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Effective software testing requires high-quality data. But this isn’t always easy to manage, with 43% of testing teams saying handling data and test environments is very challenging. The best test data management (TDM) tools can help. They collect and organize data in a way that enables you to test new products and gather feedback quickly and compliantly. 

This article will go into detail about how test data management tools can help your development team, as well as highlight some of my favorite tools. 

What are Test Data Management Tools?

Test data management tools are software applications used in quality assurance (QA) to manage the data required for testing applications. These tools help to create, manipulate, and maintain the data used in test scenarios. Test data management tools can generate test data sets, ensure that test data is kept up-to-date, and manage the various versions of data required for different testing environments.

Test data management tools can also automate the data creation and maintenance process, and allow for the easy sharing of data among team members. These tools are essential in ensuring that testing is conducted accurately and efficiently, and can help to reduce the time and resources required for testing.

Overviews Of The Best Test Data Management Tools

Here’s a brief description of each of the best test data management tools. I’ve showcased each one’s standout features as well as who I think they’re a great choice for. You’ll also see a screenshot that will give you an idea of how the tool looks.

1

Tricentis Tosca

Best for AI-powered testing

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.2
50 reviews

Free trial available

Starts at $29/month

Tricentis’s qTest module is designed to centralize and organize software testing throughout the development lifecycle. The tool allows you to reach automation rates of 90% end-to-end, freeing up some testing time for your team. Tricentis is easy to implement within your workflow, and offers online courses to assist in the training of your team. Tricentis provides the ability to create automated test cases with no scripting involved, which allows any member of your team to write test cases. The tool is used for both UI and API automation, which means all bases of your development lifecycle are covered. Tricentris is CI/CD supported, and provides cross browser support.Tricentris integrates with tools such as Azure, Jenkins, Jira and Cucumber. Tricentris offers customized pricing upon request. The tool also offers a free trial.

2

K2View Test Data Management

Best for enterprises with complex environments

The K2View Test Data Management solution quickly provisions test data subsets from production sources with referential integrity, regardless of the number of systems, their respective technologies, and the number of testing environments. The solution can be embedded in a DevOps CI/CD pipeline, enabling Shift-Left Testing.

Testers use the solution’s self-service portal to define their desired test data sets. For example, a tester could request to provision test data related to 200 customers in a certain zip code, with 2 or more children, and an outstanding debt greater than a specific amount.

In-flight data masking protects sensitive PII data before it is delivered. Other features include synthetic test data manufacturing with referential integrity, roll-back test data version, reserve test data subsets for specific testers, and more.

Admins and testers use the web-based GUI to schedule test data requests, track execution status, results, and more.

Contact the K2View team via the website for a free demo or POC.

3

DATPROF

Best for managing different test data environments from a central location

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.5
6 reviews

Datprof is a suite of test data management tools including solutions for data masking, subsetting, discovery, and test automation.

The data subsetting feature is useful. It makes it easy for teams to generate suitably sized data subsets—ones that are small enough to save infrastructure costs while still being large enough to provide accurate results.

The tool also has an algorithm that helps you select the correct data when building templates. And the synchronization wizard makes updating and maintaining templates to fit changing needs easy.

Another benefit of Datprof is the self-service portal. This gives each user their own non-production environment they can use to access data sets. Meanwhile, managers can monitor and manage software test data across multiple environments from a single location.

Datprof doesn’t advertise pricing but you can contact the team for a quote via the website.

4

Microfocus Data Express

Best for saving test resources

Microfocus Data Express is a test data environment management tool. It automatically generates test environments to help you get started at speed.

The tool also has powerful masking features to ensure that you can hide sensitive information while keeping relationality intact. You can even associate differently-named fields from multiple data sources under a common class.

A key part of the tool is that it minimizes bandwidth, storage, and processing consumption. This reduces system pressure while still providing your testing teams with the test data sets they need.

Pricing for Data Express depends on usage. Contact the company for more information.

