diff --git a/services/backup/CMakeLists.txt b/services/backup/CMakeLists.txt
index 4256dea7b..802b734f0 100644
--- a/services/backup/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/services/backup/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,117 +1,110 @@
 PROJECT(backup C CXX)
 
 cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.16)
 
 set(CMAKE_RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY bin)
 
 if(COMMAND cmake_policy)
   cmake_policy(SET CMP0003 NEW)
 endif(COMMAND cmake_policy)
 
 set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 17)
 
 set(BUILD_TESTING OFF CACHE BOOL "Turn off tests" FORCE)
 set(WITH_GTEST "Use Google Test" OFF)
 
 # FIND LIBS
 include(./cmake-components/grpc.cmake)
 include(./cmake-components/folly.cmake)
 add_subdirectory(./lib/glog)
 find_package(AWSSDK REQUIRED COMPONENTS core dynamodb)
 find_package(Boost 1.40 COMPONENTS program_options REQUIRED)
 
 # FIND FILES
 file(GLOB DOUBLE_CONVERSION_SOURCES "./lib/double-conversion/double-conversion/*.cc")
 
-if ($ENV{COMM_TEST_SERVICES} MATCHES 1)
-  add_compile_definitions(COMM_TEST_SERVICES)
-endif()
-
 file(GLOB GENERATED_CODE "./_generated/*.cc")
-if ($ENV{COMM_SERVICES_DEV_MODE} MATCHES 1)
-  add_compile_definitions(COMM_SERVICES_DEV_MODE)
-endif()
 
 file(GLOB_RECURSE SOURCE_CODE "./src/*.cpp")
 
 include_directories(
   ./src
   ./src/grpc-client
   ./src/DatabaseEntities
   ./src/Reactors
   ./src/Reactors/server
   ./src/Reactors/server/base-reactors
   ./src/Reactors/client
   ./src/Reactors/client/blob
   ./src/Reactors/client/base-reactors
   ./_generated
   ${FOLLY_INCLUDES}
   ./lib/double-conversion
   ${Boost_INCLUDE_DIR}
 )
 
 # SERVER
 add_executable(
   backup
   
   ${GENERATED_CODE}
   ${DOUBLE_CONVERSION_SOURCES}
   ${FOLLY_SOURCES}
   
   ${SOURCE_CODE}
 )
 
 set(
   LIBS
 
   ${GRPC_LIBS}
   ${AWSSDK_LINK_LIBRARIES}
   ${Boost_LIBRARIES}
   glog::glog
 )
 
 target_link_libraries(
   backup
 
   ${LIBS}
 )
 
 install(
   TARGETS backup
   RUNTIME DESTINATION bin/
 )
 
 # TEST
 if ($ENV{COMM_TEST_SERVICES} MATCHES 1)
   file(GLOB TEST_CODE "./test/*.cpp")
   list(FILTER SOURCE_CODE EXCLUDE REGEX "./src/server.cpp")
   enable_testing()
 
   find_package(GTest REQUIRED)
   include_directories(
     ${GTEST_INCLUDE_DIR}
     ./test
   )
 
   add_executable(
     runTests
 
     ${GENERATED_CODE}
     ${DOUBLE_CONVERSION_SOURCES}
     ${FOLLY_SOURCES}
     ${SOURCE_CODE}
     ${TEST_CODE}
   )
   target_link_libraries(
     runTests
 
     ${LIBS}
     gtest
     gtest_main
   )
 
   add_test(
     NAME runTests
     COMMAND runTests
   )
 endif()
diff --git a/services/backup/src/AwsTools.cpp b/services/backup/src/AwsTools.cpp
index 575a33e37..04b553381 100644
--- a/services/backup/src/AwsTools.cpp
+++ b/services/backup/src/AwsTools.cpp
@@ -1,18 +1,21 @@
 #include "AwsTools.h"
 #include "Constants.h"
+#include "Tools.h"
+
+#include <cstdlib>
 
 namespace comm {
 namespace network {
 
 std::unique_ptr<Aws::DynamoDB::DynamoDBClient> getDynamoDBClient() {
   Aws::Client::ClientConfiguration config;
   config.region = AWS_REGION;
-#ifdef COMM_SERVICES_DEV_MODE
-  config.endpointOverride = Aws::String("localstack:4566");
-  config.scheme = Aws::Http::Scheme::HTTP;
-#endif
+  if (isDevMode()) {
+    config.endpointOverride = Aws::String("localstack:4566");
+    config.scheme = Aws::Http::Scheme::HTTP;
+  }
   return std::make_unique<Aws::DynamoDB::DynamoDBClient>(config);
 }
 
