WellData was created to address the shortage of skilled DBAs during the Y2K transition. WellData’s original objective was to solve this resourcing difficulty by deploying the available DBAs in an efficient and cost-effective manner. We have continued to do this, while substantially expanding the reach and breadth of those services.
Since WellData’s inception we have evolved into a data centric company covering all popular database technologies and their underlying server platforms.
Our service offerings now also include support of the data contained within those platforms, including data processing, data cleaning, data acquisition and reporting. We also provide support for the systems that contain that data, particularly bespoke and off-the-shelf applications.
Over the years, WellData has grown to cover the whole data supporting and data processing environment using the tried and tested WellData Methodology, based on monitoring, proactive responses and fixed, budgetable pricing.
In the years before the Y2K, when all the dates used in computer systems had to be reviewed to ensure they would work on the turn of the millennium, database administrators (DBAs) were in very short supply. Most were working on identifying and updating databases to ensure they were Y2K ready. The effect was that there were very few DBAs remaining to provide the necessary support for normal business operations.
Phill Clayton, our founder and MD, was on a short-term contract for a major telecoms company when it became apparent that this wasn’t just a short-term problem. All companies were facing the same dilemma resourcing DBAs, even before the Y2K situation made it substantially worse.
The problem was: finding suitably qualified DBAs. The DBA role is highly skilled, requiring substantial hands-on experience. Once found, and after the initial bedding in period, providing them with sufficient work to occupy them and to justify their salary becomes a problem.
The fact is that once a database system is set up correctly and running well, the primary job of a DBA is to constantly monitor, detecting problems before they become issues. At this point the skills of the DBA are needed to ensure the system is corrected in a timely manner, before anything untoward happens.
And there is the root of the problem, employing DBAs directly! You need their high levels of skill and expertise for short periods of time between long periods of monitoring and small amounts of periodic maintenance.
So, in 1999 WellData was born. WellData’s purpose was to solve this dilemma; providing the highest levels of skill and expertise, with constant monitoring and support in a way that was both advantageous to the DBAs themselves and the clients we supported.
Since then, we have expanded our portfolio of databases and found similar problems in server and cloud support. We also found that a similar approach can be taken with application and bespoke development support.
All these areas require the same application of skilled, experienced support for short periods of time between longer-periods of monitoring and periodic maintenance.
Commitment: We are committed to providing the best support possible.
Integrity: We are true to ourselves and to our clients.
Ownership: We own the problem; evasion is not an option.
Quality: We strive to achieve the highest levels of support.
Collaboration: We work together to continually improve our support.
Teamwork: We seek to become a seamless part of our client’s team
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"WellData is our favourite supplier as they under-promise and over-deliver!"
WellData offers very high levels of expertise. Each of the technologies we support is represented by a team of specialists in that area. Many of our engineers have brought their experience from previous employments in many areas of industry.
They work as a team, supporting each other, providing an unbeatable level of combined expertise. We believe they’re unmatched in their breadth of knowledge and practical hands-on know-how.
WellData’s service delivery department covering all the technologies we support represents 100s of years of practical, hands-on experience.
This experience is available to our clients on a daily basis. If one member of the team hasn’t seen a particular problem before, there’s a very good chance that another engineer within the team has.
Core to the WellData support team is training. This training can take many forms; from book research, computer-based training (CNT), formal courses, mentoring for the Mids. and Juniors, experimental systems to practice on, and so on…
WellData also runs Engineering Reviews where the engineering staff get together to share experiences, swap war stories, cross train other engineers and generally keep abreast of items of work at client sites.
The important part is that the highest levels of knowledge and experienced are shared throughout the support team, all of which is available to our clients.
WellData support staff are expected to have a Can-Do attitude to the problems they encounter. Problem ownership is core to the WellData value proposition. If a client has a problem, they can reasonably expect WellData support staff to respond and own that problem with them, until it’s finally resolved.
On many occasions throughout WellData’s history, we have supported our clients with problems that ultimately turn out to be elsewhere in their environment. For a WellData engineer, this is simply par for the course. A non-functioning system is no-system at all.
Get In Touch"They are always available to help us. I have one point of contact who is regularly in touch and emails me every day."
The WellData Method can be summed up in two words: Proactive Support. Rather than sitting around, waiting for something to go wrong (the Break/Fix model) the WellData Method takes a truly proactive approach.
The first step is monitoring. All the systems under our care are comprehensively monitored, not just for their current availability (up or down), but more importantly for deviations in key performance indicators, trends in growth and performance and patterns of behaviour or use. This way, we can predict changes in these systems that would adversely affect their performance.
These indicators then trigger our response. We are then ahead of the game rather than behind it. ensuring a ‘fix before fail’ outcome.
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Clients can benefit from our trusted partnership services which have been reviewed and verified by our database professionals, to find further support from many organisations, including:
Managed Service Providers
Hosting companies
Independent software vendors
"I wanted to thank you and your team for the huge efforts over the past month or so and particularly last week in the run up to the migration.
We couldn’t have done it without you!"
We currently have a job vacancy for a Junior SQL Server DBA, SQL Server Developer and Senior Sales Administrator.
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