I agree Rich, I didn't mean to suggest that PROD data was sufficient or appropriate for testing. I would more concerned with the reproduction of problems that occur in PROD. Often, those problems can not be reproduced in testing environment. It's a messy world and there is no perfect or one-size-fits-all solution. It's a matter of risk assessment. We balance the risk of system failure with the risk slow development. Each application will have a different tolerance for failure. Obviously, medical systems have a low tolerance for failure. A link bait web site, well if it fails, not such a big problem. The assessment of risk verses the benefit of timeliness will be huge factors in determining what measures need to be taken. Just my buck-o-five worth. Mike On Mon, Jul 27, 2009 at 11:07 AM, Rich Jesse < rjoralist@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > > If you > > don't allow developers on the PROD system, how are they going to > > trouble-shoot problems which surface in the PROD system but not the TEST > > system? > > [snip] > > > Mike > > Therein lies one of the most prevalent problems in business software > development today, IMHO -- testing. Is it right to assume that a > Production > database will contain the necessary data scenarios that need to be tested? > > This is a huge subject that can hardly be decided by a few over a mailing > list. It's a complex issue with real dollars attached. Comprehensive > testing on a change to a complex system like an ERP is not cheap. And > perhaps in (many?) cases, not warranted. But the inverse of assuming that > one can only properly test with Production data is missing the target. > > My $.02, > Rich > Programmer, SA, DBA over the past 20+ years. > > -- > //www.freelists.org/webpage/oracle-l > > >