• In theory test data is nice.

    In the real world, though, you need to compare the outpu test data against a known system. You need to see that over history and your test period, sales, payroll, expense figures from the test machine match comparable figures from known production sources. You have to know that reports on customers, employees or suppliers consistently match exactly with known correct sources.

    Hard to do with randomized data.

    ...

    -- FORTRAN manual for Xerox Computers --