Are top notch programming skills innate or can they be learned? Janet Wong takes a look at the skills and capabilities of great programmers in this essay.   Read more...

Are top notch programming skills innate or can they be learned? Janet Wong takes a look at the skills and capabilities of great programmers in this essay.   Read more...

This article deals specifically with insider threats to IT describing how IT professionals are implementing the necessary products, policies, and procedures to reduce insider threats and provide the necessary reporting for regulatory compliance.  Read more...

We have hosted a number of articles on various aspects of being a DBA, but we have usually focused on production or development DBA. New data warehousing DBA Janet Wong brings us a look at another type of DBA, the data warehouse DBA and the skills they need.   Read more...

You may find this shocking, but some IT people lie on their CV. Richard Morris offers a rare glimpse into the dark underworld of the people tasked with rooting out the CV fraudsters.   Read more...

In the past, it was common for an employer to work with their employees and pay to keep their skills current. While this still happens, in this age of high employee (and employer) turnover, many companies are more circumspect about how much they will spend to keep their employees keep up-to-date. At the end of the day, it is your responsibility to make sure this happens and there are many good reasons why you should strive to do so and many ways in which you can do it.  Read more...

You can just hear it now: At the table down the hall, there’s a group of people having, (as it seems to you) yet another academic discussion on the merits of third-normal form and the structure of primary keys. You’ve heard many discussions like this before — it all seems so pointless. After all, doesn’t it just boil down to “create table” commands and a bunch of DDL? You mastered all that in your first DBA class. What could be so hard?   Read more...

Lest the headline mislead you as to my biases, I consider software patents to be both stupid and insane. I raise this issue because it is currently rearing its ugly mug in the world of open source software, but it has affected much development in the proprietary worlds of Windows as well. First of all, patent laws were created long ago, which is not to say the thinking was correct then either, but we have to recognize the intellectual and technological climate back then.   Read more...

A SQL Server DBA seems to be a stable job and many of us stick with the same job for an above average length of time. However employee retention in general is important to a strong and healthy company. Steve Jones starts a new series looking at this topic and why an employer might want to worry about retention.   Read more...

In response to an article the Brian Knight write on the death of the production DBA, Sean McCown writes about the role that DBAs may play in shops that upgrade to Yukon (SQL Server 2005).   Read more...

Long anticipated, the arrival of radically restructured database architectures is now finally at hand. By Jim Gray of Microsoft Research.  Read more...

SQL Server 2000 does an amazing job of running itself to a large extent, much more so in my experience, than the other major platforms. That being said, it isn't designed to run without some sort of DBA, at least not at an efficient level. But what value does a production level DBA bring to your organization? Your manager might wonder, but with many years of experience as a production DBA and manager, Steve Jones brings you a look at the value that a DBA provides.   Read more...

Taking a break from SQL Server and DTS, author Haidong Ji shares a few tips and tricks to becoming more productive, whether as a DBA or developer. These hints and tips could help you separate yourself from the pack come review, raise, or interview time.   Read more...

Production DBAs may be a dying breed. At least according to some sources. While we're not sure that we agree with that, there is definitely a trend that should have you working on your career. The day of the DBA that only manages the operational data store is waning. Today's DBAs need to be flexible and have a number of other skills. Brian Knight looks at a few of the skills that you might to add to your arsenal to be prepared for the future of SQL Server.   Read more...

In his travels, Christopher Duncan has come to recognize a great many similarities between programmers and musicians. Both have the fire, passion and soul of the artist. And all too often, both are aweful when it comes to the business end of things. Business - you know, that aspect of your work where they actually pay you at the end of the day?   Read more...

It's common knowledge among programmers that most of the ills of the software industry, and most particularly the companies where we work, could be solved by simply letting the technical people make the technical decisions. Obviously, since this is so incredibly logical and sensible, it's a given that most companies leave management decisions to managers, and technical decisions to the computer guys.   Read more...

Like many other areas of business, the tech industry has weathered the occasional slump over the past few decades. It's only natural that the fate of techies is closely linked to the tides of the business. However, in any economy, weak or strong, some people prosper and advance while others suffer the consequences.   Read more...

It's been a year since Steve Jones last wrote about the state of the DBA job market after the economy soured. Here's an update of the last year.   Read more...

One of the common questions that Brian Knight sees in the newsgroups is what is a DBA officially supposed to be doing? In this article, Brian covers the many hats a DBA can and does wear.   Read more...

If you see a priest outside your cubical, beware! He could be trying to read you your last rites. If he hasn't showed up yet, don't worry, he'll be over shortly because the production DBA is dead or will be shortly.   Read more...

Are top notch programming skills innate or can they be learned? Janet Wong takes a look at the skills and capabilities of great programmers in this essay.   Read more...

We have hosted a number of articles on various aspects of being a DBA, but we have usually focused on production or development DBA. New data warehousing DBA Janet Wong brings us a look at another type of DBA, the data warehouse DBA and the skills they need.   Read more...

This article deals specifically with insider threats to IT describing how IT professionals are implementing the necessary products, policies, and procedures to reduce insider threats and provide the necessary reporting for regulatory compliance.  Read more...