Enterprises have become increasingly pressured by external market conditions in developing a remote database administration strategy, yet few succeed in designing an effective cost-saving approach. This whitepaper will explain how to improve return on investment using remote DBA, and avoid most common mistakes implementing and managing it.
How to Optimize ROI Using Remote DBA and Avoid the Most Common MistakesAltoros
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.
Gaining financial and operational efficiencies through centralized processing. Lisa Baergen, APR
Centralized processing and divisional accounting has become a popular area of investigation for many multi-location/ multi-entity organizations
who struggle with the challenges of optimizing operational efficiencies and control within their disconnected organizations.
This White Paper takes a look at the challenges companies face with multiple entities today, some of the common solutions offered and will also suggest a framework for determining the critical components of centralized processing that are vital to your organization’s health.
Optimizing Your Database Performance | Embarcadero TechnologiesMichael Findling
In complex enterprise environments standards to keep databases running at peak performance fall short, especially when multiple types of databases are present. Greg Keller, chief evangelist for DatabaseGear Products at Embarcadero Technologies explains why database performance is important to the business, and describes new solutions that keep data environments running at peak performance.
DBTA talked with Greg Nerpouni, Embarcadero Technologies’ senior product manager, to better understand how DBAs can best meet the new challenges for database performance optimization.
Until recently, costs
for management
and administration
represented the largest
percentage of total IT
spending. However, that
is no longer the case.
Many companies are
taking advantage of new
products and features to
significantly reduce the
amount of time and effort
spent on management
and administration. Is
your organization doing
the same?
How to Optimize ROI Using Remote DBA and Avoid the Most Common MistakesAltoros
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.
Gaining financial and operational efficiencies through centralized processing. Lisa Baergen, APR
Centralized processing and divisional accounting has become a popular area of investigation for many multi-location/ multi-entity organizations
who struggle with the challenges of optimizing operational efficiencies and control within their disconnected organizations.
This White Paper takes a look at the challenges companies face with multiple entities today, some of the common solutions offered and will also suggest a framework for determining the critical components of centralized processing that are vital to your organization’s health.
Optimizing Your Database Performance | Embarcadero TechnologiesMichael Findling
In complex enterprise environments standards to keep databases running at peak performance fall short, especially when multiple types of databases are present. Greg Keller, chief evangelist for DatabaseGear Products at Embarcadero Technologies explains why database performance is important to the business, and describes new solutions that keep data environments running at peak performance.
DBTA talked with Greg Nerpouni, Embarcadero Technologies’ senior product manager, to better understand how DBAs can best meet the new challenges for database performance optimization.
Until recently, costs
for management
and administration
represented the largest
percentage of total IT
spending. However, that
is no longer the case.
Many companies are
taking advantage of new
products and features to
significantly reduce the
amount of time and effort
spent on management
and administration. Is
your organization doing
the same?
Top 10 Mistakes When Implementing a DAM Solutiondatabasics
This is a report of some of the most common digital asset management (DAM) implementation mistakes, sourced from phone interviews with 32 companies that had implemented DAM in the last 5 years.
Maintec Technologies operates a software development center in Bangalore, India, to provide clients comprehensive Data Center Management, Application Development, Support & Maintenance Services.
Server virtualization upends this serial relationship. With server virtualization, a
hypervisor dynamically creates multiple, isolated software instances, or virtual machines
(VMs), on a single server. This abstraction allows multiple workloads to simultaneously
share the server's resources. By interleaving the ebb and flow of multiple workloads,
server utilization rates can be dramatically and permanently improved. In addition, server
sprawl can, for a period of time, be reversed.
Why Midsize Companies Need Business Intelligence Solutions in this uncertain ...FindWhitePapers
Learn how midsize companies are putting in place a business intelligence information infrastructure - making them more likely to adhere to their budgets and deadlines, concentrate on improving the overall business rather than just one department, and reward employees accordingly.
Information Management aaS AIIM First Canadian presentationChristopher Wynder
High level talk given at AIIM Canada's breakfast event March 23, 2017.
The talk goes through the challenges of information management in the era of BYOD and cloud services. The last part of the talk is how to start with a small but impactful project to show the value of IMaaS.
From reactive to proactive IT management: ProactiveNet
Optimize application performance by learning and baselining application behavior; predicting problems before they occur; pinpointing root cause; and initiating standardized triage and resolution.
How Intelligent Operations Enables Proactive Data Center ManagementITOutcomes
CIOs often live and die by the data center’s performance and availability numbers.
Nine out of 10 respondents to a 2014 survey of data center professionals showed that service availability is highly critical to their performance.
But at the same time, 41 percent of organizations missed their service availability goals for mission-critical systems in 2013. Not surprisingly, organizations with higher service availability goals were significantly less successful in meeting their goal.
But here’s a new way of thinking about improving data center metrics: IT departments should no longer be concerned with improving system performance and reducing downtime for its own sake. Rather, consider these as metrics for enabling IT to deliver more of what the business needs, when it needs it.
In other words, it’s time to transform infrastructure and application measurements from tactical to strategic metrics.
