In response to increasing external market conditions, more enterprises are forced to turn to remote database administration (DBA) to reduce their bottom lines, yet few succeed in designing an effective cost-saving approach. This white paper will explain how to improve return on investment (ROI) using remote DBA and how to avoid the most common mistakes.

1. Handbook and Tips:
How to Optimize ROI Using Remote
DBA and Avoid the Most
Common Mistakes
Abstract:
In response to increasing external market conditions, more enterprises are forced to turn to
remote database administration (DBA) to reduce their bottom lines, yet few succeed in designing
an effective cost-saving approach. This white paper will explain how to improve return on
investment (ROI) using remote DBA and how to avoid the most common mistakes.
By Michael Fedotov,
Renat Khasanshyn,
Alex Khizhnyak
Altoros Systems, Inc.

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Table of Contents
1. Executive Summary 3
2. Why Remote DBA? 3
3. Internal DBA: Hidden Costs in Your Cost Structure 4
4. ROI: Internal vs. Remote DBA 5
5. Common Mistakes 6
6. Benchmarking Remote DBA: When and Why 8
7. About the Authors 8
8. References 10

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1. Executive Summary
Studies demonstrate that relational databases grow 3x to 5x in size every three years.
Enterprises manage a growing number of databases containing more data with increasingly
high requirements for uptime and security. In order to maximize return on investment (ROI),
companies are challenged to supplement their IT teams and re-balance their development
priorities.
The soaring amounts of work are becoming harder and harder for database administrators to
deal with, and eventually employing new personnel seems inevitable. The reality is, trying to
keep up with the progress by employing more programmers is often not the best solution
available.
One possible solution to the problem is remote database administration (DBA). Depending on
the scope of work, it can help cut DBA expenses by 40% or more without sacrificing reliability,
uptime, or the security of data.
This white paper will show why remote database administration is financially beneficial and
explain how to plan, design, and manage remote DBA initiatives and avoid the most common
mistakes.
2. Why Remote DBA?
Providing infrastructure for data storage and management,
databases have grown to be a critical component of Most of a DBA’s
companies from mom-and-pop shops to Fortune 500 workday is spent on
companies. repetitive, low-level
Often, small and mid-sized companies underestimate the role administrative
of their relational databases until they run into problems. work, whose ROI is
Safety is not the only concern when it comes to database fairly low.
administration, though. Generally speaking, most of a DBA’s
workday is spent on repetitive, low-level administrative work,
including such tasks as checking alert logs, monitoring performance logs, tuning, applying
patches, performing upgrades, installing agents, validating the backup and recovery process,
following change management procedures, and addressing requests from applications
developers, O/S administrators, and end users. These tasks are certainly critical to database
maintenance, but, ironically, while playing a crucial role in the support of an enterprise’s
infrastructure, they do not relate directly to a company’s core revenue-generating competencies.
The return on investment of employing internal database administrators, therefore, is fairly low.
Relying on remote DBA is advantageous in both of these aspects. First, it guarantees your data
is safe, since taking care of databases is the direct competence of a remote DBA server
provider. This means no unexpected expenditures caused by security issues. Second, remote
database administration is beneficial financially, ridding the enterprise of such a considerable,
yet cost-ineffective expense as keeping internal DB administrators. Depending on the amount
and specific character of work, remote DBA can help cut DBA expenses by 40% or more.

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Another huge benefit of remote DBA is round-the-clock database monitoring. 24x7 support is
rarely feasible for an enterprise’s in-house staff, both from logistical and cost positions. At the
same time, it’s often necessary, particularly for companies that provide a 24-hour interface with
customers via the Internet. Remote DBA service providers make this possible.
3. Internal DBA: Hidden Costs in Your Cost Structure
Before companies can start saving on DBA work, they should
run the numbers to realize how much they are spending.
Studies show that not many companies can assess the total Few enterprises can
cost of internal database administration correctly. assess the total cost
What most enterprises fail to realize is that there’s more to of internal database
DBA than just the salaries of the staff involved in the administration
administration process. Estimating the total cost of DBA correctly.
requires knowing more than just that. To be able to estimate
the total cost of database administration, it is important to
identify all of the costs that comprise it.
Apart from the most obvious expense—salary—there are a number of less obvious, or hidden,
costs. Most importantly, these are benefits and pay increases, which contribute to the total
cost quite considerably. More than that, taxes should also be taken into account, as well as the
office space costs.
Typically, for a newly hired database administrator, training is also required.
Although there has been a consistent trend of hardware and software costs going down, they
are still an expense to consider. Personnel costs (such as the above-mentioned salary, benefits,
and pay increase costs), by contrast, seem to be continually rising. As their share in the total
cost exceeds hardware and software costs, the expenses of an enterprise that employs an
internal database administrator are increasing, too.
The structure of internal DBA costs, therefore, looks like this:
Exhibit 3.1 Internal DBA Cost Structure
Source: Altoros Systems, Inc.

