- The Delta Dental Plan
- Why Bother with Beta?
- Stepping into the Water
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Why Bother with Beta?
Although Delta's existing SQL 2000 database "ain't broke," there are plenty of areas where Mudra would like to see improvements. Beyond database monitoring, the CIO's wish list revolves around management, reporting, and performance.
While attending a trade show eight or nine months ago, Mudra saw a demo of an Oracle database tool that riveted his attention. Yet, at Delta Dental, decisions revolve less around whether to switch to a competing database than when to migrate to a new version of SQL Server. By now, Delta is a completely Windows shop.
Founded in 1958, Delta Dental of Missouri ran a number of different databases during its early years, including FoxPro, System 36, IDMS, and RPF flat files. But migration to SQL Server began way back with version 6.5, before proceeding to versions 7 and 2000.
"We wanted to build as homogeneous an environment as we could. All of our other applications—from the desktop to the server—operate on Windows. I don't see why I should run Windows on my desktop, and then use something else for a database server," Mudra says.
Applications now running on Delta's SQL Server 2000 servers include claims adjudication, workflow, a general ledger finance system, and email archiving, for instance. Delta stepped from SQL 7 to 2000 during 2001.
Mudra also believes that using SQL instead of Oracle or DB2 helps to cut total cost of ownership (TCO) by keeping staffing levels down.
"Right now, we have 20 people in our IT department. I have peers who are running Oracle. So I know that, if we had Oracle in place, we'd probably need 35 or 40 people instead," he contends.
Mudra concluded it's time for a beta after learning that SQL 2005 will include new management tools, along with the built-in reporting and faster performance he'd already heard about. Yet the CIO also emphasizes that, well beyond appearances, he's checking into the move to Windows 2005 from a TCO perspective.
Viruses and other security issues haven't been troublesome for Delta, according to Mudra. "Thankfully, we've been fine, as long as we've kept up with the patches." But Delta has been suffering from some significant throughput problems in remote database communications. "Performance metrics such as CPU utilization are 'there' in SQL Server 2000, but they are difficult to access and use. I'm hoping that with SQL 2005 we'll be able to cut the time and costs associated with analyzing performance data. The new functionality in 2005 could save us from digging through a lot of code," he says.
"Also in SQL 2000, another big problem we've encountered is the inability of the system to keep indexes intact. It'd make my life a whole lot easier if the indexes would automatically update themselves."
SQL 2005's built-in reporting tools are another motivator behind the SQL 2005 beta. "We sent some of our people to a training session, and when they came back, they said the reporting is really slick," he says. Here again, Mudra is eyeing TCO. "We'll be saving more money and time, because we won't need to have multiple sets of expertise on board for working with reporting tools."