Recently we had a webcast on “Choosing a Remote DBA Service Provider”, which focused on getting the most out of your remote DBA services. Today we bring you the transcript of the questions we took live from the audience, along with a few that were left unanswered due to time constraints.
Are Remote DBA services typically contracted or pay as you go?
This largely depends on the provider; it can be done both ways. Our particular way of doing it is having a very flexible contract where you can move up or down in terms of hours or resources. Most providers offer some sort of contract so that you can maintain predictability in staffing and quality.
Do you only provide services for Oracle or also SQL?
This presentation was largely based on Oracle, but we have a very large DBA base with experience in SQL. Most organizations have both databases, as growth almost never happens organically – so we have developed skills in both Microsoft and Oracle to service both.
We have a highly customized environment and it’s difficult for us to operate with standard code. What do you propose for this?
We have a staff that is highly knowledgeable and with technical expertise not only with Oracle DB but many other products such as SOA, Fusion, SSO, Oracle Access Manager, WebCenter, Demantra, Integrator, LADP, etc. We can help with all of the Oracle products out there.
In the case that the service provider has both offshore and onshore resources, do we get to pick where the resources come from?
This depends on the provider. At IT Convergence we adapt our offer to what you’re looking for – we can provide 100% onshore resources or 100% offshore ones, it depends on what your requirements are and your desire for costs, as there will be a cost difference. One of the most effective ways of doing this is our approach of right-shoring, were we deploy a blend of onshore, near-shore and offshore resources for the lower level activities to help keep the costs down so you get the best of both words.
In the event a provider has onshore, nearshore and offshore resources, can we pick where the resources we utilize come from?
Yes, generally you can pick where the resources come from. Cost is usually the major difference between those resources so both budget and scope of work are important to take into consideration when making this decision. Perhaps the best solution to this is putting together a blend of all of those resources in a project so that all of the benefits of each of those geographies is available as a customer.