SQL Database Support for UK businesses.
SQL Server support for the databases your business systems depend on. We look after SQL Server and Microsoft Access databases on an ongoing basis, fix performance problems, carry out upgrades, and migrate them to Azure SQL.
- In business since 2004
- Microsoft stack throughout
- You speak to the person doing the work
SQL Server database support for the system you can't do without.
Your business runs on an internal system, and that system runs on a SQL Server or Access database. The developer or DBA who built it has moved on. The version is ageing or already out of Microsoft support. It has become slow, or fragile, or both. Or the business has decided it should be in the cloud, and nobody is quite sure what that involves.
If that sounds familiar, you need someone to take responsibility for the database, not instructions on how to do it yourself. That is the service we provide.
Nobody owns the database.
The person who designed it has left, the documentation is thin or missing, and every change feels like a risk.
It's out of support.
An older SQL Server version, an ageing Windows server underneath it, and no clear plan for the upgrade.
It's getting slower.
Screens that used to be instant now take seconds, reports time out, and the data keeps growing.
It started life in Access.
A Microsoft Access database that grew into something the whole business relies on, with more users than it was built for.
You want it in the cloud.
The server in the office is a liability, and you want the database in Azure SQL with proper backups and access from anywhere.
You need cover for a while.
Your own DBA or developer is unavailable for a period and you need someone dependable in the meantime.
Databases built by others, taken on and looked after.
Most of our database work starts with a system somebody else built. The examples below are typical; the systems involved range from education-sector administration to services run by local authorities.
Taking on existing databases
We have taken over several existing SQL Server databases that were designed and built by other people. In each case we learned how the database and the application on top of it actually worked, documented it, stabilised what was fragile, and we continue to support it on an ongoing basis.
Temporary, ad-hoc support
We have provided ad-hoc support to a customer who needed experienced cover for a period, rather than a permanent arrangement. We fit the engagement to the need: a long-term support relationship, a defined project, or help for a few months.
Migration to Azure SQL
We have migrated customers from on-premises Microsoft Access and on-premises SQL Server to Azure SQL Database, including the application changes that go with the move: connections and sign-in, scheduled jobs, and the queries and features that behave differently in Azure.
Read how we took on and moved a local authority system to Azure SQL →
SQL Server consultancy and support, Azure SQL and Microsoft Access.
We offer all of the following listed services. We could start with a health check and move on from there; alternatively we could go straight to fixing a particular issue that is getting in your way today.
Ongoing support and maintenance
Someone who knows your database, on hand for fixes, changes and questions.
Performance investigation and tuning
Finding out why it is slow, from indexes and queries to server configuration, and fixing it.
Health check and documentation
A clear written account of an inherited database: structure, dependencies, risks and priorities.
Version upgrades and end-of-support migrations
Moving an out-of-support SQL Server to a current version, planned and tested so the business keeps running.
SQL Server to Azure SQL
Migration of on-premises SQL Server databases to Azure SQL, with the application changes the move requires.
Microsoft Access to SQL Server or Azure SQL
Moving Access data to SQL Server or Azure SQL and, where it makes sense, replacing the Access front end with a web application.
Backups, recovery and security review
Checking that backups work and can be restored, and that access to the data is properly controlled.
Integration with other systems
Connecting the database to your accounting, CRM and operational systems.
Tell us about your database
A few lines on the system and what you need is enough. We will reply within one working day to arrange a conversation.
Prefer to talk? Call 020 7712 6557, weekdays 9am–6pm.
Small steps first. No commitment until you have a proposal.
We are based in London, work remotely with clients across the UK, and have been in business since 2004. Getting started looks like this.
The database and the system on top of it.
A database problem is often an application problem, and the other way round. We deal with both.
Developers as well as database people
We write the applications that sit on databases, so we understand how your system uses its data and what a change to one means for the other.
Microsoft stack throughout
SQL Server, Azure SQL, Microsoft Access, .NET and Azure. The same technologies we have worked with for more than twenty years.
You deal with the person doing the work
We are a small firm. There is no account manager between you and the person looking at your database.
Notes on Azure SQL and Microsoft Access.
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Moving an on-premises SQL Server system to Azure without a rewrite
What the move involves, what it fixes, and the handful of things that catch people out.
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Should you replace your Access database, or build on it?
When to keep it, when to move the data to SQL Server, and when a replacement is really warranted.
Need someone to look after your SQL Server database?
Call, email, or use the form above. We typically reply within one working day.