The 3-Environment Design for Your Database (DEV vs CI vs PROD)
Jan 14, 2026Most data teams understand the idea of a Development environment.
It's a place to test changes and make sure you're not breaking anything before it gets to Production.
But while teams understand this in theory, quite a few still struggle to properly implement it.
And more specifically, I'm talking about how it's handled within the database itself.
What I've noticed is teams are quick to point to their central code base (ex. GitHub, BitBucket, etc.).
They have a Prod vs Dev environment or branching strategy in place.
But what's missing is a how these objects (ex. tables, views, etc.) actually get deployed.
How different environments look and feel in the database.
Not just how code is managed.
It's a bit of both art and science.
But the goal is to align your environment-specific code with the objects in the database itself.
So what I want to do in this video is give a brief overview of 3 environments I recommend for clients.
By the end, you can determine if you already have these in place today.
Or if there's an opportunity to rework your database layout for environments.
Enjoy!
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