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Most companies fall short in fully complying with data privacy regulations for test data: report

Only 7% of companies say they are fully compliant with data privacy regulations for test data.

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3 min read

Like a driver using a heap of crinkled up MapQuest printouts, most companies aren’t too confident that they are on top of their data privacy compliance game when it comes to test data.

According to a January report by test-data management platform provider K2view, only 7% of companies report being fully compliant with data privacy regulations for test data, data used during the process of software testing. The other 93% claimed they are “mostly compliant, with some sensitive data in lower environments.”

The report surveyed 300 professionals directly involved in test data management from companies with more than 1,000 employees.

Lapsed legacy. K2view’s Director of Product Marketing Amitai Richman, who was surprised by the report’s findings, told IT Brew that the use of manual processes or outdated tools is likely the culprit for the doubts in compliance as teams may encounter challenges when managing enterprise test data across different sources and environments. About 90% of those queried said they rely on legacy test-data management (TDM) tools.

“If you’re using outdated tools in a modern environment or you’re doing this manually, there’s room for error,” Richman said. “There’s room for human error. There’s room for tooling error.”

According to Richman, companies may still depend on legacy TDM tools—which he said have evolved slowly over the last decade and a half—because it is one of a suite of tools provided by the legacy vendor, making it hard to make a switch to a more modern solution.

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A disconnect between upper and lower management is another reason why some organizations remain loyal to legacy tools. While 49% of C-suite level executives said they were satisfied with their current TDM tools and processes, only 5% of managers and team leaders could say the same.

“C-levels may not be looking for a new solution if they think everything is okay,” Richman said.

Earth to C-suite. John Bates, CEO of the SER Group, an enterprise content management software company, told IT Brew that C-suite executives expose their organizations to more risk when they take a backseat role in the management of test data.

“If a product goes down, it costs the business money,” Bates said. “If there’s a bug or the product goes wrong, it can lead to being sued. It can lead to downtime. It can cause reputational damage and so on and so forth. So, it’s a business issue.”

Richman told IT Brew that C-level executives can begin to have a clearer picture of the state of test-data management in their organizations by having a candid conversation with primary teams responsible for managing it.

“Maybe do an internal survey, maybe even an anonymous survey, and ask this very same question: ‘Are you confident that there’s no personal data where there shouldn’t be?’” Richman said. “And see what happens.”

Top insights for IT pros

From cybersecurity and big data to cloud computing, IT Brew covers the latest trends shaping business tech in our 4x weekly newsletter, virtual events with industry experts, and digital guides.