GRD13 Consulting LLC

A SQL Server practice for companies that run the database but do not have a DBA.

I am Gene Davis. I have spent twenty-nine years working on SQL Server, most of it in-house in regulated environments where being wrong about data had consequences. GRD13 Consulting brings that to companies that depend on the database and have nobody on staff who owns it.

What I do

I find out whether your SQL Server would survive a bad day, and put the answer in writing.

A first engagement almost always starts with the readiness report: one read-only script, one instance, a written set of findings in five business days. From there the work is whatever the findings say it is, and some companies never need more than the report.

Services

SQL Server Readiness Report

A fixed-fee, read-only assessment of one instance. It answers three questions in writing: is the software still supported, would the backups actually restore, and who can reach the data. Every finding states what was observed, why it matters in money and risk, and what fixing it involves.

$995, fixed. Delivered in five business days. Full description and a sample report.

Remediation

Fixed-scope projects to close the findings that matter: version upgrades and migrations, backup and recovery design, access and permission cleanup, retiring instances Microsoft no longer supports. Scoped and priced against your report, and never a condition of receiving it.

Ongoing monitoring

A monthly arrangement for companies that want someone watching the backups, the patch level, and the access list, without adding a full-time database administrator to the payroll.

Background

Twenty-nine years on SQL Server, most of it in-house rather than consulting:

T-SQL development, stored procedures, and query performance work
SSIS and ETL pipelines, and data integration between systems that were never designed to share data
Backup, recovery, and disaster-recovery design, including the restore testing that proves it works
Version upgrades and migrations, including from versions Microsoft has stopped supporting
Access and security review: logins, roles, and sysadmin sprawl
Environments where an auditor, an insurer, or a regulator checked the result

That history is why the readiness report is not a checklist. The script collects the facts. The judgement about what they mean for your business is the part you are paying for.

Who I work with

Companies running SQL Server with no dedicated database administrator, usually because the person who set it up years ago has since left. The trigger is normally an insurance renewal, a customer security questionnaire, or a question from an auditor that nobody in the building can answer.

I also work with MSPs and IT firms that support SQL Server clients but have no database specialist on the team. The assessment and any remediation can run on a white-label basis, so the client relationship stays theirs.