Building Robust Solutions

Abstract

Developing an SSIS package typically focuses on the known—the data source, transformations, and destinations—and fails to address the unknown—schema changes, data type mismatches, and a changing network environment. Obviously, all development must come from a starting point—the known. However, in order to ensure that an SSIS package provides portability, stability, and resilience, it is critical to handle the unknown and to record the unidentified and inconsistent behavior. This chapter outlines the steps necessary to plan and handle the unexpected within an SSIS package.

The egoism which enters into our theories does not affect their sincerity; rather, the more our egoism is satisfied, the more robust is our belief.—Novelist George Eliot