Four tools to help implement Database Continuous Delivery

17 Sep 2019 10407 views 0 minutes to read Contributors

“We don’t want to know that it’s broken, just that it’s working.”
“We want our database to always be available.”

These are the types of comments we hear from business leaders all the time. And, we agree. You have a business to run, customers to serve and people to manage, motivate and develop. You do not want to be worrying about your database maintenance - you just want it to work.

Adopting a Continuous Delivery approach to database management and maintenance can speed up development, allowing new features to be introduced faster while reducing errors.

We have identified four innovations that can help with Database Continuous Delivery:

1 Desired States Configuration (DSC)

SQL Treeo’s Desired States Configuration tool allows you to state the configuration you want for your database and then automate various changes and updates. Customizing your SQL servers can save your organization significant time and money. Identifying specific elements, such as the type of server, disc space, management settings, and group and user accounts, means deployment is largely automated and significantly simplified. Automating as much as possible also means fewer human errors.

2. Data Masking

Currently most database testing is done using test data (which can be inaccurate and unreliable) rather than real live data. We are looking to solve this issue by developing data masking software. With just one click we will be able to make all private data anonymous to allow testing and reporting to be carried out more quickly and accurately, while remaining GDPR compliant.

3. Monitoring and Reporting Tools

Effective database maintenance tools make standard reporting and monitoring easier. For example, we can compare two parts of scripts and tell you what code lines are incorrect. It means we can troubleshoot code faster.

We have built our monitoring tools from scratch and can add new customized features easily. We can identify potential problems and solutions, build in alerts and proactively work on issues before they affect the business. By monitoring script queries your system performance will be more reliable.

If you notice a problem with your database, if it’s not working or there’s a problem with your customer data, it’s too late; your customers are already annoyed and alienated and you may have already lost money. Continuous proactive monitoring tools ensure you fix problems before they become serious and you protect your brand reputation.

4. Security Management Tools

This is every IT Director’s worst nightmare. No-one wants to see their company or customer data on the street. Security management tools can be as simple as setting different access levels, so some users have read-only access while others have the ability to alter or delete data.

Businesses also need information to make effective management decisions and to comply with security and auditing regulations. With the right plug-ins Database Administrators can report on issues, such as who has logged in, for how long, what workflows were running and what type of data was transferred, with just one click.

We’d be happy to answer any questions you have about how these new innovations can help your business. You can contact us here.