets. That being said, what are the various places in which the markets have seen a rise in big data management?
The most noticeable of them is the hospital industry. The healthcare sector has seen the employment of big data as part of their test data management. How, you might ask? Consider two scenarios.
First—purchasing medication online has proven to be a boon now. In a situation where medications are being ordered from across the globe, there is always a chance of mismanagement. This is where handling a test big data application becomes crucial. All the more reason for the market shift.
Second—hospital chains. In a scenario where a chain of hospitals is established globally, big data management is the need of the hour. Here, the test data management market is bound to show more growth.
The point is—big data and its test management has caught the attention of the healthcare market. It only goes uphill from hereon.
2. Service Virtualization as a Backbone for Test Data Management
Let’s face it. Every industry, every market has a common way to interact—applications. Every other venture has its own application that makes it easier to interact with their customer or clientele.
That being stated—service virtualization is a way to ensure that the applications are more complete. This includes testing the applications for more reliable and accurate results. Virtualization of this involves putting the application under extensive testing environments. How does this reflect on the market?
Consider any app that is of massive value. Uber, Maps, social media apps—you name it. In this test data management sphere, the application needs to be virtualized to note its behavior and how it will perform or conduct itself when put under various conditions.
Why is this becoming a trend? Simple. Test data management married to service virtualization implies one thing—minimal expenses when it comes to non-production environments. Service virtualization seems like a proverbial hack.
3. Data Masking as Means of Improving Security
With a greater number of applications, comes forth a greater concern for security. Not only do developers have to deal with regulations, but also with external security concerns or breaches. This calls for valid security measures that will not impact test data management or its handling.
Data masking, therefore, has become a serious trend here. Companies are using data masking tools for both structured and unstructured data.
How is this becoming a trend? Look around at all how companies that deal with larger chunks of data have shifted their focus to security. So much so that even Google has shifted its focus from ad revenues to tighter security.
Granted, there are challenges here. Data consistency becomes a fair concern. So does the ability to parallel test and compare production data.
However, implementing test data management through various phases—such as analyzing, implementing, validating and closure proves to be of great help.
4. Agile Methodology for Rapid Problem-Solving
This one is a no-brainer. Right from the bigshots like Apple and Philips to even relatively smaller ones Gamble—agile methodology is being adopted by everyone. This involves breaking or fragmenting a project into several pieces. This makes it easier to not only tackle the shortcomings, but provide quicker updates too.
Previously, larger chunks of projects were dealt with under the same heads. This called for faulty results, or improper update cycles. That is why agile methodology has taken a solid space. In this day and age of rapid distortion of markets, agile methodology proves to be the new trend.
Think about it, take the example of Apple. The reason why Apple manages to tackle its test data issues so quickly and accurately is because of agile methodology.
With this, the testers manage to complete their test data management and tackling in a very short duration. Be it regarding software drawbacks or bridging the gap with their older chips using Rosetta—this is definitely a game-changing trend.
To Conclude
Knowing these trends, companies can make their solutions more problem-oriented rather than business-oriented. The goal here is to ensure the best and most efficient way to inculcate test data management such that there is no compromise on both utility and security.