 } // namespace network
 } // namespace comm
diff --git a/services/backup/src/Constants.h b/services/backup/src/Constants.h
index 84b04092b..3f57908b0 100644
--- a/services/backup/src/Constants.h
+++ b/services/backup/src/Constants.h
@@ -1,41 +1,39 @@
 #pragma once
 
+#include "Tools.h"
+
 #include <string>
 
 namespace comm {
 namespace network {
 
 // 4MB limit
 // WARNING: use keeping in mind that grpc adds its own headers to messages
 // https://github.com/grpc/grpc/blob/master/doc/PROTOCOL-HTTP2.md
 // so the message that actually is being sent over the network looks like this
 // [Compressed-Flag] [Message-Length] [Message]
 //    [Compressed-Flag]   1 byte  - added by grpc
 //    [Message-Length]    4 bytes - added by grpc
 //    [Message]           N bytes - actual data
 // so for every message we get 5 additional bytes of data
 // as mentioned here
 // https://github.com/grpc/grpc/issues/15734#issuecomment-396962671
 // grpc stream may contain more than one message
 const size_t GRPC_CHUNK_SIZE_LIMIT = 4 * 1024 * 1024;
 const size_t GRPC_METADATA_SIZE_PER_MESSAGE = 5;
 
 const std::string AWS_REGION = "us-east-2";
 
-#ifdef COMM_TEST_SERVICES
-const std::string LOG_TABLE_NAME = "backup-service-log-test";
-const std::string BACKUP_TABLE_NAME = "backup-service-backup-test";
-#else
-const std::string LOG_TABLE_NAME = "backup-service-log";
-const std::string BACKUP_TABLE_NAME = "backup-service-backup";
-#endif
+const std::string LOG_TABLE_NAME = decorateTableName("backup-service-log");
+const std::string BACKUP_TABLE_NAME =
+    decorateTableName("backup-service-backup");
 
 // This has to be smaller than GRPC_CHUNK_SIZE_LIMIT because we need to
 // recognize if we may receive multiple chunks or just one. If it was larger
 // than the chunk limit, once we get the amount of data of size equal to the
 // limit, we wouldn't know if we should put this in the database right away or
 // wait for more data.
 const size_t LOG_DATA_SIZE_DATABASE_LIMIT = 1 * 1024 * 1024;
 
 } // namespace network
 } // namespace comm
diff --git a/services/backup/src/Tools.cpp b/services/backup/src/Tools.cpp
index d3e19808c..467cca9f4 100644
--- a/services/backup/src/Tools.cpp
+++ b/services/backup/src/Tools.cpp
@@ -1,28 +1,45 @@
 #include "Tools.h"
 
 #include <chrono>
+#include <cstdlib>
 #include <random>
 
 namespace comm {
 namespace network {
 
 std::string generateRandomString(std::size_t length) {
   const std::string CHARACTERS =
       "0123456789ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz";
   thread_local std::random_device generator;
   std::uniform_int_distribution<> distribution(0, CHARACTERS.size() - 1);
   std::string random_string;
   for (std::size_t i = 0; i < length; ++i) {
     random_string += CHARACTERS[distribution(generator)];
   }
   return random_string;
 }
 
 uint64_t getCurrentTimestamp() {
   using namespace std::chrono;
   return duration_cast<milliseconds>(system_clock::now().time_since_epoch())
       .count();
 }
 
+std::string decorateTableName(const std::string &baseName) {
+  std::string suffix = "";
+  if (std::getenv("COMM_TEST_SERVICES") != nullptr &&
+      std::string(std::getenv("COMM_TEST_SERVICES")) == "1") {
+    suffix = "-test";
+  }
+  return baseName + suffix;
+}
+
+bool isDevMode() {
+  if (std::getenv("COMM_SERVICES_DEV_MODE") == nullptr) {
+    return false;
+  }
+  return std::string(std::getenv("COMM_SERVICES_DEV_MODE")) == "1";
+}
+
 } // namespace network
 } // namespace comm
diff --git a/services/backup/src/Tools.h b/services/backup/src/Tools.h
index fd25bbb15..e057a7a92 100644
--- a/services/backup/src/Tools.h
+++ b/services/backup/src/Tools.h
@@ -1,13 +1,15 @@
 #pragma once
 
