Datrick Submit the written intake

Managed database operations

Managed DBA services for production systems.

Reduce operating uncertainty without adding another coordination layer. Datrick provides remote DBA services and DBA as a service with named ownership, written controls, and a clear production boundary.

Submit the written intake

Written scope first. No calendar gate.

Operating problem

Production database risk is usually an ownership problem first.

A database can be online and still be poorly controlled. Alerts may exist without an accountable response path. Backups may complete without current restore evidence. Performance problems may be addressed repeatedly without a durable record of causes, decisions, and results.

This pattern is common when a vertical SaaS company has outgrown person-dependent operations or when an IT service firm needs a specialist delivery layer behind its own client relationship. The buyer does not need more activity. The buyer needs clear responsibility for the operating system around the database.

Datrick leads the operating model. Scope begins with the estate, business commitments, current controls, authority, and material risks. The result is a bounded managed DBA service, not an open-ended pool of tasks.

Engagement coverage

What the engagement covers.

The final boundary follows the estate and risk. These workstreams define the normal decision surface.

Scope

Operating baseline

Database inventory, business criticality, ownership, dependencies, authorized access, known risks, and current service commitments.

Scope

Monitoring and incidents

Signal coverage, alert ownership, severity, diagnostic evidence, escalation, stakeholder updates, and incident follow-through.

Scope

Backup and recovery

Backup scope, retention, failure handling, restore procedures, recovery dependencies, drill evidence, and unresolved recovery risk.

Scope

Performance and capacity

Workload baselines, query and wait analysis, blocking, maintenance, growth, resource pressure, and an owned improvement backlog.

Scope

Change and access

Production authority, privileged access paths, approvals, validation, rollback criteria, audit evidence, and access review.

Scope

Operational reporting

A concise record of incidents, changes, risks, completed work, open decisions, and the next operating priorities.

Process and ownership

How the engagement runs.

Datrick leads the technical process, maintains the decision record, and makes unresolved risk visible.

1. Establish the boundary

Datrick maps the estate, decision rights, service hours, escalation paths, application boundaries, and evidence that can be trusted.

2. Stabilize material risk

Recovery, access, monitoring, capacity, and active incident gaps are ordered by business consequence. Datrick owns the operating backlog.

3. Run the cadence

Routine checks, maintenance, incident response, controlled changes, reporting, and risk review follow one documented operating rhythm.

4. Improve with evidence

Recurring failures and performance constraints become owned problems with baselines, decisions, validation, and documented outcomes.

Ownership boundary

Datrick owns database-operating analysis, prioritization, runbooks, technical recommendations, and work inside the agreed authority. The client retains business priorities, application decisions, production approvals outside the delegated boundary, and access governance. For partner delivery, the IT service firm retains its end-client relationship and client-facing commitments.

Service levels

Service levels define coverage windows, severity, acknowledgement, escalation, update cadence, and restoration or workaround objectives. They are written against the estate and authority available.

A typical model uses three severity levels. Severity 1, production down or data at risk: acknowledged within 30 minutes inside the coverage window, worked continuously until service is restored or a documented workaround holds. Severity 2, degraded performance or a commitment at risk: acknowledged within two business hours with a same-day plan. Severity 3, routine requests and planned work: scheduled into the operating backlog with a committed date.

Exclusions are written with the same precision. Application code, infrastructure outside the agreed boundary, and work beyond delegated authority follow the change process, not the incident path. Out-of-window work proceeds only with written pre-approval. Final objectives are set against the estate, coverage window, and authority before operations begin.

Published proof

Database work that expanded because the operating model held.

Verified duration

5+ years

A confidential IT service firm relationship began with urgent DBA/NOC and migration work, then expanded into BI, reporting, analytics, and ongoing data operations. The IT service firm retained the client relationship.

Verified program value

$20K+ monthly

An ongoing operations program spanning DBA coverage, migration, BI, and analytics delivery within a single IT service firm relationship.

No client name, logo, system detail, or unsupported metric is published. The evidence boundary is documented on the case study page.

Review the managed DBA case study

Related decisions

Continue with the page that matches the operating question.

Compare the cost model

See where an in-house hire, staff augmentation, and a managed service diverge on cost, coverage, and accountability.

Review DBA service pricing

Planning ranges and the factors that move pricing: estate size, coverage window, response objectives, and delegated authority.

Scope a database migration

How a controlled migration is scoped: platform assessment, cutover strategy, rollback criteria, and validation.

Frequently asked questions

Questions buyers ask before written scoping.

What are managed DBA services?

Managed DBA services place defined database operating responsibilities with an external specialist. The boundary can include monitoring response, incidents, backups, recovery readiness, performance, maintenance, access, changes, documentation, and reporting. Authority and exclusions are written before operations begin.

How are remote DBA services different from staff augmentation?

Remote DBA services are organized around an operating outcome and an accountable service boundary. Datrick leads the database process, maintains the backlog and evidence, and reports decisions and risk. The engagement is not an unstructured allocation of individual tasks.

What does DBA as a service include?

DBA as a service can include a controlled baseline, routine operations, incident response, performance and capacity work, recovery verification, change support, documentation, and governance. The exact scope depends on the database estate and business commitments.

Can Datrick work behind an IT service firm?

Yes. The IT service firm can retain the end-client relationship, commercial control, and client-facing commitments. Datrick operates within the agreed communication, authority, evidence, and escalation model.

Which databases can be included?

Core coverage is PostgreSQL and Microsoft SQL Server, in managed operations and in controlled SQL Server to PostgreSQL migrations. Cloud-hosted variants are in scope, including Amazon RDS and Aurora, Azure SQL, and Google Cloud SQL. Other business-critical relational platforms are confirmed during written scoping against versions, hosting, extensions, tooling, access, and operational requirements.

Written intake

Describe the database, business risk, current ownership, and required decision.

Datrick reviews the situation and returns a direct scope recommendation or the questions required to qualify it.

Submit the written intake