Migrations & upgrades
SQL Server version upgrades, server consolidations, and schema re-organisations — planned and executed without surprises.
- Compatibility and risk assessment before anything moves
- Cut-over plans with rehearsed rollback
- Minimal-downtime strategies (log shipping, distributed AGs, Always On)
- Post-migration validation and tuning under the new engine
When you need this
You’re stuck on an old SQL Server version and need to upgrade safely. You’re consolidating servers, renaming hostnames, or moving data centers. Schema changes need to propagate across environments consistently. The plan keeps getting punted because nobody wants to own the cut-over.
What’s included
- Assess. Inventory every database, deprecated feature, cross-database query, linked server, SQL Agent job, and unsupported assembly. Score each one for migration risk.
- Plan. Pick the right strategy for your downtime budget — backup/restore, log shipping, Always On, or distributed availability groups. Define rollback before defining go-live.
- Execute. Run a rehearsal in non-prod, fix what breaks, then perform the real cut-over with a clear comms plan.
- Validate. Reconcile row counts, re-run the workload, tune anything that regresses on the new version (cardinality estimator changes, scoped configuration, query store behavior).
Typical engagement
Anywhere from a few days for a single-server upgrade to a multi-month program for a large estate. I scope each phase so you can stop, ship, and re-engage when ready.
Deliverables
- Migration assessment report with risk-ranked findings
- Cut-over runbook with rollback steps
- Post-migration validation report and tuning summary
Sound like a fit?
First 30 minutes are free.