An Intellyx Brain Candy Brief
Flagsmith modularizes the deployment and configuration of new application features and code changes through an open source rules-based platform.
Like many innovations of utility, Flagsmith’s founders originally conceived of the product’s kernel [Bullet Train] while in the trenches of building custom software for other companies. Major cloud modernization engagements often fail to meet ‘big bang’ delivery windows, and Agile attempts get stuck at stage gates due to a constant need to merge new feature branches with rewrites and updates to existing enterprise monoliths.
Feature flagging allows teams to graduate production releases, so new software functionality or configuration code can be validated against the live environment by degrees, exposing the changes to an increasing percentage of declared users, user groups, regions or traffic profiles over time toward either successful user adoption, or quickly turning the flag off if an exception occurs.
Successful use of this ‘shift-right’ approach of validating features in production actually goes hand-in-hand with early code reviews and shift-left testing, but it helps account for the inevitable chaotic outcomes that occur in complex deployment environments.
The open source tooling and documentation is available on GitHub and can be integrated with CI/CD pipelines delivering into cloud services or deployed on-premises in hybrid IT computing environments where compliance or privacy is key. Flagsmith commercializes product support and consulting services to assist customers in their journey.
“We’ve been fanatical about having just a database and REST API, and keeping Flagsmith’s design as flexible and simple as possible. As it turns out, that also makes it easy to deploy with Kubernetes Helm charts or through OpenShift Operators,” said Ben Rometsch, CEO and co-founder, Flagsmith.
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