Small business owners often overlook the importance of database performance and tuning for their business growth. They assume that having a database system is enough for their business, and they can take care of it themselves. What they fail to realize is a poorly maintained database has the ability to adverse their business operations in such a way that they might find the costs too dear to handle.
The need for database performance and tuning
Highly skilled DBA professionals and consultants emphasize the need for database performance and tuning after a database health check. This database health check largely helps the business to detect loopholes in the system that stops the business from getting reliable data for its growth. The business data is needed for making informed and critical business decisions that will help the small business owner get a strategic edge in the market over its peers.
Common complaints by small business owners
Many small business owners complain they never find the time to performance tune and optimize their database systems. Some say they do not have a full-time DBA on a roll, which is why they step back from performance tuning demands. Others just lack the basic awareness that their databases contain business-critical data and insights that can help them expand faster and grow in the market.
It is prudent for small business owners to effectively manage their data and database systems. The above is the secret to success and consistent business productivity.
Reasons for a database health-check for your small business
Esteemed experts in the field of database administration and management, states that every small business should get a database health check done for the following reasons-
Future proof and boost your database’s existing performance – As your database system grows, the volume of data you also store increases. This creates pressure on your present database, and it needs to work extra hard for managing this data. With the passage of time, more and more data are added to the system, and in due course, you will witness a degradation in the system. Your small business customers and users will feel this impact too. In the modern era, applications critical to your business are mostly conducted online, and so it is the need of the hour for your small business database to be highly functional and fast. This trend will lead to better business repute and growth.
Prepare for the peaks – In case you suddenly experience growth of business data, you should be sure that your system can manage it without hassles. For instance, your small business might be in the middle of the peak season, or you consider running a special promotional offer for your business. In both of these scenarios, you first need to check the database system to optimize it fully for the task. You cannot afford the risks of performance issues during the peak season because of bottlenecks present in your database system that can be arrested via improvements to the application or the environment.
Prepare for change and business growth – There are times when your business undergoes an acquisition and is about to win a new business contract. Both of these cases will impact your business in such a way that there will be an increased volume of data, or you would need a database architecture that is much more resilient. Your system needs to be scalable so that your business stays agile and you can capitalize on its growth. If you are aware of such changes happening to your small business soon, make sure your database system is ready for accepting it without pressure. When your database undergoes a database health check, you can detect the changes that need to be done to the system for scalability in the future.
Free your IT resources from troubleshooting problems all the time – If your database system displays signs of performance degradation, the chances are high that your IT team needs to apply fixes that are quick so that your business operations are not disrupted. They will only waste time fixing one issue and moving on to the next. Several small business owners apply this quick fix strategy to deal with database issues.
Though they might get a temporary solution, DBA experts in the field of performance tuning say it is harmful to your small business in the long run. Imagine your small business database suddenly crashing, and all your critical business operations come to a complete halt. Masking a database problem is definitely not a solution. There will come the point in the future where the small business database system’s performance will degrade so much that even if you add more hardware, the problem might not be resolved, and you will land up wasting money.
Time for system recovery – Data governance is critical for every business, both small and big. With a database health check, you will be assured that the system will be recovered in sync with the objectives of the business, especially when it comes to system failure. There are innumerable cases where when the data environment changes, gaps in data restoration give rise to an outage. The above problems are indeed fundamental for DBA management. However, small businesses must take out time to review their database processes that are best in line for database management and administration.
Wrapping up
Expert DBAs in the field of data administration and database performance tuning recommend small businesses to get an extensive database health check done as it is valuable for the growth of their businesses in the long run. In this way, as a business owner, you can review the bottlenecks in your present system and make fixes with the help of a professional and skilled team of DBAs. If you cannot afford a full-time DBA for the task, you can always consult esteemed remote DBA professionals to help you for a full database health check with success!