As modern database change management techniques for the Sybase DBA become more sophisticated, there is an inherent need for practitioners to be aware of the increasingly powerful tools available to them.
and Scott Walz of Embarcadero rifle through their DBA toolkit and sharpen up a few blades for us. Equipping oneself with a robust set of tools is an important step in developing a modern and effective database change management solution.
Making Information Management The Foundation Of The Future (Master Data Manag...William McKnight
More complex and demanding business environments lead to more heterogeneous systems environments. This, in turn, results in requirements to synchronize master data. Master Data Management (MDM) is an essential discipline to get a single, consistent view of an enterprise\’s core business entities – customers, products, suppliers, and employees. MDM solutions enable enterprise-wide master data synchronization. Given that effective master data for any subject area requires input from multiple applications and business units, enterprise master data needs a formal management system. Business approval, business process change, and capture of master data at optimal, early points in the data lifecycle are essential to achieving true enterprise master data.
Database Administrator: Job Description, Salary and Future ScopeHR Krutika Meheta
What does a database administrator do?
A Database Administrator (DBA) is the sole cause for the performance, reliability and protection of an information source. They will also be involved in the planning and growth and development of the information, as well as problem fixing for any problems regarding the users.
Database administrator: job description, salary and future scopeHR Krutika Meheta
What does a database administrator do?
A Database Administrator (DBA) is the sole cause for the performance, reliability and protection of an information source. They will also be involved in the planning and growth and development of the information, as well as problem fixing for any problems regarding the users.
Top 10 Mistakes When Implementing a DAM Solutiondatabasics
This is a report of some of the most common digital asset management (DAM) implementation mistakes, sourced from phone interviews with 32 companies that had implemented DAM in the last 5 years.
Maintec Technologies operates a software development center in Bangalore, India, to provide clients comprehensive Data Center Management, Application Development, Support & Maintenance Services.
Server virtualization upends this serial relationship. With server virtualization, a
hypervisor dynamically creates multiple, isolated software instances, or virtual machines
(VMs), on a single server. This abstraction allows multiple workloads to simultaneously
share the server's resources. By interleaving the ebb and flow of multiple workloads,
server utilization rates can be dramatically and permanently improved. In addition, server
sprawl can, for a period of time, be reversed.
Why Midsize Companies Need Business Intelligence Solutions in this uncertain ...FindWhitePapers
Learn how midsize companies are putting in place a business intelligence information infrastructure - making them more likely to adhere to their budgets and deadlines, concentrate on improving the overall business rather than just one department, and reward employees accordingly.
Information Management aaS AIIM First Canadian presentationChristopher Wynder
High level talk given at AIIM Canada's breakfast event March 23, 2017.
The talk goes through the challenges of information management in the era of BYOD and cloud services. The last part of the talk is how to start with a small but impactful project to show the value of IMaaS.
From reactive to proactive IT management: ProactiveNet
Optimize application performance by learning and baselining application behavior; predicting problems before they occur; pinpointing root cause; and initiating standardized triage and resolution.
How Intelligent Operations Enables Proactive Data Center ManagementITOutcomes
CIOs often live and die by the data center’s performance and availability numbers.
Nine out of 10 respondents to a 2014 survey of data center professionals showed that service availability is highly critical to their performance.
But at the same time, 41 percent of organizations missed their service availability goals for mission-critical systems in 2013. Not surprisingly, organizations with higher service availability goals were significantly less successful in meeting their goal.
But here’s a new way of thinking about improving data center metrics: IT departments should no longer be concerned with improving system performance and reducing downtime for its own sake. Rather, consider these as metrics for enabling IT to deliver more of what the business needs, when it needs it.
In other words, it’s time to transform infrastructure and application measurements from tactical to strategic metrics.
As modern database change management techniques for the Sybase DBA become more sophisticated, there is an inherent need for practitioners to be aware of the increasingly powerful tools available to them.
and Scott Walz of Embarcadero rifle through their DBA toolkit and sharpen up a few blades for us. Equipping oneself with a robust set of tools is an important step in developing a modern and effective database change management solution.
Making Information Management The Foundation Of The Future (Master Data Manag...William McKnight
More complex and demanding business environments lead to more heterogeneous systems environments. This, in turn, results in requirements to synchronize master data. Master Data Management (MDM) is an essential discipline to get a single, consistent view of an enterprise\’s core business entities – customers, products, suppliers, and employees. MDM solutions enable enterprise-wide master data synchronization. Given that effective master data for any subject area requires input from multiple applications and business units, enterprise master data needs a formal management system. Business approval, business process change, and capture of master data at optimal, early points in the data lifecycle are essential to achieving true enterprise master data.
Database Administrator: Job Description, Salary and Future ScopeHR Krutika Meheta
What does a database administrator do?
A Database Administrator (DBA) is the sole cause for the performance, reliability and protection of an information source. They will also be involved in the planning and growth and development of the information, as well as problem fixing for any problems regarding the users.
Database administrator: job description, salary and future scopeHR Krutika Meheta
What does a database administrator do?
A Database Administrator (DBA) is the sole cause for the performance, reliability and protection of an information source. They will also be involved in the planning and growth and development of the information, as well as problem fixing for any problems regarding the users.
