BUILDING A MODERN DATABASE ENVIRONMENT

A database environment optimization for a healthcare consulting firm

Miles IT helped the Marwood Group, a healthcare-focused advisory and consulting firm, accomplish more by optimizing its database environment to prevent system crashes, mitigate data loss, and reduce redundant surface-level support tasks.

THE CHALLENGE: FILLING THE GAP

Getting a firm understanding of the database environment

The Marwood Group came to Miles IT to take over database administration responsibilities after they lost their in-house database administrator (DBA). They had a pressing need for our help as their IT management team didn’t have full insight into how their systems interact with each other or even which systems and databases were being used at a given time.

The Marwood Group also needed us to evaluate their systems and determine a way to stabilize them and provide a reliable and consistent backup solution that would protect their data as part of a robust disaster recovery plan (DRP). We needed to gain an understanding of their current environment and ensure any systems that needed maintenance and upkeep were attended to while gaining insight into their database structure and its usage.

THE SOLUTION: SCALE DOWN DBA

A plan that optimizes the environment and reduces maintenance work

After taking on the large initial volume of DBA tasks to fill the gap after staffing changes at the Marwood Group, we developed a plan that would both optimize their environment to reduce the number of databases that needed support and reduce the manual nature of the maintenance work being done. This would also help the Marwood Group scale down its DBA plan over time. To accomplish this, we took the following steps:

We analyzed and documented all databases and servers in their infrastructure for usage statistics and performance.

We identified critical aspects first and prioritized those based on usage and criticality of data.

We made recommendations for database consolidation and moving of data from servers that were overloaded to balance their environment and prevent server crash.

We provided recommendations for process automation and streamlining to help reduce the regular manual labor required to maintain the databases and various integration jobs being run.

THE RESULTS: A WELL-OILED MACHINE

A more efficient and reliable database infrastructure

After implementing our DBA solution, the Marwood Group reduced and consolidated its database infrastructure (reducing their ongoing hosting & maintenance costs). Our security and infrastructure recommendations and subsequent implementations helped reduce their risk and liability.

We also focused on escalated support tasks that were originally completed in-house and identified solutions to prevent recurring support issues, significantly reducing support costs and the overall volume of support tasks.