Larry Goldman | Senior Director, Product Marketing
We lean on our experts. When your car begins to make a grinding noise, you don’t hesitate to take it to a specialist. If a tooth starts to hurt when you chew, you make a next-day appointment with your dentist. And when your sink backs up, maybe you try to fix it, and then call the plumber once you’ve made it worse (that’s on you).
So if your enterprise database starts performing unpredictably – or you just want to know it’s healthy – why wouldn’t you bring in an outside expert to assess your risks?
Regular tests and evaluations keep your databases running at optimal levels and give you peace of mind. That’s why a third-party assessment can be so important. You deserve to have the peace of mind that comes with a healthy, well-performing database(s). Here are three steps to get you there.
Step 1: Admit You Have a Database Problem
You know regular database health checks matter. But maybe your team is overworked, understaffed, or lacking the tools and knowledge for a proper evaluation. When checks get crossed off the schedule, you increase the risk of undetected performance, stability, or security issues. The longer the wait, the more potential for serious issues – even if you’re not seeing any issues appear yet.
Ask yourself:
- Is poor database performance or downtime affecting our operations and revenue?
- Have we ever done a health check? If YES, when was the last time?
- What issues did we find and were they suitable resolved?
- When was the last time we assessed our security practices?
If you can’t or are embarrassed to answer these, you are not alone.
Step 2: Know When to Ask for Database Help
Here are a few of the signs that you need help:
- Your databases are showing clear signs of degradation, poor performance, data corruption, and security concerns, resulting in business downtime.
- Your resources and schedules are tight. Your team has told you yet again that they have to put off the database health check for another priority.
- You no longer have the in-house expertise you need to fully understand and handle potential issues for the legacy database you are running.
Step 3: Identify a Specialist You Can Trust
It’s comforting to have a mechanic, dentist, or plumber on call for an emergency. It’s even better to receive regular check-ups that detect potential issues early – before they become a real emergency.
- Do you have a database specialist you can rely on to understand your technical environment?
- If you’re currently looking at contracting with an expert database firm:
- What is their reputation in the market?
- Do they have reliable references?
- How many years of experience do their engineers have?
- Do they have expertise with your exact environment or just general knowledge?
Our Solution: The Express Health Check
Once you’ve completed these steps, you’re ready to begin. Whether you are already experiencing database problems or just want insights into the current state of your environments, a third-party risk assessment can help identify potential problems and set your mind at ease.
A good place to start is a high-level overview by trusted database experts. We call this our “Express Health Check” (see the brochure for more information). Completed quickly, a simple express review can detect the most obvious issues and offer practical recommendations.
With the recent acquisition of Dobler Consulting, Spinnaker Support now offers additional expert database services for a wider range of products than ever before. As a result, we are pleased to offer (for a limited time) you a free Express Health Check, designed to provide you with actionable results without disrupting your business.
It’s the database peace of mind you deserve from Spinnaker Support. Interested in your own Express Health Check? Register here to get started.