5

TestValet

Best for creating optimized test schedules

Free Demo

Customized pricing upon request

TestValet is a web based test management suite that aims to solve software engineering challenges and provide your team with the means to ensure full test coverage of your applications. The tool manages test cases covering everything from performance testing to penetration testing. TestValet creates scalable test schedules, allowing you and your team to plan your test cases and methods. The tool also offers you to track your assets with calibration data alignment. You can also generate reports so you can assess the metrics of your test cases and performance. Their Test Request module allows you to capture key parameters required in a new test environment and create metadata inside GUIs. TestValet offers customized pricing upon request. The platform also offers a free demo.

6

Informatica

Best for enterprise testing

30-day free trial

Pricing upon request

Informatica’s test data product is designed to provide development teams with the data they need securely. The tool helps teams discover and create data subsets to use for testing. You can provision smaller data sets to avoid overburdening infrastructure and improve the speed of tests.

It also helps test teams achieve compliance at scale by masking data to remove any sensitive information. I like the powerful monitoring and reporting features that help leaders manage data sets to ensure compliance.

Informatica pricing depends on your needs. Contact the company via its website for more information.

7

BMC Compuware

Best for immediate testing

BMC Compuware Topaz for Total Test is a testing tool that aims to help developers save time and release products and updates faster. Developers of all skill levels can use the tool to test changes immediately after updating to ensure errors aren’t introduced into the product codebase.

A cool feature is the ability to run tests that only relate to changed programs rather than the entire product. This saves mainframe resources and speeds up the testing process. You can even automate tests whenever a developer promotes a change, so they occur immediately after an update.

The tool also supports non-virtualized testing. You can test changes using real data and subsystems to cover all potential future scenarios. Test results from virtualized and non-virtualized tests can be captured in a single report for easy access.

To discover pricing information, contact BMC via the website.

8

Avo Test Data Management

Best for rapid and reliable test data generation

Avo’s intelligent Test Data Management (iTDM) enables you to generate production-like, AI-ML-based synthetic test data without writing a single line of code. With all the test data creation efforts reduced to a few clicks, iTDM fast-forwards the entire testing process and application delivery.

iTDM is built and deployed on open-source technologies and container frameworks. It offers data discovery to identify and manage personal identifiable information (PPI) automatically. It also helps secure sensitive data for PII compliance through data obfuscation. Provisioning, analysis, and searching are also core capabilities.

iTDM assists you in identifying non-compliant data in non-production environments and provide only relevant data downstream. It also improves compliance by helping you keep pace with evolving data privacy regulations.

With iTDM’s reliable and relevant test data, you can build top-quality applications faster and with minimal effort.

Avo iTDM offers custom pricing details upon request.

9

IBM Test Data Management

Best for rapid data generation

IBM InfoSphere Optim Test Data Management automates and optimizes test data management processes for faster testing. Central to this is the tool’s rapid data generation. The tool can then identify problems that reduce the chance of problem data leading to application failure.

You can use the tool to create optimally sized datasets so you can test without using unnecessary resources. It also has powerful masking functionality that removes sensitive data such as credit card numbers and contact information from cloned datasets, while keeping its relational integrity.

You can contact IBM via the website for further pricing information.

10

QA Wolf

Best test data management service for test creation, maintenance, and issue reports

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.8
52 reviews

Three-month, risk-free pilot

Pricing upon request

QA Wolf is an end-to-end testing automation service that supports organizations with an expert team of QA engineers to write, run, and repeat all your critical tests. Their White Glove testing services provide organizations with resources to reduce the burden of in-house QA teams.

Their team performs bug testing by running tests, investigating failures, and writing up an issue report with repro steps, a video recording, logs, and any other data you need. You can log into their testing platform to view progress at any time or wait for a scheduled review session. 

