Insights

With data being the lifeblood of your business, it’s crucial for every organization to keep well-managed databases. Having the right database management skills and the diligence of following best practices for the proper maintenance and optimization of its databases strongly impacts the overall health of an entire organization. The knowledge and skills your organization’s database administrators must possess are crucial in facilitating the health, availability, and performance of a database. Since DBAs are required to consistently optimize database performance and handle any situation that may arise, they must be diligent in following best practices for database management.

Is there anything worse than finding out everyone else knew something before you did? No one likes being out of the loop. And in the case of database management, the things your database administrators (DBAs) don’t know can be bad news for your business-critical IT and your organization as a whole. That’s why DBAs must stay on top of emerging database management trends — or they run the risk of falling behind on critical technological and tactical industry updates.

“In life, change is inevitable. In business, change is vital.” ~ Warren G Bennis Have you asked yourself this question? “Are my current database management needs the same as they were five years ago?” As the industry evolves over time, the needs of your business transform as well. If you haven’t reevaluated your database management support requirements in some time, it’s likely your organization’s needs have changed. When it comes to managing your enterprise database system, what works for one company may not always work for another; and what may be best-suited for your business at one point in time may not always be the best fit in the long run. This includes factors outside of your organization that may have changed (i.e. technological shifts, new platform offerings, product/service choices, etc.). This is why it’s important to assess where you currently stand with your database management support strategy, and if necessary, make those changes that will lead your organization towards growth and success.

Being the heart of your business, your databases house all the critical data of your entire organization; so it’s imperative to keep them well-managed by having the right database management skills. If there are missteps or holes in your database management, these can have a detrimental impact on your entire business. Well-organized and efficiently-run databases are crucial to your daily operations, as well as to the future growth and overall success of your organization.

If you are using the Microsoft Access database management system, your demands will likely outpace both its capacity and computational limits. Handling these hurdles (hopefully with the right database support solution) before they become problems will be critical to keeping your databases running smoothly. You and your team may have identified inefficiencies or performance issues and determined your database is, or will soon be, ready for an upgrade. Just as your business quickly outgrew those handy Excel spreadsheets, your database is now slowing down and taking up more and more of your precious IT resources. If you fit this description, it’s probably time to transition to Microsoft SQL Server, either locally or in the cloud.

Every CIO knows that well-managed databases are the unsung heroes of the business world. When database management is done well, it’s practically imperceivable, so it can be a thankless task, but database management (done well) is the lifeblood that keeps any organization performing at its best.

Even with the ever-changing technology landscape, one thing remains constant: Data protection should be a top priority. Businesses must work hard to keep their data under lock and key while remaining competitive and compliant. Encryption is essential for businesses with this agenda. Even as an IT professional or a business working with a security service provider, there are vital practices you must put into play.

The “Accidental DBA” is a database management pitfall we’ve covered before, but it’s one we see all too often and bears repeating. The name itself speaks to less-than-ideal database management circumstances. Picture this: An under-qualified IT team member (through no fault of their own) is left with the charge of managing the company’s most critical data, simply because they have the most bandwidth (probably not enough) and a “good enough” database management knowledge base (but far from being an expert). While this solution may keep things running for the most part, your databases deserve (and need) more than “good enough.”

Modern organizations are leveraging cloud-based database solutions more and more for increased accessibility and flexibility. However, even with the improved efficiencies of the cloud, databases still need consistent monitoring and support to optimize performance and handle any situation that may arise. As database solutions evolve and improve, so too do the demands and requirements of managing them.

Your databases are pivotal to the day-to-day productivity and overall success of your organization, but they’re also very complex systems with many moving parts. To keep them well-managed you need support that can handle the normal, everyday processes as well as one-off issues and emergencies.