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Tag: dbmaestro

  • Closing the Gap Between Database Continuous Delivery and Code Continuous Delivery

    Closing the Gap Between Database Continuous Delivery and Code Continuous Delivery

    The most important feedback I get about the current state of database delivery is directly from the DBAs I meet with. Their DevOps teams are stuck in manual database delivery purgatory. Development managers just want the database delivery to work like their software delivery already does. However, databases are a different beast altogether. Unfortunately, DevOps for Database has taken a back seat to source code, as we see the tools and methodologies perfected, leaving database automation to play a game of catch up.

    Another issue is that DBAs don’t trust deployment automation like code developers do. All DBAs have been burned by breakdowns or conflicts at one point or another, and most of them just feel they need to take matters into their own hands to ensure the release is done right. We recently surveyed over 200 DBAs, and the largest percentage of them noted mistrust of automation as the biggest barrier to adopting continuous delivery for their databases. In the same survey, only half of the companies doing continuous delivery of their code said they are also doing DevOps for Database. This needs to change soon or database delivery will be stuck in the past and slow down all company releases.

    Databases hold the most vital company information and they need to start being treated like they matter as much, if not more, that the code being written for a company’s software. So, the question is, how do we close that gap between source code automation and database automation?

    The answer is simpler than you might think. We need to bring the same processes for source code continuous delivery to DevOps for the Database. What a novel concept!

    DevOps for Database requires best practices just like source code. Deployment practices need to be enforced. Version control needs to be enforced. Safe automation processes need to be created. You need to include the database in the continuous process and feedback loops. The most important thing is to make sure you have a way to control these processes, and if something needs to be handled there will be automated notifications and red flags to point out the issue.

    That being said, ensuring safe continuous delivery of databases is not so simple. Databases are not a collection of files; they hold client information, transaction data, application content, etc. To make automation really work there needs to be a solid transition code created to handle database schema structure, database code, and content such as metadata.

    Furthermore, there are organizational-level changes that will be required in order to ensure proper continuous database delivery. Both DBAa and C-level management will be required to adopt these development methods for databases. It can’t be and isn’t a one-person job. Both sides need to advocate for database automation.

    Everyone recognizes the importance of the database to the organization. That is the reason DBAs are so afraid to automate and management is not forcing it. It should be just the opposite! Their sentiments on database control and automation need to be more positive. The question they are asking is – what could go wrong if we bring continuous delivery to our database? The question should be – what could go wrong if we don’t bring continuous delivery to our database?

    Yes, database deployment automation is not a simple process, but the fact is that ensuring continuous delivery means increased productivity, faster time to market, reduced risk for new releases, and higher quality with fewer bugs. Otherwise your database will keep lagging and eventually you can find yourself in a difficult situation down the road.

    About the Author

    Yaniv Yehuda, CTO, DBmaestro (http://www.dbmaestro.com/)

    Yaniv is the Co-Founder and CTO of DBmaestro, the leading provider of DevOps for Database solutions which enable control of database development and deployment. Yaniv is also the Co-Founder and the head of development for the Extreme group, a leading IT services solutions provider group.

     

  • MasterCard Israel 85% More Productive in Promoting Changes after Implementing DevOps for Database from DBmaestro

    Mastercard Israel renews contract with DBmaestro to provide its Database Enforced Change Management Solution for a third year 

    Tel Aviv, February 18, 2014  – DBmaestro, the pioneer and leading provider of DevOps for Database solutions has announced that Isracard, Israel’s leading credit card company and member of the worldwide MasterCard group, will be renewing their contract with DBmaestro for a third year. DBmaestro streamlined Isracard’s development process by providing Database Enforced Change Management capabilities (DECM) which enforce best practices and prevent accidental code overwrites.

    In 2011 Isracard was struggling with a number of challenges including failures during production deployments and frequent unintentional code overwrites which forced developers to spend time backtracking and re-implementing changes. Isracard’s problems were a lack of insight into change histories, difficulty undoing changes and rolling back to previous versions, an inability to properly prioritize developers’ work, and a lack of formal documentation of planned and completed changes. The company wanted to enforce consistency and coordination for database development in the same way that its tools and methodologies did for native application code. These issues were draining valuable time and resources from the company.

    After evaluating a number of solutions, Isracard chose DBmaestro and quickly experienced an eightfold increase in its productivity in promoting changes. A deployment script that took as much as two hours to be developed before DBmaestro was now completed in just 15 minutes. DBmaestro also provided a full audit trail of all changes, which made it easier for the change manager to control all projects throughout their lifecycle – from development through pre-production, to production. This drastic improvement was achieved with the help of DBmaestro’s Database Enforced Change Management capabilities (enforcement of version control best practices), which prevent accidental code overwrites and eliminates the rework associated with such errors. Developers at Isracard were now able to see if someone else was already working on the same object, improving communication and minimizing the risk of redundancies and conflicts.

    “Our development processes were inefficient, and we often found ourselves working on versions that were different from production versions,” said Ronen Zaretsky, CIO of Isracard. “DBmaestro changed all that. It has helped us streamline and coordinate our activities across code and database development. Now, we can work smarter and faster, and everything runs smoothly, from start to finish.”

    “We are delighted to continue supporting Isracard for the 3rd year in a row, following an already successful two year partnership,” Said Yaniv Yehuda, CTO of DBmaestro. “This is the perfect demonstration of the value our solution provides our partners. Isracard approached us in 2011 seeking a way to improve development processes, maintain stability and promote changes to production daily instead of monthly. To ensure the availability of production systems, they also needed to ensure separation between development and production environments. After evaluating a number of solutions Isracard chose DBmaestro because it integrated seamlessly with the company’s existing proprietary deployment tool, and helped to rapidly and effectively bridge the gap between code and database development methodologies.”

    To learn more about TeamWork from DBmaestro, visit our blog or Request a Free Evaluation.

    About Isracard

    Isracard is a fully-owned subsidiary of Bank Hapoalim, Israel’s largest banking group. Isracard was founded in 1975 and is Israel’s leading Credit Card Company. Isracard has some 100 thousand merchant agreements and approximately 2 million credit card holders.

    Isracard is continually developing and implementing advanced technologies to widen the variety of its products, and to improve customer service. The company is developing new activities in various areas, including P2P and B2B, which the current partnership is a major basis for its further development.