Complete Database Development Life Cycle | SLK

Problem

SLK Software partnered with a US-based automotive dealership network to build a custom Inventory Management System. The solution needed to support operations across 250+ dealerships with 1,000+ concurrent users. The client expected strict performance SLAs for the application, which was heavily dependent on the database layer. Additionally, the system required seamless integration with 14 third-party platforms.

The core challenge centered on designing a high-performance, scalable database architecture that could sustain complex workloads, support integration flows, and deliver real-time reporting—all without compromising on stability or maintainability.

Action

I led the end-to-end Database Development Life Cycle (DDLC) for this project, from data modeling to deployment and support readiness.

• Engaged with stakeholders to deeply understand business workflows, use cases, and technical dependencies.
• Designed a robust logical and physical data model to align with real-world operations while ensuring normalization, referential integrity, and scalability.
• Architected high availability using SQL Server failover clustering, removing single points of failure and enabling seamless continuity.
• Developed integration workflows using SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) and Service Broker for near real-time and scheduled data exchanges.
• Created SSAS cubes to offload analytical workloads and enable fast, multi-dimensional data analysis.
• Built operational and executive dashboards with SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS), designed to surface key metrics without taxing the transactional system.
• Reviewed and optimized all T-SQL code, indexing strategies, and query plans to ensure sustained performance under peak load.
• Documented each phase of the DDLC, including version-controlled schema definitions, deployment scripts, and runbooks for production support.

Result

• Rolled out the solution across all dealerships, where it consistently handled 1,000+ concurrent users without missing performance targets.
• Achieved or exceeded all performance SLAs through careful Database Development and tuning practices.
• Reduced long-term maintenance by handing over a clean, well-documented codebase and database schema to the internal support team.
• Helped streamline support operations with clear documentation and performance baselines, which lowered incident volume and improved resolution times.

Tags

#ITServices #ITConsulting
#SQLServer
#SSAS #SSRS #SSIS #ServiceBroker #FailoverCluster