Value Proposition and Differentiators

What are your key service offerings?
What is the “boutique” approach?
Do you bundle services?
What is the difference between on-site and remote DBA work?
Why shouldn’t I go offshore? Aren’t the cost savings tremendous?
If I outsource my database administration work, won’t I create security issues?
What skill sets do you have for custom software development?
How do I contact you?
Do you work with any outsourced data centers?
Why should I buy your services when I can get Oracle’s free 2-Day DBA online tutorial?
What are your rates?
Are you an Oracle Partner?
What is a database appliance and what is it used for?
If I am not in Atlanta, can I still use your services?
Will you steer me towards Oracle since you are an Oracle partner?

Q: What are your key service offerings?

A: We offer professional services in the following areas:

• DBA’s and Application DBA’s,

• UNIX/LINUX System Administration,

• JAVA Technology System Development,

• Oracle Partner and Authorized Reseller

Q: What is the “boutique” approach?

A: Our “boutique” approach to professional services is embedded in the word service. Our boutique philosophy offers one-on-one support where we not only advise you on what to do, but actually get involved to get it done. The large big consulting firms have a higher cost structure and as a result work on creating the maximum billable hours. Once done, then the consultants move on to the next customer. We think more towards the relationship and getting done what is right for your business. We provide mentoring and look to reduce risk in technology. We do not want to lose the partnership we create with our customers and believe in long-term relationships. Once you try our style, you will see why we have such a high retention rate for customers. It’s in our corporate culture.

Q: Do you bundle services?

A: Yes. As an example, we can provide you with a complete service package that includes remote database administration and monitoring, operating system administration and monitoring, custom software development, hosting services, and system and database tuning. We will mix any combination of services to meet your needs.

Q: What is the difference between on-site and remote DBA work?

A: The primary difference is the level of interaction you need to have with the DBA. If you require on-site work, this is a good approach to augmenting current staff, design of schemas, defining business processes, capacity planning, and an excellent way to receive mentoring for your internal staff. Remote DBA is offered as a subscription service and provides a lower cost alternative to repetitive tasks such as monitoring, troubleshooting, and backups. It enables your senior DBA to be available for core activities such as design, tuning, and business processes.

Q: Why shouldn’t I go offshore? Aren’t the cost savings tremendous?

A: Gartner Group concluded in a recent study that the added hidden expenses of offshore software development adds significant costs to the low time and material rates quoted by offshore firms. These costs appear through additional project management needs, extra personnel, communications, travel costs, and other quantifiable expenses. In addition, the qualitative costs related to risk, complexity, potential time delays, infrastructure reliability, transfer of knowledge, team morale, intellectual property risks, and security are all factors that need to be included in an ROI calculation. The University of Southern California (USC) found that to calculate the costs of only three of these elements (productivity, communications, and quality) you need to add $4.52 for each $1.00 of quoted cost when computing the ROI. Yes, that is an increase of 452% for only 3 quantifiable components!

Q: If I outsource my database administration work, won’t I create security issues?

A: The main concern is whom you outsource your DBA work to. In a Forrester study among IT decision makers in companies with more than $500 Million in revenue, the respondents indicated they were concerned about placing their critical data in the hands of someone overseas. This is based on unclear government regulations regarding trade secrets and the hidden costs of doing business offshore. The study does conclude that outsourcing to a US domestic company provides real benefits. Based on the responses, those firms that outsource or plan to outsource their database activities indicated that a key benefit was cost savings. Certain DBA tasks, such as backup and recovery, monitoring, tuning, upgrades, and troubleshooting could be outsourced successfully.

Q: What skill sets do you have for custom software development?

A: We have developed custom software for our customers using JAVA, J2EE, EJB, and C++ on LINUX and UNIX platforms. A few of the applications developed include a global fax server, distributed airfare database proof of concept, and a Cargo B2B portal. We also offer experience in security software as well as data collection and remote server analysis.

Q: How do I contact you?

A: Our contact information is:

4080 McGinnis Ferry Road

Building 1200 – Suite 1202

Alpharetta, Georgia 30005

Office: 678.837.5941

Fax: 404.529.4527

General Information: info@cdsiusa.com

Q: Do you work with any outsourced data centers?

A: Yes, we work with some of the largest data center providers in the nation. We provide our customers with remote system and database administration and monitoring and work closely with your outsource data center partner.

Q: Why should I buy your services when I can get Oracle’s free 2-Day DBA online tutorial?

A: Oracle, as well as other RDBMS, can be complex in setting up for the first time and a migration from one database package to another can certainly be very complex. If you are setting up a small database for the first time, then the Oracle free training may be a good decision for you, but there is no substitute for experience. Should you decide to undertake the project on your own, we will still be available to assist you should you need it. While installation procedures and tools have gotten better, Oracle Corp still states, “79% of all Oracle outages are attributed to human error.”

Q: What are your rates?

A: Our rates vary based on the service you desire and the length of service needed. We will provide you with an hourly rate when appropriate and other times we may offer you a block of time to be used at your discretion. Our remote monitoring services for both database and system administration, are provided to you on a subscription basis. Pricing levels depend on the level of service and type of coverage you need. We also provide planning for disaster recovery, capacity planning, security audits, and any other technical issue where you need real world expertise.

Q: Are you an Oracle Partner?

A: We have participated in the Oracle Partner program for close to a decade. By being an Oracle partner we can represent you to Oracle Corporation and provide you with Oracle products.

Q: What is a database appliance and what is it used for?

A: A database appliance is a term coined within the industry that addresses a closed system that only performs database work. These are typically set in remote locations and are used to act as a local database connected into a larger corporate database. A bank branch may have a database appliance that hooks into the corporate system, but is operating principally for the branch. The appliance typically has a reduced set of operating system functions and is a turnkey operation. We can help you with this need. We offer a “database in a box” that allows customers to “drop” database onto a hosted system within our data center. The system is partitioned to allow you complete access to all of your data while keeping others out. Contact us about this low cost solution and we would be happy to provide more information.

Q: If I am not in Atlanta, can I still use your services?

A: The answer is yes! We have customers that are based in Europe and throughout the USA. Our remote services are designed to provide maximum value to any customer anywhere. For traditional consulting services we are happy to come to your location and serve your needs.

Q: Will you steer me towards Oracle since you are an Oracle partner?

A: We provide the answers that are best for our customers needs. If Oracle is the correct solution, then yes we will recommend it. We have extensive experience with Oracle and understand the best applications for its use. If you have an established product with SQL or MySQL, we embrace this and understand you know your business very well.

Cornerstone is a professional services firm that specializes in the delivery of technology-based solutions. We provide professional services in a variety of formats, including on-site consulting, remote administration, traditional consulting services, and subscription based administration services. Our solutions range across Database Administration Services, Custom Software Development , and System Administration.