Managed Database Services (DBaaS)
Focus on your applications while Claranet manages your databases. Our Managed Database Services (DBaaS) provide proactive monitoring, performance optimisation, patch management, upgrades, and expert DBA support to keep your database environments secure, resilient, and high performing.
Challenges we solve
Running databases well is a specialist discipline. Most organisations don't have the depth of DBA expertise they need — and the consequences show up at the worst possible moment.
Specialist skills gap
Finding and retaining experienced database administrators is getting harder every year. You need deep expertise across multiple database platforms, but hiring a full team of DBAs isn't realistic for most organisations.
Performance degradation
Databases slow down gradually — until suddenly they don't work at all. Without daily optimisation, regular integrity checks, and proactive capacity planning, performance issues creep in and affect your entire application stack.
Patching and security risk
Critical database patches can't wait, but applying them without testing risks breaking your applications. You need a structured patching process that balances speed with safety — and most teams don't have one.
Multi-platform complexity
Your databases run across different platforms, different cloud providers, and different versions. Managing this sprawl consistently, with the same quality of care across every instance, is a significant operational challenge.
What are Managed Database Services (DBaaS)?
Claranet's Managed Database Services, also known as Database as a Service (DBaaS), give you access to professional Database Administrators who take full responsibility for the health, performance, and maintenance of your database estate. Your relational database management system (RDBMS) is delivered back to you "as a service": the database software and underlying resources are managed as a single, cohesive package, so your own team can concentrate on the applications that depend on them.
The service covers five major database platforms: Oracle Database, Microsoft SQL Server (MSSQL), MySQL, PostgreSQL and Informix. Claranet takes a technology-agnostic approach, delivering a consistent management experience regardless of which database engines you run. That means the same monitoring, the same patching discipline, and the same expert care across your entire estate.
The service runs across Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services, and Claranet's own Cloud Platform, as well as on-premises infrastructure, so one team can look after a hybrid or multi-cloud estate. A dedicated DBA team handles everything from daily performance optimisation and integrity checks through to security patching, backup validation, and capacity planning, all underpinned by 24/7 monitoring and alerting.
Key Benefits
- Professional DBA expertise without the overhead of recruiting and retaining a DBA team
- One consistent service across Oracle, SQL Server, MySQL, PostgreSQL and Informix
- 24/7 monitoring and alerting across every managed instance
- Daily performance optimisation and capacity planning to catch issues before they affect applications
- Support across Azure, AWS, Claranet Cloud and on-premises infrastructure
- Patching under your control: Claranet contacts you for direction before critical patches are deployed
Managed database services vs cloud-provider DBaaS platforms
Cloud providers offer database platforms, such as Amazon RDS and Azure SQL Database, that you provision and configure yourself. Claranet's Managed Database Services add a layer of people and process on top: a dedicated DBA team that takes responsibility for the ongoing health, performance and maintenance of your databases, wherever they run.
That includes databases hosted on Azure SQL, Azure-hosted virtual machines, Amazon RDS and EC2, as well as Claranet Cloud and on-premises infrastructure, so you get one consistent standard of care across a mixed estate rather than a different approach for each platform.
Choose managed database services when you need expert DBA capability, such as daily optimisation, structured patching, backup validation and capacity planning, but don't want to recruit and retain a team of DBAs to provide it.
Why Claranet?
Deep database expertise, delivered at scale.
Supported database platforms and environments
One consistent service experience across five database engines and multiple cloud environments.
Azure
Azure SQL, Azure-hosted VMs
MySQL
Community and Enterprise editions
Oracle
Oracle Database, agreed versions
MSSQL
Microsoft SQL Server, all supported versions
PostgreSQL
PostgreSQL, all major versions.
Informix
All major versions, IBM Platinum Partner.
AWS
RDS, EC2-hosted databases
Claranet Cloud
Claranet's own private cloud platform
What's included in our managed database services?
Everything your databases need to stay healthy, fast, and secure.
Performance optimisation
Daily rebuild, re-organisation, and statistics updates keep your queries running efficiently. CPU, memory, I/O, and capacity are checked daily, with proactive intervention before performance degrades.
Patching & security updates
Critical security patches are applied when required, and Claranet contacts you for your direction before anything is deployed. Cumulative updates are available on request, either in-hours or out-of-hours to minimise disruption.
24/7 monitoring & alerting
Enterprise-grade monitoring tooling provides continuous intelligence across your database estate. A monitoring agent is installed on each instance, giving Claranet's DBA team real-time visibility into health, performance, and capacity.
Backup & disaster recovery
Regular backups using Claranet best-practice policies, tailored to your database version and structure. Backup validity is checked as part of the standard maintenance cycle so you know your data is recoverable when it matters.
Database maintenance
Integrity checks, housekeeping, database repairs, configuration changes, and daily statistics updates — all handled by Claranet's DBA team within an agreed maintenance window to minimise disruption.
Change management
Simple changes like outage prevention, critical patches, user management, and disk space allocation are included at no extra cost. Complex changes — like adding new instances or amending disaster recovery — follow a structured approval process.
Accreditations & partnerships
Certified experts behind our database services
Ready to hand your databases to the experts?
Whether you're running a single MSSQL instance or a multi-platform estate across cloud and on-premises, our DBA team will keep everything running at its best.
Or call us on 0330 390 0507
Managed database services: frequently asked questions
-
Managed database services put the day-to-day administration of your databases in the hands of an external team of Database Administrators (DBAs). With Claranet's Managed Database Services (DBaaS), a dedicated DBA team takes responsibility for the health, performance and maintenance of your database estate, including 24/7 monitoring, performance optimisation, patching, backup validation and capacity planning.
-
DBaaS is often used for cloud-provider platforms that you provision and administer yourself. Claranet uses the term for a managed service: professional DBAs administer your databases on your behalf. It can cover databases running on platforms such as Azure SQL and Amazon RDS, as well as Claranet Cloud and on-premises infrastructure
-
Claranet supports five database platforms: Oracle Database, Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL, PostgreSQL and Informix. They can run on Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services, Claranet Cloud or on-premises infrastructure.
-
The service includes 24/7 monitoring and alerting, daily performance optimisation, patching and security updates, backups with validation, database maintenance (integrity checks, housekeeping, repairs and configuration changes) and change management.
-
Critical security patches are applied when required, and Claranet contacts you for your direction before anything is deployed. Cumulative updates are available on request, either in-hours or out-of-hours.
-
Simple changes, such as outage prevention, critical patches, user management and disk space allocation, are included at no extra cost. Complex changes, such as adding new instances or amending disaster recovery, follow a structured approval process.
-
Yes. Claranet's Database Health Check is an expert assessment of your database performance, security and availability, with actionable recommendations.
-
Yes. Claranet's Database Migration service helps you move databases to, from and between clouds.