Very insightful and I agree. Note that my title is "Data Services Mgr." and in that role I do some DBAing, need to learn a lot More Oracle 'basic' keep it in the middle of the road stuff, but where I make my biggest impact And consistently win annual awards (I get coins (organizational coins -- big thing in the US military) and good ratings because I deliver data when they (the 'lusers' who are dumb as a sack of rocks when it comes to getting data -- as it should be) want it and how they want it. I provide them the data they need to 'empower' (one of their favorite words) them in doing their jobs well -- whatever that may be.
In short, we work for and by the good graces of our respective lusers -- never lose sight of that. v/r Stephen S. Wolfe, GS-11, DAFC Data Services Manager [EMAIL PROTECTED] (813) 827-9974 DSN 651-9974 > -----Original Message----- > From: Nuno Souto [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Friday, September 05, 2003 9:20 AM > To: Multiple recipients of list ORACLE-L > Subject: Re: Offshore threat > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > > > It doesn't work in only one direction. While jobs are bieng lost to > > cheaper > > labor markets, Indian companies now have to compete with > frighteningly > > efficient > > giants like Nike, Coca Cola, IBM, Microsoft, GM, Union > Carbide and others. > > On IT? I thought we were talking about that? > > > even with all our PHB's and damagement. How messed up is everybody > > else? The > > You do NOT want to know, believe me... > > > non-aggressive gentleman from India. Lawyers do need a killer > > instinct, DBAs do > > Well, one of my colleagues likes to call me the "bad cop". > He calls himself the "worse cop". He reckons we do the act > to perfection! ;) > > On the other hand: the BAs that work with me quietly leave > the room when I'm in one of my "low-sugar" days. Let's just > say you're not the only > big fella: I'm well over 200 myself and most of it is the stuff that > can slam a golf ball 300 yards away... :D > > But anyways, I'm not just a DBA anymore and that's what I > wanted to talk about. > > > Here is our chance. > > > > Hmmm, all serious now. It's been obvious for years that being just a > DBA doesn't cut it any longer. The traditional day-to-day > operation of the > VAST majority of databases does NOT warrant full employment > of a DBA. > > Note: > I am NOT saying that a super-DBA isn't needed. I'm saying that the > vast majority of sites does NOT need one. Which leaves a > VERY small market > for "supers" or "masters". > > Now, markets being what they are and the fact that Indians > are a lot more > than others except Chinese, dictates that for the vast > majority of sites out > there a junior DBA qualification is MORE than enough. Or even > an outsourced one. > > (there is NOTHING demeaning to Indians or Chinese in what I > just said. > So please, spare me the usual "offended Surat or Wong" crap. > I work with Chinese > and Indians and every single one of them knows EXACTLY what I > think about this and > no one is offended by it: on the contrary. Glad we cleared > that. Let's move on.) > > And it has NOTHING to do with the version of Oracle or how > automatic it is, > as much as it may pain Larry and his upgrade cycles. You can > make V7.3 as reliable > and not needing maintenance as you will 10g and there is > nothing Larry can do about that. > > It all depends on what the system is and what the > requirements are. I know of a > Peoplesoft HR site that has been running a 7.3 server on NT4 > for 8 years without > missing a beat. Anyone wants to discuss value for money in this case? > > What I suggest to other DBAs here is based on my own > experience in bridging > the gap to do other things. > > Two simple key words: spread out. > One strategy: capitalise on your strengths. > > Don't waste too long learning the intricacies of all those X$ > views: you are NOT > Steve Adams nor do you have his motivations and conditions. > And your employer > doesn't give a royal freakin damn if X$* are performance > monitoring views or > porn monitoring views. By all means learn about their > existence. And read > about them. But STOP RIGHT THERE. > > Besides if you are truly going to take any advantage of all > that jazz, you'll > need access to the application code itself. So you can > re-design certain aspects > and make them behave properly. > > Don't fool yourself: just exactly how many times have you > succeeded in doing that > with SAP OR JDE OR Peoplesoft? Or even that small third party > J2EE crap that eats > up CPU at a rate that makes Microsoft blush? See what I > mean? It helps if your > employer is a software house, but they are a MINORITY. Forget it. > > Of course we all like to argue and talk here about details of > obscure waits, setting > event 1009812398901283948 forever on level 8127348 and > checking the effect of > that on X$MXYZPTLK. However, that has its place and time. > > The problem is: if you do that on your company's place and > time and you can't come > up at the end of it with a tangible and LARGE improvement in > profitability (stuff > the performance, profit is where it's at!), you are toast in > the eyes of your boss. > And with good reason: you are an expensive overhead and a > pretentious git who thinks > he's a Steve Adams. > > Sorry to be brutal. I warned I AM nasty, so there! :D > > Take it from someone who was a "DBA-only" 7 years ago, folks: > change. > Now. > > Cheers > Nuno Souto > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > -- > Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.net > -- > Author: Nuno Souto > INET: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Fat City Network Services -- 858-538-5051 http://www.fatcity.com > San Diego, California -- Mailing list and web hosting services > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > To REMOVE yourself from this mailing list, send an E-Mail message > to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (note EXACT spelling of 'ListGuru') and in > the message BODY, include a line containing: UNSUB ORACLE-L > (or the name of mailing list you want to be removed from). You may > also send the HELP command for other information (like subscribing). > -- Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.net -- Author: Wolfe Stephen S GS-11 6 MDSS/SGSI INET: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Fat City Network Services -- 858-538-5051 http://www.fatcity.com San Diego, California -- Mailing list and web hosting services --------------------------------------------------------------------- To REMOVE yourself from this mailing list, send an E-Mail message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (note EXACT spelling of 'ListGuru') and in the message BODY, include a line containing: UNSUB ORACLE-L (or the name of mailing list you want to be removed from). You may also send the HELP command for other information (like subscribing).
