Are you ready to get down and dirty in the sandbox?
Don’t grab your shovel and pail because we aren’t talking about a box full of sand. We’re talking about the place where you can curate your unit cost database to build assemblies, resource groups and rate tables, in-line quantity 2D AP formulas, etc. without it affecting your current (live) estimates.
What is a Sandbox Environment?
A sandbox is a duplicate secure environment where you can experiment, build, and test unit price database constructs without affecting the your users in production. The sandbox replicates the current production unit price database but is isolated, so it has no impact on your team’s workflows or processes.
Once you have tested the next potential generation of your unit price database in the sandbox, it can easily be deployed into your DESTINI Estimator workflows and accessible to all users.
Why Should I Use a Sandbox?
A sandbox is used to develop the next generation of the company’s unit price database in a controlled environment prior to publishing for production use.
You can use the sandbox for incubating ideas, developing and tweaking assemblies, future projects, updating line item pricing, or any other DESTINI Data Manager constructs you need to update or evaluate.
What are the Benefits to Playing in the Sandbox?
- Improve processes by maintaining your unit price cost database without disruption to the team’s workflow.
- Test assemblies, in-line quantity formulas (2D AP) in real-time before introducing them into production.
- Security! The sandbox provides a safety net. Beck Technology can restore a previous sandbox database if certifying the next generation database failed.
There is NO undo in MS SQL database editing. Implementing a sandbox provides multiple forms of protection against catastrophic mistakes:
- Option #1 - Edits can be rolled back by a SME via manually deleting mistakes in DESTINI Data Manager and re-import to restore affected constructs.
- Option #2 – If Option #1 is too cumbersome contact Beck Technology Support to restore a copy of the sandbox from the previous night’s backup.
How Do I Access My Sandbox?
A sandbox is restricted to a small group of SMEs (Subject Matter Experts). SME’s curate enterprise data for consumption by all DESTINI Estimator users. A sandbox is used to develop the next generation of the company’s unit price database in a controlled environment prior to publishing for production use.
For those who have administrative access to DESTINI Data Manager, you will have two options when you open the application—your production database and the sandbox. Choose the sandbox tile.
Updating Line Items for Automatic Pricing
One of the ways to use the sandbox is to make 2D Automatic Pricing more palatable for your estimators by updating the line item quantity formulas with their respective Parametric Variable.
Watch the following video to learn how to create in-line quantity formulas and update costs for line items in the sandbox.
Using Assemblies in the Sandbox
Use the sandbox to modify, update, and develop new assemblies because you can test them before putting them into production.
The video below demonstrates how to update and modify your WBS properties in the sandbox.
Certifying Your Sandbox
Certifying a sandbox prior to publishing into production is a process where SMEs evaluate the contents of the sandbox in real-world conditions and validate expected behavior.
When Should I Deploy my Sandbox?
There is no right or wrong time when publishing the changes and updates in your sandbox into DESTINI Estimator. Doug Maiden, Beck Technology customer success specialist says some will update semiannually or annually. Others will update more regularly. Doug says, “After you’ve got a couple of assemblies that have been performing the way you expect them to and you’re happy with the output, then of course you can publish that. It really varies depending on how much time you’re able to dedicate to the maintenance of your unit cost database.
Tips on Working in the Sandbox
Before publishing the sandbox into the production environment, notify users when you will be publishing the updates, and what the updates are. It is recommended to publish the sandbox into production after hours or on the weekend when users are not accessing the production unit cost database. Publishing typically takes 5 minutes. Configuring takes 30 seconds and is a “set it and forget it” so it is not a huge time commitment.
Doug Maiden, Beck Technology customer success specialist suggests also disseminating release notes about the updates to DESTINI Estimator users, so they are aware of what changes were made.
Before you publish your database, please email support@beck-technology.com so that we can prep your database for publication.
