Inquery: The Safe Way to Make Database Changes

As the world becomes more digitized, the importance of data management has increased dramatically. Every engineering team needs to make changes to their data, but every engineer has an example of when a bad query brought down a production service. To prevent this, companies restrict database access, slowing down development and costing millions in lost productivity. Inquery is an open-source platform that provides superpowers for SQL databases, starting with change management. Instead of letting developers directly modify data in production, with Inquery teams can preview, approve, run, and track SQL updates with confidence. In this article, we will take a closer look at Inquery and how it is revolutionizing the way engineering teams manage their databases.

What is Inquery?

Inquery is a platform that enables engineers to safely make database changes. Engineers propose their SQL query with a GitHub-like review experience, displaying a change preview and visual query plan. Teammates are able to view this information and approve the change for execution. Everyone has access to the change history for audit purposes. Inquery generates a change preview to show exactly which data will be modified, including the number of tables and rows that will be affected. They also provide a visual query plan that provides estimations for execution time. Before the change can be run, approval is required by a team member. Depending on the size of the team, this approval might be required by a specific seniority level or a certain group of users that own that specific data set.

Founders

Inquery was founded by Eric Ciminelli and Mitch Patin. Eric is the Co-founder and CTO at Inquery. He was an early engineer on the commerce team at Facebook and the first full-stack engineering hire at Heymarket. Mitch is the Co-founder and CEO at Inquery. He was an early engineer at Bolt and the first product hire at Heymarket. During their two years at Heymarket, they co-owned many projects and defined many of the engineering and product processes to help the company scale. They became friends outside of the office through tennis, pickleball, mountain biking, and skiing.

Eric is a software engineer that previously worked at Facebook, myMatrixx, and co-founded a company that provided a search engine for car shopping online. Mitch started his career as an engineer before moving to the product manager. He previously worked at GE Digital, Bolt, and founded a company focused on B2B payments. Together, they bring a wealth of experience and expertise to Inquery.

Inquery Launch and Early Success

Inquery was officially launched in 2022, and since then, it has gained popularity among engineering teams who seek to improve the process of making database changes. Inquery's unique solution has been well received by the market, with many companies recognizing the benefits of having a tool that ensures safe and easy management of database changes. The company has already attracted several notable clients and has been featured in various media outlets.

One of the reasons for Inquery's early success is its open-source approach. By making the platform open source, Inquery has been able to build a community of developers and engineers who can contribute to the platform's development and provide feedback. The community's input has been invaluable to Inquery, helping the company to improve its product and add new features that meet the needs of its users.

The Problem with Database Changes

Making changes to databases is a common task for engineering teams. However, making changes can be a challenging and risky process. A poorly executed change can cause downtime, data loss, or even a security breach. To mitigate these risks, companies often limit database access, slowing down development and costing millions in lost productivity.

The smartest, biggest companies have built their own internal tools for managing access and monitoring database updates. But smaller companies are left with a patchwork of manual collaboration tools to coordinate changes, which are time-consuming, error-prone, and often lack accountability.

Inquery's Solution

Inquery's platform provides a solution to the problem of making safe and easy database changes. The platform enables engineers to propose SQL queries with a GitHub-like review experience, displaying a change preview and visual query plan. Teammates can view this information and approve the change for execution. Everyone has access to the change history for audit purposes.

The platform's unique features include generating a change preview that shows exactly which data will be modified, including the number of tables and rows that will be affected. It also provides a visual query plan that provides estimations for execution time. Before the change can be run, approval is required by a team member. Depending on the size of the team, this approval might be required by a specific seniority level or a certain group of users that own that specific data set.

Inquery's platform is built on an open-source framework, making it easy to integrate with other tools and systems. It also has an intuitive user interface that makes it easy for engineers to use, even if they are not SQL experts.

Benefits of Using Inquery

Using Inquery's platform has several benefits for engineering teams. First and foremost, it ensures safe and easy database changes, eliminating the risk of data loss or downtime. It also allows for faster development cycles by eliminating the need for manual collaboration tools to coordinate changes.

Inquery's platform also provides transparency and accountability. Every change made to the database is tracked and audited, providing a clear record of who made what changes and when. This feature is especially useful in industries that require compliance with regulations such as healthcare, finance, and government.

Finally, Inquery's platform is cost-effective.

Conclusion

Inquery is an innovative startup that offers a platform for safe and efficient database changes. With its open-source approach and a focus on collaboration and transparency, it has the potential to become an essential tool for development teams, improving productivity and reducing the risk of downtime. Founded by experienced engineers, Inquery is a promising solution to a critical problem faced by many companies, and its future looks bright. As the platform continues to evolve, it will be exciting to see how it transforms the database management landscape.