 #include <cstdint>
 #include <string>
 
 namespace comm {
 namespace network {
 
 std::string generateRandomString(std::size_t length = 20);
 uint64_t getCurrentTimestamp();
+std::string decorateTableName(const std::string &baseName);
+bool isDevMode();
 
 } // namespace network
 } // namespace comm
diff --git a/services/blob/CMakeLists.txt b/services/blob/CMakeLists.txt
index c254808dc..8b2ed0de0 100644
--- a/services/blob/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/services/blob/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,116 +1,108 @@
 PROJECT(blob C CXX)
 
 cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.16)
 
 set(CMAKE_RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY bin)
 
 if(COMMAND cmake_policy)
   cmake_policy(SET CMP0003 NEW)
 endif(COMMAND cmake_policy)
 
 set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 17)
 
 set(BUILD_TESTING OFF CACHE BOOL "Turn off tests" FORCE)
 set(WITH_GTEST "Use Google Test" OFF)
 
 # FIND LIBS
 include(./cmake-components/grpc.cmake)
 include(./cmake-components/folly.cmake)
 add_subdirectory(./lib/glog)
 find_package(AWSSDK REQUIRED COMPONENTS s3 core dynamodb)
 find_package(Boost 1.40 COMPONENTS program_options REQUIRED)
 find_package(OpenSSL REQUIRED)
 
 # FIND FILES
 file(GLOB DOUBLE_CONVERSION_SOURCES "./lib/double-conversion/double-conversion/*.cc")
 
-
-if ($ENV{COMM_TEST_SERVICES} MATCHES 1)
-  add_compile_definitions(COMM_TEST_SERVICES)
-endif()
-
 file(GLOB GENERATED_CODE "./_generated/*.cc")
-if ($ENV{COMM_SERVICES_DEV_MODE} MATCHES 1)
-  add_compile_definitions(COMM_SERVICES_DEV_MODE)
-endif()
 
 file(GLOB SOURCE_CODE "./src/*.cpp" "./src/**/*.cpp")
 
 include_directories(
   ./src
   ./src/DatabaseEntities
   ./src/Reactors/
   ./src/Reactors/server
   ./src/Reactors/server/base-reactors
   ./_generated
   ${FOLLY_INCLUDES}
   ./lib/double-conversion
   ${Boost_INCLUDE_DIR}
 )
 
 # SERVER
 add_executable(
   blob
   
   ${GENERATED_CODE}
   ${DOUBLE_CONVERSION_SOURCES}
   ${FOLLY_SOURCES}
   
   ${SOURCE_CODE}
 )
 
 set(
   LIBS
 
   ${GRPC_LIBS}
   ${AWSSDK_LINK_LIBRARIES}
   ${Boost_LIBRARIES}
   OpenSSL::SSL
   glog::glog
 )
 
 target_link_libraries(
   blob
 
   ${LIBS}
 )
 
 install(
   TARGETS blob
   RUNTIME DESTINATION bin/
 )
 
 # TEST
 if ($ENV{COMM_TEST_SERVICES} MATCHES 1)
   file(GLOB TEST_CODE "./test/*.cpp")
   list(FILTER SOURCE_CODE EXCLUDE REGEX "./src/server.cpp")
   enable_testing()
 
   find_package(GTest REQUIRED)
   include_directories(
     ${GTEST_INCLUDE_DIR}
     ./test
   )
 
   add_executable(
     runTests
 
     ${GENERATED_CODE}
     ${DOUBLE_CONVERSION_SOURCES}
     ${FOLLY_SOURCES}
     ${SOURCE_CODE}
     ${TEST_CODE}
   )
   target_link_libraries(
     runTests
 
     ${LIBS}
     gtest
     gtest_main
   )
 
   add_test(
     NAME runTests
     COMMAND runTests
   )
 endif()
diff --git a/services/blob/src/AwsTools.cpp b/services/blob/src/AwsTools.cpp
index 8d5737a89..71c6af137 100644
--- a/services/blob/src/AwsTools.cpp
+++ b/services/blob/src/AwsTools.cpp
@@ -1,52 +1,55 @@
 #include "AwsTools.h"
 #include "Constants.h"
 #include "Tools.h"
 
