Who’s accountable for your Oracle and Microsoft SQL Server databases? What’s the risk of a serious issue emerging when your internal IT team is swamped? Who takes all the preemptive steps needed to keep your database finely tuned and always available?

These are serious questions facing many organizations due to budget challenges, burgeoning DBA workloads and increasingly complex database technology. Many organizations are looking for alternatives to offset some of the burden and training expenses associated with database administration, as well as fill any skills gaps.

“Mission-critical databases cannot be down for hours at a time. Yet, few organizations have the resources for 24x7 monitoring or access to certified Oracle and SQL Server experts to troubleshoot problems after hours or on an emergency basis. What’s more, keeping your internal DBA team up-to-date with the latest training, patches and alerts can be a costly and time-consuming endeavor,” said Vince Conroy, CTO, FusionStorm.

“Staffing up to deal with unforeseen emergencies may appear to support your needs, but a large staff is inefficient when mostly idle. Keeping your support team lean is cost-effective, but leaves you vulnerable when overflow work and after-hours issues surface unpredictably. With DBA Xpress from FusionStorm, you can access database expertise when needed, but keep your IT staff focused on long-term objectives.”

Help When Needed

DBA Xpress provides database administration, management and troubleshooting for a fixed monthly fee that costs far less than hiring just one full-time DBA. FusionStorm’s team of Oracle and Microsoft-certified experts represents the most cost-effective solution for professional support, full-time coverage and ongoing preventive maintenance.

“We’re never ‘sick,’ ‘on vacation,’ or ‘unavailable.’ We’re there when you need us — for routine administration, to answer your questions, or to solve major issues in a matter of hours,” said Conroy. “What’s more, we keep your database support costs predictable even when workflow is uneven.”

The core of the DBA Xpress offering is proactive 24x7 remote monitoring and alert management that is designed to quickly isolate and resolve issues. Around-the-clock help desk support is also available for quick answers, rapid problem resolution and custom services when needed. FusionStorm will address mission-critical programs within one hour and non-mission-critical issues within 12 hours.

However, DBA Xpress is not a reactive solution. FusionStorm’s experts perform regular preventive maintenance, performance tuning, backup process monitoring, and other routine services your team might tend to overlook or lack the bandwidth to perform on schedule. In addition, regular weekly status reports provide complete visibility into usage patterns to alert you to impending challenges and help you plan for the most effective upgrades.

“With DBA Xpress there are no offshore call centers, no pagers, no beginners. You can reach a live expert in our U.S.-based NOC on a 24x7 basis,” Conroy said. “DBA Xpress smoothes out your IT workflow and gives you more time to focus on your core strategic initiatives with flexible, fixed-fee service plans that are customized for your specific needs.”

Filling Support Gaps

FusionStorm can support all of your database configurations — single-instance implementations on small servers, large database clusters in a SAN environment, Oracle Real Application Clusters (RAC), SQL Server Clusters and “warm-standby” configurations. In addition, FusionStorm can implement Oracle 8i, 9i and 10g database servers with RAC, or Microsoft SQL Server 2005 or 2008, and provide backup strategy and disaster recovery and continuity planning services to assure that “warm” and “hot” standby sites are always available.

“FusionStorm offers managed services to suit virtually any technology — with support for hosting, security, communications, networking and applications,” Conroy said. “To save you time and money, we customize managed services such as DBA Xpress through our four-point methodology that includes assessing your business and technology needs, designing a customized solution that matches your needs and budget, integrating the right solution into your existing environment and systems, and supporting your needs through our 24x7 monitoring, management and problem resolution.”

FusionStorm DBA Xpress is designed for customers that need a database administrator but can’t justify the cost of a full-time DBA, or who need to augment their existing DBA staff for “overflow” work, vacations or 24x7 coverage. FusionStorm’s team of professional, certified DBAs becomes an extension of your staff to assist with 24x7 proactive monitoring of your database environment, ongoing administration, management, performance tuning, troubleshooting and problem resolution for your critical databases.