Home Forums SQL Server 2005 Administering Career growth - Production Support SQL Server DBA RE: Career growth - Production Support SQL Server DBA

  • I've seen some of the responses to this topic and I want to provide a bit more of a balanced response. There will always be demand for both Support and Dev guys. There's money in both. How much you get depends on the amount of expertise you build and where you want to take your career. If what you're trying to do is become a great Production Support guy, then you're probably on the right track. If what you're trying to do is launch a Development career, the answer is more like "maybe."

    From experience running Production Support teams, the best Support folks come with good Development backgrounds and the converse isn't necessarily true (you won't become a great Developer by doing Prod Support, though you might be more conscientious about the SQL you write). Sure, there is something to be learned for Developers in Support. For example, you'll have a better view of how systems are structured and will have some insight into the environments where applications run, but unless you're doing something like Level 3 Support (bug-fixes), don't expect to be able to code elegant solutions. Even with Level 3 Support, the design decisions are already made for you. I would say, if you want to launch a Dev career, get a Dev position. There's plenty of them out there.

    Prod Support has processes and a discipline of its own. These are complementary, at best, with what you'd learn when doing Development. For example, in Support, you won't really learn how to put together code in an Agile process, but you will learn how to effectively manage incidents and restore service quickly.

    If you'd like to learn more about Production Support, check out http://www.prodsupportblog.com.