Galenica’s data security standards with Delphix
“dbi services as a partner is very much appreciated, always willing to support. Their experience and eagerness to tackle any challenge stood out. They truly owned our project.” – Nguyen Bärtsch, Quality Assurance Team Lead, Galenica
“I was impressed more than once about the level of knowledge and availability at dbi services. The masking of the data went surprisingly well, and we particularly appreciated their approach as human beings. The dbi services experts massively supported our team. The technical constraints in the application were perfectly handled by Delphix and dbi services. The solution proved simple to set up and operate, with dbi services’ and Delphix’s experts providing crucial support when our team needed it most.” – Thierry Schork, Database Administrator, Galenica
Challenges faced by Galenica
Maintaining and guaranteeing data security and integrity is key for a company such as Galenica. The company needed to generate representative test environments without exposing highly sensitive production data, a task complicated by their extensive database systems containing both Personal Identifiable Information (PII) and Protected Health Information (PHI).
The complexity of their data infrastructure was another factor to consider. Their system architecture spanned three distinct servers: a Point of Sale (POS) system with back-office functionality comprising over 1,100 tables, a comprehensive Customer Directory, and a CRM system. Within these systems, 130 columns contained sensitive data, including complex unstructured data in XML, text, and JSON formats. The scale of their data was equally demanding, with customer records ranging from 100,000 to 300,000 entries, address data spanning 200,000 to 400,000 records, and sales and receipt data reaching between 2 to 10 million entries.
The selection process began with a thorough analysis of three options:
- Cloning and anonymizing data from production servers, which was a must-have,
- Generating synthetic data in empty databases,
- Cloning and replacing sensitive data with generated synthetic data.
Solutions
After evaluation of solutions based on these three options, Galenica partnered with dbi services to implement a comprehensive solution based on Delphix technology.
The technical implementation required expertise across multiple SQL Server databases. The team developed automated, repeatable processes for data refresh while ensuring data consistency preservation mechanisms remained intact. A key focus was placed on creating realistic data distribution patterns that accurately reflected production environments without compromising sensitive information.
Results
The implementation delivered outstanding results across all key objectives. Thanks to Delphix’s solution, the team successfully completed a comprehensive identification and cataloguing of sensitive data, effectively eliminating any exposure of PII and PHI in test environments. The solution created high-quality desensitized data sets that maintained data integrity and relationships, crucial for accurate testing and development.
The automated processes for environment refresh proved particularly valuable, streamlining operations, reducing manual intervention and reducing delivery time. Perhaps most importantly, the solution preserved data consistency across synchronized databases, including replication systems, microservices, and ETL processes, ensuring reliable testing environments that truly represented production scenarios.
Added Value
The partnership with dbi services and Delphix was crucial throughout the project. Their expert guidance in solution selection confirmed Delphix as the optimal choice. The team demonstrated comprehensive technical expertise across multiple database platforms, consistently showing strong project ownership and commitment to customer success.
dbi services and Delphix provided reliable support and maintained availability, ensuring that challenges were addressed promptly and effectively. Their approach combined technical excellence with a deep understanding of Galenica’s specific needs and constraints.
