OptimalSols

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CIO of a software company.

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Software company specialized in financial software.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire OptimalSols to accomplish?

• Oracle Database - administration, optimization
• OCI - helping in Oracle Cloud
• Oracle Forms and other areas

SOLUTION

How did you find OptimalSols?

upworks

Why did you select OptimalSols over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned
• Matched areas of requirement

How many teammates from OptimalSols were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Oracle database administration including optimization, tuning, performance and disaster recovery

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure including instance management, disaster recovery for instances, network security, firewall management.

Oracle Forms - isuues related to forms instances, performance.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

We are very happy with their service. Response time is very good based on urgency. Any issue they take seriously and involve number of person as required. Highly knowledgeable in their respected areas. Overall we are very satisfied with their performance.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

If it is a project they come up with proposal, once agreed they test everything before deployment. If it is a production issue they involve people right away, identify the issue explain it to us and resolve it. Very professional on both areas.

What was your primary form of communication with OptimalSols?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Everyone is very professional and highly knowledgeable in their respective areas. They have a pool of expertise they can use as needed.

Are there any areas for improvement or something OptimalSols could have done differently?

I think they are doing good.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the delivery lead of an SI company. We provide services across multiple geographies, and I'm in charge of the regions of Australia and New Zealand.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with OptimalSols?

We needed support for our UNIX and Linux engagements.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

OptimalSols has been supporting us for UNIX and Linux engagements. They've also recently supported us in one of the large Oracle deployments for one of our clients.

For one of the engagements, we needed to build an Oracle database for a large telecom company. OptimalSols has provided us with a few resources and worked on an outcome-based model. 

We didn't provide any documentation. We only gave them a high-level overview of the architecture. They've managed to dig into their product documentation.

Currently, they're engaged with us for UNIX. They’ve dedicated one resource to UNIX, and that resource is working with my team. He owns all UNIX deliverables and works for a large SIEM integration for around 200 applications.

What is the team composition?

We work with around 5 resources in total.

How did you come to work with OptimalSols?

We have an internal competency team that keeps searching for resources. They managed to find OptimalSols.

How much have you invested with them?

We've spent around $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in April 2023, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

IInitial hiccups occurred because the scope wasn't clear. However, the team was very flexible in adopting the change in the scope. Eventually, they delivered the end product, and we appreciated their work.
They’re very good in the UNIX space. A few resources are very good in Oracle database services, and their Oracle database and ERP skills are very strong. They're amazing.

How did OptimalSols perform from a project management standpoint?

They only supply the technical resources; we fully manage the project internally. I haven't received any complaints from the project manager. They deliver on time.

We communicate via phone, have a Microsoft Teams channel, and use Microsoft Project Plans to track the program.

Are there any employees from the service provider's team that you would like to give a shout-out to in this review?

I want to give a shout-out to Muhammad I.; he is an amazing resource.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The communication is excellent; they talk properly and get to the point. We have one resource, Muhammad J., whose communication skills are top-notch.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They’re a small team, so they need to expand their team to deliver multiple services. We can only use them for one program at that time. We can't give them an end-to-end program because they don’t have diversified skill sets. Their core competency is limited to Oracle and UNIX.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They're very good if you want to engage them for Oracle services, especially ERP. They need to improve a bit if you want to engage them in a minor services program. They're a small-sized company, and that's the only concern. But, as a resource engagement, they are perfectly fine.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Sytems Administrator of a health benefits administration company.

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Our company is in the business of health benefits administration.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire OptimalSols to accomplish?

• Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Setup and Configuration
• VM migration
• OCI Optimization

SOLUTION

How did you find OptimalSols?

Upwork

Why did you select OptimalSols over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget
• Good value for cost

How many teammates from OptimalSols were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Scope of Work
The migration project involves moving the Oracle Database and associated virtual machines (VMs) from on-premises infrastructure to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI). The goal is to enhance performance, scalability, and disaster recovery while minimizing downtime. The migration will be conducted in phases, ensuring data integrity, security, and application compatibility.

Key Activities
Assessment & Planning

Analyze the current on-premises Oracle Database and VM environment.
Identify dependencies and compatibility with OCI.
Develop a migration strategy (Lift-and-Shift, Hybrid, or Re-architecture).
Establish performance and security benchmarks.
OCI Environment Setup

Provision OCI infrastructure, including compute instances, storage, and networking.
Configure security policies, identity management, and access controls.
Set up Oracle Database services in OCI, ensuring high availability.
Database Migration

Select an appropriate migration method (Data Pump, GoldenGate, RMAN, or Zero Downtime Migration).
Perform data extraction, transfer, and validation.
Optimize database configurations for OCI performance.
VM Migration

Identify critical VMs and their interdependencies.
Select the best migration approach (OCI VM Import/Export, Cloud Manager, or reinstallation).
Validate VM functionality post-migration.
Testing & Validation

Conduct pre-migration and post-migration testing to ensure data consistency.
Validate database performance, application connectivity, and VM functionality.
Implement rollback plans if needed.
Cutover & Optimization

Execute the final cutover with minimal downtime.
Monitor system performance and address any post-migration issues.
Optimize resources for cost efficiency and scalability.
Key Deliverables
Migration Strategy Document – Outlining the approach, risks, and mitigation plans.
OCI Environment Setup Report – Detailing the cloud infrastructure configuration.
Database & VM Migration Plan – Step-by-step execution plan.
Testing & Validation Report – Results of pre- and post-migration testing.
Final Cutover & Optimization Report – Summary of the migration, including performance tuning and cost optimization recommendations.
This structured approach ensures a seamless transition to OCI, maximizing cloud benefits while minimizing business disruption.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

1.Cost Optimization
2.Performance Improvements
3.Scalability & Flexibility
4.Security & Compliance
5.Successful Testing & Validation

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

The project was well-organized and executed effectively, resulting in a smooth migration with minimal downtime and stable cloud performance. The team met deadlines and adjusted as needed to address issues and changing requirements.

What was your primary form of communication with OptimalSols?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

The team is highly knowledgeable and well-rounded, especially for a small group. With a generalist and two specialists, they bring a strong mix of expertise. Their experience stood out and added significant value to the project.

Are there any areas for improvement or something OptimalSols could have done differently?

If we had more time, a deeper dive into these capabilities would have helped maximize the benefits of the migration, especially since I didn’t have a strong understanding of OCI. However, given the timeline we had for the preparation and implemenataiton, I was very impressed with how well they performed.