Monolithic and complex databases

Modern database change for complex, monolithic systems

Why Redgate Flyway Enterprise is the tool of choice for supporting monolithic databases

Redgate Flyway G2 awards

Monolithic databases are at the heart of many business systems, but they’re notoriously fragile and hard to change. Multiple application components often share a single database. This tight coupling means that even small schema changes risk cascading failures across dependent services.

Teams can’t reliably track what’s changed or whether a target environment has drifted from its expected state, so every release carries risk. When something breaks, fixes are manual, recovery is slow, and the root cause is hard to trace.

Redgate Flyway Enterprise brings automation, visibility, and control to these environments, enabling teams to deliver incremental, governed changes confidently.

Why secure, scalable database delivery matters

With its enterprise-grade approach and best-in-class technology, Redgate Flyway Enterprise helps teams regain control. It brings automation and stability to the process of making changes for even the most complex, monolithic databases.

Every incremental deployment starts from a known baseline in version control, with object-level visibility into every change, validated migration scripts, automated drift detection, and simple deployment pipelines that make scalable, secure database deployments possible.

Stabilize before you modernize

Before you modernize, you need to stabilize. Flyway Enterprise helps teams bring order to database change management. With object-level version control, drift detection, dry runs and CI/CD system integration, Flyway Enterprise gives teams the confidence to make changes safely - without breaking production or slowing down delivery.

  • Advanced drift detection highlights unauthorized or hotfixes to the target database that could risk deployment failure or downtime when changes are deployed.
  • Object-level version control for SQL Server, Oracle, Postgres and MySQL ensures every schema change is tracked and reversible, reducing risk and improving collaboration.
  • Dry runs simulate migrations before deployment, helping teams catch errors early and avoid surprises in production.
  • CI/CD system integration automates and standardizes schema deployments, enabling faster, safer delivery across environments.

Incremental delivery of value without the big bang risk

Redgate Flyway Enterprise supports iterative, agile database deployments, enabling teams to evolve monolithic databases incrementally in structured, repeatable and testable releases, without all the big bang risks of a large, waterfall-style deployment.

Flyway Enterprise’s automated script generation, drift detection, rollback scripts and CI/CD integration mean you can reduce the risk of downtime and take value to market faster - without the fear factor.

  • Automated deployment script generation brings precision, reduces manual effort and ensures consistency across environments - making incremental releases faster and easier.
  • Advanced drift detection identifies unexpected changes and hotfixes before deployment, helping teams de-risk deployments and keep iterative releases flowing.
  • Auto-generated rollback scripts provide a safety net for failed deployments, allowing teams to revert changes quickly and confidently.
  • CI/CD system integration streamlines deployment workflows, enabling faster, automated delivery of small, testable schema updates.

Visibility and control across environments

Making changes to complex, monolithic databases can often feel like working in a black box. Flyway Enterprise changes this by bringing transparency to your database change process with traceable object-level version control and drift detection for SQL Server, Oracle, Postgres and MySQL and consistent workflows across environments. That means better collaboration, fewer surprises, and higher quality releases.

  • Object-level version control gives teams full visibility into what’s changing, when, and why - making it easier to audit and collaborate.
  • Advanced drift detection brings visibility to unauthorized changes in the target database, helping teams eliminate deployment failures resulting from hotfixes.
  • CI/CD system integration automates database deployments across environments, bringing traceability, consistency and reducing the risk of human error.
  • Dry run and change reports empower teams to preview releases before applying changes, reducing risk and improving transparency.

We are sure that whatever we put into production, we have the correct version approved and 100% documented.

Christian Broe Petersen, Head of Database Development, Sydbank
Case study

Discover the Flyway difference

Contact us for a free consultation on how we can help your teams deploy secure, stable database changes with confidence.

Get in touch

Built for complex dependencies

Monolithic databases are tightly coupled, and missing a dependency during schema changes can lead to app failures, data loss, and broken logic.

Flyway Enterprise reduces that risk. Its best-in-class comparison engine offers extensive database object coverage and handles dependencies with precision, generating deployment scripts that teams can trust for dependency-heavy environments.

  • Best-in-class script generation ensures changes are applied in the correct order, respecting relationships between database objects.
  • Market-leading database comparison technology for SQL Server, Oracle, Postgres and MySQL highlights schema differences across environments, giving teams visibility into dependency impacts.
  • CI/CD integration enforces consistent deployments across environments, helping teams manage dependencies with repeatable, testable workflows.
  • Advanced drift detection flags unexpected changes that could disrupt dependent objects and cause data loss, application failure or data integrity issues.

Reduce risk without slowing innovation

A common challenge faced by teams managing monolithic databases is the pressure to de-risk deployments and meet compliance requirements, all without sacrificing velocity of release. Redgate Flyway Enterprise empowers teams to deliver stable, governed database deployments with confidence.

  • Schema as code meets policy as code, enabling teams to embed governance directly into the development workflow.
  • CI/CD system integration brings speed and reliability to deployment pipelines.
  • Shift-left secure database automation catches compliance issues early, avoiding costly rework and late-stage surprises.
  • Automated script generation, drift detection, and rollback support give teams the control they need to make incremental changes safely.

With all of the tests in place, they can make big changes and they don’t have to worry about remembering all of the database migrations. It just all flows through, so developers deliver faster and they’re more confident.

Better DevEx, better outcomes

Slow release cycles, high risk of error, and poor tooling frustrate developers and hurt retention. Flyway Enterprise improves the developer experience with faster feedback loops, easier onboarding, and more time spent innovating - not firefighting.

  • CI/CD integration streamlines deployments and shortens feedback loops, helping developers ship faster with fewer surprises.
  • Object-level version control and rollback script generation give developers confidence to experiment, knowing they can revert changes.
  • Automated script generation removes manual effort and reduces errors, giving developers more time to focus on features.
  • Object-level version control makes it easy to track changes and collaborate across teams, even in complex monolithic environments.

Start your free trial

Make it as easy to deliver database changes as it is for application code changes.

Free trial

We're here to help

0800 028 0309

Whether you want more details about Redgate Flyway, a demo or information on best practices – get in touch with us.

The industry standard tools for over 25 years

Redgate has specialized in database software for over 25 years. Our products are used by 92% of the Fortune 100. 200,000 customers rely on Redgate worldwide.

World-class support

Redgate offers comprehensive documentation and a friendly, helpful support team. An average 87% of customers rate our support 'Excellent'.