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Keeping all these factors in mind can help an enterprise form a more objective view of the total
costs of internal DBA.
4. ROI: Internal vs. Remote DBA
If a business component does not generate revenue, the ultimate way to improve its ROI is to
cut its costs. Let’s see how much, exactly, internal DBA costs, and check whether switching to
remote database administration can help an enterprise save substantially.
We will estimate every one of the elements that comprise the total cost of internal DBA:
Salary is, naturally, the biggest internal DBA expense for an enterprise.
Salary On average, reaching about $80,000 per administrator annually,
monthly salary costs come to $6,700 for each DBA employed.
Benefit The second largest DBA expense of an enterprise, benefit
Compensation compensation, typically reaches about $20,000 yearly.
Taxes With one internal DBA contractor implemented, an enterprise can
normally expect its yearly taxes to rise by $15,000.
Software and Software and hardware expenses can be quite different depending on
Hardware Costs the database solution used and the desired hardware characteristics,
but enterprises should budget at least $5,000.
Just like software and hardware costs, the costs of renting office space
Office Space
for an internal database administrator could vary, but typically in the US
Costs
office space for one DBA costs about $5,000 a year.
The initial training costs of a database administrator are estimated at
Training Costs
approximately $3,000.
The total cost of an internal DBA, therefore, comprises about $113,000 a year for one
administrator. Typically, one database administrator is employed per every 20 relational
databases, so companies that operate a larger number of databases can spend about $226,000
or $339,000—or more on internal DBA.
Remote DBA costs vary depending on the service provider, and complexity and scope of the
work. Most service providers charge on average about $65,000–$90,000 annually. Of course, if
the number or size of databases is uncommonly big, or if additional features are being
implemented, the amount could increase—just as the spending on internal DBA would.
Enterprises can save up to 45% of their spending on DBA by relying on remote administrators
instead of one internal employee, and even more if there are two or three internal
administrators.

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Exhibit 4.1 Internal DBA (One Employee) vs. Remote DBA Costs
140000 TotalCost2
120000
Total Cost
100000
80000 Training Costs
60000
Office Space Costs
40000
Hardware Software
20000
0 Taxes
Internal DBA Remote DBA
Source: Altoros Systems, Inc.
Realizing the benefits of remote DBA, many enterprises that had previously relied on internal
DBA staff, switched to outsourcing relational databases, creating a new trend in database
management. The number of remote DBA solutions available is steadily increasing, too, and
has already created a new market with quite a range of offerings. It is important not to make a
fatal mistake when choosing from this wide selection, though.
5. Common Mistakes
5.1 Remote DBA Service Provider Mistakes
1) Avoiding responsibility
A service provider is always fully responsible for the service implementation process.
Some service providers try to avoid legal accountability for their work, since this protects
them from many risks. Enterprises should keep in mind that such policies also deprive
them of their rights to claim indemnity for any deviation from the remote DBA process,
should it occur.
2) Referring to an intermediary
The relationship between a client company and a remote DBA service provider, in a
sense, is very intimate. You can’t defer to a third party to manage such a relationship.
Sometimes, as soon as a deal is signed, a managerial team, different from the remote
DBA team, takes over the relationship. This is undesirable as long as you want to
maintain contact with the remote DBA team itself—and you normally do, since they are
the ones who do the job and who you have employed to do it.
5.2 Client Enterprise Mistakes
1) Inadequate readiness assessment
It is critical that an enterprise’s readiness is assessed adequately, the choice of the
databases to be outsourced is weighed, and the strategy of remote DBA is well thought-

