Data generated by developers to be used in unit tests is not always as accurate as real data pulled from the production source, according to Dennis O’Flynn, product management director at Compuware.
“Testing is becoming critical and the data needs to be secure. Real data needs to be used in order to provide accurate results,” he said.
Due to compliance issues, this production-side data must be secured or concealed, which is what Compuware’s new product, Test Data Privacy 3.1, allows compliance professionals to do.
The software solution, delivered through the Compuware Workbench, is based on the Eclipse framework, and can be plugged into an IDE for developers and used as a standalone application for compliance professionals. Compuware Workbench allows developers to access a variety of tools through one point-and-click interface, and the Test Data Privacy tool allows developers and compliance professionals to view the same rule set, which is hosted in a central rule repository.
O’Flynn said developers can be given different permissions based on compliance regulations to ensure that the test data is secured throughout the process. These rule repositories can be viewed by colocated and dispersed teams, and they can be applied to all supported platforms.
“Companies are under competitive pressure to shorten time to market for delivering high-quality applications while complying with evolving legislation protecting personal information,” said Stuart Feravich, worldwide solution leader for Test Data management at Compuware. “Test Data Privacy 3.1 raises data disguise to the level specified in privacy legislation, enabling compliance departments to monitor progress while reducing the burden of implementation and maintenance from IT.”
He added that because the application is Eclipse-based, developers can not only plug it into their IDE, but they can also attach other Eclipse-based programs to it in order to enhance social collaboration activities, which is also something Compuware is looking to do in the future.
