January 27, 2010 at 10:56 am
Hello,
1.Can DBA lead an Organization and/or IT department?
2.Can DBA actually lead “System Administrators”/ “Application Architects?”
3.If a person is looking for good IT carrier track which can take you to a top position in an organization then is DBA one of them?
4.If a person is in DBA role then where he will be after 15 years? Same DBA or something else?
5.How much specialized this field is? Is this really a good carrier track for life?
6.For a DBA, what will be the milestones which can take one on to become on top of all others IT professionals?
These questions can be in the mind of fresh person who wants to be a Database Administrator
OR
Existing DBAs, who are around mid of their professional life and have a desire to be at that position.
After having this question in my mind, I have studied different articles and found this page of "Craig S. Mullins" http://www.craigsmullins.com/dbta_065.htm
As I understand that A DBA is kind of bridge between System administrator OR Application Architect.
DBA must have the understanding of other areas in parallel. DBA is dependent on others but how much others are dependent on him?
"A good system administrator OR database developer can be a good DBA. Does this mean that DBA is a not a specialized field?
These are various thoughts, so DBAs please don’t get furious.
I want experienced DBA to share their value-able experience, which can give a better understanding to the beginners.
Thank you.
January 27, 2010 at 11:06 am
This is what learned from my experience.
If you worry too much about future, you cannot do best in present.
Follow your passion, be it DBA, System Admin, Architect, Programmer or whatever it is, success will follow you. Passion converts problems into play.
Acquire excellence opportunities will search you.
Just a thought.
January 27, 2010 at 3:59 pm
Anyone can lead an organization. It's not necessarily something you learn by being a programmer, a DBA, a sysadmin, etc. They are different skills.
DBAs are in demand, but you ought to follow your desires. If you enjoy the work, then pursue it. If you don't, pick another area.
You can't be on top until you get through the beginning and the middle. I think the advice in the previous post makes a lot of sense.
January 28, 2010 at 3:21 am
Yes i do understand what you are saying. However, question is
How effectively a DBA can lead an IT department with variety of IT skills people under him, as compared to Others Specialists ?
Leading someone mean, you should be able to guide them, if required.
This should be the main difference between a general manager and technical manager.
Senior person have skills by experience, using which they can guide others in a familiar situation OR a better way forward. Leader must be comfortable discussing and providing better solution in crisis situation.
Keeping in view the above, if someone really wants to be on top and wants to be a best leader then what are the steps a DBA should take to make himself best among all.
Thanks.
January 28, 2010 at 6:01 am
Leading an IT department does not require hands on knowledge of every technology used. What is required is a general knowledge of both technology and the business. If your knowledge is limited to one side or the other, you will not be an effective leader.
You need to know both sides so that you can effectively plan how you will use current and emerging technologies to meet both current and future business needs. Has a leader you need to guide, not instruct or do. You need to inform those you are leading what needs to be accomplished, not how to accomplish it. You need to provide training opportunities, wether it is on-site, off-site, or even just time during work to accomplish self-guided training on new technologies.
If, as a DBA, you desire is to move up and become a leader, perhaps a Director or higher even, learn your own area very well, understand the other areas that you use and how it can be used, and most importantly, learn your business.
January 28, 2010 at 6:54 am
There's a difference between leading a group and leading a department. 99% of the directors and higher level managers, those on top, don't know how most of our technology works. They don't become experts in development, in network routers, in firewalls, and databases. They hire people that know how to do those things.
To be an effective leader doesn't mean you're the smartest, or even smarter than the people you manage. It requires a different skill set. Promoting the "best" DBA to manage a group means, often, that you lose your best DBA. Not that you get the best manager.
January 28, 2010 at 9:38 am
OK Lynn.
So You are asking to emphasis more on understanding business and getting industrial functional knowledge. Along with your techinical skills, you must have a good understanding of a particular domain/industry.
Does this mean that "To be on top", IT peoples should build their technical skills and experience for a particular business domain ? e.g. DBA and Hotel,Education,Finance etc.
Cheers
January 28, 2010 at 10:31 am
Bill Gates-870674 (1/28/2010)
OK Lynn.So You are asking to emphasis more on understanding business and getting industrial functional knowledge. Along with your techinical skills, you must have a good understanding of a particular domain/industry.
Does this mean that "To be on top", IT peoples should build their technical skills and experience for a particular business domain ? e.g. DBA and Hotel,Education,Finance etc.
Cheers
This is going to depend on the organization and the level you are talking about. If you aspire to be part of the management team, then the higher "up" you go, the lesss you actually need to know about specific technical skills. After all - in most medium to large orgs, you won't find the CIO actually coding: he's too busy dealing with the other departments, managing priorities and expectations, etc... to do that. For positions like that, yes - you would definitively need to be skilled in general technical capabilities, so you can accurately assess and represent the department's capabilities, while also being skilled in inter-personal and general business skills (so you can talk to your peers, clients, vendors, etc... in a language they can understand).
That said - not everyone is going to take that path. For one thing, there are too few positions in those roles for everyone to go that way. The second aspect is (like has been previously mentioned) that those dual skills are not always easy to maintain for lots of people. Many highly technical folks become so technical that they non-technical communication skills or interpersonal skills suffer or never develop. Some organization recognize that, and build a "technical path", to allow you to ocntinue to grow and develop in your professional career, without having to leave your organization or your core skillset, just to progress your career.