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over and accepted. If these conditions are not fulfilled, outsourcing database
administration can be more of a hassle or even a threat to an enterprise’s database’s
effective functioning than its catalyst.
2) Unrealistic cost expectations
Remote DBA is cost-effective, but one has to be rational Some remote DBA
about the extent of economy it guarantees. For several teams propose costs
years now, the business press has been claiming that IT that are half as
work costing $50-$80 an hour in the United States can
be done for $20-$35 an hour in India or Russia. If these
costly as employing
numbers sound too good to be true, that’s because they a full-time DBA, but
usually are. IT executives should expect to pay an it’s not rare that the
additional 5 percent to 15 percent on managing an
lower cost is made
offshore remote DBA program, at least during the first
year. The transition phase will add costs, too: planned up for by poor
expenses should cover diligence, transfer of knowledge, service.
and extensive program management.
3) Relying too much on executive contact
Once a company has decided to outsource the administration of its databases, usually
there is a rush to get the deal done and put the transaction on the fast track. To do so,
executives from the company and the outsourcer meet, agree, and leave sorting out all
the details of such a relationship to the management phase of the deal. Yet, it is
advisable that more of the enterprise's human resources be involved in these initial
meetings and have a say in the agreement; just the top-level executives are rarely
enough.
4) Not letting the remote DBA team lead the process
In trying to lead the database administration process, enterprises forget that when
outsourcing it, they, basically, chose to shift this job onto a third-party team. A client
company should be aware that with any outsourcing, it passes the job-to-be-done to a
service provider and then buys the job-that-is-already-done from this provider, and the
surest way to break the relationship is by dictating how this job is to be done.
5) Signing a deal with too long a term
The longer the contract terms, the deeper a company gets in it. Building up a long-run
strategy is important, but on the other hand, if a long-time deal is clinched, it absolutely
should allow for changes to the agreement terms over short periods of time. It is
generally considered even better for an enterprise to develop a close relationship with an
outsourcing company, but sign a short-term contract that can be easily negotiated and, if
necessary, renegotiated or even broken.
6) Improper process management
It is a mistake to assume that once all the details of a remote DBA deal are discussed
and the contract is signed, you do not have to worry about database administration any
longer. A person should be assigned to manage the process. The right person for the job
is someone who understands the process and is able to focus on the results that best
match the interests of the company. He or she should also have the foresight to
recognize any possible problems before they actually occur.

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7) Treating the outsourcer as an outsider
Far too often an enterprise forgets that the remote DBA service provider is a business
asset and must be treated as such. A remote DBA team is a vital part of a successful
business, and it should be treated accordingly, not as one of the many suppliers, etc.
6. Benchmarking Remote DBA: When and Why
When an enterprise decides to switch to remote DBA, it typically expects that doing so will help
to save a sizable part of the budget previously allocated for database administration. While
generally the financial benefits of remote DBA are beyond doubt, it is a mistake for an
enterprise to think that just clinching the deal guarantees savings. Although some remote DBA
teams can propose costs that are half as much as employing a full-time database administrator,
the true price of these cost savings is generally poor service. Benchmarking is required to
provide a baseline of costs and service levels. An enterprise can use it to compare the results
delivered with the results within the industry, and consequently negotiate or renegotiate the
outsourcing deal.
When negotiating, benchmarking knowledge ensures that adequate expectations are set for
cost, performance, and the quality of service. When an enterprise has decided to switch to
remote DBA and does not intend to carry out a painstaking investigation—wishing instead to
move on through the negotiations quickly—benchmarking data can be used as a guide.
Once a deal has been settled, benchmarking can be used for contract refinement. Most
outsourcing contracts are renegotiated within two years of being signed. The main reasons for
renegotiation are typically dissatisfaction with cost or service quality. Referring to benchmarking
data is the main way to make a case with the remote DBA team when renegotiating the
contract.
This is why it makes sense that the requirement for benchmarking be included in the final terms
of a remote DBA contract. In this case, one can expect that realistic expectations help to bring
about a positive outcome.
7. About the Authors
Michael Fedotov is Technology Evangelist at Altoros Systems, Inc. and has been working as a
freelance journalist for a number of IT-related periodicals since 2003, covering next to all
aspects of IT, specifically software developments, in an abundance of articles. He has taken
part in several scientific conferences and provided services for many more participants creating
their presentations. He also has experience working as an interpreter and is currently studying
Japanese.
Alex Khizhnyak is Chief Evangelist at Altoros Systems, Inc. and co-founder of the Belarus Java
User Group. Since 1998, he has gained experience as an author, editor, media specialist, event
manager, conference speaker, and blogger. So far, his education background combines IT,
programming, economics, and journalism.
Renat Khasanshyn is the founder and CEO of Altoros Systems, Inc. Mr. Khasanshyn speaks
frequently at a wide range of events, and recently was selected as a finalist for the 2007

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Emerging Executive of the Year award by the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council.
Prior to founding Altoros Systems, Mr. Khasanshyn was VP of Engineering for Tampa-based
insurance company, PriMed, Inc. Mr. Khasanshyn is a co-founder of the Belarus Java User
Group and studied Engineering at Belarusian State Technical University.
Altoros Systems, Inc. is a global software delivery acceleration specialist that provides focused
outsourced software product engineering, independent Quality Assurance, and testing services
to software organizations and information-driven enterprises. Founded in 1999 and
headquartered in Western Massachusetts, Altoros has representative offices in Tampa, Florida.
It manages a software development center in Eastern Europe out of its offices in Minsk,
Belarus. For more information, please visit www.altoros.com.

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8. References
1) Renat Khasanshyn. How to Design & Manage a Strategic Outsourcing Program and
Avoid Common Mistakes: Handbook and Tips. (Altoros Systems, Inc., 2006)
2) MySQL Statement of Work. Remote DBA Service. (MySQL)