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Optimize and Consolidate SQL Server
Get more from your SQL Server deployment.
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Contributors
- Richard Teta, Manager of Technology Support, Trinity Wall Street
- Dave Hildebrand, Manager of Information Technology & Systems, Meno Ya Win Health Centre
- Mike West, SQL Server Educator, DBA, and Technical Consultant
- System Analyst Manager, a community bank in Upstate New York
- Senior DBA, a major international organization
- Chief Technology Officer, mid-size US medical organization
Your Challenge
- More servers are deployed in production than necessary, resulting in excessive hardware, utilities, licensing and maintenance costs.
- Many databases are business critical, and prolonged downtime while IT changes the environment is unacceptable.
- It can be hard to secure funds for an overdue upgrade project.
Our Advice
Critical Insight
- Get to action with the tasks that have the most impact. Focus your time and energy on the items that will provide the greatest return on investment.
- Create a plan to replace infrastructure that can make costs and changes predictable.
- Clearly communicate these needs to executive stakeholders, identifying the business value of changes.
Impact and Result
- Create an inventory of your current environment.
- Perform an analysis of the current system to identify candidates for consolidation and out-of-date platforms.
- Create a detailed plan to test, execute modifications, and stabilize your platform.
- Use Info-Tech’s tools and templates to guide your project and get to action.
Start here – read the Executive Brief
Read our concise Executive Brief to find out why you should consolidate and optimize your SQL Server environment, review Info-Tech’s methodology, and understand the four ways we can support you in completing this project.
1. Identify opportunities and challenges
Understand opportunities to optimize SQL Server.
2. Plan the optimization project
Create a workflow for optimization.
3. Test, execute, stabilize, and debrief
Put the plan into action and collect the results.
Guided Implementations
This guided implementation is a nine call advisory process.
Guided Implementation #1 - Identify opportunities and challenges
Call #1 - Identify the current state of your SQL Server environment
Call #2 - Review inventory of hardware and applications, and identify if opportunities exist for an upgrade to SQL Server 2014
Call #3 - Review options for an upgrade or consolidation
Guided Implementation #2 - Plan the optimization project
Call #1 - Review possible paths for a consolidation or upgrade project, and review likely budget estimates
Call #2 - Discuss opportunities for an upgrade in the context of your current environment
Call #3 - Identify opportunities and goals for consolidation
Guided Implementation #3 - Test, execute, stabilize, and debrief
Call #1 - Review your project checklist and resourcing
Call #2 - Discuss the stages in your execution with an analyst, and review possibilities for post-testing
Call #3 - Debrief on project execution and discuss next steps
Book Your Workshop
Onsite workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost onsite delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.
Module 1: Identify Opportunities and Challenges
The Purpose
- Review the project rationale and identify project value add.
- Identify challenges to overcome and opportunities to improve.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Create an inventory of your current database environment.
Activities
Outputs
Identify pain points in the current system.
Identify project drivers, risks, and expected outcomes.
- Identify project value proposition
Identify stakeholders, SMEs, and roles and responsibilities.
- Complete the project opportunity assessment
Establish project parameters and deliverables and collect system data.
- Create an inventory identifying system interdependencies
Identify new features in SQL Server that can provide business value.
Module 2: Plan the Optimization Project
The Purpose
- Develop a project plan to guide implementation.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Develop project scope and get sign-off.
Activities
Outputs
Review key factors for your platform, such as security and availability, to identify the optimal path for modifications.
- Document prioritized criteria to guide any modifications to your environment
Identify the paths to optimization that can help you meet business goals.
- Complete the opportunity assessment and identify initial steps on the project checklist
Identify servers to upgrade, performance tune, and consolidate.
- Complete the TCO budget tool
Module 3: Test, Execute, Stabilize, and Debrief
The Purpose
- Establish a plan to execute and test modifications to your environment.
- Communicate project successes to stakeholders.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Ensure your plan to modify your SQL Server environment will minimize disruption to business processes.
- Build a roadmap for next steps to streamline future projects.
Activities
Outputs
Create a step-by-step plan for modifications with your SMEs.
- Complete the execution checklist
Identify steps for roll back and backup to deal with unexpected complications.
- Complete the roll back checklist
Review your project plans with stakeholders.
- Review the executive presentation
Discuss and document lessons learned.
- Update the issue resolution template
