Database management software specialist Embarcadero Technologies yesterday unveiled a major update to its change management suite, featuring several new modules designed to make it easier for database administrators (DBAs) to identify authorised and unauthorised changes when migrating or replicating databases and investigating database performance.

Embarcadero said that Change Manager 4.0 - which is generally available now and supports a raft of leading databases, including Oracle, Sybase, Microsoft SQL Server and IBM DB2 on Linux, UNIX and Windows - features three new toolsets designed to help administrators spot anomalies within the database that may lead to inaccurate data or system failures.

Change Manager CM/Data automatically compares and synchronises data within a database platform or across different platforms, helping developers and administrators to "validate data replication and ensure reference data is accurate across multiple applications".

Similarly, the new CM/Config module compares and monitors database configuration across the business and notifies administrators of any configurations that are in breach of company policy, while CM/Schema compares database schemas in order to provide reports on any differences and offer synchronisation scripts to "reconcile unwanted differences to ensure databases remain consistent".

A series of studies have suggested that up to 80 percent of IT system failures are the result of unauthorised changes within the IT environment, while experts maintain that the high failure rates experienced by business intelligence and business process management projects are a result of poor data quality.

Greg Keller, vice president of product management at Embarcadero, predicted the new functionality would help streamline database change management processes. "The product’s high-speed, cross-platform data comparison facilities … will provide a significant increase in productivity for database developers and DBAs," he said.