With most technologies, finding the right balance of support is always challenging following a new deployments. Mainly because until enterprise IT deployments are battle-tested there is no sure way to know exactly what challenges lie ahead when the new system is integrated with legacy systems.
When it comes to the typical enterprise-level MySQL deployment, many organizations today are relying on developers to provide a level of support that really goes beyond their areas of expertise. Cost, typically, is to blame.
However, there is a growing trend to tap outside MySQL support à la carte – to have an outside company provide the needed support services only as they are needed (much to the relief of overworked DBAs). These outside support engineers soon become trusted members of the IT team – and are only called up for action when needed.
Problems arise is every IT system eventually, and MySQL problems can seemingly strike out of the blue with no apparent root cause. When this happens, the company with the MySQL support contract can make that call 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
In addition to peace of mind, having a go-to support team with a proven MySQL deployment leader ensures increases in: uptime; productivity; and issue resolution. How do you know which support options are the best? Make sure you do your homework. But keep in mind that having the best support in the world won’t do much good if they are unavailable a certain times of the day and week. It’s critical to ensure that you have the freedom of simply picking up a phone and speaking to an actual support professions (not a recording).
Because when MySQL problems arise, they do so at their own schedule – and that could be 3 a.m. on a Sunday morning. The lesson here: Make sure the support company you choose is support services team that is highly accessible. Make sure that the software development team is highly experienced in optimizing MySQL performance and stability.
In addition, it is also a good ideal to consultative support when you need a hand with an installation or upgrade. Your on-call support team can then analyze your MySQL deployment, assist with installation or upgrades, and help you select the optimal monitoring tools for your situation. In cases they can also help youinstall and configure the recommended monitoring tools to support MySQL, which ensures that your team will have deep visibility into the performance of your installation at all times.