Nearly every business today makes use of databases. Whether it’s to store client data, sales information, or internal files, modern businesses run on data. Despite this, many businesses still do not use database administrators or administration. Some businesses see a database administrator, or DBA, as an unnecessary luxury. After all, if you installed your SQL Server with a few clicks, and have full-time IT staff you might wonder why you need a specialized DBA. DBA’s are expensive, and if you don’t have massive database needs it can be hard to justify the cost of them.
This is an unfortunate line of reasoning because using a DBA doesn’t have to be an expensive, long-term affair. And using a DBA, even in the short-term, can bring measurable, noticeable benefits to your database operations.
Best Practices For Your Database
One of the major benefits that a DBA will bring to your business is a focus on best practices. An experienced DBA will know the right settings and configurations that your database needs, giving you a higher performance than you would otherwise get from install-it-and-forget-it settings. DBA’s understand why best practices matter, and will work relentlessly to ensure your database follows them.
Improve Your Database Performance
Next, having an experienced DBA manage your database will increase overall performance, keeping users and managers happy. Need to improve your database’s speed or consistency? A DBA can do that for you. Right off the bat, a DBA can update statistics, reconfigure settings or rebuild indexes to significantly improve your database’s performance. An experienced DBA will also incorporate the appropriate planned maintenance to ensure your database continues to operate smoothly.
Disaster Prevention and Recovery
Finally, an experienced DBA will be invaluable in preventing system failures, or solving disaster situations without the need for panicked calls to out-house consultants. Using your own DBA will ensure that your systems stay up and running, and if adversity arises, DBA’s will be able to make the right fixes promptly and seamlessly. Really, just the ability to prevent disaster recoveries from occurring is worth the cost of having a DBA around.
How Can Affirma Help?
What about if you would like the support and expertise of a DBA but can’t justify the costs of hiring a full-time DBA? Luckily remote DBA’s exist just for this situation. Using a Remote DBA allows you to have the expertise and skills of a full-time DBA with the flexibility to determine how many hours of their service you’ll need.
At Affirma Consulting, we can provide remote DBA services that fit your project’s size, scope and budget. We have a variety of different plans and services that provide flexibility in scale and price. If you would like to achieve database expertise at a fraction of the cost of a full-time DBA, a remote DBA could be for you. Contact us, and a member of our team will reach out to provide a free, initial consultation.
