The larger volume of data generated by modern businesses requires more resources to be deployed in managing it in terms of labor, DB technology, as well as hardware infrastructure, especially that for processing and storing data. Having to handle huge volumes of data can stretch the existing IT infrastructure of businesses very thin leaving them with no time for optimizing their databases. Some ways in which CIOs can reduce the burden and costs of administration of databases:
Engaging On-Demand Database Administration Services
When you find that the administrative workload involved in managing databases is too much and leaves your team no time to do long-term planning, optimizing the operations, or even delays the deployment of new applications, it can be a good idea to explore how on-demand DB administration can help to augment your existing IT team. By getting into a relationship with an on-demand DBA service provider, you will be able to get access to an additional pool of talent that you can actively use to fine-tune the performance of your databases, implement upgrades, and even migrate to the latest technologies and platforms. By taking this load off the shoulders of your IT team, you can give them the time and energy to focus on addressing high-priority business initiatives.
Remote DBA Services
However advantageous the engagement of on-demand database administration consultant is, it still does not reduce the pressure on your IT infrastructure and you are still liable to be called out in the middle of the night to get the servers up and running if they have crashed. The nature of modern businesses requires a near-perfect uptime of databases, and if you don’t want to undertake the expense of having your IT team on the job across multiple shifts, you could look at engaging remote DBA service providers. These specialized agencies have their own infrastructure and manpower that looks after the requirements of multiple clients in vital services like backup and recovery of data, extending emergency support services, and making available the latest software. Their services remain available on-demand but they no longer exert pressure on your IT infrastructure.
Database as a Service (DBaaS):
Ease of access to the cloud has opened up extremely exciting opportunities for making management of databases simpler, easier, and cheaper while retaining the advantages of security and power of traditional databases. While many businesses are inclined to think that the security of databases is best ensured by having everything in-house, opting for DBaaS can make available a larger diversity of architectures and options of services that include single-tenant modules for sensitive data and multi-tenant for non-critical data. Operational costs are further reduced as DBaaS has the capability of optimizing both the size of the databases and the level of service for secondary workloads while still making available high performance and availability.
Conclusion
The option you exercise will depend on your evaluation of the opportunity for reducing costs while retaining administrative control. However, it is clear that availability of large budgets is no longer a prerequisite for administering bulky and complex databases.