It’s necessary to ask tough questions related to three key areas as part of database management and monitoring. The remote DBA provider’s answers will be a strong indicator of the quality of service you can expect to receive. You can use this information as a high-level checklist to create a strong short list of providers.

1. IT LEADER TOOLKIT
IT LEADER TOOLKIT:
TOUGH QUESTIONS TO
ASK YOUR REMOTE
DBA PROVIDER
It’s necessary to ask tough questions related to three key
areas as part of database management and monitoring.
The remote DBA provider’s answers will be a strong indicator
of the quality of service you can expect to receive.
You can use this information as a high-level checklist to create
a strong short list of providers.
www.manageforce.com

2. IT LEADER TOOLKIT
Introduction
When most people think about strategic information, they don’t normally associate the underlying
database technology with anytime-availability of the data that they need (e.g., SLAs, configuration,
best practices, administration, scalability). End-users and C-levels alike expect their business
intelligence to be quickly accessible without having to worry—now more than ever. So, how do you
help to ensure 24x7 access to your company’s data, as part of your plan for high availability of an
ever-growing volume of data?


A trusted resource who knows your operations inside and out when database changes are
required
A senior-level, dedicated DBA team to call, no matter what time it is, when something goes
wrong
In order to source the above resources, it’s necessary to ask some pretty tough questions related to
three key areas, as outlined below. The remote DBA provider’s answers will be a strong indicator of
the quality of service you can expect to receive. You can use this information as a high-level
checklist, of sorts.
1. Dedicated, Senior Experts
You need on-demand access to proven remote DBA experts to balance strategic initiatives and
ongoing database challenges. Will the provider:



Provide a dedicated team of remote DBA experts who are assigned to your organization?
Disclose the average number of years’ of DBA experience of all team members?
Offer the assigned team and back-up resources on a fixed-fee basis?
2. Custom SLAs, Extended Availability, and Elasticity of Services
Similar to managed services, you need direct, anytime-access to skilled DBA resources to manage
your database environments—whether it’s to troubleshoot an issue or to accommodate off-hours
testing. And those needs vary by industry, region, and many other factors, which makes customizable
SLAs crucial. Database services should scale up or down as you need them—from off-hours
monitoring to strategic senior-level DBA services.
For example, a retail company might require on-demand, 24x7 support during holiday peak months.
A public accounting firm might need intensive support January through April, through tax season.
Alternatively, a manufacturer might need extra support during the implementation of an inventory
tracking database during production hours to help ensure accuracy. In other words, your provider
should be available when your lights are on or your needs spike. Ask your remote DBA provider to
define:






Standard service levels
Options for custom service levels
Severity levels by incident type
Lights-on and lights-off support hours, along with response times
Escalation procedures
Back-up and recovery service levels
www.manageforce.com

3. IT LEADER TOOLKIT
3. Well-Defined Roles, Practices, and Procedures
Designing a detailed scope of work (SOW), process flows, best practices, daily maintenance, and
agreed-upon procedures based on your database challenges is imperative. Your remote DBA
provider should thoroughly describe the following areas as part of planning your assessment and
support.
Lifecycle Management
Technical Assessment
Will the remote DBA provider perform a comprehensive audit of your environment? This audit will
include the assessment and documentation of:




System architecture
Database software configurations and release levels
Maintenance operations
Proposed remediation plan (for best practices tuning and/or enhancements)
Space Management
Will your remote DBA provider manage any space issues specific to your requirements? This will
include the following:




Tables
Indexes
Logs
Freespace
System Updates and New Installations
Will your provider address the following:



Installations
Security patches
Software updates
o Patch
o Version upgrades
Data Management (Backup and Recovery)
Will your provider assist in backing up and recovering your database in accordance with defined
SLAs, as discussed above. This includes:


Database backups
o Simple
o Bulk logging
o Full
Complete recovery
www.manageforce.com

4. IT LEADER TOOLKIT

Incomplete recovery
o Point-in-time
o Transaction-based
Monitoring and Performance Management
Your provider should create a comprehensive monitoring and performance management plan, as
well as identify and manage performance tuning opportunities, including, but not limited to:








Long-running application requests
Tuning memory usage
Tuning database data storage
Lock contention
Sorting
Validating table structures, as necessary
Identity top database resource consumers
Database options, including business intelligence and other technologies
Configuration Management
Your provider should maintain and administer all database administration aspects of your
environment including:










Security maintenance
User ID and role maintenance
Data file maintenance
Log file maintenance
Integrity checks
Statistics maintenance
Index maintenance
Table maintenance
Stored procedure maintenance
Scheduled job maintenance
Database Administration Services
Support Management – Troubleshooting
Your provider should assist in advanced troubleshooting, working closely with you to identify and
resolve any system issues. The provider should also help to coordinate communication of problems
and incidents to your database software vendor. This could include the following activities:




Problem and incident management
Root cause analysis (RCA) documentation
Proactive bug alerts
Problem analysis support
www.manageforce.com

5. IT LEADER TOOLKIT
Project Services
Your provider should operate with an elastic support model in order to assist with project work for
specialized needs, large or small, which are typically impossible to predict. From server consolidation
to distributed databases, and everything in between, behind-the-scenes support as your Big Data
approach evolves will help position you as the business intelligence hero for your organization. After
all, your organization’s specific definition of Big Data depends on:




The current capacity of your environment
The size of the data sets that need to be managed
The real business applications of the data and how they relate to the goals of your
organization, e.g., strategic decision making, revenue-driving initiatives
Expectations of heavy consumers of information
There is a lot to consider when it comes to your new data management strategies and
maintenance. Right-sourcing ensures you are prepared to help manage growing database demands,
have access to the right Big Data technology (when needed), and equipped to head-off unexpected
challenges.
ManageForce On-Demand DBA Services
We're here to help. With deep business and technical expertise, sound financials, and strong
business ethics, our database services leverage deep experience in supporting the world’s most
demanding database needs to develop leading Oracle, SQL Server, DB2, and MySQL support
services.
Our database services can scale up or down as you need them. ManageForce helps organizations
worldwide, including Fortune 500, public sector, and SMBs, to plan, implement, monitor, and
manage their databases via a cost-effective, proven global delivery model. Our experience and
expertise as a leading database administration organization can help you achieve measurable
results—and maximum performance—from your database.



Databases: Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, IBM DB2, MySQL, and Hadoop
Platforms: AS400/iSeries, Windows, UNIX, and Linux
Services: Monitoring, production support, reporting and BI, cloud computing, and Big Data
Have questions? We’re ready to help! Contact us:
Phone: 1-877-351-4491
E-mail: info@manageforce.com
Connect with us:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ManageForce
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/manageforce
Google+: https://plus.google.com/112139061558210508997/posts
SlideShare: http://www.slideshare.net/ManageForce
© 2013 ManageForce
www.manageforce.comCorporation.
All rights reserved. All marks are the property of their respective owners. 121713