Test Data Management prevents your Continuous Test Automation strategy from going into the dump. Wasn't automation supposed to take over redundant processes, lessen the burden on manual testers, and speed up the entire testing cycle? If testers are still required to keep updating the test data every time for the test to run successfully, doesn't that defy the whole purpose of automation and further weigh down poor testers under a load of tedious tasks?
DevOps is teaming up with automation to encourage continuous processes of integration, testing, and delivery. The dependency of DevOps on automation is immense. While everyone is seeing the glittering on-stage drama of DevOps backed by automated testing, they are mostly ignorant of what goes on backstage. Like a puppeteer who seamlessly orchestrates the movement of the props for presenting a successful puppet show, test data determines the successful completion of a software test. Now, what if the material of the puppet thread used is changed without informing the puppeteer that he needs to wear additional protection to avoid cuts? He would injure himself, which might cause the show to halt, resulting in failure. The agility of continuous testing does not provide the scope for conveying the change in time, making implementation of proper test data management practices a necessity for software testing.
