What is Test Data Management? | Page: 3 of 5
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First, ASAM ODS defines an ASAM ODS Base model that structures test data into meaningful categories. The ASAM ODS base model provides elements for describing projects, test objects (the unit under test), test environments (bench, facility, conditions), test procedures, and measurement results. The ASAM ODS data model transforms scattered files into searchable, comparable, governed data. An organization that adopts the ASAM ODS data model gains a shared vocabulary across departments, sites, and tools. Powertrain engineers, NVH engineers, and battery engineers all describe their tests using the same ASAM ODS structural framework, even though the signals they measure are different.

Second, ASAM ODS defines a standardized ASAM ODS API for accessing test data. In the current version (ASAM ODS 6.2), this is an HTTP/REST interface that any tool can connect to. Engineers access the same data from MATLAB, Python, web browsers, or custom applications without format conversion or vendor lock-in. The ASAM ODS API is what makes ASAM ODS a practical foundation for test data management rather than a theoretical specification. HighQSoft has been an active participant in shaping the ASAM ODS standard for over 25 years, contributing to its evolution from CORBA-based APIs in ODS 5 to the modern HTTP/REST interfaces in ODS 6.

Third, ASAM ODS defines file and transport formats (ATFx) for exchanging test data between systems. Data stored in one ASAM ODS system can be transferred to another ASAM ODS system without loss of structure or metadata, a capability that becomes critical when organizations need to share test data with suppliers, partners, or customers.

ASAM ODS-based test data management provides structured, governed access to engineering test data. File-based storage on network drives and folders lacks the structure, searchability, and governance that engineering organizations require at scale. The following comparison shows how ASAM ODS addresses the limitations of file-based test data storage.

The organizations that get the most value from their test data are not simply those that adopted ASAM ODS. They are the ones that built a discipline around ASAM ODS: catalog management for consistency, governance for trust, automation for scale, and standardized interfaces for adoption. This is what separates organizations that store test data from those that manage test data.

HighQSoft provides test data management solutions for automotive OEMs and engineering organizations. HighQSoft's ASAM ODS-based platform, including the AReS Libertas server, Janus federated platform, and Merlin Analysis Server, serves BMW, Ford, Volkswagen, Bosch, Cummins, and Honda with over 25 years of production deployments. This guide explains what engineering test data management is, why it matters, and how organizations implement it at enterprise scale.