A lot of business software runs on a SQL Server database that came from somewhere else. A supplier built it, or a developer who has since left, or an application vendor who no longer answers the phone. The business has run on it for years and the people who understood it have moved on.
CDE Systems has looked after databases like that since 1999 and most of the SQL Server systems we support weren’t built by us. We keep them running and fix them when they break. When the time comes, we tune them, move them or add to them.
No IT team covers everything and database work is a specialism of its own. Your team keeps the servers and the decisions and we take on the part that needs someone who works in SQL Server every day.
We’re in Sheffield and work with organisations across the UK and Europe, nearly always remotely.
Still on SQL Server 2016 or earlier? Extended support ended on 14 July 2026, so it no longer gets security updates. Your options for an out-of-support version
Where are you with it?
Find the line that’s closest.
| If this is where you are | Start here |
| The server is down or the business has stopped | Emergency SQL Server support. Ring, don’t email |
| A database shows as suspect, is corrupt or won’t come online | SQL Server repair and recovery |
| It runs, but nobody on the team knows it well | SQL Server support and consultancy |
| Reports crawl, or everything freezes at month end | SQL Server performance tuning |
| You need to know what state it’s in, backups included | SQL Server health check, £495 (+VAT) fixed price |
| The version is out of support, or the server is due for replacement | SQL Server migration and upgrades |
| Someone has asked whether it should go to Azure | Azure SQL and cloud |
| The stored procedures were never documented | T-SQL development |
| The data is fine, but the application on top is holding you back | SQL Server modernisation |
| Two systems should agree and don’t | SQL Server integration and APIs |
| You need a new system designed and built | SQL Server design and development |
If none of them fits, ring and describe what you’re seeing. You don’t need to know where the fault is first. Finding it is our job.
Why people ring us about SQL Server
We take on databases we didn’t build. No documentation, no developer to ask and a schema that has been added to by several hands over the years. That describes most of the systems we look after, so it doesn’t put us off.
You talk to the person doing the work. We don’t have a ticket queue or a first-line script. Whoever picks up is one of the consultants and you’ll get the same people next time.
We know what sits on top of the database. A lot of problems that look like SQL Server turn out to be the application, the connection, an ODBC driver or the job that failed at 2am. We work on Access front ends, web applications and reporting as well as the database underneath, so we can follow a fault from one end to the other without handing it on.
We’ll say so when the answer is “leave it alone”. If the server is fine, or the fix costs less than the project someone has quoted for, that’s what you’ll hear. It’s why the £495 (+VAT) health check exists and the report is yours whatever it says.
You stay in charge. If you have an IT team, they keep the servers, the change process and the final say on what goes live. We can work to a named engineer, an agreed time window or someone from your side watching and we’ll give you a written record of what changed. How remote support works
Our clients since 1999 have included businesses, councils, central government departments and NHS organisations.
Some of the SQL Server work we’ve done
Commercial Catering Service & Maintenance (field service)
Aire Valley Catering
Field service apps that work with no signal
Aire Valley Catering’s engineers work in commercial kitchens across the UK, often with no usable signal, and every job still has to be recorded. We built four production…
View case study
Transport and logistics
ACC Worldwide
A faster SQL Server system, noticed on day one
ACC Worldwide’s staff used one business system all day, every day, and it was slow. We worked on the SQL Server environment behind it. The speed-up was immediate,…
View case study
Travel and leisure (adventure travel and expeditions)
Jagged Globe
Keeping bookings, customer records and the website in step
Jagged Globe runs on an internal database and a booking website that have to agree every day, and sometimes they didn’t. We traced and fixed the transfers between…
View case study
Not sure SQL Server is the right home for your data?
Why use SQL Server? covers what it’s good at, from user numbers and security to backups and automation, and where it’s more than you need. If you’re coming from Access, start with Access migration and upgrades.
Tell us about your SQL Server
Which version it is, what runs on it, roughly how many people use it and what’s bothering you. We’ll come back with what we’d do and what it would cost and if we think you should change nothing we’ll say that instead.