Illusion of communication for sql server db asJen Stirrup
This presentation was never finished, but I thought I'd share it in case it might be helpful to someone else. It needs work on ITIL and MDW. email me via comment box on www.jenstirrup.com if you have any qs
In complex enterprise environments standards to keep databases running at peak performance fall short, especially when multiple types of databases are present. Greg Keller, chief evangelist for DatabaseGear Products at Embarcadero Technologies explains why database performance is important to the business, and describes new solutions that keep data environments running at peak performance.
DBaaS in the Real World: Risks, Rewards & TradeoffsScyllaDB
What do you give up – and gain – when moving to a fully-managed cloud database?
Now that database-as-a-Service (DBaaS) offerings have been “battle tested” in production, how is the reality matching up to the expectation? What can teams thinking of adopting a fully-managed DBaaS can learn from teams who have years of experience working with this deployment model?
Join this webinar to dive into the reality of working with various high-performance DBaaS offerings. We’ll cover the following topics, all supported with real-world examples:
- Developer flexibility
- Cost variability
- Security & privacy
- Performance impact
- Transparency & troubleshooting
DBA on the Cloud – Is this the Present and the Future!Durga Prasad Tumu
This Article discusses about the Present and Future scenarios of DBA combined with cloud.To find more of these type of Interesting Technical Articles you can find them http://blog.amzur.com
This session will explore both the strategic and practical aspects of how the DBA role is impacted with the adoption of DevOps. Firsthand experiences from a DBA and the organizational learning gained during these transitions will be featured during the presentation.
Why Now May Be The Time To Consider A Managed Services Approach to Database A...Datavail
In January 2014, Datavail commissioned Forrester Consulting to evaluate the viability of a managed service approach to database administration. With the explosion in the variety, velocity and volume of data and databases, coupled with the scarcity of DBA talent, the time is right to consider an alternative approach to managing databases. Forrester Consulting conducted the survey of executives in mid to large enterprises who are using managed services to augment their in-house DBA.
Forrester Principal Analyst Noel Yuhanna
shares the results of the study which include:
Improved SLAs – in some cases, dramatically improved
Consistent 24×7 coverage
Deep expertise in areas where in-house staff needed assistance
Multi-platform expertise
Improved retention of on-staff DBAs
How cloud databases and Database as a Service (DBaaS) are changing the responsibilities of the modern Database Administrator.
Presented by Frank Days of EnterpriseDB at Gartner Catalyst, August 2018.
Postgres Vision 2018: The Changing Role of the DBA in the CloudEDB
Not that long ago, DBAs were the gateway to all things database related for enterprises. With the advent of the cloud, automation and DevOps, the DBAs role and responsibilities are rapidly evolving. In this presentation delivered at Postgres Vision 2018, Ken Rugg, Chief Product & Strategy Officer at EDB, explored the 10 most significant ways the role of the DBA has changed and what new, higher value skills a DBA will need be ready for epic change.
Download White Paper : CMDB Implementations - A Tale of Two ExtremesServiceDesk Plus
One of the "quality problems" to have, as your business grows is the challenge of managing all your resources. As the number of your employees grows and your IT assets expand, it is difficult to ascertain exactly what and where all your assets are. It is important to get more visibility on what applications and services are running on each asset, how they interact, and the business impact if these resources are down, responding poorly or slowly, or jeopardized by security threats.
Download the white paper for free now !!!
http://www.manageengine.com/products/service-desk/cmdb-white-paper.html
Key takeaways:
-Identify with the key reasons for failing Data Governance initiatives
-Uncover the commonly used Data Governance terms and their meanings
-Learn the Framework for a successful Data Governance Program
Who is DBA??
What is DBA
Role of DBA
Policy Formulation and Implementation
Planning for Disaster
Archives
Data Dictionary Management
Additional responsibilities of DBA
Salary of DBA
Remote DBA is a system of maintaining and upgrading DBA applications and their tools of organizations from remote locations. This should have reliability, flexibility, monitoring tools and affordable services.
Similar to Remote DBA Program: 6-Step Guide and Most Common Mistakes (20)
In this webinar we will discuss:
- The profile of an organization that is Expert at Kubernetes on Azure and AKS
- How to get to Expert status
- The challenges along the way and how embracing Azure services can help
- A demo of deploying applications with velocity on AKS
Journey Through Four Stages of Kubernetes Deployment MaturityAltoros
In this webinar we will discuss a crawl, walk, run approach to continuous delivery (CD) for applications, point by point:
Where to start, how to advance, and how to reach the level of maximum automation.
How to orchestrate CI/CD processes along with routing and business continuity.
When the automation level is sufficient.
GitOps principles and their benefits.
What tools should be used to automate CI, CD, GitOps, Container Registry, Secrets management, etc
SGX: Improving Privacy, Security, and Trust Across Blockchain NetworksAltoros
These slides explain how to use Intel Software Garden Extensions (SGX) to improve privacy, security, trust, and transparency across blockchain networks that store sensitive data.
Using the Cloud Foundry and Kubernetes Stack as a Part of a Blockchain CI/CD ...Altoros
These slides exemplify how to employ the tools available through Cloud Foundry and Kubernetes to enable a continuous integration and continuous delivery pipeline on blockchain.
The combination of StackPointCloud with NetApp creates NetApp Kubernetes Service, the industry’s first complete Kubernetes platform for multi-cloud deployments and a complete cloud-based stack for Azure, Google Cloud, AWS, and NetApp HCI. Further, Trident is a fully supported open source project maintained by NetApp, designed from the ground up to help meet the sophisticated persistence demands of containerized applications.
With no built-in solutions for managing user accounts, Kubernetes has to rely on external systems for this. Can we use one UAA solution for both Cloud Foundry and Kubernetes authentication while building a hybrid deployment?
Troubleshooting .NET Applications on Cloud FoundryAltoros
These slides overview how logs can be employed to troubleshoot .NET app on Cloud Foundry, as well as how to use metrics to enable preventive maintenance.
Continuous Integration and Deployment with Jenkins for PCFAltoros
Jenkins has been the preferred tool for continuous integration and deployment for many years already due to it's smooth user experience, easy configuration, abundance of available plugins and integrations. During the talk we will tell about best practices on using Jenkins together with Cloud Foundry installations, accelerating cloud-native application delivery and packaging using combination of Docker and Jenkins and thoughtful configuration of CI/CD pipelines and keeping apps up-to-date on all CF environments.
At the Cloud Foundry Summit 2017 in Santa Clara, Altoros and GE Digital talked about a sensor-based solution for tracking luggage from registration to claim belt.
Navigating the Ecosystem of Pivotal Cloud Foundry TilesAltoros
For application developers, PCF tiles are arguably the easiest way to run Redis, Elasticsearch, Cassandra, or any other backing service with applications in the cloud.
Integrating AI into IoT networks is becoming a prerequisite for success in today’s data-driven digital ecosystems. The only way to keep up with IoT-generated data and gain the hidden insights it holds is using AI as the catalyst of IoT. Watch this slides to understand how IoT and AI may work together.
Over-Engineering: Causes, Symptoms, and TreatmentAltoros
If your are using Cloud Foundry, you are most obviously into the microservices architecture and cloud-native app development approach. These are definitely best practices in modern application development, but too much of a good thing is good for nothing. Overuse of these principles may lead to over-engineering, when an application is split into too much microservices and, as such, gets hard to maintain and support. This presentation highlights how far overuse of the microservices concept can go, what issues exist, and how these issues can be avoided.
GraphRAG is All You need? LLM & Knowledge GraphGuy Korland
Guy Korland, CEO and Co-founder of FalkorDB, will review two articles on the integration of language models with knowledge graphs.
1. Unifying Large Language Models and Knowledge Graphs: A Roadmap.
https://arxiv.org/abs/2306.08302
2. Microsoft Research's GraphRAG paper and a review paper on various uses of knowledge graphs:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/blog/graphrag-unlocking-llm-discovery-on-narrative-private-data/
Dev Dives: Train smarter, not harder – active learning and UiPath LLMs for do...UiPathCommunity
💥 Speed, accuracy, and scaling – discover the superpowers of GenAI in action with UiPath Document Understanding and Communications Mining™:
See how to accelerate model training and optimize model performance with active learning
Learn about the latest enhancements to out-of-the-box document processing – with little to no training required
Get an exclusive demo of the new family of UiPath LLMs – GenAI models specialized for processing different types of documents and messages
This is a hands-on session specifically designed for automation developers and AI enthusiasts seeking to enhance their knowledge in leveraging the latest intelligent document processing capabilities offered by UiPath.
Speakers:
👨🏫 Andras Palfi, Senior Product Manager, UiPath
👩🏫 Lenka Dulovicova, Product Program Manager, UiPath
JMeter webinar - integration with InfluxDB and GrafanaRTTS
Watch this recorded webinar about real-time monitoring of application performance. See how to integrate Apache JMeter, the open-source leader in performance testing, with InfluxDB, the open-source time-series database, and Grafana, the open-source analytics and visualization application.
In this webinar, we will review the benefits of leveraging InfluxDB and Grafana when executing load tests and demonstrate how these tools are used to visualize performance metrics.
Length: 30 minutes
Session Overview
-------------------------------------------
During this webinar, we will cover the following topics while demonstrating the integrations of JMeter, InfluxDB and Grafana:
- What out-of-the-box solutions are available for real-time monitoring JMeter tests?
- What are the benefits of integrating InfluxDB and Grafana into the load testing stack?
- Which features are provided by Grafana?
- Demonstration of InfluxDB and Grafana using a practice web application
To view the webinar recording, go to:
https://www.rttsweb.com/jmeter-integration-webinar
State of ICS and IoT Cyber Threat Landscape Report 2024 previewPrayukth K V
The IoT and OT threat landscape report has been prepared by the Threat Research Team at Sectrio using data from Sectrio, cyber threat intelligence farming facilities spread across over 85 cities around the world. In addition, Sectrio also runs AI-based advanced threat and payload engagement facilities that serve as sinks to attract and engage sophisticated threat actors, and newer malware including new variants and latent threats that are at an earlier stage of development.
The latest edition of the OT/ICS and IoT security Threat Landscape Report 2024 also covers:
State of global ICS asset and network exposure
Sectoral targets and attacks as well as the cost of ransom
Global APT activity, AI usage, actor and tactic profiles, and implications
Rise in volumes of AI-powered cyberattacks
Major cyber events in 2024
Malware and malicious payload trends
Cyberattack types and targets
Vulnerability exploit attempts on CVEs
Attacks on counties – USA
Expansion of bot farms – how, where, and why
In-depth analysis of the cyber threat landscape across North America, South America, Europe, APAC, and the Middle East
Why are attacks on smart factories rising?
Cyber risk predictions
Axis of attacks – Europe
Systemic attacks in the Middle East
Download the full report from here:
https://sectrio.com/resources/ot-threat-landscape-reports/sectrio-releases-ot-ics-and-iot-security-threat-landscape-report-2024/
LF Energy Webinar: Electrical Grid Modelling and Simulation Through PowSyBl -...DanBrown980551
Do you want to learn how to model and simulate an electrical network from scratch in under an hour?
Then welcome to this PowSyBl workshop, hosted by Rte, the French Transmission System Operator (TSO)!
During the webinar, you will discover the PowSyBl ecosystem as well as handle and study an electrical network through an interactive Python notebook.
PowSyBl is an open source project hosted by LF Energy, which offers a comprehensive set of features for electrical grid modelling and simulation. Among other advanced features, PowSyBl provides:
- A fully editable and extendable library for grid component modelling;
- Visualization tools to display your network;
- Grid simulation tools, such as power flows, security analyses (with or without remedial actions) and sensitivity analyses;
The framework is mostly written in Java, with a Python binding so that Python developers can access PowSyBl functionalities as well.
What you will learn during the webinar:
- For beginners: discover PowSyBl's functionalities through a quick general presentation and the notebook, without needing any expert coding skills;
- For advanced developers: master the skills to efficiently apply PowSyBl functionalities to your real-world scenarios.
Encryption in Microsoft 365 - ExpertsLive Netherlands 2024Albert Hoitingh
In this session I delve into the encryption technology used in Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Purview. Including the concepts of Customer Key and Double Key Encryption.
Epistemic Interaction - tuning interfaces to provide information for AI supportAlan Dix
Paper presented at SYNERGY workshop at AVI 2024, Genoa, Italy. 3rd June 2024
https://alandix.com/academic/papers/synergy2024-epistemic/
As machine learning integrates deeper into human-computer interactions, the concept of epistemic interaction emerges, aiming to refine these interactions to enhance system adaptability. This approach encourages minor, intentional adjustments in user behaviour to enrich the data available for system learning. This paper introduces epistemic interaction within the context of human-system communication, illustrating how deliberate interaction design can improve system understanding and adaptation. Through concrete examples, we demonstrate the potential of epistemic interaction to significantly advance human-computer interaction by leveraging intuitive human communication strategies to inform system design and functionality, offering a novel pathway for enriching user-system engagements.
DevOps and Testing slides at DASA ConnectKari Kakkonen
My and Rik Marselis slides at 30.5.2024 DASA Connect conference. We discuss about what is testing, then what is agile testing and finally what is Testing in DevOps. Finally we had lovely workshop with the participants trying to find out different ways to think about quality and testing in different parts of the DevOps infinity loop.
Neuro-symbolic is not enough, we need neuro-*semantic*Frank van Harmelen
Neuro-symbolic (NeSy) AI is on the rise. However, simply machine learning on just any symbolic structure is not sufficient to really harvest the gains of NeSy. These will only be gained when the symbolic structures have an actual semantics. I give an operational definition of semantics as “predictable inference”.
All of this illustrated with link prediction over knowledge graphs, but the argument is general.
The Art of the Pitch: WordPress Relationships and SalesLaura Byrne
Clients don’t know what they don’t know. What web solutions are right for them? How does WordPress come into the picture? How do you make sure you understand scope and timeline? What do you do if sometime changes?
All these questions and more will be explored as we talk about matching clients’ needs with what your agency offers without pulling teeth or pulling your hair out. Practical tips, and strategies for successful relationship building that leads to closing the deal.
Connector Corner: Automate dynamic content and events by pushing a buttonDianaGray10
Here is something new! In our next Connector Corner webinar, we will demonstrate how you can use a single workflow to:
Create a campaign using Mailchimp with merge tags/fields
Send an interactive Slack channel message (using buttons)
Have the message received by managers and peers along with a test email for review
But there’s more:
In a second workflow supporting the same use case, you’ll see:
Your campaign sent to target colleagues for approval
If the “Approve” button is clicked, a Jira/Zendesk ticket is created for the marketing design team
But—if the “Reject” button is pushed, colleagues will be alerted via Slack message
Join us to learn more about this new, human-in-the-loop capability, brought to you by Integration Service connectors.
And...
Speakers:
Akshay Agnihotri, Product Manager
Charlie Greenberg, Host
Connector Corner: Automate dynamic content and events by pushing a button
Remote DBA Program: 6-Step Guide and Most Common Mistakes
1. Handbook and Tips:
Remote DBA Program: 6-Step Guide
and Most Common Mistakes
Abstract:
Enterprises have become increasingly pressured by external market conditions in developing a remote database
administration strategy, yet few succeed in designing an effective cost-saving approach. This whitepaper will explain
how to improve return on investment using remote DBA, and avoid most common mistakes implementing and
managing it.
By Michael Fedotov,
Renat Khasanshyn,
Alex Khizhnyak
2. Remote DBA Program: 6-Step Guide and Most Common Mistakes Page 2 of 13
Table of Contents
1. Executive Summary 3
2. Why Remote DBA? 3
3. Database Administrator’s Scope of Work 4
4. Remote DBA Lifecycle 5
5. Common Mistakes 9
6. Benchmarking Remote DBA: When and Why 11
7. About the Authors 11
8. References 13
3. Remote DBA Program: 6-Step Guide and Most Common Mistakes Page 3 of 13
1. Executive Summary Relational databases,
Relational databases, which are by far the most popular such as Oracle, grow 3x
kind of databases, are an essential part of every modern to 5x in size every three
business. Maintaining them has grown to be one of the
most crucial tasks for enterprises. As a result, today
years.
database administration has become one of the hardest challenges businesses may encounter.
Every three years, relational databases like Oracle grow 3x to 5x in size. More than that,
enterprises face the necessity of managing a growing number of databases containing more
data with increasingly high requirements for uptime and security.
The soaring amounts of work are becoming harder and harder for the enterprises’ data
administrators to deal with, and eventually employing new personnel seems inevitable. The
reality is, trying to catch up with the progress by employing more is not only an unreasonable
solution, it also tends to become unfeasible. The reason is that rarely do the budgets allocated
for database administration rise as fast as the actual cost of administration, if it is provided by
just the internal resources of the company.
These issues, or ideally their anticipation, bring enterprises to realize that a different approach is
needed to handle the challenge.
And remote database administration (DBA) is quite a different approach. The idea behind
remote DBA is simple: you entrust a third-party service provider to take care of your databases.
While the general benefits of the approach and its necessity are doubtless, it is important, when
deciding on the service provider, to make the right choice.
This whitepaper will present a 6-step guide to planning, designing, and managing remote DBA,
and explain how to improve return on investment (ROI) and avoid the most common mistakes.
2. Why Remote DBA?
It’s hard to imagine a modern enterprise without relational databases. Providing infrastructure
for data storage and management, they have grown to be a vital component of both the smaller
enterprises, and Fortune 500 giants.
Enterprises often seem to underestimate the role of their relational databases until they run into
problems with database administration.
Many enterprises employ just one database administrator. Now, when he or she is not able to
do their job (for example, if they take a vacation), their duties are likely to be temporarily handed
over to other employees. And are they quite competent to cope with such an important task?
More than that, the huge dependence of the enterprise on one or a few people is always a risk
factor. Even when there are two or three people permanently involved with DBA in an
enterprise, absence of one of them can be a threat to the smoothness of database
administration, taking into account the amount of work and the necessity to reallocate it
promptly.
4. Remote DBA Program: 6-Step Guide and Most Common Mistakes Page 4 of 13
But safety is not the only concern here. Generally speaking, most of a DBA’s workday is spent
on repetitive, low-level administrative work, whose ROI is fairly low in spite of its being critical to
database maintenance.
Relying on remote DBA is advantageous in both aspects. On the one hand, it guarantees your
data is safe, since taking care of databases is the direct competence of a remote DBA server
provider. On the other hand, remote database administration
is beneficial financially, ridding the enterprise of such a
Most of a DBA’s
considerable, yet cost-ineffective expense as keeping internal
DBA. Depending on the amount and specific character of workday is spent on
work, remote DBA can help cut DBA expenses by 40% or repetitive, low-level
more. administrative work,
Another huge benefit of remote DBA is round-the-clock whose ROI is fairly
database monitoring. 24x7 support is rarely feasible for an low.
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 companies make this possible.
3. Database Administrator’s Scope of Work
Being a good database administrator requires versatile professional talents, as the process of
DBA comprises a number of rather different activities. Performance tuning, troubleshooting,
cloning, data modeling, installation, backup, and recovery, all of which are inalienable parts of
the database maintaining process, are equally important. And a successful database
administrator has to master all of the above. On top of that, good communication skills and other
typical (however, not always easy-to-meet) requirements for any person involved in teamwork
are still there.
Commonly, a database administration routine comprises such activities 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 application developers, O/S administrators, and end users. Ironically,
while playing a crucial role in the support of an enterprise’s infrastructure, these tasks do not
relate directly to a company’s core revenue-generating competencies. The return on investment
(ROI) of employing internal database administrators, therefore, is rather low; a job of high
importance, responsibility, and professional standards turns out to be an unrecoverable cost.
Often, an enterprise’s CEO, feeling this or having figured it out, passes along more work,
typically unrelated to DBA, to an administrator. Sometimes, the ROI of this work is higher than
one of the tasks in the administrator’s direct competency. By doing so, CEOs demonstrate that
they underestimate the extent of the DBA specialist’s business with the database maintenance
tasks, and jeopardize the efficiency of this primary mission. As the list above suggests, the
scope of a database administrator’s work itself is quite vast, and requires full dedication. At the
same time, it is impossible to achieve efficiency of any additional work entrusted to a database
administrator without sacrificing the effectiveness of the administration itself.
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The problem becomes more and more serious as the amounts of database maintenance work
increase. This is where remote DBA steps in, making it possible to free human resources from
cost-ineffective work and to avoid hiring additional staff for this sort of work.
4. Remote DBA Lifecycle
The lifecycle of a remote DBA engagement for an enterprise usually consists of six distinct
phases. The diagram below illustrates their chronological order and the way they build on each
other.
Exhibit 4.1 Remote DBA Lifecycle
Source: Altoros Systems
4.1 Phase 1: Identify Remote DBA Opportunities
Enterprises face challenges administrating their databases, which brings them to realize that
remote DBA is an option to consider. Typically, such challenges are:
Difficulties managing increasing amounts of information and number of databases
The riskiness of assigning DBA to one or a small group of executives
Unprofitable internal database administration caused by its low ROI
The need for 24x7 support for worldwide implementations
If an enterprise wants to pass the management of only some of their databases to a remote DB
administrator, it is important to decide which databases will be passed. Typically, it is useful to
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keep all of the above factors in mind when making a choice. For example, if there is a database
that is rapidly growing in size, crucial to the enterprise’s operation, and requiring 24x7 support, it
is a strong candidate for being passed to a remote DBA team.
4.2 Phase 2: Assessment/Business Case
Since data is the key to any enterprise’s functioning, haste is unacceptable when it comes to
switching to remote DBA. To forge a successful strategy, some research needs to be
conducted. An enterprise may want to carry out a remote DBA “readiness” assessment that will
provide it with the information necessary to make key decisions.
Four segments of organizational readiness can be evaluated:
1. Business Objectives Readiness
2. Database Administration Processes
Maturity Readiness
Investigating the ability and
3. Cultural Readiness
4. Financial Expectations (desired vs. feasible experience of a remote DBA
ROI) vendor to provide a mixed on-
The assessment may apply maturity models based site/off-site approach is highly
on the Information Technology Infrastructure recommended.
Library (ITIL) principles.
Data for assessment may be gathered from:
1. Questionnaires
2. Interviews
3. Discussion with internal database administrator(s)
4. Study of DBA maintenance plans and roadmaps
Deliverables may include:
1. DBA Readiness Report
2. ROI analysis
3. DBA Sequencing Plan
4. Engagement Roadmap
4.3 Phase 3: Evaluation and Selection
According to the Everest Group, in order to succeed when referring to outsourcing, an
enterprise should look for a service provider who meets the following criteria:
1. Information technology resources (to eliminate the need for customer investment).
2. Process expertise (to streamline the process and make it cost-effective; to focus internal
management on core competencies; to take advantage of the vendor's former
experience).
3. Economies of scale (to facilitate scalability, globalization, and networks).
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4. Access to resources otherwise unavailable to the buyer (equipment, applications, capital,
people, lower-cost raw materials).
Given these criteria, a good remote DBA service provider
Sometimes, credit and is a provider who meets the following requirements:
criminal history records
1. Experience and deep understanding of the
checks are process. Before making a choice, an inquiry into
recommended as a the previous and current remote DBA experiences
standard practice for of the service provider is highly recommended. The
team should have a proven track record in all
employees and aspects of remote DBA.
contractors.
2.
High level of privacy and security. Remote DBA
service providers should be prepared to share and
review their security policies with you, as well as learn more about your security
requirements. Typically, remote DBA services with local offices are reliable because of
the strict data privacy laws in the US. Physical security and secure connectivity are also
things to ensure.
3. Talented team, both locally and remotely. A remote DBA, unlike in-house staff, has to
administer several databases at the same time. But, more important, is how they cope
with the job. A good remote database service provider can attract and retain highly-
qualified and certified DBAs locally to provide on-site services and maintenance work.
Be sure to ask for resumes and qualifications of both local and remote DBA team
members. Schedule a technical interview to make sure you evaluate their credentials.
Sometimes, credit and criminal history records checks are recommended as a standard
practice for employees and contractros.
4. A reasonable communication plan and readiness to understand the needs of the client in
terms of communication. It is vital that before settling with a service provider, you are
able to answer the following and other similar questions:
How often will status reports be delivered to your team?
Will they be delivered on-site, via e-mail, Web meeting, or conference call?
How can you schedule a task with the remote DBA team?
5. Financial status. The better the status, the more qualified the staff, which a service
provider can hire and retain. Financial status is an indication of successfulness, as well,
so analyzing the financial reports is also a good idea.
4.4 Phase 4: Implementation and Transition
This phase comprises making the necessary decisions in order for the remote database
administration process to be well-organized and effective.
Firstly, a governing model needs to be established. A rewarding relationship begins with clearly
defining the mutual expectations of the company and the remote DBA service provider, which is
crucial to the smoothness of the outsourcing management process. An effective governance
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model should include metrics, payment models, the possibility of renegotiating the terms of the
agreement, the pricing structure and fees, the intellectual property issues, the termination
options, the rights and restrictions of both outsourcer and company and the liabilities. Service
Level Agreements (SLA's), whenever this is possible, should also be included. It is very
important that all outsourcing contracts have terms for both termination of cause and termination
of convenience. Some exit considerations may be centered on people, equipment, and
intellectual properties.
Secondly, the customer and the service provider usually assign a person or a team to manage
the evaluation and selection process. Then the customer and the provider work together to
conceptualize and to re-confirm the scope of work, the goals, and the activities of the
engagement.
The service providers should be included in the enterprise’s planning, since they can be very
helpful. To increase motivation, which causes better efficiency in the customer and service
provider interaction, incentives can be used.
Finally, according to the evaluation conducted in Phase 3, a communication strategy should be
discussed and settled. A clear and effective communication plan is half the key to successful
DBA outsourcing.
4.5 Phase 5: Contract/Engagement Management
The essence of remote DBA team management is that from managing resources you switch to
managing results. Putting the desired output into focus, such an approach implies ensuring that
the result matches the expectations and expresses the enterprise’s true needs. It also makes
sure that the results of remote DBA are reported regularly and necessary adjustments are made
promptly.
Assessing and adjusting a remote DBA team’s performance regularly—that is, managing it—is
an essential part of the routine of an enterprise that opted for remote database administration.
The key to assessing a remote DBA service provider’s performance—and by doing so, growing
able to maintain service quality and control the process of database management—is using the
right metrics.
Exhibit 4.2 Remote DBA Metrics
Source: Altoros Systems
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Some of the metrics that can be used include:
1. Response time
2. The frequency and detail of reporting
3. Helpfulness in terms of mentoring ability (in case some internal DBAs are employed, as
well as the remote DBA service provider)
4. Availability of optional additional services, such as migrating, security reviewing and
planning, performance tuning, backup planning, etc. It is natural for any additional
services to cost additional money, though, because if they seem to be “on the house,” in
reality it only means that an enterprise is automatically being charged for all the optional
services, including those that it does not use.
Remember that the goal of applying such system of metrics is, by measuring and adjusting
performance, to build a successful relationship between the client and the service provider.
4.6 Phase 6: Renew/Exit
Besides disaster recovery plans, organizations should have an exit plan for remote DBA, as
well.
While in this phase, an enterprise should evaluate the outcomes of current outsourcing
engagement, compare its initial goals and expectations with the service provider’s actual
performance, and make a qualified decision about how to evolve the relationship with the
remote DBA team in order to achieve the strategic objectives.
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 a policy just as well
deprives them of their rights to claim indemnity for any deviation of 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 refer 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 if 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
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It is not uncommon for enterprises to entrust their
databases to a remote administrator without giving IT executives should
proper consideration to their decision. It is critical that expect to pay an
an enterprise’s readiness is assessed adequately, the
additional 5 percent
choice of the databases to be outsourced is weighed,
and the strategy of remote DBA is well thought-over to 15 percent on
and accepted. If these conditions are not fulfilled, managing a remote
outsourcing database administration can be more of a DBA program, at
hassle or even a threat to an enterprise’s database’s
effective functioning than its catalyst.
least during the first
year.
2) Unrealistic Cost Expectations
Remote DBA is cost-effective, but one has to be
rational about the extent of economy it guarantees. For several years now, business
press has been claiming that IT work costing $40-$80 an hour in the United States can
be done for $15-$25 an hour in India or Russia. If these numbers sound too good to be
true, that’s because they often are. IT executives should expect to pay an additional 5
percent to 15 percent on managing an offshore remote DBA program, at least during the
first year. The transition phase will add costs, too: planned expenses should cover
diligence, transfer of knowledge, 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 a fast track. 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 project. However, it is a better
strategy to involve more of the enterprise's human resources in these initial meetings so
that HR has a say in the agreement; just using the input from top-level executives is
rarely enough.
4) Not Letting the Remote DBA Team Lead the Process
When trying to lead the database administration process, enterprises often 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 a Term That Is Too Long
The longer the contract terms, the deeper the parties involved get 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 changing 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
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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.
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 quite a 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 saving. Although some remote DBA
teams can propose costs that are half as expensive as employing a full-time database
administrator, it is not rare that the lower cost is made up for by poor service. So, 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 to move on
through the negotiations fast, 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 match to 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, and specifically software developments, in an abundance of articles. He has
taken part in several scientific conferences and provided service for many more participants
creating and holding their presentations. He also has experience working as an interpreter and
presently is 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
12. Remote DBA Program: 6-Step Guide and Most Common Mistakes Page 12 of 13
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 most recently was selected as a finalist for the 2007
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. He is a co-founder of Belarusian Java User Group and studied
Engineering at the Belarusian State Technical University.
Altoros Systems, Inc. is a global software delivery acceleration specialist that provides
specialized software product engineering, independent Quality Assurance, and remote
database administration services. Many leading organizations – ranging from technology
innovators Autodesk, Hewlett-Packard, and Sony to government agencies such as The State of
Oregon – have trusted and leveraged Altoros to accelerate the creation of software and to
speed up time to market while reducing burn rate and development costs. 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.
13. Remote DBA Program: 6-Step Guide and Most Common Mistakes Page 13 of 13
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)