Blogs

Workshop Report: Overcoming Obstacles on the Journey to Continuous Delivery for Databases (Video with Transcript)

Workshop Report: Overcoming Obstacles on the Journey to Continuous Delivery for Databases (Video with Transcript)

In this video, Freyja the puppy and I talk about a recent workshop which I facilitated at the IDC DevOps conference in London.

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Setting a Custom Variable in an Azure DevOps Pipeline with PowerShell

Setting a Custom Variable in an Azure DevOps Pipeline with PowerShell

By Kendra Little on September 2, 2019 • 4 min read

Recently, I was doing a bit of work in Azure DevOps Services, preparing a demo for an upcoming webinar. I ran into a simple but frustrating problem.

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Git Command Line Tutorial with SQL Change Automation for SSMS (Video)

Git Command Line Tutorial with SQL Change Automation for SSMS (Video)

By Kendra Little on August 26, 2019 • 3 min read

I’m excited for Redgate’s new SQL Change Automation plugin for SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS).

SQL Change Automation lets DBAs and developers use a migrations-first approach to create precise scripts to apply changes to your database. If you’re curious about what I mean by “migrations-first”, read more about this approach, and how it compares to a state-first approach here.

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Key Findings for Database Professionals from the Accelerate State of DevOps Report 2019

Key Findings for Database Professionals from the Accelerate State of DevOps Report 2019

The Accelerate: State of DevOps Report 2019 has just been published. This report is the latest in six years of research. With more than 31,000 survey responses, Accelerate is the longest running study of DevOps in academia or industry.

In the 2019 edition, research continues to show that DevOps drives business value: high performers at DevOps are “twice as likely to meet or exceed their organizational goals.” While this isn’t a new finding, it’s very important that this continues to be true: why invest in improving at DevOps if it doesn’t drive business value?

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Azure DevOps: How to Set a Custom Release Branch Folder Filter in Build Pipeline Triggers (Video)

Azure DevOps: How to Set a Custom Release Branch Folder Filter in Build Pipeline Triggers (Video)

By Kendra Little on August 19, 2019 • 1 min read

This is the first in a series of posts about simple things that I had a hard time figuring out in Azure DevOps services.

It can be very useful to enable Continuous Integration for multiple folders in your DevOps pipeline: say, for every branch created under releases/ or features/. But configuring this can be strangely confusing!

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SQL Server Management Studio Is as Relevant as Ever

SQL Server Management Studio Is as Relevant as Ever

🔥 UPDATE: Azure Data Studio (ADS) was retired on February 6, 2025, with support ending on February 28, 2026. Additionally, SSMS has been modernized and is no longer based on the legacy Visual Studio shell—it's now built on Visual Studio 2022 with 64-bit support and improved performance.

For more details, see the Azure Data Studio retirement announcement and Erin Stellato's announcement about SSMS modernization..

Sometimes you keep a classic around.

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How to Persuade Your Company to Change

How to Persuade Your Company to Change

By Kendra Little on July 19, 2019 • 7 min read

Like a lot of developers and database administrators, I do a fair amount of short-term problem solving during the course of my normal work week.

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