kevaburg (9/24/2013)
However on the other hand it sounds like you are saying that DBAs have a license to be complete arseholes and that "collaboration means licking their boots and putting them on a pedestal.
Respect and cooperation cuts both ways.
I am not sure that I agree that was being said. The security, availability and functionality of a companys mission-critical data assets lie in the hands of the DBA. There are too many developers out there that don't understand the architectural niceties of a RDBMS, only the code that can extract data. The DBA is there to protect that data. Would you call the guard that won't let you into a building because you are not authorised an (in your own words) arsehole. I think not and data protection should maintain the same philosophy.
There are DBAs out there that are truly difficult to work with. Same can be said for developers. Or storekeepers, bus drivers, road sweepers etc....
The point is simple: A mutual respect for the skills and requirements of each party in the argument is the only way a dispute can get resolved. If you start a discussion agressively, don't expect constructive results. Licking boots is not what is required, simply proof that your request is feasible, safe and in the companys best interests. If it isn't, it won't get implemented.
Well said...in fact, so good, I've quoted it verbatim again...
Would love to witness what a Sys Admin would say if you ask for Domain Admin rights, for the only reason that it would make your job easier and not because there was a genuine necesity for it, and I'm sure the air would turn blue. Now, is the Sys Admin an arsehole?
Same for the Security Admin, when you ask to open up loads of ports on ther Firewall, because it makes your life easier. Is s/he being an arsehole when they politely tell you where you can shove yourself?
I've been on both sides of the fence, as a Developer, Developer DBA, and Production DBA, and I've witnessed the horror of having to in-fill following a data breach, trying to retrospectively implement better security on 'live' code - and management had been warned of the serious potential risks, but the DBAs were dismissed as naysayers. It's not fun and it's not pretty...for anyone...DBAs, Sys Admins, Developers, and most important, the business which suffered massive financial penalties due to loss of reputation, loss of customers, regulatory penalties, etc.
Security is not just the domain of Sys Admins, Security Admins, Production DBAs, it's the responsibility of *all*. Just look at the recent breaches in well-known Banks in London, UK, who fell for a bit of social engineering, letting in supposed authorised company IT engineers who then went on to fit hacking components to the bank's computer systems.