4-page Case Study - Posted 2/5/2007

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Configuresoft Inc.

Collaboration and Process Support Cuts Database Development Time in Half

Configuresoft, an innovator in systems management technology and a Microsoft® Gold Certified partner, delivers solutions that help companies efficiently manage today’s heterogeneous computing infrastructures. To enable enterprises to track and measure IT performance, Configuresoft developed a business intelligence component for its primary solution, Enterprise Configuration Manager. To streamline this development, the company deployed Microsoft Visual Studio® 2005 Team Edition for Database Professionals and Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team Foundation Server. Using the Visual Studio structured, collaborative development environment, with its automated testing tools and version control, database developers were able to increase communication, cut development time in half, and easily meet all of their development and budgetary goals.

Situation

Colorado-based Configuresoft specializes in systems management technology and creates software that helps IT staff at midsize and enterprise-level organizations efficiently manage and control dynamic, complex IT environments. Twelve of the world’s 25 largest companies depend on Configuresoft’s flagship product, Enterprise Configuration Manager, to keep critical IT systems properly configured. Configuresoft is a Microsoft® Gold Certified partner with a competency in Software Engineering.

For us, it’s usually a yearlong development cycle. Using Team Edition for Database Professionals and applying MSF life-cycle principles, we’ve essentially cut that time in half. Ted Malone, Product Strategy Architect, Configuresoft

“Organizations frequently struggle to quantify the business value and performance of IT.  Our new solution, Configuration Intelligence Analytics, strategically enables organizations to measure the impact of technology adoption and process improvement initiatives through a balanced IT health scorecard. This increased visibility and analysis helps to ensure IT initiatives are in alignment with strategic objectives,” states Jason Cowie, Product Delivery Manager at Configuresoft.

But before work could begin, Configuresoft wanted to optimize its development process and decrease the time and effort needed to test and maintain database code. For example, Enterprise Configuration Manager has more than 1,000 tables, 900 stored procedures, and 1,400 views—complicating both product updates and add-on creation.

In addition, team members had little visibility into the testing process or each other’s progress during the course of a project. Explains Ted Malone, Product Strategy Architect at Configuresoft, “You never really knew if the database code had completed unit tests—and you never knew the impact your particular change would cause somebody else.”

The success of the company’s ambitious business intelligence extension hinged on its ability to improve communication and collaboration. Configuresoft sought an integrated tool that would merge technology, processes, and co-workers, unifying all elements of a database development project.

Solution

To facilitate a transparent database development process, Configuresoft utilized Microsoft Visual Studio® 2005 Team Edition for Database Professionals. Designed to manage database changes and improve software quality, Team Edition for Database Professionals brings the benefits of Microsoft Visual Studio Team System and life-cycle development to the database professional. The team also relied on Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team Foundation Server, an enterprise-grade collaboration server.

The development and testing tools in Team Edition for Database Professionals enable responsive change management as well as automated source control. Says Malone, “Using Team Edition for Database Professionals, database programmers are better connected to their teammates’ actions and are able to propagate changes seamlessly through the code.”
 
Provides Rich Capabilities
Specifically designed for database programmers and database administrators, Team Edition for Database Professionals brings together advanced

Explains Malone, “The robust feature set Team Edition for Database Professionals provides allows us to institute an agile development methodology for future projects—including our push to create a BI solution.”

Configuresoft took advantage of the following features in Team Edition for Database Professionals:

• Rename Refactoring. This feature enables Configuresoft database programmers to easily rename any object in a database—and it automatically updates all references to that object with the new name.
• Schema Compare. This feature allows Configuresoft to quickly compare two database schemas or the source-controlled project and a database. The script updates put the two database schemas into sync.
• Comprehensive source control support. When integrated with Team Foundation Server, all changes can be made in their own “offline” environment, isolated from production servers. Any changes, and who made them, are immediately visible.
• Unit testing. This capability allows database programmers to create database unit tests in just a few clicks using managed code.

Controls the Development Environment
The Import Database Schema functionality in Team Edition for Database Professionals first queries a production database to acquire the database schema, then renders that schema in individual files to create an offline metadata store. This offline “sandbox” establishes a secure area for Configuresoft database programmers to develop and test changes. This core feature keeps team members synchronized with the reference database.

“All developers now build schemas that are approved in their sandboxes. They then work with code directly against their sandbox files—testing it, developing against it, and then checking the code in as they work,” says Malone. “All changes are made in their own environment, isolated from the production server.”

Automates Testing
Team Edition for Database Professionals allows database programmers to automatically create full unit tests for database schemas. Developers can run each test independently or in combination with other Visual Studio Team System products. In turn, this provides a comprehensive set of tests for the application and database tiers.