 #include <aws/s3/model/Bucket.h>
 
+#include <cstdlib>
+
 namespace comm {
 namespace network {
 
 AwsS3Bucket getBucket(const std::string &bucketName) {
   return AwsS3Bucket(bucketName);
 }
 
 std::vector<std::string> listBuckets() {
   Aws::S3::Model::ListBucketsOutcome outcome = getS3Client()->ListBuckets();
   std::vector<std::string> result;
   if (!outcome.IsSuccess()) {
     throw std::runtime_error(outcome.GetError().GetMessage());
   }
   Aws::Vector<Aws::S3::Model::Bucket> buckets =
       outcome.GetResult().GetBuckets();
   for (Aws::S3::Model::Bucket &bucket : buckets) {
     result.push_back(bucket.GetName());
   }
   return result;
 }
 
 std::unique_ptr<Aws::DynamoDB::DynamoDBClient> getDynamoDBClient() {
   Aws::Client::ClientConfiguration config;
   config.region = AWS_REGION;
-#ifdef COMM_SERVICES_DEV_MODE
-  config.endpointOverride = Aws::String("localstack:4566");
-  config.scheme = Aws::Http::Scheme::HTTP;
-#endif
+  if (isDevMode()) {
+    config.endpointOverride = Aws::String("localstack:4566");
+    config.scheme = Aws::Http::Scheme::HTTP;
+  }
   return std::make_unique<Aws::DynamoDB::DynamoDBClient>(config);
 }
 
 std::unique_ptr<Aws::S3::S3Client> getS3Client() {
   Aws::Client::ClientConfiguration config;
   config.region = AWS_REGION;
-#ifdef COMM_SERVICES_DEV_MODE
-  config.endpointOverride = Aws::String("localstack:4566");
-  config.scheme = Aws::Http::Scheme::HTTP;
-  return std::make_unique<Aws::S3::S3Client>(
-      config, Aws::Client::AWSAuthV4Signer::PayloadSigningPolicy::Never, false);
-#else
+  if (isDevMode()) {
+    config.endpointOverride = Aws::String("localstack:4566");
+    config.scheme = Aws::Http::Scheme::HTTP;
+    return std::make_unique<Aws::S3::S3Client>(
+        config,
+        Aws::Client::AWSAuthV4Signer::PayloadSigningPolicy::Never,
+        false);
+  }
   return std::make_unique<Aws::S3::S3Client>(config);
-#endif
 }
 
 } // namespace network
 } // namespace comm
diff --git a/services/blob/src/Constants.h b/services/blob/src/Constants.h
index f0110eed6..daaeb5251 100644
--- a/services/blob/src/Constants.h
+++ b/services/blob/src/Constants.h
@@ -1,37 +1,35 @@
 #pragma once
 
+#include "Tools.h"
+
 #include <string>
 
 namespace comm {
 namespace network {
 
 // 4MB limit
 // WARNING: use keeping in mind that grpc adds its own headers to messages
 // https://github.com/grpc/grpc/blob/master/doc/PROTOCOL-HTTP2.md
 // so the message that actually is being sent over the network looks like this
 // [Compressed-Flag] [Message-Length] [Message]
 //    [Compressed-Flag]   1 byte  - added by grpc
 //    [Message-Length]    4 bytes - added by grpc
 //    [Message]           N bytes - actual data
 // so for every message we get 5 additional bytes of data
 // as mentioned here
 // https://github.com/grpc/grpc/issues/15734#issuecomment-396962671
 // grpc stream may contain more than one message
 const size_t GRPC_CHUNK_SIZE_LIMIT = 4 * 1024 * 1024;
 const size_t GRPC_METADATA_SIZE_PER_MESSAGE = 5;
 // 5MB limit
 const size_t AWS_MULTIPART_UPLOAD_MINIMUM_CHUNK_SIZE = 5 * 1024 * 1024;
 
 const std::string AWS_REGION = "us-east-2";
 const std::string BLOB_BUCKET_NAME = "commapp-blob";
 
-#ifdef COMM_TEST_SERVICES
-const std::string BLOB_TABLE_NAME = "blob-service-blob-test";
-const std::string REVERSE_INDEX_TABLE_NAME = "blob-service-reverse-index-test";
-#else
-const std::string BLOB_TABLE_NAME = "blob-service-blob";
-const std::string REVERSE_INDEX_TABLE_NAME = "blob-service-reverse-index";
-#endif
+const std::string BLOB_TABLE_NAME = decorateTableName("blob-service-blob");
+const std::string REVERSE_INDEX_TABLE_NAME =
+    decorateTableName("blob-service-reverse-index");
 
