When is administration needed?
Problems we help solve
Database administration is essential when a database needs to operate predictably rather than merely function. It is particularly important for ERP, CRM, healthcare, warehouse management, financial and reporting systems.
- The database is growing and application performance is steadily deteriorating.
- Responsibility for backups, updates and access is unclear.
- Changes to the data structure are made without planning or testing.
- Disk space, performance and server errors are not monitored.
- The business needs database administration expertise without employing a full-time DBA.
Fit
Who is this service for?
Business-critical systems
For businesses where a database failure would halt sales, customer service, production or record-keeping.
Environments without a DBA
For teams with an IT administrator that need specialist database support.
Established applications
For businesses that want to organise access, backups and documentation after years of system development.
Businesses preparing for an audit
For organisations that need to demonstrate control over data, permissions and recovery.
Service scope
What does database administration involve?
Maintenance and monitoring
We monitor the health of the environment and respond to signs of deteriorating performance.
- disk space and database growth,
- errors, locks and workload,
- availability of database services.
Backup and recovery
We manage database backups and ensure that recovery after a failure is genuinely possible.
- full and incremental backup schedules,
- recovery testing,
- emergency procedures and retention.
Performance and optimisation
We diagnose the causes of slowdowns and recommend practical corrective action.
- query and index analysis,
- server resource configuration,
- recommendations for applications.
Access and changes
We organise accounts and establish a controlled approach to administrative work.
- roles, permissions and service accounts,
- planning structural changes,
- configuration documentation.
Outcomes
What will you receive?
- continuous oversight of database health and backups,
- clear responsibility for maintaining the data environment,
- fewer avoidable failures caused by insufficient capacity or oversight,
- performance recommendations based on analysis of the environment,
- documentation covering configuration, access and recovery procedures.
Administration can be provided as an ongoing managed service, a periodic review or support during a major systems change.
Delivery approach
How is the service delivered?
- Initial assessment. We identify the systems, their criticality and the people responsible.
- Review. We check configuration, backups, access, performance and logs.
- Priorities. We identify the areas requiring urgent attention.
- Configuration. We implement monitoring, backups, access restrictions or corrective changes.
- Verification. We monitor the results and verify operation after the changes.
- Report. We provide documentation, recommendations and an ongoing maintenance plan.
Administration standard
How do we carry out the work?
- We secure the data before making changes.
- We separate test, production and administration environments whenever possible.
- We do not consider a backup reliable until it has passed a recovery test.
- We document the work performed so that future diagnosis is faster.
- We consider the database's impact on applications, users and business processes.
Cost
What determines the price?
The price depends on the number of instances, size of databases, availability requirements, monitoring scope, frequency of reviews, expected response time and whether the administration also includes the server and application.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Can you take over administration from another provider?
Yes. We begin with a review of the configuration, access, backups and documentation so that we understand the environment before taking responsibility for it.
Does administration also cover the server?
It can. If the database runs on an on-premises or virtual server, it is worth analysing both components together.
Can you improve application performance?
We can help determine whether the issue lies with the database, server, network, application or the way users work.
Do you carry out work outside business hours?
We schedule work that affects system availability within agreed maintenance windows.
Does the application provider have to participate in the work?
Sometimes yes, especially when changing the data structure or optimising queries generated by the application.