Chapter 47. SSIS configurations management
SQL Server Integrations Services (SSIS) is a wonderful platform for migrating data around and between enterprises. SSIS ships with many powerful features and functionalities. One of the most powerful is package configurations.
Package configurations allow data integration developers to externalize SSIS package values. When software facilitates a separation between modules, or between code and configurable options, the application is described as decoupled. Decoupling is an important principle and best practice for developing object-oriented software.
Externalizing SSIS package values adds flexibility to a data integration solution and promotes code reuse. For example, an SSIS package can load data from one of several flat file sources if the location of the flat file is externalized. Instead of writing a separate SSIS package to load data from each source location, an externalized source serves as a parameter, allowing a single SSIS package to load data from many source locations.
But making data integration packages dynamic involves more than flexibility and best practices; it clears the way for SSIS developers to participate in an enterprise software development life cycle (or SDLC). SDLCs aren’t just a good idea; they’re the subject of compliance audits and, in some cases, the law.
