The Non-Technical Art of Being a Successful DBA – A Preview of Future Blogs
The standard operating procedure for most IT shops is to "blame the database first" when a problem occurs. That would be any type of problem - performance, availability, data quality issues, poor water quality, global warming . Whatever the problem is, it the DBA's responsibility to prove that their database is not the culprit. I'll provide you with a few helpful hints on how to make your case when you finally determine that it isn't your database causing the issue. We'll also review some high-level best practices that will help you pinpoint the real cause of the problem in complex, multi-tier application environments.
Communication
Skills
The importance of improving your communication skills cannot be understated.
I don't care how strong of a technician you are, if you can't communicate effectively
with your peers, you won't be able to succeed in this profession. In the old
days, you might have been able to get by with just your technical skills. That
is definitely not the case in today's business world. This will be a reprise
of a previous blog which I feel bears repeating in this series.
Knowing More
than Just the Database
One of the benefits of being a database administrator is that you are exposed
to a wide range of technologies. From application design to the operating system
that the database runs on, you'll need to "know more than just the database"
to be successful in this profession.
In many shops, the DBA is known as the "GOTO" technician when problems occur. DBAs are given this role (whether they like it or not) because they have a reputation as having strong problem solving skills and are known to possess an in-depth understanding of the entire application architecture. As a result, the DBA is often viewed as the IT staff's technical generalist and is often called upon to provide advice on many different facets of information technology. I'll provide a few helpful hints on what technologies you'll need to learn and what the best sources are to help you quickly educate yourself.
Obtaining the
Most Benefit From Oracle Classroom Education
I've been teaching Oracle, on and off, for most of my career. I have taught
literally hundreds (and hundreds) of students during that time. The greatest
accomplishment in my career came was when I was awarded the OAEC Quality Achievement
Award. These awards are given to the top 4 instructors in the OAEC program.
Like most instructors, I took my teaching responsibilities seriously. It was
my job to ensure that all students taking my classes were prepared for the challenges
that would face them. But it takes more than just a good instructor to ensure
the transfer of technical information from teacher to student successfully
occurs. The recipients (students) must be ready, willing and well prepared to
receive this information. It truly is a "two-way street". Now that
I am officially retired as an Oracle instructor, I thought I would provide you
with a few unofficial hints, tips and tricks that will help you to obtain the
most benefit from Oracle Classroom Education.
Evaluating Third-Party
Products
As we learned in previous blogs, database administrators are much more than
just "table jockeys." DBAs often become involved in the evaluation
of third-party business applications, application development tools and database
administration and monitoring products. Over the years, I have developed a Product
Evaluation Methodology that you may find helpful.A
methodology can be loosely defined as a body of practices, procedures and rules
used to accomplish a given task. The task in this case is to evaluate and select
information technology products.
You are Moving
into Management - Now what?
I've stated more than once that being a good technician doesn't mean that you'll
make a good manager. But most of you can learn. If I can do it, you certainly
can. I'll provide you with a primer on what to do when your manager calls you
in their office and offers you that promotion "you've always dreamed of."
I have had the good fortune of being supervised by folks that I would rate as
being among the best managers in the IT industry. In the last twenty years,
I've worked for many different businesses and I've seen my share of both good
and bad management styles. I'll show you what to do and not to do to make your
migration from DBA to manager a success.
The Non-Technical
Art of Being a Successful DBA - Wrapup
I'll spend the last blog of this series summarizing what we have learned. This
blog will also provide me with one last chance to reinforce my opinion that
it takes much more than technical expertise to become a successful database
administrator.
Thanks for Reading,
Chris Foot
Oracle Ace 
