Questions and Answers

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• Is there really no charge if you fail to get my SQL to run faster?
• How do you tune without connecting to our databases?
• Who does the tuning?
• How long does it take to get my sql tuned?
• What will I be asked to do, how much of my time will this take?
• What databases do you support?
• Why do I need your help - Enterprise Manager will solve our problem?
• I already pay for Oracle Support - why should I use your service?
• My problem appears to be plsql/java based, not sql. Can you help?
• When the SQL is tuned, how do we pay?

Is there really no charge if you fail to get my SQL to run faster?

Yes this is true, our work is free if we do not meet the performance target. There is no risk or cost to you if we fail.

Let's take an example: you send us a query that is currently taking 90 seconds to run. We examine the query and offer to improve its performance so that is runs in 10 seconds. We then tune the query and give you our best solution. You test it and find that the query takes 25 seconds. While this is an improvement, it does not meet the 10 second target we agreed on - so there is no charge for our work.

We can take this risk because our tuning skills and experience allows us to make very realistic estimations of how much a query can be tuned. We will tell you up front if a query cannot be improved and we will not offer to tune it.

In reality the number of queries we fail to tune successfully is very low.
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How do you tune without connecting to our databases?

We do not need or look for access to your databases. As well as our experience, there are two factors which allow us to tune it remotely.

1. We will ask you to run a script and email us the output. This script gathers information about the SQL statement. It reports on:

  - the schema objects used in the SQL statement
  - the statistics for these objects
  - the optimizer execution plan.

The report does not access any user data and it is in plain text so you can see exactly what you are sending to us.

2. We have our own "test-rig" which holds all versions of Oracle, on Unix, Linux and Windows platforms. This rig enables us to tune using the same optimizer version as your system.

Once we have found a solution on our test-rig, we send you this solution to test on your system. You do the testing, we do not access your database.
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Who does the tuning?

When you engage us to work on your SQL, we assign one of our team to work with you. Our team is made up of specialist sql tuners. All have over ten years experience and started their careers as developers before moving into DBA roles. We have three key requirements for our tuners:

1. Serious tuning experience.
2. Really understand data and how it is used in business processes.
3. The right attitude to work with people, there are no prima-donnas in our team - they all understand that tuning is a normal part of the development process and lifecycle.

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How long does it take to get my SQL tuned?

As well as a fixed price, we always quote you a delivery time. We base this delivery time on the length of time we will need to tune the SQL. This can range from 30 minutes for a small sql statement, to a few days for very long queries. We also offer an priority service to work immediately on live issues.
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What will I be asked to do, how much of my time will this take?

The aim of the Sql Tuning Service is to minimize the amount of time you have to spend on this. We only ask for a few minutes to answer a questions in an email, and for you to test the solution we provide. This minimization of your time is a central part of our service.
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What Databases do you support?

We specialize in Oracle performance - we work with all versions of Oracle.
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Why do I need your help - surely Enterprise Manager will solve our problem?

There are many tools available which automate the sql tuning process, tools such as Oracle Enterprise Manager and Quest's Foglight. The 10g version of Enterprise Manager is a great tool and we encourage you to try it a first step in problem resolution, then use our service to get the best possible solution. Automated tools are improving but are still very restricted in that they must focus on the existing SQL Statement. Like the old 'Garbage In - Garbage Out' phrase, an automated tool can improve the performance of a poorly written SQL statement that does not make best use of the schema and the nature of the business requirement. A good human tuner considers all of these things, and can produce a very different SQL statement. We often find that our solutions are faster but also result in smaller tidier sql statements. top

I already pay for Oracle Support - why should I user your service?

Our service is not offered by Oracle -we will tune any sql statement you have a problem with. Oracle provides various levels of support through its Metalink website. You can use this to get support on SQL queries which are part of Oracle Corp written applications, such as the e-Business Suite. But they will not tune custom sql statements. You have to demonstrate a bug in the optimizer to get them to investigate sql they have not written themselves. We will tune any SQL statement.
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My problem appears to be plsql/java based, not sql. Can you help?

Yes, we work with pl/sql and all client side languages, including java,visual basic, c++, pro*C and scripting languages. Use the 'Tune It' box on the home page to tell us about the problem.
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When the SQL is tuned, how do we pay?

We invoice your organization and you can pay the fee online.
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