Consulting And Training

Your data is the lifeblood of your company. As your business grows, your databases will grow and the demands on your database servers will increase. As the demands increase, you can begin to experience declining performance. Simply put, if your SQL Server is not busy, you can get by with a lot of inefficient or even incorrect configuration settings. However, a higher load will expose those shortcomings and performance will suffer. I specialize in helping small IT departments effectively manage their SQL Servers. Although I am currently managing over 70 SQL Servers on a daily basis as part of a large IT team, I have worked for several companies that have had only a handful of SQL Servers and even fewer IT employees. I understand the time, experience and workload challenges such departments are under. I am adept at helping the “involuntary DBA” – that person who has no formal training with SQL Server, but is nevertheless responsible for keeping it running, simply by virtue of the fact that he or she is in the IT department. I can tune your servers for optimum performance and explain why I do the things I do in clear, easy to understand terms. As a consultant, I view my job as not just to fix your SQL Server issues, but also to educate you and your staff about SQL Server so you can take on some of that responsibility yourself in the future. (Of course, if you prefer not to take on that responsibility, that’s fine also. I love repeat customers and am more than happy to schedule regular periodic checkups!) I can also set up automated maintenance plans to ensure your servers keep running at optimum performance. I am also Microsoft Certified on SQL Server.

Online Training

I’ve developed a couple of online training courses. These are available at SkillShare.com. Skillshare is an affordable monthly subscription model where the subscription gets you unlimited access to all the courses on their site (currently over 17,000).

Microsoft SQL Server 101 – This course is designed for new DBAs and involuntary DBAs or anyone who needs to learn the basics of SQL Server. The course can be found at Skillshare via this link.

Understanding Data Compression in SQL Server – This course delves into how SQL Server’s data compression feature works and how and when to implement it. This course is approximately 1.5 hours long and can be taken at your own pace. Available at Skillshare with this link.

SQL Server Maintenance Plans – This course will teach you all about SQL Server’s maintenance plans and what they can (and can’t) do. Skillshare:  this link.

Sample videos from my courses can be found on my YouTube channel here.

Testimonials

“Shaun Stuart is the best MS SQL DBA that I have ever had the honor and privilege to work with and get to know. He has fantastic communication skills that allow him explain technical issues in a manner that presents the subject in great detail while ensuring that the message is understandable by all. He is an out of the box thinker that has developed many creative solutions that really helped us improve the management of our databases and SQL Servers.” – Jim Moulton, Director of IT & PMO, eInstruction

“Shaun did an impeccable job… He’s definitely not just a DBA. He’s a quiet guy, and I would highly recommend him.” -David Favier, Manager, IT Solutions, Rainbow Studios

“I have taken all of the courses that Shaun has offered thus far and can say without reservation that I have enjoyed his courses more than any of the others that I’ve taken. Shaun has a way of presenting complex information in a clear and concise manner that I appreciate very much. I will definitely be keeping my eyes open for more courses from Shaun.” – K.S.

“Two years ago, my employer sent me to a 5-day SQL Server Administration class at a “Microsoft partner” training vendor costing several thousand dollars. While that class is/was more oriented towards Microsoft certification exam 70-462, this course does a better job of getting you up to speed quickly as a new SQL Server DBA, and at a tiny fraction of the price. Shaun Stuart does a great job covering the essentials of what you should know in several hours of videos, which is impressive.” -J.W.

“Excellent Course for someone who is coming from Oracle background and new to SQL Server. Highly recommended!!!” – P.B.

“The presentation of the video is very clear,Shaun has a very clear voice and very humble and amazing while speaking or explaining about Data compression. Guys rather than going through ten books to acquire the knowledge on Data Compression why not go for a video course where everything is explained in a sequential manner giving the maximum knowledge and explained within a minimum time frame.” – V.K.G.

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