Engineering Reliable Deployment Pipelines for Data Platforms: Coordinating Schema Changes and Backward Compatibility

Abstract

Data platform deployments frequently fail due to incompatible schema changes, out-of-order releases, and insufficient validation of downstream dependencies. This research proposes a deployment pipeline design tailored for data platforms, combining contract testing, schema change classification, staged validations, and automated rollback procedures. The framework coordinates database migrations with application releases and data processing jobs to maintain backward compatibility. Evaluations indicate improved stability and reduced incident rates for production data workflows.