Good article- I like the technical emphasis as being key. This reminds me of a title I once had at a job- Enterprise Data Architect. The things I did was exactly the same as your article. The biggest challenges to being the senior dba and leading other dba(s) wasn't technical- it was executive sponsorship, insight and lack thereof. My team and I could design killer systems with quantifiable ROI however the people who sign checks generally did not understand what they were signing. It was a constant struggle- we know about capabilities but they only worry about costs. And somewhere in between it really is about the actual business and the processes used to support revenue generation and cutting costs.

An overall data strategy is key. Remember hearing about stovepipes within the intelligence community, and stovepipes within stovepipes? Same thing in the business world. Constant battles, politics- all people-related issues. Honestly, with the hardware and software to house data out now, it really comes down to people- they are the weakest link and the greatest assets too.

I for one, would welcome a clean slate in a commodity business. Design a company with instrumentation in mind from the very beginning. Meaning, create systems with reporting and business intelligence from the start.