In addition to or as an alternative to running manual integration builds, use a CI server to automatically poll for version control changes and run an integration build on a separate machine.
Poll for changes in the version control repository on a specified time interval. Perform certain actions on a scheduled basis, such as hourly or daily. Identify a “quiet period” during which no integration builds are performed for the project. Support for different build scripting tools including command-line tools such as Rake, make, Ant, or NAnt. Send e-mails to the concerned parties. Display a history of previous builds. Display a dashboard that is Web accessible so that everyone can review integration build information. Support multiple version control systems for your different projects.
Manually perform integrations [to compensate for] minimal tool support for preventing broken code from entering the repository.
[Duvall et al. 2007, “Building Software at Every Change”, optional]
