SQL Server Consulting from Senior DBAs

Slow queries killing your application. Backups that haven’t been tested. A DBA who left three months ago. A board looking for a plan.

Trusted by 100+ Teams Since 2011

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Your SQL Server is Costing You Sleep, Money, or Both

Performance is degrading and nobody on your team knows why An upgrade or cloud migration keeps getting pushed because the risk feels too high You’re one ransomware event or failed restore away from a very bad week Your board expects a plan for performance, security, availability, and scalability

Stress-Free Data Stewardship

What “Solved” Looks Like

“It’s Friday at 4:55 PM. Your daily health check is all green checkmarks. Your backup job ran clean overnight, and your CFO has stopped asking why the database server costs what it does. Your team isn’t googling error messages at midnight. The database is doing what databases are supposed to do, which is nothing dramatic at all.”

Stability

Your environment runs predictably. No surprise outages. No 2 AM pages.

Speed

Queries that used to take minutes return in seconds. Users stop complaining.

Confidence

You know what’s running, why, and what to do if something breaks. Your team learns alongside us.

We Sell Green Checkmarks

Your Straight Path Forward

Whether you’re in crisis mode right now, planning for the future, or anywhere in between, we have solutions.

Health Check

If you’re experiencing SQL Server problems or simply uncertain about its integrity or resilience, our SQL Server Health Check will get you answers.

DBA as a Service

Our managed DBA as a Service gives your team proactive monitoring, monthly review, and fast access to experienced DBAs without the full-time salary.

SQL Server Upgrades

Our expertise will ensure your SQL Server Upgrade is done right the first time, with little disruption to your users.

Data Estate Audit

Our Data Estate Audit provides guidance on your data landscape so that you can invest with confidence in the platforms, tools, and strategies that drive real growth.

Not sure which solution fits? That’s exactly what the free consultation is for. We’ll make an assessment and then provide our recommendation.

When to Hire a SQL Server Consultant

  • Your environment is slowing down and you don’t know why
  • You’re planning a migration to Azure and want a second set of eyes
  • Your DBA left and you need coverage while you hire
  • You’re running SQL Server 2016 or older and the upgrade keeps getting pushed
  • You had a ransomware event and need to verify your backups actually work
  • Your board is asking about data strategy and you need a real answer
  • Take the Next Step

    Three Steps to Getting Your SQL Server Back Under Control

    Tell Us What’s Broken: Use the form below or call 888-775-3282. A senior consultant, not a sales rep, gets on the line with you. Free, 30 minutes, no pitch.

    We Look at the Actual Data: We’ll send you a lightweight diagnostic tool. It runs in minutes, doesn’t change anything, and gives us real signal instead of guesses.

    You Get a Plan: Sometimes the answer is “Here’s what to do.” Sometimes it’s “We can help. Here’s how.” Either way, you leave the call knowing more than you came in with.

    Schedule a Call

    Need help now? Call us: 888-775-3282

    Free consultation

    30-minute initial call

    Our expert consultants are ready to discuss your SQL Server needs. Select a date & time from our booking calendar to schedule your initial consultation and begin your engagement.

    Trusted by 100+ Teams Since 2009

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    Testimonials

    Trusted by Teams Who Take Data Seriously

    Whether it’s optimizing queries or server migrations, our clients rely on us to solve high-stakes SQL challenges.

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    Frequently Asked Questions

    How much does SQL Server consulting cost?

    We’re completely transparent about our pricing. Health Checks start at $997. DBA as a Service starts at $6,000 per quarter, and our Micro plan is also available for $20,000 per year with an annual commitment.

    If you need performance tuning, troubleshooting, or other SQL Server support but don’t need DBA as a Service, you can purchase consulting hours in buckets: 20 hours for $7,000 or 40 hours for $12,000.

    See more about how we price, what’s included, and why on our pricing page.

    Do you work with companies our size?

    Probably. Our clients range from smaller organizations with just a few important SQL Servers to large enterprises with complex data estates. We work with mid-market companies, credit unions and financial institutions, healthcare organizations, software companies, manufacturers, and larger enterprises.

    The size of your company matters less than the acreage of your data estate, how important SQL Server is to your business, and whether you have the right expertise internally to manage it.

    What kinds of SQL Server consulting do you provide?

    We help with the hard SQL Server problems that don’t fit neatly into a managed service. That includes SQL Server performance tuning, query and execution plan troubleshooting, HA/DR, migrations and upgrades, backup and recovery problems, SQL Server configuration, architecture, security, cloud and hybrid environments, and general troubleshooting.

    Some clients come to us with a very specific problem. Others just know SQL Server isn’t behaving the way it should. We can work either way.

    For focused project or troubleshooting work, clients can purchase consulting hours in 20-hour or 40-hour buckets. If the issue turns out to be broader than a one-time project, we can also help through a SQL Server Health Check or our ongoing DBA as a Service offering.

    Can you help if our SQL Server is down right now?

    Yes. If you’re experiencing a critical SQL Server outage, call us at 888-775-3282. We’ll quickly determine whether we can help with the immediate issue. Existing DBA as a Service customers have defined response-time SLAs and 24/7 access to our team.

    Do you work with cloud SQL Server or only on-premises?

    Both. We work with traditional on-premises SQL Server as well as SQL Server running in Azure and AWS, Azure SQL Managed Instance, Azure SQL Database, and hybrid environments. We also help with cloud migrations, architecture, performance, and troubleshooting.

    What if we just need help once, not an ongoing relationship?

    You can purchase buckets of hours as needed. Even our DBA as a Service offering is one quarter at a time, with no long-term contract commitments.

    Do you provide SQL Server performance tuning?

    Yes. Performance tuning is one of our deepest areas of SQL Server expertise. We troubleshoot slow queries, execution plans, indexing, blocking and deadlocks, parameter sensitivity, CPU and memory pressure, I/O, tempdb, SQL Server configuration, and problems that cross the line between application code and the database. Sometimes it’s just the app. Sometimes it’s just the infrastructure. Usually? It’s a bit of both.

    Our team includes senior SQL Server performance specialists with decades of experience, including former Microsoft MVPs and experts who have taught and trained other advanced SQL Server professionals.

    Performance tuning can be handled as a focused consulting engagement using one of our buckets of hours. If the underlying problem is that nobody is proactively managing SQL Server, our DBA as a Service clients have access to that same performance bench.

    Who actually works on my SQL Server?

    Our consultants and DBAs are full-time Straight Path employees based in the United States. We don’t outsource our SQL Server consulting work to an offshore call center or assemble a team of outside contractors when something gets difficult.

    Your consultant also has the rest of the Straight Path team behind them. That gives you access to a broader bench of experience when an issue crosses into performance tuning, HA/DR, database development, cloud architecture, security, or another specialized area of SQL Server.