Tuesday, December 14th, 2010
Whether you’re building software for internal use, or creating an application to be sold to customers, you’ve got one very important task to complete once you’ve finished making changes to the database – you must prepare the script that will execute the upgrade from the previous version to the new one.
Preparing this script can be quite time-consuming. It involves not only your database administrators, but your application database administrators and team leaders, as well developers and QA staff. These professionals usually participate in the generation of several iterations of the script, which can waste valuable resources – something your project manager wants to avoid.
Additionally, script preparation is often left until the final stages of the project, to ensure that it includes all changes made to the database throughout. However, in some scenarios, particularly those projects that have spanned long timeframes, the stakeholders may have forgotten what changes were made.
dbMaestro TeamWork™, our next-generation Oracle db change management solution, can streamline and accelerate this process by enabling you to closely govern the way modifications are made to your database. For example, you can create formal methodologies and procedures for database version control, and TeamWork will automatically enforce them any time schemas, objects, or other database content is being altered. So, the work performed by your development team will always be in compliance with your internal policies, as well as regulatory guidelines.
TeamWork’s value in this area has been proven time and time again in real-world scenarios. In fact, dbMaestro customers, like the Massachusetts Department of Education, have reported that the use of TeamWork has helped them to significantly speed up deployments by reducing the time needed to prepare upgrade scripts by as much as 95 percent.
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Thursday, December 2nd, 2010
IBM Rational Team Concert (RTC) is a widely-used software development platform that enables companies to flexibly and collaboratively manage their software projects, such as developing new systems and applications, or making modifications and adding new capabilities to existing ones. Many IBM customers have chosen to extend and enhance RTC by also leveraging a database version control solution, like dbMaestro TeamWork™, to handle and track all the associated changes made to underlying databases as a result of software application development activities.
But, in order to achieve maximum benefits from both solutions, software code changes cannot take place in a “vacuum”. They must be seamlessly coordinated and linked with related Oracle database change management processes, to avoid conflicts and other problems, and to ensure optimum performance of production applications. That’s why it is so critical for RTC and TeamWork to work together, not separately, to form one unified, comprehensive environment that manages changes across the entire application landscape.
In fact, IBM Software News 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”.
Over the next few posts, we’ll discuss integration of RTC and TeamWork in more detail, citing specific benefits that can be achieved by bringing these two, world-class solutions together.
Posted in General | 2 Comments »
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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Monday, August 30th, 2010
We are proud to release a new version of dbMaestro Teamwork™. Some of the exciting new features include:
- Added an internal security mechanism – Access Roles, which enables the administrator to set permissions on object types and action to a specific user within a specific project.
- Viewing the Database Schema from a Module Point of View provides database administrators (DBAs) with a view of the database schema from the point of view of a module. This significantly increases efficiency, making the jobs of both the DBA and database developers much easier.
- The managed schema’s password can now be saved in TeamWork client, eliminating the need to enter it repeatedly.
- Adding Search functionality in Source Control window, which allows you to find objects in specific status, for example: pending changes, objects being checked-out by different user and so on.
- New platforms added:
- Windows 2003 (64 bit) , 2008 (32 and 64 bit)
- Windows 7 (32 and 64 bit)
Additional fixes in the new version include:
- Several issues in content management.
- Supporting truncate command.
- Known Issue: Add-In will not start when using ODAC 10g on 64bit. Click to see the solution.
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Monday, August 9th, 2010
Every development project is fraught with risk. Without the right product in place, the potential for information loss, delays in due dates, or an inability for management to obtain an accurate picture of product progress is quite high, and can ultimately lead to project failure.
Solutions for database version control were created for this very reason. In addition to improving developer productivity and accelerating the release of revisions and updates, database change management solutions also help development teams to better manage and mitigate risks by automating key activities, and empowering project managers with unhindered visibility into all modifications. So, they can detect which areas of the product are not stable, monitor how frequently changes are being made over time, and determine who is making the majority of those alterations.
A next-generation database version control, dbMaestro TeamWork™, takes the same type of insight provided by software change management solutions, and applies them to the database world. TeamWork dramatically improves risk management by:
1. Facilitating the creation and enforcement of formal, standardized change policies
2. Providing end-to-end tracking, with proactive dynamic alerts, of all schema and object changes
3. Enabling automatic rollback to other versions when errors are made
4. Documenting and auditing all modifications and related information – who made them, when they were performed, why they were made, etc.
5. Allowing developers to analyze the impact of database version changes, before they are deployed
With our next-generation database change management solution, dbMaestro TeamWork™, companies can significantly reduce the risks associated with their database development efforts.
Visit our Website for more information about the powerful risk management features of TeamWork, or to learn more about the benefits of this innovative solution.
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Monday, August 2nd, 2010
One of the questions we hear most frequently from our new users is, “What will the work process flow look like once I have implemented database version control solution – dbMaestro TeamWork™?” In this post, we will address that common question by outlining the process in full detail.
