UK-Based Managed DBA Service
A senior DBA team embedded in your business. For less than the cost of hiring in-house.
We don’t just support SQL platforms, we take responsibility for them — proactively managing and optimising across AWS, Azure and on‑premises environments.
Depth over breadth
When SQL Server is business-critical, generalists aren’t enough.
Embedded, not outsourced
UK-based senior DBAs who are accountable for your platform.
Fixed price, no limits
We find the root cause. Then we fix it properly. Every time.
What happens when specialists take ownership
The partner your platform has been missing
No hard sell. No judgement. Just honest advice.
We start by understanding where you are, not by pitching what we want to sell. If something isn’t needed, we say so. It’s why most of our new business comes via referral.
We go deeper than the symptoms.
Clear answers when performance, reliability or architecture don’t feel right. Long-running issues that have been tolerated for years. We identify the real problems and fix them. Not just a report that sits on a shelf. A prioritised, practical plan, and the team to deliver it if you need us.
Senior SQL expertise, without the cost or commitment of hiring.
When your team needs specialist depth — for a project, a migration, or ongoing support — we slot in alongside you. No recruitment, no onboarding overhead, no long-term commitment until you’re ready.
We improve your platform, not just maintain it.
Most managed services keep the lights on. We do that and then make things better. Performance improves. Architecture becomes more resilient. In the first year, your platform is measurably better than when we started.
When a standard health check isn't enough
Start with a platform review
An expert-led review to understand your real drivers, address the most pressing risks, and deliver clear, prioritised recommendations. Your team will know exactly what to fix and where to start.
What you get
A full SQL environment review. Real risks identified, not just surface-level flags.
Prioritised action plan based on real impact. What to fix first, what can wait, and why.
Debrief call. No pressure to commit to anything further.
Fixed price. No hidden extras.
Sofia™ Monitoring Platform
We catch problems before you ever notice them
Sofia™ monitors your database and environment continuously — spotting slow queries, performance drops, and reliability risks before they become incidents. We don’t just manage your platform. We constantly improve it.
Your trusted team of experts
Experience you'll notice from the first conversation
Christian Bolton
Christian is both a Microsoft Certified Master for SQL Server and the first person outside Microsoft to achieve Microsoft Certified Architect, two of the highest technical certifications Microsoft has awarded for the platform. He spent his formative years at Microsoft before leading a 50-person SQL consultancy and authoring several books on SQL Server internals. He founded Cloud Rede in 2019 with a deliberate choice: depth over scale, and long-term relationships over volume.
"We're not a support desk you just log tickets with. We're on calls with our customers 2 or 3 times a week. We know our clients' platforms like we built them ourselves."
Frequently Asked Questions
Here's what people usually ask us
We’ll always give you a straight answer, even if it means telling you we’re not the right fit.
What is a Managed DBA Service? And do I need one?
Our Managed DBA Service means a specialist team working inside your SQL environment, fully accountable for its performance, security and stability. That includes performance monitoring, query optimisation, capacity planning, security and troubleshooting. Not just advice when something breaks. Proper accountability.
You’re most likely to need one if your database is business-critical, outages or performance issues carry real risk, and your internal team doesn’t have the time or depth to manage it properly. If SQL Server running slow or going down would seriously disrupt your operations, that’s exactly the situation we exist for.
Is it cheaper to outsource a DBA or hire one internally?
For most organisations, outsourcing is more cost-effective. A senior DBA in the UK can cost more than £70,000 fully-burdened, plus recruitment costs. Most internal hires are also generalists, capable across many areas but rarely able to go deep on SQL Server where it really matters. And a full-time DBA is hard to justify when the role is critical when things go wrong but under-utilised when systems are stable.
With Cloud Rede you get a team of dedicated SQL specialists, proactive monitoring through Sofia™, and cover across AWS, Azure and on-premises for a fraction of that cost. We don’t leave. Some of our clients have been with us from the beginning. In some of those businesses, we’re the longest-serving members of their team.
Our SQL Server is causing us problems but we're not sure where to start. What should we do?
We have an internal IT team but they're stretched. Can Cloud Rede work alongside them?
Yes, and it’s the most common way clients work with us. We don’t replace your team. We sit alongside them, taking responsibility for the database layer so they can focus on everything else.
Your team has full visibility of what we’re doing and we work around your processes, not the other way around. Most clients tell us it feels less like working with an external provider and more like having a specialist embedded in their team.
Is Cloud Rede based in the UK?
Yes. We’re registered in Swindon, Wiltshire in the South of England, and our entire team works remotely across the UK. All of our engineers work directly with customers, which means shared working hours, clear communication, and no passing your environment to a team you’ve never spoken to. When you contact us, you reach the engineers who actually manage your platform.
Will I always speak to the same engineer?
Yes. You’ll have a named engineer who knows your environment. Not a support desk, not a ticket queue, not a different person every time you call.
We work closely with our clients’ teams, often speaking to them two or three times a week. We know your platform, your history, and your priorities. That continuity is one of the things our clients value most and it’s one of the reasons our client retention rate is over 90%.
