Sunday, November 28th, 2010
IBM is a proven leader in the software lifecycle management market, and for years, dbMaestro has been a trusted IBM partner. IBM recognizes the value that dbMaestro TeamWork™ provides, giving IBM Rational users an end-to-end experience that empowers them to take greater control over the database lifecycle process.
IBM has recently given our offering quite a bit of public praise. In fact, earlier this year TeamWork received IBM Rational Software Validation. Just a few weeks later – at Innovate 2010 – IBM honored us by highlighting our database version control solution in its opening keynote session. The company speaker talked about how TeamWork’s seamless integration with Rational Team Concert (RTC) can dramatically enhance the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of database development.
The accolades don’t end there. IBM Software News also claimed that “dbMaestro Teamwork integration brings seamless, coordinated change and control management to application and Oracle database code releases for users of IBM Rational Team Concert”.
And now, we’ve been featured on the IBM Web site as one of its select partners for integrating silos within the development cycle.
Read our previous blog posts to learn more about our relationship with IBM, and the benefits of unifying TeamWork and RTC.
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Tuesday, November 16th, 2010
In today’s technology-focused age, few companies could ensure business continuity without their mission-critical software applications. And, without the robust databases that house the application data, those systems are all but useless.
Database change management is a risky business. Each day database administrators (DBAs) must make various modifications and adjustments to the database environment to address the needs and requirements of end users. At the same time, because organizations rely heavily on back-end systems to support core business operations, these DBAs must ensure that the changes they make do not disrupt day-to-day activities, or hinder database performance.
But, finding the proper balance between the two can be quite a challenge. DBAs work tirelessly to preserve the reliability of the corporate databases, while delivering the functionality end users demand. Both are crucial to keeping the business running smoothly and seamlessly.
Yet, DBAs seldom get the recognition and the respect they deserve – especially when you consider the crucial nature of the systems they are tasked with overseeing.
In addition to praise and accolades, corporate and IT management should also realize the importance of the DBA’s role in the business, and empower them with the solutions they need – such as comprehensive, next-generation database version control software – to perform their jobs as productively and effectively as possible.
Visit our Web site to learn more about dbMaestro TeamWork™, our next-generation change management software, and how it can make your DBAs more successful.
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Sunday, November 14th, 2010
We are proud to release a new version of dbMaestro Teamwork™. Some of the exciting new features include:
- Added support for non domain clients and server. In this release TeamWork support configuration in which the TeamWork server and /or TeamWork clients are not part of windows domain.
- Added management content of CLOB, BLOBL, NCLOB and XMLTYPE data types.
- Change default selection based on customer feedback. For example: when Saving Version, the default selection is to save content of management tables.
Additional fixes in this new version include:
- Opening the Deployment Manager from the Studio, did not selected the correct base line.
- Changing several managed schemas in the same database to Suspend mode using the dbAPI at the same time failed.
- Deploying to empty schema failed.
- Known Issue: Special characters in Table name.
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Thursday, November 11th, 2010
When it comes to Oracle database change management, both database developers and database administrators (DBAs) play an important role. But, who should be responsible for the actual execution of the needed modifications to schemas and objects?
In the ideal scenario, developers would be tasked with making any and all changes and enhancements. DBAs, on the other hand, would closely monitor their activities to ensure that instructions and policies were being properly followed, and that nothing is done to jeopardize database operation.
But, unfortunately, this is not always the case. DBAs frequently try to not just oversee – but to control – what the developers are doing. This can sometimes create bottlenecks in the execution and deployment of database changes. But, developers want to be able to work with the database freely, without instruction, guidance, or governance. These clashes often create conflicts that can delay important projects, hinder database version control, and ultimately, negatively impact database performance.
On the other hand, developers need to keep DBAs in the loop about their activities, since the DBAs are the ones who are ultimately responsible for how the database is used, and are the ones who will have to answer to senior management if problems and issues arise. Open communication about what is being changed, and how it will be modified, is crucial.
