A software company based in Cambridge has recently revealed the launch of an extended database change management tool that they hope will empower developers in several ways.

Redgate, a firm that specialises in database development, launched its SQL Change Automation 4.0, which has been extended to the free Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS). This is the first time the firm has made this move onto this specific studio.

How it helps

SQL Change Management enables developers to automate the DevOps database delivery process by building, testing, and deploying database changes checked into version control, for SQL Server, Azure SQL Database, and Azure SQL Database Managed Instances.

Developers will also have the option of working with the new SSMS extension or in the Microsoft studio, allowing teams to share ideas and collaborate on projects.

“delivering choice”

Robert Farrell, Product Manager, Redgate Software, comments: “Redgate is dedicated to delivering choice to users – letting teams work in the environments and tools that they are most familiar with, reducing learning curves and enabling greater collaboration. The latest version of SQL Change Automation supports this philosophy, extending its capabilities and ensuring that database code quality and automation is at the heart of DevOps processes, bringing stability and speed.”

The company believes that heterogeneous development teams will particularly benefit from the new extension due to the option that both developers and database administrators have to work in their development environment whilst still following DevOps processes when it comes to database changes.

Other features of SQL Change Automation v4 include static code analysis and new data compare options for PowerShell. Static code analysis identifies potential problems with migration scripts to be deployed and warns the user about them, before changes are made to Production, making sure that best practices are being followed.