Why is it so difficult to create test data?

There are several challenges and obstacles that need to be overcome in order to produce qualitative and relevant test data. The major problems occur when systems are numerous, complex and there are dependencies between several different systems.

This makes it much more difficult and time-consuming to create test data manually.

Here are some of the most common difficulties:

• Data complexity: Today's databases are often complex with different structures, formats and different sources have different technical solutions to extract qualitative data. It requires deep technical knowledge and tools to search for and extract test data from these data sources. In addition, the test data must be consistent and representative of the real scenarios to be tested.
• Data legality: Many databases contain sensitive information, such as personal data, which must be protected and comply with laws and regulations. This means that data must be masked or anonymized in a way that does not affect its validity or usability. It also requires control over who has access to the data and how it is used.
• Data reuse: In order to streamline the development and testing process and reduce costs, it is desirable to be able to reuse test data for different types of test cases. This requires having a knowledge base about the test data, describing what it contains, how it was found and how it relates to the test cases. It also requires being able to share and disseminate this knowledge base to all users who need to use the test data.