We have demonstrated the methods of merging. We have also highlighted the two main Administration tool assisted ways of conducting multiuser development. Any well-run project must have a well-managed and formal change process in place. Ideally, your project should choose the methods appropriate to the size of both the project and development team, and whether the team is co-located or scattered across multiple sites. Whatever you choose should be documented and adhered to rigidly by developers, so it is well worth consulting them to develop a consensus on what is suitable.

Sharing an online RPD is very simple, but it lacks the full tracking that is provided by implementation of the full MUDE system. MUDE is great in providing a non-circumventable system of recording change. However, a MUDE system does require far more overhead in licensing, equipment, and setup time. This is because developers need a full local OBIEE development environment in place, in addition to the central system, rather than merely needing a locally installed Administration tool. Also, as we briefly mentioned at the beginning, do not be afraid to use traditional/basic methods such as organizing time-shares on an RPD, creating a change log on a spreadsheet, and periodically making RPD backups. Especially when the development team is co-located and experienced, such a simple approach may suffice and has proven to be successful on the majority of projects.

Whatever you choose, ultimately the goal is that changes are made in a systematic and controlled manner so that they are introduced in a way that precludes and ameliorates the risk of faults being introduced. This requires a system that encourages coordination between developers, but at the same time remember we do not want to make the process so onerous that we hinder the rapid development that OBIEE supports!