diff --git a/spring-cloud-dataflow-parent/pom.xml b/spring-cloud-dataflow-parent/pom.xml
index 8bbdac18f2..a573ebf0a7 100644
--- a/spring-cloud-dataflow-parent/pom.xml
+++ b/spring-cloud-dataflow-parent/pom.xml
@@ -59,6 +59,12 @@
 		<spring-cloud-dataflow-apps-metadata-plugin.version>1.0.14</spring-cloud-dataflow-apps-metadata-plugin.version>
 		<springdoc-openapi.version>2.6.0</springdoc-openapi.version>
 		<guava.version>32.1.3-jre</guava.version>
+		<!-- database driver versions -->
+		<oracle-ojdbc8.version>21.9.0.0</oracle-ojdbc8.version>
+		<db2-jcc.version>11.5.9.0</db2-jcc.version>
+		<!-- questionable testing libs -->
+		<org-json.version>20240303</org-json.version>
+		<littleproxy.version>1.1.2</littleproxy.version>
 	</properties>
 	<dependencyManagement>
 		<dependencies>
diff --git a/spring-cloud-dataflow-rest-resource/pom.xml b/spring-cloud-dataflow-rest-resource/pom.xml
index bfa774cf40..76707d2c66 100644
--- a/spring-cloud-dataflow-rest-resource/pom.xml
+++ b/spring-cloud-dataflow-rest-resource/pom.xml
@@ -68,7 +68,6 @@
 		<dependency>
 			<groupId>commons-io</groupId>
 			<artifactId>commons-io</artifactId>
-			<version>2.11.0</version>
 		</dependency>
 		<dependency>
 			<groupId>org.codehaus.jettison</groupId>
diff --git a/spring-cloud-dataflow-shell-core/pom.xml b/spring-cloud-dataflow-shell-core/pom.xml
index 6ffc228b01..4399ec5f2f 100644
--- a/spring-cloud-dataflow-shell-core/pom.xml
+++ b/spring-cloud-dataflow-shell-core/pom.xml
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@
 		<dependency>
 			<groupId>org.json</groupId>
 			<artifactId>json</artifactId>
-			<version>20230227</version>
+			<version>${org-json.version}</version>
 			<scope>test</scope>
 		</dependency>
 		<dependency>
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@
 		<dependency>
 			<groupId>org.littleshoot</groupId>
 			<artifactId>littleproxy</artifactId>
-			<version>1.1.2</version>
+			<version>${littleproxy.version}</version>
 			<scope>test</scope>
 		</dependency>
 		<dependency>
diff --git a/spring-cloud-skipper/spring-cloud-skipper-server-core/pom.xml b/spring-cloud-skipper/spring-cloud-skipper-server-core/pom.xml
index 4e27ab98fb..5e72d7df35 100644
--- a/spring-cloud-skipper/spring-cloud-skipper-server-core/pom.xml
+++ b/spring-cloud-skipper/spring-cloud-skipper-server-core/pom.xml
@@ -114,7 +114,6 @@
 		<dependency>
 			<groupId>org.mariadb.jdbc</groupId>
 			<artifactId>mariadb-java-client</artifactId>
-			<version>[3.1.2,)</version>
 		</dependency>
 		<dependency>
 			<groupId>org.postgresql</groupId>
@@ -244,7 +243,6 @@
 		<dependency>
 			<groupId>org.junit.platform</groupId>
 			<artifactId>junit-platform-suite</artifactId>
-			<version>1.11.0</version>
 			<scope>test</scope>
 		</dependency>
 	</dependencies>
diff --git a/spring-cloud-skipper/spring-cloud-skipper-server/pom.xml b/spring-cloud-skipper/spring-cloud-skipper-server/pom.xml
index 68b8a05ec4..7c607ebe7d 100644
--- a/spring-cloud-skipper/spring-cloud-skipper-server/pom.xml
+++ b/spring-cloud-skipper/spring-cloud-skipper-server/pom.xml
@@ -16,15 +16,6 @@
 	<properties>
 		<maven-javadoc-plugin.version>3.4.1</maven-javadoc-plugin.version>
 	</properties>
-	<dependencyManagement>
-		<dependencies>
-			<dependency>
-				<groupId>org.mariadb.jdbc</groupId>
-				<artifactId>mariadb-java-client</artifactId>
-				<version>[3.1.2,)</version>
-			</dependency>
-		</dependencies>
-	</dependencyManagement>
 	<dependencies>
 		<dependency>
 			<groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
@@ -113,16 +104,15 @@
 		<dependency>
 			<groupId>com.ibm.db2</groupId>
 			<artifactId>jcc</artifactId>
-			<version>11.5.9.0</version>
+			<version>${db2-jcc.version}</version>
 			<scope>test</scope>
 		</dependency>
 		<dependency>
 			<groupId>com.oracle.database.jdbc</groupId>
 			<artifactId>ojdbc8</artifactId>
-			<version>21.9.0.0</version>
+			<version>${oracle-ojdbc8.version}</version>
 			<scope>test</scope>
 		</dependency>
-
 		<dependency>
 			<groupId>com.mysql</groupId>
 			<artifactId>mysql-connector-j</artifactId>
diff --git a/spring-cloud-skipper/spring-cloud-skipper/pom.xml b/spring-cloud-skipper/spring-cloud-skipper/pom.xml
index 5dbaebcacb..392cbd5571 100644
--- a/spring-cloud-skipper/spring-cloud-skipper/pom.xml
+++ b/spring-cloud-skipper/spring-cloud-skipper/pom.xml
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@
 		<dependency>
 			<groupId>org.springframework.cloud</groupId>
 			<artifactId>spring-cloud-dataflow-common-persistence</artifactId>
-			<version>3.0.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
+			<version>${dataflow.version}</version>
 		</dependency>
 	</dependencies>
 	<build>