Tony,

I just got done reading your editorial about the “Exceptional” DBA. I am writing in response to your question about what I think makes an “Exceptional” DBA.

I think my idea will be way different than that of which you will read; this is because I think what makes an “Exceptional” DBA is one that specializes in an area that will never be requested, never be acknowledged as being important, and never be thought of as being exceptional. So, why do I think this would make the DBA “Exceptional”? What could possible not be considered “Exceptional” while in

actuality being “Exceptional”?

Well, the answer is something I do every day; something that is the pillar of being able to meet your current requirements for being an “Exceptional” DBA. This is a specialty area, but not in High Availability, not in Business Intelligence, not even in query tuning; it’s actually a specialty that is much more important!

I look at an “Exceptional” DBA as being someone that isn’t just exceptional at their current DBA responsibilities. What makes someone “Exceptional” is the ability to go into any DBA position such as production, development, a small shop, an independent consultant, an enterprise position, and still be “Exceptional” in all these environments by maintaining this one specialty! I don’t think someone is exceptional if they are a master at BI only, or HA, or can create a T-SQL that can pull up every important report in a matter of seconds instead of minutes.

The area of specialty is in the ability to research, the ability of knowing where the resources are for any given topic. This is far more valuable than knowing the Database Engine inside out, or Business Intelligence.

The DBA that specializes in knowing where the best resources are, where to research a topic, how to utilize those resources is a DBA that can walk into any given situation and be able to perform. Grant that someone that specializes in BI can help an enterprise that is looking for someone that needs a BI position filled; but, what happens to that DBA when the trend moves away from BI and something else becomes the next big thing for an enterprise. Or, what happens if that DBA wants to move to a smaller business atmosphere and realizes that BI isn’t what that smaller business needs?

This is where the knowledge of learning comes in; I’d rather have a broad knowledge of every topic within SQL and know where to go for my resources in topics that apply today! Not tomorrow, not yesterday! My experience in this business is that my employer (whoever it is today or next year or in 30 years) only cares about what I know now; and in most cases just cares about my ability to get the job done effectively and properly.

Again, this is all my opinion of what makes someone standout above all other DBAs. This is someone that I would put my faith into being able to perform any and all tasks that I ask of them. As I stated earlier I am of this type of a DBA, and strongly believe this to be the best way to set you apart from anyone other DBA. It never makes it on paper, but can easily be discovered during the time you speak to the DBA. I do wish this would be something that employers would test for during the interview process; I sometimes get amazed at some of the questions that get asked that could so easily be answered just by spending 5 minutes on the MSDN website and doing research! I’m not saying there is such a thing as a stupid question or anything like that; I’m just saying that if more people spend time specializing in the ability to find their answer they would spend less time repeating a question on a mailing list, a forum or webcast…the knowledge of finding the answer will definitely benefit them and increase their productivity!

If you don’t chose my article as the winner for this week; please take strong consideration for one of the winners for the copy of “How to become an exceptional DBA”.

Thank you,

James Rea