 } // namespace network
 } // namespace comm
diff --git a/services/blob/src/Tools.cpp b/services/blob/src/Tools.cpp
index 6c246b5c4..1e644188c 100644
--- a/services/blob/src/Tools.cpp
+++ b/services/blob/src/Tools.cpp
@@ -1,76 +1,94 @@
 #include "Tools.h"
 
 #include "AwsTools.h"
+#include "Constants.h"
 #include "DatabaseEntitiesTools.h"
 #include "DatabaseManager.h"
 
 #include <openssl/sha.h>
 
 #include <chrono>
+#include <cstdlib>
 #include <iomanip>
 #include <string>
 
 namespace comm {
 namespace network {
 
 database::S3Path
 generateS3Path(const std::string &bucketName, const std::string &blobHash) {
   return database::S3Path(bucketName, blobHash);
 }
 
 std::string computeHashForFile(const database::S3Path &s3Path) {
   SHA512_CTX ctx;
   SHA512_Init(&ctx);
   const std::function<void(const std::string &)> callback =
       [&ctx](const std::string &chunk) {
         SHA512_Update(&ctx, chunk.data(), chunk.size());
       };
 
   getBucket(s3Path.getBucketName())
       .getObjectDataChunks(
           s3Path.getObjectName(), callback, GRPC_CHUNK_SIZE_LIMIT);
 
   unsigned char hash[SHA512_DIGEST_LENGTH];
   SHA512_Final(hash, &ctx);
 
   std::ostringstream hashStream;
   for (int i = 0; i < SHA512_DIGEST_LENGTH; i++) {
     hashStream << std::hex << std::setfill('0') << std::setw(2)
                << std::nouppercase << (int)hash[i];
   }
 
   return hashStream.str();
 }
 
 database::S3Path findS3Path(const std::string &holder) {
   std::shared_ptr<database::ReverseIndexItem> reverseIndexItem =
       database::DatabaseManager::getInstance().findReverseIndexItemByHolder(
           holder);
   if (reverseIndexItem == nullptr) {
     throw std::runtime_error(
         "provided holder: [" + holder + "] has not been found in the database");
   }
   return findS3Path(*reverseIndexItem);
 }
 
 database::S3Path
 findS3Path(const database::ReverseIndexItem &reverseIndexItem) {
   std::shared_ptr<database::BlobItem> blobItem =
       database::DatabaseManager::getInstance().findBlobItem(
           reverseIndexItem.getBlobHash());
   if (blobItem == nullptr) {
     throw std::runtime_error(
         "no blob found for blobHash: [" + reverseIndexItem.getBlobHash() + "]");
   }
   database::S3Path result = blobItem->getS3Path();
   return result;
 }
 
 uint64_t getCurrentTimestamp() {
   using namespace std::chrono;
   return duration_cast<milliseconds>(system_clock::now().time_since_epoch())
       .count();
 }
 
+std::string decorateTableName(const std::string &baseName) {
+  std::string suffix = "";
+  if (std::getenv("COMM_TEST_SERVICES") != nullptr &&
+      std::string(std::getenv("COMM_TEST_SERVICES")) == "1") {
+    suffix = "-test";
+  }
+  return baseName + suffix;
+}
+
+bool isDevMode() {
+  if (std::getenv("COMM_SERVICES_DEV_MODE") == nullptr) {
+    return false;
+  }
+  return std::string(std::getenv("COMM_SERVICES_DEV_MODE")) == "1";
+}
+
 } // namespace network
 } // namespace comm
diff --git a/services/blob/src/Tools.h b/services/blob/src/Tools.h
index 4ed72265c..71fb53d2e 100644
--- a/services/blob/src/Tools.h
+++ b/services/blob/src/Tools.h
@@ -1,29 +1,32 @@
 #pragma once
 
-#include "Constants.h"
 #include "DatabaseEntitiesTools.h"
 #include "S3Path.h"
 
 namespace comm {
 namespace network {
 
 database::S3Path
 generateS3Path(const std::string &bucketName, const std::string &blobHash);
 
 std::string computeHashForFile(const database::S3Path &s3Path);
 
 database::S3Path findS3Path(const std::string &holder);
 
 database::S3Path findS3Path(const database::ReverseIndexItem &reverseIndexItem);
 
 uint64_t getCurrentTimestamp();
 
+std::string decorateTableName(const std::string &baseName);
+
+bool isDevMode();
+
 class invalid_argument_error : public std::runtime_error {
 public:
   invalid_argument_error(std::string errorMessage)
       : std::runtime_error(errorMessage) {
   }
 };
 
 } // namespace network
 } // namespace comm