REASONS TO OUTSOURCE YOUR DBA FUNCTION

Why a managed (or co-managed) service is the optimal and most cost-efficient option.

Introduction

Is Outsourcing a Good Idea?

Whether you’re a Director, Business Owner, or IT Manager, you’ll undoubtedly appreciate the importance of effective database management.

You’ll also be aware of the financial and reputational risk associated with disasters such as system failure or a data breach. It’s because of these risks that highly professional and
focused DBA support is a business essential.

Put simply, you’re faced with three options:

Hire an internal DBA Team
Opt for a Managed Service
Co-managed Service for Partial Support

Cost Efficiency

Cost is undeniably a key factor when it comes to the arrangement of database support.

This is no great surprise when you consider the high price of DBA employment. According to Glassdoor, the average annual salary of a fulltime
DBA in the UK is £36,626. However, a highly experienced DBA may pull in around £70,000 to £80,000 per annum.

You may have to hire as many as three full time DBAs for the assurance of comprehensive year round support, with the delivery of round-the-clock service costing well in excess of £200,000.

This is just one of many reasons to outsource your DBA function.

Additional Recruitment Costs & the Value of Outsourcing

There are some serious financial savings to be made in the complete or partial outsourcing of your DBA function.

Xynomix offer a variety of financial plans to suit your business circumstances. You can easily build a DBA support package to include database management, consultancy, cloud migration, and performance monitoring services as standard.

All of this is available at a fraction of the cost of hiring an in-house DBA team.

These savings can then be reinvested into your business. Where would you invest yours?

Rapid Response

Your full-time DBA is bound to spend a great proportion of their time following routine internal procedures and performing key maintenance tasks. However the adoption of a business-as-usual approach could place your database at risk.

For example, whilst your in-house DBA(s) are pre-occupied with essential maintenance, they aren’t able to react quickly in the event that an emerging issue reveals itself.

Additionally, if they fall ill or take annual leave just when you need them most, your ability to respond to emerging issues will be compromised.

Xynomix have a whole team of specialised and experienced DBAs focused exclusively on the protection and maintenance of Oracle and Microsoft databases. Taking an independent view of your databases, they can proactively identify and deal with risks all around the clock.

Proactive Support

Everyday database management can leave in-house staff with little time for the investigation of changing regulations and system issues.

This invariably creates a continued risk to professional and customer data, with the potential for system issues and information loss. This often results in significant financial and reputational damage.

Outsourced DBA professionals will be able to take more of an objective approach, reviewing digital systems and considering the issues that may occur in order to help you manage risk.

By tapping into their expertise, with the potential for enhancement of database environments, you benefit from the assurance of comprehensive monitoring. Issues can also being identified and dealt with at the earliest opportunity.

Xynomix is able to collaborate with in-house DBAs to help you achieve a desirable database performance. This is DBA support tailored to the needs of your business, not ours.

Xynomix DBAs have honed their database management skills over many years; gaining a comprehensive understanding and the analytical ability required to solve complex database issues.

Putting companies’ Recovery Time Objective (RTO) first, our system architects apply their expert knowledge to ensure a rapid return to normal Business as Usual (BAU) status, as well as accounting for your Recovery Point Objectives (RPO).

Comprehensive Service

Your business budget may only stretch to the full-time employment of two or three DBAs. There may be knowledge gaps that have to be addressed during in-house training sessions. Even then, concerns around limited understanding of niche database issues can remain.

The de-skilling of in-house DBAs is a widely acknowledged issue, and one of the key reasons to outsource your DBA function. Given the repetitive nature of database tasks and reliance on automated features, such DBAs inevitably fail to keep pace with the latest developments.

This is not the case with DBA outsourcing because of the variety of technological challenges faced on a daily basis.

Xynomix architects embrace these challenges, including the integration and continuing functionality of Oracle and SQL database applications. We support our team’s development, helping them to nurture their skills and knowledge in all things databases – which in turn benefits you!

Xynomix is certified with ISO 27001 accreditation and the UK Government’s Cyber Essentials standard. We also hold a trusted position on the UK’s Digital Outcomes Specialist 5 Framework.

With rigorous internal standards, all of our team has completed in-depth training and possess skills honed across a variety of database environments.

Our technical specialists have worked across a diverse variety of industries and environments, providing bespoke business support in each instance.

We continue to disrupt the established methods of database support.

Enhanced Efficiency

The recruitment of a full-time DBA means that time and resources have to be allocated for onboarding and ensuring that the new hire has a complete understanding of your internal processes.

The in-house DBA must ideally be involved in events and have a say in key decisions for continued organisational commitment. You also face the prospect of having to deal with internal disputes and grievances.

By outsourcing, you get experts on tap when and where you need them. Plus, if you’re outsourcing on a co-managed basis, the Xynomix team can help up-skill your internal DBAs, improving overall efficiency.

Simply put, the complete or partial outsourcing of the DBA function allows for workforce streamlining and improved business continuity.

The assurance of round-the clock DBA support gives business managers and IT staff more time to focus on the development of services and strategies.

This means a noticeable improvement in efficiency and database performance as the outsourced DBA team continue to get to know your business. It’s also one of the more commonly identified reasons to outsource your DBA function.

And with many of our contracts extending beyond a decade, you can benefit from comprehensive continued support with zero risk of knowledge loss, for as long as you require it.

Reduced Attrition

You could be forgiven for thinking that the high salary and organisational involvement would be enough to ensure DBA retention.

However, there is still a high turnover rate, with DBAs continuing to seek opportunities within new database environments. This leaves businesses facing the recurring expense of recruitment, training, and workforce management. It also creates concerns about the retention of technological knowledge.

Outsourcing the DBA function eliminates the risk of high levels of attrition, delivering the assurance of continued support by a team of professionals. Xynomix DBAs work in highly dynamic environments, ensuring your business is always equipped with the latest technical knowledge and database requirements.

Service Guarantee

The demand for DBA support fluctuates from one week to the next. This makes workplace planning far more challenging. It may also result in uncertainty of the part of full-time recruits, as they struggle to shift between periods of inactivity and high pressure.

Whether managed or co managed support is required, Xynomix alleviates uncertainty by by setting priorities and agreeing on database support delivered in accordance with response times.

A dedicated client services manager will also be assigned for exclusive business support, with DBA experts on hand 24/7 for the resolution of any issues and flexible management of demand.

A high service standard is the last of our reasons to outsource your DBA function. However, this is not an exhaustive list.