Consultation

Database Refactoring

Restructure living schemas so applications keep serving traffic while tables, keys, and relationships move toward a clearer model.

Format
Remote or on-site consulting
Duration
Typically 2–6 weeks, depending on schema size
Delivery
Taipei office or video; staging access preferred
Pricing
Day rate or fixed project quote

Who this is for

Engineering leads and senior developers whose PostgreSQL, MySQL, or SQL Server databases have accumulated years of columns, duplicate entities, and workarounds. You know the model is wrong for today’s product, but a “big bang” rewrite feels too risky for the next release.

Result you should expect

A sequenced refactor plan with migration scripts reviewed against your application’s read and write paths, plus paired sessions while the first risky steps land in staging. You keep ownership of production deploys; we stay accountable for the design of the change.

What is included

  • Inventory of tables, foreign keys, and known hot queries tied to the refactor goals
  • Target schema sketches and mapping from old columns to new ones
  • Migration ordering with dual-write or expand–contract steps where needed
  • Rollback notes for each major step
  • Weekly written progress your team can share with stakeholders

What is excluded

  • Building a new application from scratch
  • 24/7 production on-call coverage
  • Hosting, managed-database procurement, or license sales
  • Guaranteeing zero downtime without your ops team participating in cutovers

Provider and process

Work is led by Web Maple Core consultants based in Taipei. After the engagement process scope call, we agree which subsystems move first. Most teams start with the busiest transactional tables, then reporting side-structures.

Preparation

Please prepare a recent schema dump, a list of critical application entry points, and any previous failed migration attempts. If you use feature flags for dual writes, note which ones already exist.

Constraints

We work within your change windows and coding standards. Engines we regularly handle include PostgreSQL, MySQL/MariaDB, and Microsoft SQL Server. Exotic or heavily proprietary engines may need a shorter assessment first.

Pricing basis

Quoted as a day rate for open-ended pairing, or a fixed fee when the table set and success criteria are clear. See Rates for current figures. Next step: request a scope call.