the last post was a very succinct and accurate analysis of what a lot of DBAs face. I know I came into a SQL infrastructure left by the previous DBA. His last day was Friday and my first day was Monday after. There was little doucmentation, a mix of third party and internally developed applications, no standard monitoring and many dev teams all deploying code in different and non-standard ways. Space was a constant issue and still is in many ways because there was little capacity planning. When you take it all in, the DBA may not have the ultimate say on how changes will be implemented. They can offer advise, code review, standards and best practices but often, unless coming from higher up, it falls on deaf ears. Many SQL developers do not want DBAs to review their code. Many do however, and it ultimately ends up at that, a team effort where everyone offers their knowledge to the betterment of the processes and people that you see everyday. The alternative is to be a consultant I presume. I don't know if I want that. Too much dang travel.