Do you have persistent data issues that never seem to get and STAY fixed?  Schema . . . the basic rules and building blocks of a database . . . is the single most important factor affecting database performance, reliability, accuracy, and security along with the capability to do reports and analysis to support business decisions and on-going operations.  A schema audit is perhaps the most cost effective way to identify long term problems and get them resolved once and for all.  An independent and unbiased audit, done collaboratively with your staff, brings consensus among IT factions on issues and sets the focus on an achievable solution.

Second chances are few . . . but upgrading to a full scale database management system is an opportunity to “get it right”.  If your data needs have out grown small scale spreadsheet and data programs (e.g. Excel and Access), the conversion and migration process is your chance to help set a positive course for your business.  Make it a priority, and your data system will be responsive and flexible to present and future business needs.  Neglecting this opportunity is usually an “ongoing failure” producing problem after problem over time and can negatively impact your business for years.

Regular tuning and optimization is a routine and continuous requirement as both the nature and amount of data change.  If you don’t have staff performing this duty, it should be done at the first sign of performance issues and a periodic maintenance schedule established.  Automated maintenance routines will help keep things in order in between.  Deferred maintenance certainly becomes more expensive to remediate.

Not getting the information and answers you need in a timely and cost effective manner?  Over the years the data business has become segmented and highly specialized.  As data professionals have narrowed their focus to a limited or even a single subject matter, the data effort has become decentralized and fragmented.  The database world now has administrators, developers, architects, modelers, report builders, and business intelligence analyst . . . not to mention the systems engineers who do the database software installs but know nothing about the data world.  All having their own objectives and priorities.  This is especially important to reporting, BI and analytics because their functions are downstream of everything else.  Yet, few of these specialist have the knowledge and skills to fully comprehend and follow the process upstream when issues arise.  They report the problem and wait for it to work it’s way through the bureaucracy.  Priorities are usually set by the process of escalation to and involvement of higher management.  The key to their effectiveness is to have someone who can develop and bring an integrated view of the data process from beginning to end.