But, DBAs and developers have been “stepping on each others’ toes” for ages, and their way of working isn’t likely to change any time soon. Perhaps the answer is a next-generation Oracle dbChange management solution like dbMaestro TeamWork™, which allows database developers to make changes and alterations more rapidly and efficiently, while giving DBAs the ability to maintain greater control over the entire database environment. With an end-to-end database configuration management solution like Teamwork in place, DBAs and developers can finally work side-by-side, in harmony.
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Monday, November 8th, 2010
In the past, database administrators (DBAs) were forced to rely on a plethora of different solutions to satisfy their database version control needs. Why? Because each of them addressed only one facet of the database change management lifecycle. For example, many first-generation Oracle change management packages provide little more than compare and sync functionality, while others simply keep an audit trail of the changes made.
But, this approach has proven to be cumbersome and cost-prohibitive. IT staff are forced to perform upgrades, routine administration, and other day-to-day maintenance on multiple software applications, which can distract from more strategic technology projects, waste precious technical resources, and drive up total cost of ownership.
Additionally, because DBAs and their teams must toggle back and for the between multiple applications to manage database change, their projects are at a higher risk for errors and mistakes, and they are not operating as productively as possible.
Sticking with the status quo, simply because that is the way things have always been done, is no longer an option, as tough financial times are forcing companies to aggressively drive efficiency and cost-effectiveness across all areas of the business. As more comprehensive, next-generation database version control solutions, like dbMaestro TeamWork™, emerge, companies now have the opportunity to consolidate and streamline their database change management environments, improving productivity and decreasing related expenses.
TeamWork is unique in its ability to provide “all in one” support for the entire database change management lifecycle. By combining robust compare and sync functionality with the proven principles of software change management (SCM) into one solution, TeamWork provides a single, unified platform to satisfy the broadest range of database change management needs, no matter how sophisticated or complex they may be.
Visit our Web site to learn more about dbMaestro TeamWork, our next-generation change management software.
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Thursday, November 4th, 2010
Organizations have gotten quite proficient at ensuring compliance in their application development activities. With one exception – the underlying database. Few companies really consider their databases when automating key activities in the application creation process. For example, they haven’t implemented a comprehensive next-generation database deployment solution. Therefore, their Oracle database change management procedures are often non-compliant.
This approach, however, can create many problems. First, it places an unnecessary burden on database administrators (DBAs), who are often called on to produce compliance reports for both internal and external audits. Because database version control has not been effectively incorporated into compliance procedures for software development, they must scramble to gather the needed information for compliance reporting purposes, often collecting and compiling it by hand, or by manually triggering a series of semi-automated routines.
Second, it indirectly impacts compliance in a negative way. For example, Sarbanes Oxley (SOX) is all about ensuring the integrity and consistency of the information contained in financial reports. While applications, such as the reporting tools that gather, aggregate, and display those reports are an important part of SOX adherence – the data itself, and thus, the database that houses it, is just as critical. An inability to track and manage changes made to database structures and other objects, or a lack of control over who accesses database elements, can lead to non-adherence.
The key to extending formal compliance to not only your applications, but the associated databases, is through the use of an innovative, next-generation Oracle db change management solution, like dbMaestro TeamWork™, that leverages the proven principles of software change management, and applies them to the database.
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Monday, November 1st, 2010
Some DBAs who oversee Oracle db change management projects will choose to generate a deployment script for changes to the database structure, and a separate script for those modifications made to its metadata. However, this approach can create major problems. In order to enable truly successful database version control, both structure and metadata must be addressed in a single, unified deployment script.
Consider this example. Metadata is a core part of an application’s logic. Therefore, if code changes are implemented without the associated metadata alterations, the application could perform poorly, or even crash. This, in turn, would disrupt business continuity and stop key business operations from being executed.
In another possible scenario, if structure changes are deployed to a metadata table, without the related metadata changes, the table will become populated with incorrect values, hindering the quality of the information contained in the database.
Using a next-generation database configuration management solution, like dbMaestro TeamWork™, can solve these problems. Comprehensive deployment scripts, containing both changes to the database structure as well as the metadata, can be automatically created. This will proactively prevent deployment errors, which – without database change control in place – would not be discovered until after the production application crashes and the damage has been done.
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