Database Budgeting Begins with Database Assessment

The first step in improving your IT capabilities is to assess your current database environment. This used to be a fairly straightforward process of running scripts against databases to test server performance, capacity, and security. In the world of Big Data, however, with every arm of the organization collecting and storing enormous amounts of data in a variety of different containers using a host of different software interfaces, assessments have become much more complex.

Datavail recently published a white paper that takes a close look at IT budgets and how to stretch them, Chicken Little and Demands for More IT Budget: Is the Sky Really Falling? Among the findings in the white paper are two case studies showing cost reductions between 25% and 50% resulting from Datavail’s database assessments.

Today’s database assessments are so much more than passwords, policies and patches. Datavail assessments provide a managerial view of modern business enterprise practices along with an honest assessment of the hardware, software, and staffing solutions currently in place.

Among the items included in a Datavail database assessment are:

• Current operating condition including storage capacity and software used
• Reports generated, reports desired, and a list of difficulties with the current system
• Performance benchmarks for the current system including capacity, speed, and security
• Suggestions for extracting greater value from the current configuration
• Metrics for projecting future needs for data storage and processing capacity
• Compatibility between database software and business analytics software
• Budget for hardware, software, maintenance, outside services, staff, and training
• Timeline for purchasing, provisioning, migrating, testing, and assessing the environment

Using a third party to provide a database assessment liberates the IT manager from conflict-of-interest issues. System assessment often requires a different set of skills than system operation; a Datavail database assessment takes advantage of input from specialists in a variety of different database systems. A third-party assessment also provides management with a neutral way to evaluate the budget requests of CIOs.

“Through a managed service provider, an organization can save big in terms of time, labor, cost, and resources by having a provider carry out an assessment of current database management and analytics practices. With a strong assessment in hand, wise investment decisions can be made without incurring a lot of unnecessary expenses.” — Andrew Evans, Datavail CFO, Chicken Little and Demands for More IT Budget: Is the Sky Really Falling?

Do you need to know if your database processes are compatible with current information security protocols? Are you unsure if you’re making the best use of your resources? Do you have questions about whether or not your current system is fulfilling your data needs? Are you interested in looking at cloud technologies, business intelligence applications, or upgrades? A database assessment can help answer these questions.

Contact Datavail today if you would like to discuss an assessment for your database operation that will solve current problems and prepare your organization for growth.