Case Study
Dutch National Bank
One of the Netherlands’ largest national banks, operating mission-critical financial systems that support payments, clearing, and regulatory reporting. Their database estate spans SQL Server, Oracle, and PostgreSQL, with some systems exceeding 24TB, supporting high-throughput OLTP workloads and heavily used data-warehouse platforms.
Engagement Summary
The client engaged us to stabilise, optimise and standardise their multi-platform database environments across all tiers. From development through to production and disaster recovery.
The work required deep technical leadership, strict adherence to banking compliance requirements, and the ability to coordinate with internal teams and third-party vendors on complex platform changes.
This case study outlines the full scope of support delivered across SQL Server, Oracle and PostgreSQL environments.
Workstream 1: Estate Standardisation & Disaster Recovery Modernisation
Challenge / Scope
The bank required consistent, secure, and fully standardised database environments across production and disaster-recovery sites. Their estate included multiple platforms (SQL Server, PostgreSQL, Oracle), each with different configurations, failover mechanisms, and operational processes. Critical systems processed large volumes of financial transactions daily, so DR reliability was essential.
What Was Delivered
- Standardised database configurations across all platforms and environments
- Implemented unified DR designs for SQL Server and PostgreSQL
- Performed DR testing, validation, and failover execution
- Ensured regulatory and compliance alignment for high-availability processes
- Created work plans and procedural runbooks for safe deployments
- Delivered a consistent operational model across the bank’s clearing systems
The Outcome
- Fully standardised production and DR environments, simplifying maintenance and governance
- Robust, tested disaster recovery capabilities across multiple database platforms
- Clear and repeatable processes for deployments, failovers and patching
- Reduced operational risk for high-volume financial systems
Workstream 2: SQL Server Platform Leadership & Database Optimisation
Challenge / Scope
The SQL Server estate required a technical lead capable of managing large financial databases (up to 24TB), high-throughput OLTP workloads, and performance-sensitive warehouse jobs. There were also issues arising from code delivered by external vendors, requiring review, optimisation, and architectural correction.
What Was Delivered
- Provided technical leadership for the entire SQL Server platform
- Performed database migrations and version upgrades
- Applied regular patching and security compliance updates
- Executed deep code reviews with third-party vendors, correcting poor SQL patterns
- Optimised infrastructure for performance and resilience
- Implemented AlwaysOn, mirroring, and streaming-replication solutions where required
- Led troubleshooting, root-cause analysis, and long-term remediation on critical systems
The Outcome
- Major stability improvements for both OLTP and warehouse workloads
- Faster query performance and reduced blocking/locking issues
- Cleaner code delivered by third-party vendors through enforced standards
- Stronger, more predictable SQL Server platform backed by governance and leadership
Workstream 3: Multi-Platform DBA Support (SQL Server, Oracle, PostgreSQL)
Challenge / Scope
The bank’s clearing and reporting systems spanned multiple database technologies, each with unique requirements, upgrade paths, and operational concerns. They needed a senior DBA capable of managing all three platforms seamlessly.
What Was Delivered
- Database migrations, upgrades, and patching across all platforms
- Performance tuning and capacity planning
- Infrastructure optimisation for high-volume banking workflows
- Backup strategy improvements and maintenance plan implementation
- Support for busy OLTP systems and heavily utilised data warehouses
- Full triage, root-cause investigation and incident response
- Clear technical documentation for long-term maintainability
The Outcome
- A unified, stable, and predictable data estate across SQL Server and PostgreSQL
- Confidence in DR readiness and compliance alignment
- Reduced operational overhead through consistent processes, documentation, and automated routines
- Improved performance and reliability across the bank’s mission-critical clearing systems
Technologies & Skills Used
- SQL Server (DBA tasks, patching, HA/DR, AlwaysOn, mirroring)
- PostgreSQL (DBA tasks, patching, HA/DR, streaming replication, tuning)
- Performance tuning & query optimisation
- Database migrations & upgrades
- OLTP optimisation
- Infrastructure tuning
- DR design & failover testing
- Vendor code review
- Work plans, runbooks & deployment governance
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