Key services they offer include end-to-end test coverage, a comprehensive test plan strategy, failure triaging and test maintenance, high-quality bug reports, fast parallel test run infrastructure, and an easy-to-use app for real-time status updates. QA Wolf's team integrates natively with tools like Jira, Stripe, Salesforce, email providers, Auth0, SMS, Github, and even more options through a flexible API so they can support your platform's testing needs holistically.

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The Best Test Data Management Tools Summary

Tool Trial Info Price
1
Tricentis Tosca

Best for AI-powered testing

Free trial available

Starts at $29/month Website
2
K2View Test Data Management

Best for enterprises with complex environments

Not available

Website
3
DATPROF

Best for managing different test data environments from a central location

Not available

Website
4
Microfocus Data Express

Best for saving test resources

Not available

Website
5
TestValet

Best for creating optimized test schedules

Free Demo

Customized pricing upon request Website
6
Informatica

Best for enterprise testing

30-day free trial

Pricing upon request Website
7
BMC Compuware

Best for immediate testing

Not available

Website
8
Avo Test Data Management

Best for rapid and reliable test data generation

Not available

Website
9
IBM Test Data Management

Best for rapid data generation

Not available

Website
10
QA Wolf

Best test data management service for test creation, maintenance, and issue reports

Three-month, risk-free pilot

Pricing upon request Website

Other Best Test Data Management Options

None of the tools on the list above catch your eye? Then maybe some of the options below will.

  1. PractiTest

    Best for monitoring tests

  2. Kualitee

    Best for issue & bug tracking

  3. Appsurify TestBrain

    Best QA risk based testing tool for faster test feedback

  4. QA touch

    Best solution with a free pricing level

  5. Tricentis

    Best for AI-powered testing

Check This Out: BEST BUG TRACKING SOFTWARE

How I Selected the Best Test Data Management Tools

If you're wondering how I selected the best test data management tools, here's where I'll break it all down for you. First of all, I started with test data management tools that have high user review and satisfaction ratings. Then, using my experience in QA testing, I discerned what key criteria were most important for test data management tools and compared how each of them stacked up against the rest.

I empathize with how much time it takes to source the right software for a job. I do this work so that you don't have to. I've been using and reviewing test data management tools for years so you can trust me to do the heavy lifting and compile all the facts you need to make your final decision.

If you have more general questions about test data management strategy, you can skip to our FAQ at the bottom of the page. Or, you can jump right to the best test data management toolsoverviews if you're ready to start comparing.

Selection Criteria

After careful consideration, I've determined that these are the most important criteria when selecting the best test data management tools. Here's a brief list outlining the whats and whys of my selection.

User Interface (UI)

A good user interface makes a test data management tool a pleasure to use. This is important when it comes to creating data sets and viewing reports. Key features should be easy to find, menus should be easy to navigate, and test data should be easy to sort and manage.

Usability

Good usability means that anyone on your team, from new developers to team leads, can use the test data management tool without issue. I also looked for tools with responsive customer support, self help resources, and training options.

Integrations

I looked for a test data management tool that integrates with the other tools your development team uses on a day to day basis. For example, Jira, Azure, and CI/CD tools. 

Pricing

Each test data management tool will have a unique pricing structure that may include monthly subscription costs, add on costs, per-user costs, or data volume costs. I tried to pick a variety of options with scalable pricing that could potentially fit everything from startups to enterprises.

People Also Ask

While writing this article, I thought of a few questions I wanted to answer about test data management and test data management tools. If that’s of interest to you, keep reading!

Test Data Management Tools: Essential for Testing

Test data is essential for releasing products. The right data management tool provides your teams with the data they need to effectively test their products—all while adhering to global privacy regulations. 

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By Paulo Gardini Miguel

Paulo brings +12 years of experience in software development and team building, creating products for the Media and Advertising industries. With a track record of building high-performance lean teams, he specializes in handling large volumes of data and empowering his team to own their projects and products. When he’s not working, he’s a frustrated musician with a passion for football and technology.