Plenty of Central Florida businesses run on SQL Server without knowing it. It sits under the ERP, the accounting system, the practice-management software or the app somebody built ten years ago, and nobody looks at it until something stops working. We look after it before that happens, for companies with no database administrator and for I.T. teams that need a second pair of hands.
Who this is for
- Businesses running a line-of-business application on SQL Server with no in-house DBA. Your software vendor supports the application; we look after the server and the database it lives on.
- In-house I.T. teams who own the environment and want SQL Server help without hiring for it, run co-managed: you keep the keys and the roadmap.
- Other I.T. providers who need a SQL Server specialist for a project or an escalation.
What we do
- Outages and slowdowns. We find the cause, not just the symptom: blocking and table locks, runaway queries, resource pressure, and the scheduled jobs nobody remembers setting up. We read the dynamic management views and Extended Events to see what the server was actually doing.
- Logins and access. Service logins quietly set to expire (SQL Server Management Studio turns that on by default, and the application rarely says “password expired”), shared admin accounts, and working out exactly which program on which machine is using a login before anything changes.
- Encryption. Which TLS certificate SQL Server is really using (SQL Server 2022 picks one by itself), when it expires, and what happens at the next restart.
- Backups and restores. Backups that run, and restores that have actually been tested. A backup nobody has restored is a hope, not a plan.
- Maintenance. Integrity checks, index and statistics maintenance, and cumulative updates applied on a schedule.
- Upgrades and migrations. Moving to a supported version, onto new hardware, or into Azure, with a rollback plan written before anything moves.
- Azure SQL Managed Instance. Maintenance windows, point-in-time and long-term backups, login lockout policy, sizing and cost.
What we don’t do
- We don’t replace your software vendor. If the application has a bug, we bring the vendor the evidence (the error, the query, the time) so the ticket gets fixed instead of bounced.
- We don’t write your application. We’ll tell you which query is hurting the server and why. Rewriting the application is the vendor’s or your developers’ job.
- SQL Server only. We don’t offer Oracle, MySQL or PostgreSQL as a service.
Who does what
| Task | SquareWave | Your software vendor | Your I.T. team, if you have one |
|---|
| Installing, patching and configuring SQL Server | Does it | Says which versions it supports | Approves changes |
|---|
| Backups and restore tests | Does it | — | Decides retention |
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| Performance and outages at the server | Does it | Fixes application code | — |
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| Logins, permissions, certificates | Does it | Says what the app needs | Approves access |
|---|
| The application itself | Evidence and escalation | Does it | — |
|---|
| Upgrades and migrations | Plans and runs them | Confirms compatibility | Signs off the window |
|---|
The end-of-support dates
Microsoft’s dates, checked November 5, 2026:
- SQL Server 2016: extended support ended July 14, 2026. No more security updates unless you buy Extended Security Updates.
- SQL Server 2014: the last year of paid Extended Security Updates ends in July 2027.
- SQL Server 2017: extended support ends October 12, 2027.
- Windows Server 2016, which plenty of SQL Servers sit on, ends January 12, 2027. Our article covers the options: Windows Server 2016 Support Ends January 12, 2027.
Not sure which version you have? Ask whoever has access to run SELECT @@VERSION; against the server, or call us and we’ll look.
What it looks like in practice
- A SaaS company’s database kept going “unavailable” at 8 in the evening. We traced it to Azure’s planned maintenance on its SQL Managed Instance and moved the maintenance window to a controlled overnight slot.
- A business system started failing with an error about Java. The real cause was in the SQL Server error log: a service login whose password had expired. We fixed it without changing the password, so nothing else needed touching.
- Company-wide hangs in an ERP system were traced to a single table lock.
- For an eight-attorney law firm, we moved the SQL Server workload off a failing on-site server to Azure SQL Managed Instance over one weekend. Read the case study.
Questions people ask
Do we need a full-time DBA?
Most businesses our size don’t. They need someone who looks at the server regularly and knows what to do when it misbehaves.
Can you work alongside our I.T. person?
Yes. That’s the co-managed model.
Do we have to move to Azure?
No. Sometimes staying on your own server, on a supported version, is the right answer. We’ll tell you which, and why.
We’re still on SQL Server 2016. What now?
Upgrade in place, move to new hardware, move to Azure, or buy Extended Security Updates while you plan. Which one depends on what your software vendor supports, so that’s the first call we make.
What do you need from us to start?
Access to the server, the name of the application and its vendor, and 30 minutes with whoever knows its history.
Free SQL Server health check
We’ll look at your SQL Server and write it up on one page: the version and its support dates, your backups and the last time one was restored, logins set to expire, certificate expiry, and the top problems we’d fix first. No charge, and no obligation to have us fix them.
Ask for a free SQL Server health check or call (800) 620-1104. Related: all services.
