Comparing Broadcom TDM vs K2view? See how the entity-centric K2view approach beats the legacy schema-centric TDM for faster cycles and stronger privacy.
Intro to Broadcom TDM vs K2view
Test data has quickly become a key operational constraint in agile software delivery. The tool you choose will either accelerate delivery or lock you into slow, compliance-risky workflows.
Broadcom Test Data Manager is one of many legacy TDM solutions. It combines legacy Windows clients with a newer portal, but module overlap, gaps, and upgrade risk persist.
K2view adopts an entity-centric approach that unifies data masking, subsetting, and test data generation in a single solution. K2view organizes test data by business entities, such as customers, orders, or products, and then automates sensitive data discovery, dynamic data masking, subsetting, and synthetic data generation as a single flow. The result is simpler and tighter operations, stronger privacy, and faster software delivery cycles.
Enterprises report 80% fewer TDM FTEs, 40% faster delivery cycles, and 35% fewer production bugs after implementing K2view. A 6-month payback and 329% ROI are achievable with scale.
Broadcom TDM is weighed down by its past
Broadcom is a legacy TDM tool with certain shortcomings in today’s world, such as:
- Multiple Windows clients and a dated portal, making onboarding and operations complex
- Deprecations in vTDM that cause functional gaps for teams depending on virtualized datasets
- Release regressions and performance issues (reported in review sites) that expose upgrades and entire projects to greater risk
K2view is built for continuous change
K2view is a modern test data management product that is constantly adapting, thanks to features like:
- A business entity approach, that maintains referential integrity across systems(including non-relational and unstructured sources)
- Sensitive data discovery, masking, subsetting, synthetic data generation, reservation, versioning, and CI/CD APIs built into one product, for less scripting and fewer handoffs
- Multiple synthetic data methods, including rule-based and GenAI, with statistical validation and management controls
The Broadcom effect, practically speaking
Side-by-side comparison
| Capability |
Broadcom TDM |
K2view TDM |
K2view impact |
| Core design |
- Schema-centric
- Multiple UIs and modules
- Tool in ongoing maintenance mode
|
- Single, integrated, entity-centric solution
- Product continually enhanced with new capabilities
|
Fewer tools to buy, learn, and implement |
| Integration |
- Strong for RDBMS and mainframes
- Inconsistent for SaaS, cloud, and NoSQL
|
Connects to structured, semi-structured, and unstructured sources, including:
- Mainframes,
- SQL/noSQL
- Flat files, and more
- Rated as a Visionary by Gartner for data integration
|
- Broader test coverage
- No custom scripting
- Future-proof
|
| Self-service |
Portal is powerful but complex for non-specialists |
- Intuitive self-service portal for dev and QA teams
- APIs for DevOps
|
- Testers unblock themselves
- Fewer tickets
- Faster software delivery cycles
|
| Moving test data between environments |
- Ties data to virtual DBs
- Reproduces curated datasets, often requiring rebuilding
|
Provisions the same dataset to any environment in minutes |
Acceleration of defect reproduction and parallel testing |
| Masking |
Mixed user experiences across product modules |
- Native, consistent, entity-aware masking
- Static, dynamic, in-flight
|
- Fewer integrity breaks
- Stronger compliance
- Easier to use
|
Synthetic data
|
Rules for simple tables |
- Rule-based and GenAI
- Entity-aware
- Cross-system data generation
- Validation reports for accuracy and compliance
|
Accurate, realistic and compliant data for:
- Edge cases
- Performance testing
- Negative testing,
- Regression testing
|
| Stability and roadmap |
Deprecations and release instability noted by public user reviews |
- Rapid updates
- CI/CD focus
- GenAI options
|
- Safer upgrades, modern stack alignment
- SaaS deployment option
|
K2view supports Snowflake data masking, Workday data masking, mainframe data masking, Oracle data masking, Salesforce data masking, and data masking tools for SQL Server – as well as SAP test data management tools – and more
Broadcom practically speaking
Broadcom’s strategy optimizes for portfolio efficiency, not best-of-breed product innovation. Users report architectural fragmentation, deprecations without like-for-like replacements, and upgrade risks. The consequence is technical complexity, higher TCO, and compliance exceptions in lower environments.
One entity and one truth with K2view
K2view treats each business entity as a complete data product. All data for that entity is unified, masked, and versioned consistently across systems. Referential integrity holds by design. Complex joins and table stitching disappear from test data workflows.
All of the above are attributable to a Fortune 500 financial firm after centralizing on K2view TDM, leading to faster releases, lower storage, and fewer late-stage defects. AT&T’s use of K2view TDM highlights self-service provisioning that delivers test data in minutes without touching production systems.
Where Broadcom still fits
The following use cases are valid for Broadcom TDM:
- Mainframe-centric and relational database environments
- Organizations already standardized on Broadcom tooling
- Simple, rules-based synthetic needs where cross-system integrity is limited in scope
However, for cross-system, heterogeneous environments that need continuous testing and automated data privacy, the architecture becomes the constraint.
Buyer QA that reveals the differences
Answers to the following questions will lead you to the right decision:
- Can the tool preserve entity integrity across systems after masking, every time?
Ask for a cross-system demo with custom fields and attachments.
- How is synthetic data validated?
Look for statistical comparison reports and cross-system business entity-level generation, not table-only scripts.
- What breaks on upgrades?
Request a release history and deprecation map for the past 18 months, including rollback experience.
- How many tools will my testers touch?
You want one portal plus optional APIs, not a stack of overlapping UIs.
- What outcomes have peers achieved?
Look for quantified cycle-time and defect-rate improvements, not only features.
Broadcom TDM can manage test data. K2view removes test data as a bottleneck. If your roadmap includes CI/CD, cloud platforms, or multi-system applications, an entity-centric platform is the safer, faster path forward.
Evaluating K2view
If you’re considering a shift to a modern TDM platform, here’s a simple, realistic way to validate fit, without running multiple POCs or testing every feature:
- Identify a representative workflow
Choose real testing scenarios that span multiple systems. This gives you meaningful insight without a heavy lift.
- Define success criteria
Clarify what matters most: Faster provisioning, stronger masking, better referential integrity, or easier self-service.
- Run a focused hands-on evaluation
Provision a small, business-entity subset through K2view. Measure time-to-data, integrity across systems, and how much work testers can do without specialists.
- Validate privacy and synthetic data
Review masking behavior, privacy reports, and optional synthetic data generation to confirm coverage and realism.
- Check automation readiness
Test one CI/CD workflow – provision, refresh, or rollback – to see how easily it fits your pipeline.
- Assess operational simplicity
Look at setup effort, number of components, and how easily teams can adopt the platform.
These steps give you a clear view into whether K2view reduces friction and accelerates delivery, without the overhead of a full-scale POC.
Experience K2view Test Data Management
first-hand in our interactive product tour.