Death of the Production DBA

  • I had to re-read the thread to see where it was. I have a question about those of us that work on two or more platforms/DBMS. In my case, I started with Sybase on Solaris, oracle on Solaris and then SQL Server on OS/2 on to windows. Today I do most of my work on Oracle 8i and SQL Server 7/2000 on Windows mainly. Are we going to become obsolete soon? It takes quite a bit to support both systems

  • I'd like some incentives. The best incentive is to make a few different levels of certifications and then make them HARD. Make the tests more real world like.

    Steve Jones

    steve@dkranch.net

  • I agree with Steve on this one. A good example is Cisco's certification program. CCNA commands a little respect (more so than the MCSE garners nowadays). Someone carrying a CCNP usually knows his (her) stuff cold. If the person has a CCIE, well, we know what kind of regard that person is held in. I would like to see similar levels with respect to Microsoft certification... top level requiring a lab exam would be great, too.

    K. Brian Kelley

    bk@warpdrivedesign.org

    http://www.sqlservercentral.com/columnists/bkelley/

    K. Brian Kelley
    @kbriankelley

  • I wouldnt mind seeing a lab environment type test. Just pretty expensive to implement - not so much hardware, but staffing, generating new versions of test to keep it secure, etc.

    Ultimately the goal should be to TOTALLY convince an employer that you're technically qualified to do the job - then it's just a matter of checking references, assessing personality, all the intangibles. So either the test has to cover EVERYTHING, or we need tests that focus on different disciplines...production, warehousing, etc.

    Andy

  • How about the DBA/data specialist role. Includes the areas of DBA`ing, Data analysis, Reporting, OLAP, Datawarehousing, general data evangelising. This is a role I`m trying to mold myself into in a new job I`ve just taken. It seems lots of places seem to store a lot of data and not do a hell of a lot with it. Mind you I did work for one of the top 3 BI companies...

    Andy.

  • quote:


    How about the DBA/data specialist role... Includes the areas of DBA`ing, Data analysis, Reporting, OLAP, Datawarehousing, general data evangelising


    This could have been a description of my exact role..

    (Well I am the Reporting Team's Global DBA !!)

    Anything (and probably everthing) with Data "Reporting" connections is passed across to my for processing..I'm sure the other's on this forum have found that by being a Jack of all (Data) trades means that U are likley to get 2 or 3 x times the work of your coherts...this is great for reputation's but can seriously impact your work/home life balance.

    My typical weekday is around 9-12 hours & then some when we are really pushed...

    My only piece of advice is ..work out how long it will take then double it..

    (U will nearly always then make the mark !!)

    I have learn't the hardway..

    Daily Skills (used)..

    T-SQL, DTS, BCP, VB, ASP, JScript, Lotus Notes (dev), DMO, OLAP, Stored Procs..

    (Stopping there as my fingers are tired.)

    Ohh and keep your manager

    (WELL away from Code.. he probably remembers a 1/5th of what he did before and that 1/5th was the stuff the broke most of the time !!)

    Keep coding ...

    (AND don't forgot to do your backups)

    Feel free to ask and Q's if you like

  • Great article I've been struggling with this very issue. Currently we

    have a separate development group and I want to take the database design

    and stored procedure coding out of our C++ and VB developers hands. This

    will be no doubt an incredibly politically charged task but I feel it is

    a necessary one. Any suggestions you might have on this would be greatly

    appreciated. On another note, we are also questioning the role of a DBA

    as it pertains to OLAP and where should the lines be drawn, any

    suggestions?

    Thanks,

    Demico

  • <Soapbox>

    Demico, I'm personally against doing the T-SQL programming in my shop if you're hybrid DBA. The reason for my objection is as a developer I'd hate to be working on a screen at 11PM at night with a deadline and have to call a DBA the next day to request that a simple query be written. Then, wait for a few days for it to be done and finally close up your screen programming after the DBA comes back with the query.

    I'd much rather proof 10 queries then write 1. Depending on the development project, we sometimes do not give the developers DBO rights so before a sproc moves into the next phase of testing, the owner must be changed back to DBO. Since this is done by the DBA, the DBA looks quickly at the sproc to make sure it's fine. I'm all for what works in your organization though! I'd personally rather proof the developers and teach them to write better code than constantly write it myself and become the bottleneck.

    The exception for this is that we do handle all OLAP type issues including MDX. This is because it's rather emerging technology at my company (Alltel) and we haven't had a chance to train the developers fully. In this case, the developers write the front end and we take care of the transformation, design and querying processes. The later of those three will probably change over time.

    </Soapbox>

    Brian Knight

    bknight@sqlservercentral.com

    http://www.sqlservercentral.com/columnists/bknight

  • The death of COBOL

    The death of the IBM MVS System Programmer

    The Death of ....

    We still have lots of COBOL/CICS system hanging around running on IBM MVS/MVT heirs maintained by $100K System Programmers.

    DBAs (good ones anyway) are expensive and management is always looking to cut the bottom line.

    Marketing pitches are well received when they include lines like "cut your support costs."

  • A good developer needs to understand the DBA role; the problems and the tools.

    Team with your DBAs to deliver a better product.

    Rob -- developer in large shop

    Caution: Avid Learner.

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