The TERM DBA is used so loosely these days - no one is even sure what it means anymore.

With 15 years of SQL under my belt (both on the admin and dev/design sides) and 25 years of app dev experience, along with a strong sprinkling of network admin duties - I'm here to tell you it's as simple as this....

Most companies don't know they need a solid DBA - until - they need a solid DBA.

Most companies that figure this out too late suffer many issues before they hit bottom - and with varying degrees of hole depth - could take a long time to dig out.

Most developers are just clueless on good database design, optimization, portability, etc. They can be as good as they want to think they are but nothing replaces experience.