Your data is the lifeblood of your business. It represents years of effort, time and money. Today, you have a bewildering array of Database Management Systems (DBMS) from which to choose. Most are excellent products.

However, if your data is not correctly set up or if essential data is missing, your DBMS will cost rather than make you money.

Put simply, your company’s integrity rests on the integrity of your data. Critical design factors affecting, for example, parent-child table relationships require significant expertise if they are to work correctly. Database design, conversion and repair are essential SBS services. Whether you want to install a new database, convert to a new DBMS, or should you experience problems with your existing database, we will provide the solution that works best for you. We specialise in developing and designing:

• Backup schedules
• Integrity checks and tests
• System settings and procedures
• Access and security controls

Repair

We would rather you did not call on us for our database repair and recovery services. Generally, it means that your problem is serious and is costing you time and money – a situation SBS seeks to avoid.

You can avoid most data problems by implementing backups consistent with the time it takes for your data to change. Because database problems are often found days after the data has been corrupted, implement backup versioning so that you are able to install a backup where data integrity is not compromised.

There are many causes of database corruption. These include:

• power fluctuations or outages
• hardware failure, and
• malicious damage

Alternatively, your accounts personnel might not be adept at or familiar with certain month-end or year-end procedures. In such cases, we will set up procedures and show your staff how to run them.

 

Recovery

Lesser problems affecting your ability to carry out your business functions include corrupted files. Where problems arise, call us. We will go as far as hex-editing individual files or recreating, for example, your general ledger. We will export the original to a spreadsheet, manipulate it, confirm that everything balances, create a new ledger, subject it to rigorous testing and import it into your database.

We contend that very little should be kept on local workstations beyond the operating system, the e-mail and necessary applications. It is sensible rather than desirable to impose a rigid directory structure because, usually, it is within this structure that problems will occur.

 

If we need to reinstall, we will move the directory – all data, templates, etc – to the relevant server and implement a clean installation within 4 hours.