10 Reasons for Database Outsourcing
While you may feel that your IT material is safe and handled effectively within your own company, these reasons may give you some perspective on why you may want to consider other options.
Cost Reduction – Perhaps the most popular reason to outsource your database is the overall reduction in cost that would benefit your company. No longer do you have to pay people to check up and maintain your servers, verify that they have uninterrupted power supplies, and ensure their security from hackers. By going with an IT company that does this exclusively, you can save money on your end because they make money by volume.
Bigger Can Mean Better – Larger IT outsourcing companies are experts at what they do; there’s a reason they have made it to the top of the data storage field. Not only will they have the resources to back up your data, perhaps multiple times, but they do business by serving many clients, which meant they have the power and money to get the latest technology.
Newer Technology – Firms that specialize in storage can’t afford to let their systems go out of style or date because that could jeopardize their business. Going with them means you won’t have to worry about constantly updating your systems.
Reduction in Liability – Turning over this task to an expert also means a lot less worrying on your part. All you have to do is make sure you are operating within a solid contract that protects you in the case of data loss. Agree to a contract that puts you ahead in the case of a loss and you can sleep soundly knowing that your data is safe.
Competition means Lower Prices Elsewhere as Well – Now that you are in a market where others are competing for your business, you’ll get to shop around and find the best deal in town. In addition to the number one reason of lowering your overhead, competition also means that if you find you have gone with a company that doesn’t meet your needs you can switch. Imagine making that mistake if you owned all your own equipment!
More Effective Communication – If your company runs a database that needs to be accessed by multiple points, it will be easier for others to access and probably be faster for them to access as well. Once again a good contract is key, but in most cases you can get more bandwidth access for your money by outsourcing, than you could by providing your own database connection.
Better Security – On the other hand you will know your data is backed up by competition driven upgraded safeware.
Standardization – What if your resource manager suddenly quits or is fired? Outsourcing virtually guarantees that your information will be stored in a standard way, accessible consistently and without fear of security leaks.
Cross-referencing with Third Party Information – In many cases it may be possible to have your information collated and cross-referenced with other information for a variety of needs. Once again get a solid contract and fully understand your security requirements first.
Removal of Duplicate or Incorrect Data – A final way outsourcing can help your database is a common option many companies will offer, which is the examination of your data in various ways as it is transferred. Think of this as your businesses opportunity to ‘clean house,’ and set out again with a fresh start.
This post was contributed by Claire Webber, who writes about the schools online. She welcomes your feedback at Claire.Webber1223 at gmail.com
Reference : Pinal Dave (https://blog.sqlauthority.com)
6 Comments. Leave new
Hi Clair/Pinal,
very nice and informative article. Thanks for sharing it with us.
Regards,
Ritesh Shah
This is great for small-scale stuff but there is no way you will ever see a large-scale roll out of out-sourced databases. 2 reasons:
1) Sensitive data needs to be in your hands and no one else period.
2) Performance – ie: sucks.
Agree with David – no company would or should willingly allow their sensitive data out of their control for any reason, even to save a few dollars.
The liability alone in doing something like this is insanely huge.
Would be akin to using HoTMaiL as the corporate email system…
@David & Tim F. – Clearly anyone doing this is going to have an agreement with the provider to ensure data confidentiality just like you’d have an agreement with an outside contractor if you needed them to come in and do work on your system. So citing data sensitivity is a pretty weak argument.
As far as performance, I suppose it’s possible you could make enough data transfers to fill up a T3 line but I sincerely doubt it. Amazon, for example, outsources it’s data in a way (albeit to it’s own data infrastructure) and I suspect they have more transactions per second than any project you’d ever deal with could have.
As mentioned above, there is no way a company should allow their data to go into the hands of a third party. To me that is dangerous and just asking for trouble.
Sure you can have an “agreement” that protects you. How much is that “agreement” going to protect you overseas?
Think about this…your data gets out and its a PR problem the outsourcing company will lose you as a customer. You might lose ALL your customers.
It’s not just the bandwidth you have to consider, it’s also the latency. And then, you still have to consider the office’s bandwidth. If you are outsourcing your internal system databases (CRM, for example) – then instead of having a gigE connection, you might only have a 30mbps fiber connection. Or maybe only a T1, depending on the size of the company.
Latency though is the major killer. If the company hosting your databases has a fat pipe, and you have a fat pipe, but the hops in between have issues, then you are setting yourself up for mad employees.
IMO, database outsourcing should only be considered as a last resort if your company can’t justify the expense of hardware and staff to maintain their own datacenter/servers and database software.
It is probably more cost effective to outsource the *servers* and have your staff still admin and secure them.