A leading U.S.-based global asset management firm with an AUM of $740 billion sought a trusted technology partner to manage its end-to-end database operations across multiple geographies. The firm provides investment management and research services to institutional, high-net-worth, and retail investors across the U.S., Europe, Asia, and Australia.

With a complex mix of on-premises and cloud-based environments, spanning RDBMS platforms including Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, SAP ASE (Sybase), SAP IQ (SybaseIQ), and PostgreSQL, the firm needed a partner capable of ensuring 24x7 operational continuity, scalability, and compliance across more than 600 database servers and 100+ business-critical applications.

NuWare, leveraging its extensive experience in Database Administration (DBA) and Engineering Services, was selected to provide L1, L2, and L3 DBA support under a flexible offshore model designed to meet stringent SLAs and evolving business needs.

The firm’s global IT infrastructure presented several operational and governance challenges that required specialized expertise and constant vigilance:

• 1. Multi-Platform Database Environment
  A hybrid mix of on-premises and cloud databases across multiple RDBMS technologies increased complexity in maintenance and patch management.
• 2. High Volume of Alerts and Requests
  With over 4,000 tickets per month, the support team faced continuous pressure to maintain SLAs with rapid response and resolution times.
• 3. Global Datacenter Footprint
  Database servers across the U.S., Europe, Asia, and Australia required continuous 24x7 support and effective time-zone coordination.
• 4. VLDB and Mission-Critical Systems
  Very Large Databases supporting trading, research, and portfolio systems demanded high performance, data integrity, and rapid recovery capabilities.
• 5. Continuous Patching and Compliance
  Maintaining software versions, applying security patches, and performing database health checks were essential for regulatory compliance and data security.
• 6. Complex Service Mix and High Availability
  Balancing routine DBA requests, performance tuning, and disaster recovery testing across both on-prem and cloud setups required strong automation and governance.

The client needed a resilient, proactive, and automation-enabled support model to ensure continuous database uptime, quick response to incidents, and seamless collaboration with global development teams.

NuWare established a multi-tiered Database Support and Engineering framework consisting of 24x7 L1 monitoring, L2 application DBA support, and L3 database engineering services.
The solution delivered flexibility, automation, and proactive performance optimization across all environments.
1. 24x7 L1 DBA Support
NuWare’s L1 team provided continuous, SLA-driven monitoring and first-level response for all production and non-production databases.

Key functions included:

• • Server alerts and warning management: 24x7 proactive monitoring of server health and thresholds.
• • Database builds, patching, and migrations: Automated provisioning and version upgrades across SQL, Oracle, and Sybase environments.
• • Disaster Recovery (DR) support: Scheduled DR testing and failover validations.
• • Health checks and maintenance: Routine performance checks and index optimization.
• • User service requests: Security management, DB object creation/modification, and code deployments (SSIS/SSRS).
• • Change management: Controlled patch and configuration rollouts.
• • Performance tuning: Real-time monitoring of critical batch jobs and query optimization.
• • Documentation and SOP management: Continuous updates to runbooks and process documentation.

Average Monthly Volume of L1 Tasks:

• • Server alerts and warnings: 1,400
• • Change requests: 650
• • User requests: 600
• • Database refreshes: 150
• • Script/file deployments: 250
• • Other DBA services: 600

2. L2 Application DBA Support
The L2 team delivered advanced support and collaboration with application development groups globally.
Key activities included:

• • Requirement analysis and solutioning: Partnering with application managers to design optimal DB configurations.
• • Proactive health checks: Identifying and addressing bottlenecks before impacting performance.
• • Capacity and cost optimization: Upsizing or downsizing servers based on utilization metrics.
• • On-call performance management: Rapid diagnosis and resolution of performance degradation and outages.

3. L3 Database Engineering
NuWare’s Database Engineering team acted as subject matter experts (SMEs), driving automation, tooling, and continuous improvement.
Major contributions included:

• • DBA Task Automation: Automated recurring tasks like database refreshes, DR failovers, and sanity checks.
• • Custom Maintenance Scripts: Developed bespoke scripts for backup, log shipping, and replication monitoring.
• • Advanced Monitoring Scripts: Created SQL and PowerShell scripts to track blocking, deadlocks, long-running transactions, and disk utilization.
• • Server and Audit Reports: Automated daily health check and latency reports for DBAs and compliance teams.
• • Certification and Tool Validation: Conducted evaluations of new DB tools, technologies, and cloud platforms before rollout.

The partnership delivered measurable improvements in reliability, scalability, and operational efficiency:
1. Uninterrupted Global Operations

• • Achieved 99.9% database uptime across all RDBMS platforms.
• • Supported real-time data synchronization between on-premise and cloud systems.

2. SLA Compliance and Incident Response

• • Maintained <10-minute acknowledgment for P1 alerts and under <30-minute resolution for critical issues

3. Operational Efficiency and Cost Reduction

• • Automated repetitive DBA tasks, resulting in 35% reduction in manual workload.
• • Optimized server utilization, reducing infrastructure cost by 20% annually.

4. Enhanced Performance and Security

• • Improved query performance across major trading databases by 25% through tuning and index optimization.
• • Strengthened compliance with regular patching, DR drills, and audit reporting.

5. Global Scalability and Flexibility

• • Successfully supported over 600 database servers across hybrid environments (Azure, AWS, on-prem).
• • Delivered consistent service across multiple time zones and business units.

Building on its success, NuWare continues to evolve the DBA support model to align with emerging trends in cloud modernization and automation:

• 1. AI-Driven Performance Monitoring: Integrating anomaly detection to predict and prevent failures.
• 2. Self-Healing Automation: Automated recovery for deadlocks and resource bottlenecks.
• 3.Cloud-Native DB Management: Expanding expertise in Azure SQL, AWS RDS, and serverless databases.
• 4.DataOps Integration: Incorporating database operations into CI/CD pipelines for faster delivery.

These initiatives aim to build a predictive, intelligent, and autonomous DBA ecosystem that ensures resilience and agility across the client’s global operations.