Here’s a big idea: some kinds of software are just too important to be left up to software companies.
Developers who build Data Management systems for institutional clients have learned this the hard way. The rest of the software world has been doing Test-Driven Development (TDD) for a generation. Data Management teams generally don’t, and can’t… because the tools don’t exist, unless they are home-grown. No commercially available testing tool supports a recognizable TDD experience in Markit EDM, GoldenSource, or any other Data Management platform in use by global institutions.
TDD requires automated testing, and automated testing supports modern DevOps with Continuous Delivery… but only if you can instantiate a test environment quickly, and only if you can deploy to it efficiently. Again, the Data Management toolset falls flat: none of this is easy. It always requires custom work and painful compromises. There are no better alternatives.
Why not? Who knows. But there it is: a big institution that completely buys into the Agile cadence will be unable to buy the tools to support it—because they don’t exist—leaving development teams forever desperately chasing an expected operating tempo they can never quite match.
It’s miserable.
So consider an alternative: open-source DevOps tools built by Data Management developers, for Data Management developers! Sometimes you just have to take matters into your own hands.
The Enterprise Data Foundation supports the creation of software tools that serve Data Management development teams. It can be a challenge to bring open-source software inside the institutional firewall. We will answer those objections with a network of trust: these tools were built by people whose names you know, people you’ve worked with. By your teammates. Maybe even by you. And you need these tools to do your job.
You always have.
EDF’s open-source DevOps toolbox is called deltaTools, and it has three components:
- deltaRefresh supports rapid cloning and restoration of development and test environments. deltaRefresh is still in development!
- deltaTest is a PowerShell-based automated testing framework that supports both ad hoc testing and Continuous Delivery scenarios. deltaTest is in production and in the field!
- deltaDeploy supports robust, complex Data Management deployment scenarios. deltaDeploy is also still in development, but coming soon!
Visit us on GitHub and have a look at the code. Clone the deltaTest repo and take the tool for a spin. Test an MEDM solution at the click of a mouse. When your test fails, know instantly what broke and why. Imagine the possibilities, both for the quality of your work and for the quality of your life.
Then show your team.
Solid DevOps tools don’t just improve your own life experience. They can also improve code quality and delivery velocity across your entire organization, while measurably reducing project risk. That’s money in the bank!
Got an idea? Want deltaTest to support another Data Management platform? Need another feature? Then get involved! We’ll do our best to make it happen, and we’ll probably ask you to help.
Want to evaluate deltaTools for use in a project? That’s what they are for!
Visit us on GitHub for instructions or contact us and we’ll connect you with someone who can help.