“Team Edition for Database Professionals automates a critical, but often overlooked, step in the database development life cycle. The solution actually guides our database programmers through the testing process. Running a test is now as simple as a quick click,” states Malone.

Benefits

Using Team Edition for Database Professionals, the development team created Configuration Intelligence Analytics in just six months, meeting the company’s goal to release the software in early 2007. What’s more, since deploying Team Edition for Database Professionals, Configuresoft database programmers have met all of their milestones and budget targets.

Using Team Edition for Database Professionals, database programmers are better connected to their teammates’ actions and are able to propagate changes seamlessly through the code. Ted Malone, Product Strategy Architect, Configuresoft

Halves Development Time
By allowing Configuresoft database programmers to save schemas as files in offline sandboxes, Team Edition for Database Professionals supports the use of Microsoft Solutions Framework (MSF) for Agile Software Development during database development. These principles, models, and concepts are aimed at shortening the project life cycle.

“For us, it’s usually a yearlong development cycle. Using Team Edition for Database Professionals and applying MSF life-cycle principles, we’ve essentially cut that time in half,” enthuses Malone. “We completed Configuration Intelligence Analytics in just six months, which is pretty incredible for new software.”

During 2007, Configuresoft expects to extend its use of Team Foundation Server to other development projects. Explains Malone, “Our previous solution, Perforce, was simply a source repository. With Team Foundation Server, we enjoy MSF process guidance combined with a source repository. Each developer saves up to four hours per week simply by having the process guidance tightly integrated with the way the tools behave.”

Enhances Communication and Collaboration
Team Edition for Database Professionals establishes multiple areas and opportunities for collaboration among database programmers. These features include a shared team portal, integrated change management, and a common data repository. The availability of information—and insight into an individual’s progress—has created a more unified work environment.

“Communication has been greatly improved. Team Edition for Database Professionals bridges the gaps among developers and encourages them to work in concert toward a common goal. The information transparency ensures that a developer isn’t left in the dark anymore,” says Malone.

The Configuresoft software team also appreciates the streamlined communication between Team Edition for Database Professionals and Team Foundation Server. Malone remarks, “With Team Foundation Server, the source control is almost transparent. Developers also find that they save time and reduce e-mail ’chatter’ by routing items to one another from within Team Edition for Database Professionals.”

Accommodates Changes Efficiently
The controlled and consistent refactoring process Team Edition for Database Professionals supports allows database developers to automatically cascade changes through a database schema. Important changes can be communicated to the entire team through work-item updates and event-based notifications.

“Previously, a data warehouse modeler would build and publish a schema for everyone to develop toward. Inevitably, a change would need to be made—and all developers would have to adjust their code to accommodate it,” states Malone. “With Team Edition for Database Professionals, refactoring is a nonissue, saving us countless hours when creating Configuration Intelligence Analytics. We were able to easily propagate and test any changes without hindering our forward progress.”

Extends Project Management Capabilities
Project managers can stay informed on an individual’s progress without having to visit each database programmer. Having real-time information about each database programmer’s work, and their progress, allows Configuresoft project managers to create precise schedules and report more accurately to management.

Says Malone, “Team Edition for Database Professionals encourages an agile, focused process—and makes it easy to measure a project’s progress. The project manager has visibility into all progress and can track the whole project matrix—a feature that thrills our project managers.”

Microsoft Visual Studio 2005
Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 is the world’s most popular development environment for designing, developing, and testing next-generation Windows®-based solutions and Web applications and services. By improving the development experience for Windows, the Web, mobile devices, and Microsoft Office, Visual Studio 2005 helps organizations deliver a variety of solutions more productively than ever before. Visual Studio Team System expands the product line with new software tools that enable greater communication and collaboration throughout the development life cycle. With Visual Studio 2005, businesses can deliver modern service-oriented solutions more efficiently.

For more information about Visual Studio 2005, go to:
msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio  

For More Information
For more information about Microsoft products and services, call the Microsoft Sales Information Center at (800) 426-9400. In Canada, call the Microsoft Canada Information Centre at (877) 568-2495. Customers who are deaf or hard-of-hearing can reach Microsoft text telephone (TTY/TDD) services at (800) 892-5234 in the United States or (905) 568-9641 in Canada. Outside the 50 United States and Canada, please contact your local Microsoft subsidiary. To access information using the World Wide Web, go to:
www.microsoft.com

For more information about Configuresoft products and services, call (888) 826-6344 or visit the Web site at:
www.configuresoft.com

© 2007 Microsoft Corporation. This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.