WHAT

YOU DON’T

KNOW ABOUT

YOUR DATABASE

ENVIRONMENT

WILL SCARE YOU

> Emergency change process > Testing procedures > Source control > Account privileges and

database ownership > Storage and capacity

> Backup and recovery intervals > Compliance practices > Server configuration > Regular maintenance, e.g., hotfixes > Documentation > Security holes

Learn more about what you have in place for:

“SO, WHAT’S

BURIED INSIDE THE

AVERAGE DATABASE

ENVIRONMENT AND

ITS PROCESSES?

AND WHY SHOULD I

ANALYZE MINE?”

Tactical Benefits Uncover hidden costs or reduce costs by scaling back where you’ve over-provisioned or your back-up intervals can be longer. Migrating data significantly introduces the risk of errors—you can better manage change after you assess data integrity and address code errors.

Strategic Benefits Availability of data and application performance are now key indicators of an IT organization’s performance. Make sure you stay in front of your constituents’ needs and confirm your database is part of your disaster recovery plan.

Short-Term Benefits Make informed decisions about storage and staffing needs by understanding both the current state, trends, and processes in your environment. Cover security holes in your database. Update your database

Long-Term Benefits Internal SLAs and new technology adoption will likely need to become more aggressive to keep pace with expectations. You can better align your infrastructure budget with demand vs. database performance issues.

Signs that a healthcheck of your

database environment is needed:

> End-user experience is deteriorating, as application performance problems often lead back to the database and are difficult to find.

> Data needs are outstripping your current capabilities. Large databases need more tuning, backup, recovery, and upgrade support.

> Compliance or security policy is in question. > Documentation is missing, incomplete, or confusing. > Some database instances are unstable or performance is lagging.

A HEALTHCHECK DELIVERS BUSINESS

BENEFITS AND MANAGES RISK

WHAT A HEALTHCHECK CAN UNCOVER

ABOUT YOUR DATABASE ENVIRONMENT

Change, Configuration, and Release

Management Documented processes exist for changing applications and systems in a predictable fashion with minimal or no interruption in service. A lack of change management is major cause of data center failures. This can lead to introduction of bugs and impact application availability.

High Availability

Based on your needs and industry benchmarks, we analyze your processes and coverage by looking at the following metrics: > System availability specifics/requirements > Acceptable data loss > Recovery time (RTO) for specific systems

Security Assessment Surprisingly, unnecessary user privileges, week password policy, and out-of-date security updates are still common security risks found during healthchecks. A weak security foundation may lead to a security breach such as data loss, data disclosure, loss of system availability, corruption of data, and more.

Capacity and Storage Management A lack of capacity and storage management will result in increased downtime without forecasting when additional storage or server resource capacity might be needed. We analyze database application usage patterns, document current network bandwidth, determine if additional hardware might be needed based on historical usage.

Compliance Assessment If internal controls are in place, such as Sarbanes Oxley (SOX), not adhering to the policies and procedures can result in problems during an audit process. We can work with your internal team members to document policies and/or common procedures that apply to the database environment.

Backup and Recovery We can help retool your backup strategy to save costs or meet aggressive restoration points, based on your precise needs. At a minimum, we check that: > Every database has a documented backup/restore plan. > Support is available 24x7, and redundancy is built in. > Database maintenance (index and integrity) is routine. > Regular tasks are automated through jobs and alerts. > Transaction log backups are configured and scheduled for

all critical production systems.

Documentation Your dedicated, senior-level DBA will provide documentation that covers assessment of all the areas mentioned above, along with supported sites, all contact information, recommendations for remediation, server-specific configurations, an analysis of current and future system updates, a listing of high privilege login accounts, databases housed on C drives, and database owners.

Healthcheck Phases

Our heathcheck methodology

focuses on the delivery of best

practices relative to your current

environment and is conducted in

five phases:

1. Discovery

2. Analysis

3. Draft

4. Review

5. Remediation

Discovery – Meet with key IT staff to understand the application requirements based on existing and future business processes.

Analysis – Review all system and database logs, statistics, configuration parameters, and business processes to make observations or recommendations, according to the criteria defined in the objectives.

Draft – Observations and recommendations are used to develop the assessment document; review session held with key ManageForce personnel.

Review – A review session is scheduled to discuss the deliverable with you, guide you through the documentation, and cover Q&A.

Remediation – Final recommendations, including potential benefits and risks, are presented to you. You can determine next steps for your database environment and ask follow-up questions.

What you can expect:

OUR METHODOLOGY

DATABASE

EXPERTS…

AND MORE “ManageForce has been instrumental in helping us to gradually convert our strategic mainframe based (ADABAS/NATURAL) applications to a Microsoft SQL Server and .Net platform. ManageForce's flexible service offerings allow me to tap them for assistance 'On-Demand' when we require assistance, helping us to avoid the typical consulting model of expensive 40 hour per week, time & material engagements. ManageForce is a reliable business partner that we know we can count on. ”

Jim Wilson, IT Director Norfolk Southern Corporation

“We’ve learned the hard way how difficult it can be to find high quality Oracle Database Administrators in today’s marketplace, so we reached out to ManageForce to help us with this effort. In a very quick period of time, and in a very cost-effective manner, ManageForce was able to help us solve this burning need. As a result, they’ve earned our trust as a partner, and we’ve continued to reach out to them for future IT requirements.”

Dan Johnson, IT Director Dayton Power & Light

Complete service set:

Monitoring,

administration,

performance, and

strategic projects

U.S.-based DBAs with

10+ years’ experience;

leading technology and

comprehensive tools

Our People

> Our average turnover rate is

less than three percent.

> The average experience level

of our employees is 10+

years and all are U.S. based.

> We’ve supported the needs

of enterprise/Fortune 500,

SMBs, and public sector.

> Database experts have been

employed by technology

leaders and the Fortune

1000.

> The latest technology, as well

as proprietary best practices

and systems, are part of our

business model.

Our Approach

> Our database services can be

bundled or scaled, starting

from monitoring.

> We design a unique scope of

work (SOW) and elastic

support model for you.

> Our custom SLAs are based

on your industry, region, and

other needs.

> All engagements are

assigned a dedicated

technical subject matter

expert.

> Availability through nights,

weekends, holidays, and

time zones.

True Cost Savings

> Fixed-fee, simple pricing

model prevents overruns,

surprises, and budgeting

headaches.

> We do not require a 40-hour

per-week minimum.

> You can immediately reduce

net-operating expenses,

including time-off, benefits,

turnover, and training.

> We understand all levels of

your stack to speed root-

cause analysis.

> Full database support really

is possible for 20-30% less

than a full-time employee.

Simple pricing: Fixed fee

with no surprises or

weekly minimums;

custom service bundles

HOW WE’RE DIFFERENT

Ready to get started? We’re ready to help.

1-877-351-4491

info@managforce.com www.manageforce.com Database Services Data Sheet (PDF)