Before you begin assembling your team and building your design, review the objectives and success criteria for your implementation. Your organization may have specific goals, such as:
Automating database migrations and allowing developers to self-service.
Maintaining version control of schema changes.
Incorporating the database into existing CI/CD pipelines.
Ensuring consistent, reliable, and secure database deployments.
Refer to the objectives to measure your success and track your team’s achievements.
To implement a performant change management strategy that enforces code and data quality standards, there are three stakeholders that are key to success:
DevOps Lead: Provide automation support during the Liquibase implementation and ensure the new automation system follows DevOps' best practices.
Database Administrator Lead: Provide database support during the Liquibase implementation and ensure database best practices are used in the new automation system.
Lead Developer or a Data Lead: Provide the development perspective for the new automation process and acceptance testing of the new solution to ensure it satisfies the development needs.
From the outset of your implementation, planning how teams will interact with Liquibase Pro features and automation is crucial. Developing usage guidelines will help ensure that changes are applied smoothly and consistently.
This planning process will also reveal where system integrations are needed and identify additional training areas.
This team specializes in developing the CI/CD automation framework. Their aim is to enable application and data teams across the organization to independently manage and deploy their database changes. The setup and onboarding processes should be thoroughly documented and seamlessly integrated with existing application delivery workflows.
The ideal implementation team should consist of a development or data team and a lead developer (or data lead). The project scope and requirements should consider the applications, databases, and environments utilized by this team. Additionally, considerations for scalability and future rollouts should include other teams, applications, and database types.
The scope of the first implementation should encompass the databases the application team (or the data team) utilizes.
This involves gathering requirements to compile a comprehensive list of databases, environments, and schemas involved.
Identifying all database security requirements is a critical step in the first phase of the implementation. Credentials must be stored in vaults or secured by another mechanism. Personal Identifiable Information (PII), the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and other data protection standards must be followed. Consult with your security team to ensure your implementation plan adheres to all data privacy compliance regulations for your organization.
Below is a sample workflow diagram illustrating the likely steps for team members when using Liquibase Pro: