12 Tips for Making Remote Database Administration Easier
by Don Sears
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Make sure to review service levels as well as price. Service levels can vary widely by provider.
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Assess your environment. Determine segments best suited for 24/7 support. Lower traffic, more stable segments may not require 24/7 support.
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Make sure it’s scalable. Your support contract needs to remain cost-effective while you grow. Sometimes, it may be more cost-efficient to add an additional FTE.
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Create a list of expectations up front. If the vendor’s initial service offering doesn’t include what you’d like to see, ask. Not every offering will match requirements.
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Start small. Ask for a “trial” segment of your environment on a month-to-month contract. This will allow you to expand scope as needed.
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Evaluate the vendor’s team and make sure they have seasoned, full-time remote DBAs.
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Does the vendor conduct regular on-site customer visits? Regular on-site visits allow the remote provider to be an extension of your team and understand how to handle emergencies.
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Make sure you have network/security team that can open firewall ports securely for remote DBA. Always require a VPN.
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Make sure that you have single point of contact within your company who can manage the relationship between you and the remote DBA team.
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Make sure that you have a ticketing system that can track the requests for your remote DBA tasks.
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Consider and analyze your change management procedures – have clear procedures in place.
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Does the provider offer on-shore, on-site and on-demand remote DBA resources, so they are available when you need them?