Initially, TeamWork will create a base version (or a label). This will serve as the baseline database, so all future database changes made can be compared and analyzed against it. Tasks will then be allocated to developers and database administrators (DBAs) or assistant database administrators (ADBAs). They will be performing such activities as making changes, creating specific revisions in the version repository, and linking those modifications to certain tasks, such as adding features or fixing bugs – much in the same way as software developers would do when working on application code – using the change management software solution.
Once a work cycle has been completed, the release manager or project manager will determine what features or groups of bugs will be promoted to the testing or integration environments (and later, to production). Next, a deployment package will be generated both from the build engine of your software change management (SCM) system, as well as from within the TeamWork Deployment Manager, based on the terminology as defined within the SCM.
Finally, a new label will be set, and a new work cycle will be initiated.
Visit our Web site to learn more about TeamWork’s features and benefits.
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Thursday, July 29th, 2010
In the software change management (SCM) world, change-sets (also commonly referred to as change-lists) serve as a means of grouping modifications together logically, typically by project or other activity, before they are applied to the database. Multiple change-sets are then commonly grouped together in a change-log. This aids in revision management, providing greater control over the source code for different application versions.
However, when it comes to databases, no such capabilities existed – until now. Traditional compare and sync tools were able to provide insight into changes from a technical point of view, but could not relate the changes to any specific activity. As a result, database administrators (DBAs) were forced to make those connections manually – identifying the alteration, then correlating it to the activity being performed or released.
Unlike these first-generation compare and sync tools, next-generation database change management solution, dbMaestro Teamwork™, is providing a more structured and productive way to apply changes to database schemas. With TeamWork, DBAs now have the ability to deploy change-sets for both database schemas, as well as data elements.
Changes can be instantly associated with change-sets via the TeamWork Management Studio. When checking out, users will see an “Assign to Change-set” area at the bottom of the screen. They can then choose the appropriate task to link to from the drop down menu. This will allow users to produce only those changes made for specific change-sets.
Read more about the ability to upgrade schemas based on activity, and the many other powerful and innovative features of TeamWork on our Web site.
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Tuesday, July 27th, 2010
One of the many benefits of dbMaestro TeamWork™, a next-generation database change management, is its ability to provide database administrators (DBAs) with a view of the database schema from the point of view of a module. This significantly increases efficiency, making the jobs of both the DBA and database developers much easier.
TeamWork allows relevant objects to be filtered, so they are easier to locate and retrieve. For example, developers can view only the code associated with a certain project, instead of having to browse through the code for the entire database to find what it is they need. This not only makes those developers currently involved in the project more productive, it enables new developers to join the effort seamlessly and get up to speed quickly on which database elements are being worked on.
The ability to view a portion of database schema from a module point of view also simplifies the transition when there is a switch from one DBA to another during the course of a project. The new DBA will be able to quickly and easily find all relevant objects, instead of having to review the entire database and figure everything out on his own.
Visit our Website to learn more about the ability to view database schemas from the point of view of a module, as well as the other innovative features of dbMaestro TeamWork.
Posted in General | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, July 20th, 2010
In many applications, the initial design did not take security issues into consideration. For example, instead of having all objects in one schema, which leaves much room for risk of mistake or damage, one could split the tables to be in one schema, the packages and procedures in a different schema, and the user in a third schema.. Each schema has permissions to access the objects it needs (the application schema will have permissions to execute the procedures and packages, and the packages schema will have access to the query and the ability to change the data in the tables), thus significantly reducing the potential damage one can do. Over time, and as more and more changes were made, the problem got worse.
In development environments, the issue is even greater. Usually, all objects are in the same schema, making it difficult for a company with access and change protocols in place (i.e. that only DBAs can alter tables) to enforce them. To address this issue, DBAs created a dedicated user with the minimum permissions a developer needs. The developers login with that user. This, of course, makes the DBAs life more complicated, since they need to manually maintain another security mechanism.
An innovative, next-generation database change management solution, like dbMaestro TeamWork™ helps companies solve these challenges and overcome these limitations. It provides advanced permission management capabilities that give you full control over who makes changes to your databases, making it easy to proactively prevent unauthorized modifications to your schemas and their related objects. They work by allowing you to establish very granular access settings, giving each member of your IT or development team modification rights for only certain portions of each schema, based on their role and responsibilities in the application.
The key benefit of this approach is that it virtually eliminates the risk of accidental or incorrect changes to tables and other objects.
For example, use the permissions in your TeamWork environment to grant access to all tables to one team, allow another group to modify the procedures, and give yet another set of individuals the ability to change other objects – even if those objects all exist within the same schema.
Each member of your database management team will be able to view all database objects, but can only modify those they have been granted permission for. In other words, those users who only have full permission for tables can see the associated procedures, but cannot modify them, and vice versa.
Visit our Website to learn more about permission management, and the other innovative features of dbMaestro TeamWork – database change management software.
Posted in Technical | 2 Comments »
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