NOTE: Stewardship Tier (SST/DSP) licenses generated prior to 7.4 do not include the Promote module. This means that Promote will not appear in the SST menu after upgrading from a pre-7.4 release. A new license can be requested by opening a ticket at support.syniti.com.
Stewardship Tier 7.4 introduces Promote - a new platform module that enables Stewardship Tier solutions to be transported through a multi-tier landscape. Promote works by comparing the data held within Stewardship Tier application tables (as well as SQL objects created by users) between host and destination Stewardship Tier instances and then informing users of the differences. Users are then able to selectively transport the changes they require.
The initial release of Promote includes configurations to support the transport of Advanced Data Migration, extensive product documentation, a series of short videos on how to use Promote, and a Standard Operating Procedure that outlines the recommended approach for managing an Advanced Data Migration project within a multi-tier landscape.
In future releases, configurations for Data Quality, Master Data Management, Information Steward Accelerator, and custom web applications will be added. Eventually, Promote will replace the CTS functionality within System Administration. It is therefore recommended that projects start to use this powerful tool as the relevant configurations become available and before CTS is deprecated.
Key Benefits of Promote
- Promote enables users to easily identify changes that have been made in a host environment and to selectively choose which changes to transport. This is highly beneficial to projects that need to manage changes that arise through defect or change management processes in a controlled way.
- Promote has an approval process, which can easily be turned on or off. This process allows packages to be compared across two environments but prohibits the package from being transported unless it is approved.
- Promote can be easily customized to suit a project's code-promotion requirements.
Key Differences Between Promote and CTS
While at a high-level Promote and CTS accomplish the same goals, there are some important conceptual differences that users should be aware of:
- Based on the CTS Config Items added to a package and the associated data value selected, CTS creates a package that includes all dependent data and SQL objects. Promote compares the data and SQL object specified within a package and creates a package that includes the differences between two instances. This means that a CTS package can be used to archive content for future use whereas a Promote package is valid only for the destination system that the comparison was made against and only for a short period of time.
- CTS creates an archive file that can be either programmatically or manually transferred to the destination system. Promote identifies the differences between a host and destination and based on a user's selections, it executes SQL scripts to align environments.
- CTS has the ability to package content to transport or to keep for future use. Promote cannot generate a file that contains the changes.
- NOTE: CTS will not be deprecated until Promote has been enhanced with a feature for packaging content.
- If your environments cannot be connected, for example, due to a security limitation, Promote cannot compare and transport data. However, CTS can still generate a file to be used in the future.
- CTS supports the transfer of files, for example, plugin code and image files, to the destination whereas using Promote, these items need to be manually moved.
- Promote has an optional Approval process that prevents a package from being transported unless it has been approved. CTS has no approval process.