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SSChampion
Group: Administrators
Last Login: Yesterday @ 10:25 PM
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SSC-Enthusiastic
Group: General Forum Members
Last Login: Wednesday, December 23, 2009 5:31 AM
Points: 136,
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my 2c on why this is happening...
It became simply too easy to ask something on a forum, or search it on google.
Welcome to the New Generation of IT.
If you can generate a decent Google search query, then you can do ANY Job in IT 
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SSC Veteran
Group: General Forum Members
Last Login: Friday, February 26, 2010 6:45 AM
Points: 209,
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It is true - I just set up a MOSS server without knowing what I was doing, I still don't really understand conceptually what is happening but as soon as I got an error I jumped on Google and solved it.
As to not being able to script file manipulations - guilty. Is that relevant any more? If I have information that is so damned important it needs to be in a database I put it in a database. Gone are the days when an app would dump a .csv file out to be picked up, I just throw a line into whatever database the information resides on and run a query to it. OK, sometimes I'll need to pick up an Excel file because my systems are weak in places, but that's what SSIS is for....
If I do find I need to pick up a txt or csv in future I promise to ask Google how to do it.
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Valued Member
Group: General Forum Members
Last Login: Thursday, March 11, 2010 3:04 AM
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Google is fine...as long as the advice you get is available and correct...and a digger hasn't gone through your broadband pipe and you're on a site which allows internet access...and you've got the time to do the research.
There are some things that we should just KNOW without having to open google. Your manager can use Google too!
There is no problem so great that it can not be solved by caffeine and chocolate.
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SSC-Enthusiastic
Group: General Forum Members
Last Login: Thursday, March 11, 2010 6:14 AM
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I would argue that you are not a dba if you are not good at scripting and know your database product such as ms sql server. I have myself not really been in contact with DB people that were supposed to work with the DB that were not interested and didnt want to learn.
All thou this I agree completely with. "However blindly following advice and asking questions because you don't want to work on you career is a sure path to failure."
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SSC-Enthusiastic
Group: General Forum Members
Last Login: Yesterday @ 1:27 PM
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We have never had a good solid profile or definition of what a DBA "is" and this has been a long-time complaint from many of us. Without such a profile, the point made in today's editorial is a given. You don't have any measure of what a DBA "is" and thus it follows that there is no measure of what DBA should know, fundamentals or otherwise.
Of course, this situation applies not only to DBAs, but to many positions in the IT sector. Go on any job site and you will find most companies advertise for knowledge in "this system" or "that application" - not looking for a measured professional, but someone who "fits" the software and systems we use.
Imagine finding a doctor for some serious operation that way!!! It's insanity. We ask if the person is an MD and hope they graduated from a recognized good school - we don't start asking them how many colons they have worked on, or whether or not they can successfully fix a spleen.
We created this insanity and have done nothing for years. We are thus, only reaping the very thing we sewed.
There's no such thing as dumb questions, only poorly thought-out answers...
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SSC-Addicted
Group: General Forum Members
Last Login: Yesterday @ 7:01 AM
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blandry (9/23/2009)
Imagine finding a doctor for some serious operation that way!!! It's insanity. We ask if the person is an MD and hope they graduated from a recognized good school - we don't start asking them how many colons they have worked on, or whether or not they can successfully fix a spleen.
Not sure that's really true. If you need specialized surgery you would do well to look for a doctor with a lot of experience (and success) in that area. Except when he is a new doctor, the school is largely irrelevant.
Even within the realm of medical doctor, even though there is a common basic skillset there are widely different requirements in the field. Someone good at coronary bypass might not be a good choice for other surgery or other types of medical situations. I know a doctor who thrives on ER work. Not knowing what procedure you will be involved in 10 minutes from now is very different from having an appointment book set up weeks in advance.
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-- FORTRAN manual for Xerox Computers --
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SSC-Enthusiastic
Group: General Forum Members
Last Login: Wednesday, February 10, 2010 7:32 AM
Points: 147,
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Before becoming a developer, I was leaning towards network administration back in the days of Novell. The training back then was 'when you see this warning do this' and 'when you see that warning do that'. I found myself thinking, "Gee, it seems like sooner or later the 'do this' and 'do that' will become automatic. And I was right - Microsoft early on developed core philosophies that most things should self-heal and self-run as much as possible.
This is good news and bad news. The good news is that it's very easy to set up and run a lot of Microsoft products, as well as products from other companies who hold similar philosophies. The bad news is that there is no such thing as perfect planning on the part of the people who design enterprise applications like SQL Server. It's entirely possible to call yourself a DBA and have no idea what's going on underneath the covers. Sooner or later that can lead to big problems. The joke at the consulting firm I used to work with was "How do you tell the difference between a SQL server DBA and an Oracle DBA?" The answer: The Oracle DBA arrives with a steamer trunk full of books on how to run Oracle. The SQL Server DBA shows up with one book entitled "SQL Server for Dummies".
Yes, there is an ongoing discussion about how to define a DBA. My suggestion is that this is Microsoft's job. Those definitions should make their way into the certification process. Companies who want their database run well should either require certification or help their DBAs to get it.
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“Politicians are like diapers. They both need changing regularly and for the same reason.”
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SSCrazy Eights
Group: General Forum Members
Last Login: Yesterday @ 2:24 PM
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ZA_Crafty (9/22/2009)
my 2c on why this is happening... It became simply too easy to ask something on a forum, or search it on google. Welcome to the New Generation of IT. If you can generate a decent Google search query, then you can do ANY Job in IT
I have to partially disagree with the comment about Google.
If you don't know what words to put in the search, you'll have trouble getting valid results. And if you don't know enough to be able to judge the validity of the various results, you can get into a lot of trouble.
- GSquared
"Nobody knows the age of the human race, but everyone agrees it's old enough to know better." - Anon
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SSCrazy Eights
Group: General Forum Members
Last Login: Yesterday @ 2:24 PM
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I'd have to go with "it depends".
If you're doing the assigned duties of your job correctly and efficiently, but can't do anything beyond that, you're not failing your employer. You may be trapping yourself, if you have the potential to be doing more and, quite possibly, earning more because of that. But you aren't failing the trust you're being paid to uphold.
On the other hand, that which doesn't improve gets worse. If you aren't constantly improving your skills, you will eventually either be out-competed by someone who is, or will find that your skills are obsolete. It's a Darwinian world - compete effectively or die.
- GSquared
"Nobody knows the age of the human race, but everyone agrees it's old enough to know better." - Anon
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