Test data management
Also called: test data, golden data set
Test data management is keeping a known, refreshable set of accounts and records that lets the journeys in scope be tested the same way each time.
Shared environments decay. Accounts expire, orders are left half finished and two people edit the same record. Without ownership, testers spend their time repairing data instead of learning about the product.
The remedy is a small golden set: named personas with known entitlements and records in known states, a way to reset them, and a person responsible. A regular refresh matters more than a perfect data set.
Two rules I hold to. Test data must not be real personal data. And when missing data blocks a check, that is reported as environment risk in the readiness note, not skipped in silence.