TestProNews Q2 - 2005
Are You Ready for Enterprise Test Data Management?
For those unfamiliar with the term test data management (TDM), the TDM gathers test
data from automated test systems, organizes the data, provides global access to
the raw data, and generates test data and test process information derived from
the test data. Through this functionality, companies use TDM products such as
Arendar
and similar products to increase productivity, improve quality and reduce time-to-market.
But, is TDM for everyone? How can you tell if your company is ready to move up to
a TDM system or if the time and expense might be misdirected?
Here are seven issues to consider that may hone your thinking.
How chaotic is your data?
Some companies find their test data is spread out over multiple test stations and
servers and even across departments within the company.
Other test data is on paper
printouts stored in filing cabinets or buried in cryptically named files and file formats that not even the original test engineer can remember. Many companies make
large investments in their engineering design, development, validation and manufacturing
test systems and software that generate large quantities of test data that they
are unable to transform into actionable information. This is due to the fact they
don't have good test data management tools to give them the capability to efficiently
and cost effectively collect, manage, analyze and access test data across their
company. If you find your engineers wasting valuable time searching for and sorting
through test data, you will quickly see increased productivity and the return on
investment of an enterprise TDM system by it's ability to provide real-time access
to data, based on specified search and filtering criteria.
How much time do engineers spend transforming test data into reports?
If your engineers are spending hours or days collecting, organizing and formatting
test data for analysis and reports, then a TDM system can make life much easier
for them. An enterprise TDM system stores test data into a database that provides
managers and engineers easy real-time access for searching, correlating, analyzing
and examining test results and generating reports. TDM software such as Arendar
provide users with graphical database configuration and Web-based access to query
the database and view pre-defined reports over their company Intranet without having
to be a database or IT expert.
How many automated test stations does your company have?
Depending on your needs, you may have one test system used for design verification
and validation, or hundreds of test stations. A TDM system should be scalable giving
you the capability to start with a single test system for initial product design
and validation, and provide scalability and capability to grow to encompass test
data for multiple test groups in design and manufacturing. An enterprise TDM system
consolidates test data from one or many test stations and provides common access
and a single unified view of test data from any number of test systems, independent
of the original test data format.
Is your companies' design distributed over more than one location?
Your company may have multiple engineering design locations that need the capability
to share design verification, validation and parametric test data between them.
An enterprise TDM system provides the capability to correlate and analyze test results
from several engineering design groups, at different locations and over different
time-periods. The TDM system gives you real-time access to characterization and
design verification test data to quickly understand and assess information you need
to optimize and shorten your design time and increase engineering productivity.
Is your companies' manufacturing distributed over more than one location?
You may have a challenge getting timely access test data to if your company has
decided to outsource manufacturing to contract manufacturers (CMs) scattered across
several different countries. An enterprise TDM system provides you with real-time
access to product test, yield and quality data from CMs so you can monitor their
performance using a Web browser over the Internet from your desk.
Who needs to view test data and reports in your company?
Design and manufacturing engineers and managers in many companies need access to
test data and most want to access the data from their desk using a Web browser via
the company Intranet. In many cases, other departments including manufacturing operations
and quality control benefit by having access to test data to give them production throughput, yield and quality information. An enterprise TDM system provides anyone
in the company with access priveleges secure real-time access to test performance
management information such as product characterization, yield, quality and test
system utilization using an industry-standard Web browser.
Do my engineers have to be database or IT experts?
Your engineers know what's needed to develop test systems needed to ensure your
product meets design and manufacturing specifications and quality, but an enterprise
TDM system is needed to store test data into a common database and provide a reliable
and secure way to share this information with other groups across your company.
Developing an enterprise TDM system requires extensive database, Web, and information
technology (IT) skills over and above what it takes to develop a test system. An
enterprise TDM system provides easy to use database configuration, test data import
utilities, Web-based data query, viewing and report generation tools that can be
used by managers and engineers without having to be a database or IT expert.
If you can identify with one or more of the issues listed above, then you are ready
for an enterprise test data management system. An off-the-shelf product such as
Arendar provides an easy-to-use, cost-effective, scalable enterprise test data management
solution to help you manage design and manufacturing test data across your company.
Ask the Expert
Email questions concerning this article to:
expert.testpronews@vi-tech.com
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