CAMBRIDGE, UK, August 23, 2010 – Tracy Hamlin has been elected by judges and the SQL Server community as the Exceptional DBA of 2010.  The annual awards program, hosted by SQL Server Central and sponsored by Red Gate Software, drew the largest number of community votes in its three-year history.

Hamlin receives a trophy to keep, full conference registration for the PASS Community Summit 2010 in Seattle, four nights’ accommodations, and $300 in travel expenses.  Along with this year’s other finalists – John Burnette of Fidelity Information Services, Jonathan Kehayias of Tampa General Hospital, Ted Krueger of Pharmedium Services, Kevan Riley of Destinology, and Jorge Segarra of University Community Hospital – she receives a copy of Red Gate’s SQL Toolbelt with 36 months of support and upgrades.

Hamlin, based in Birmingham, Alabama, has more than 20 years of experience in database administration and architecture.  She started her most recent position five years ago as a lone DBA with one 200-GB database and managed explosive growth to 75 SQL Server databases housing 100 terabytes of data.  Along the way, she continually improved database performance and implemented automated procedures that made developers’ jobs easier.

Technical and people skills

“Tracy strikes me as truly exceptional in many ways, from her wide-ranging technical expertise with 20 years logged as a professional DBA to her successful management of a large and ever-growing SQL Server environment,” says Exceptional DBA Awards judge Rodney Landrum.  “Tracy also conveys her passion for being a DBA.  She really understands that being technical is only a fraction of the skills required to be exceptional.  Her self-description as a ‘people-person’ allows her to succeed in a team environment where she has built a level of trust with both developers and users.”

Hamlin, who attended the PASS Community Summit for the first time last year, says that receiving the award at this year’s conference will make it extra special.

“With all the great nominees, I really didn’t think I had a chance,” she says.  “This is incredibly exciting and a highlight of my professional career.”

To find out more about Tracy Hamlin and what it takes to be an Exceptional DBA, read her interview on the SQLServerCentral website.

About the sponsor

Founded in 1999, Red Gate Software produces ingeniously simple tools used by more than 500,000 Microsoft technology professionals worldwide.  The company currently specializes in MS SQL Server, .NET, Oracle and MS Exchange tools.  Red Gate has been chosen as one of The Sunday Times (UK) 100 best small companies to work for in each of the last three years.

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