• Gotta say, as a one person IT shop Red Gate's tools (though expensive) are a god-send. They are literally the equivalent of having a second DBA!

    Three tools in particular come to mind, SQL-Prompt (code beautification/intellisense/find invalid objects), SQL Compare (moving schema changes), SQL Data compare (great for refreshing QA/Training and Development data). If you don't already have them GET THEM.

    Another must have tool is ModelRight, a data modeling tool. Yes, it lets you draw pretty pictures of the database to show in meetings but it ALSO lets you create the DDL that creates the database AND creates the SQL to alter it. Plus it IS your database's documentation and data dictionary. Triple crown win!

    These tools probably cost my company around $2,000 but compare that to spending $70,000+ per year for a DBA...the tools literally are that useful.