So - before consider where to go, find out where your gifts or skills lie. You may find that managing people and projects is not something you want to do or like doing. or on the other hand, you can't see yourself still involved in code ten years from now. You will not excel at something you don't fundamentally enjoy, so start by finding out what that happens to be.
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Your lack of planning does not constitute an emergency on my part...unless you're my manager...or a director and above...or a really loud-spoken end-user..All right - what was my emergency again?
January 28, 2010 at 10:31 am
Not necessarily. Concepts are important. Concepts move easily between industries. If you know/understand the concepts, you can easily learn the details. There may be differences, but you'll find those more in the details. And this is true even between businesses in the same industry.
January 29, 2010 at 7:03 am
Two very different skillsets. What is in common though, is that you learn each by doing. As a DBA, you will work through so many technical things that can never be truly taught. The same goes with being a manager. The difference is that one learns the very technical details, the other learns people.
As far as business goes, this is almost a third skill, but it is like the bridge between people and technology. By this I mean that both the people and the technology support the business. Business is much more difficult to learn by doing unless you have started your own. The finance and marketing functions in business are important, but not inherently learned in IT.
I have been all over IT, including DBA and IS Manager. I have an MBA to complement that. I have also started two small businesses on the side. However, as others have said, it's about what you love, plain and simple. Within my company, I was moved out of a manager role (even with my resistance) and not into a dba role, and I am very unhappy. My goal is to get back to IT management because after some soul-searching, that's truly what I am naturally good at and what I love to do. I would advise that you also follow your "natural groove". It will bring you the most success.
As far as industry, I guess that's more circumstantial, at least in my experience. I didn't choose an industry to work for, but it is difficult to change industry, because that is also a business experience.
Perhaps a little long, but it felt good to give my two cents.
January 29, 2010 at 8:32 am
>>As far as industry, I guess that's more circumstantial, at least in my experience. I didn't choose an industry to work for, but it is difficult to change industry, because that is also a business experience.<<
I don't think I agree with this entirely. I think good skills can move between industries easily. It's a lot easier to jump from insurance to retail to manufacturing than it is to jump from dba to SAP developer to network engineer. Even within an industry you have a lot to learn at a new company, and the higher you go in the org chart the more access you have to business people who can focus on that and educate you quickly.
When I think back to the better bosses and architects I've worked with, they have come from a variety of places and been able to adapt to new industries pretty easily. The attributes they share are being smart, very hard working, able to communicate with others, and willing to ask a ton of questions and then listen. Some were very difficult to get along with, some were very humble, some are business savvy and some are tech-first poindexters. They shared one other thing: they all liked what they were doing. A lot of it comes down to being able to do your job with passion, so if you want advice start with finding what you like to do.
[font="Arial"]Are you lost daddy? I asked tenderly.
Shut up he explained.[/font]
- Ring Lardner
January 29, 2010 at 10:24 am
Nothing is jack of All AND nothing is master of ALL.
One has to be more specific and specialist in one area.
So i want to re-question that
DBA having good understanding of a particular business area is more likely reach to a better position, as compared to DBA moving into different industries and learning the business again and again ?
Cheers
January 29, 2010 at 10:40 am
Bill Gates-870674 (1/29/2010)
Nothing is jack of All AND nothing is master of ALL.One has to be more specific and specialist in one area.
So i want to re-question that
DBA having good understanding of a particular business area is more likely reach to a better position, as compared to DBA moving into different industries and learning the business again and again ?
Cheers
It depends. And that is really the best answer I can provide.
January 29, 2010 at 10:50 am
Nothing is jack of All AND nothing is master of ALL.
One has to be more specific and specialist in one area.
Well, no actually. I mean, if your goal is to succeed at a high level in IT then you need that third set of skills, skills for managing.
Specific technical skills get you through the early years of your career, and specific business skills help you react well within a company or industry. But being a successful manager is much more than mastering a specific technical or business domain. The skills of an upper manager are different: managing people, budgets and time; skimming enough technology knowledge to identify trends and needs without being washed away by a particular subject (ie only learning the essentials in multiple areas); having enough general business skills (not industry specific) to have something to offer the rest of your management team (ie insurance companies face more issues than insurance, such as HR and legal and shareholders and sales force compensation). Good managers have other responsibilities than technical tasks or line of business tasks. As your rank goes up the amount of DBA work you'll do will drop off quickly.
If your question is whether to stay within an industry or move around, I guess it depends on the industry and who you know. You're going to have a better selection if you stay open to the idea of playing a role in any company or industry than playing any role in a specific company or industry. These days there aren't enough jobs in my area to be that particular. Frankly I've had much better luck going to work with people I know (regardless of industry) than chasing specific jobs in narrow spaces.
[font="Arial"]Are you lost daddy? I asked tenderly.
Shut up he explained.[/font]
- Ring Lardner
January 29, 2010 at 12:19 pm
Bill Gates-870674 (1/27/2010)
Hello,1.Can DBA lead an Organization and/or IT department?
Yes. Depends on the DBA though. Not all people are management types. Many DBA's are hands on workers.
2.Can DBA actually lead “System Administrators”/ “Application Architects?”
Yes. Depends on the person and personality again.
3.If a person is looking for good IT carrier track which can take you to a top position in an organization then is DBA one of them?
Yes. Only if that is your personality type though.
4.If a person is in DBA role then where he will be after 15 years? Same DBA or something else?
Some don't like it and leave to do something else. Others are DBA's still after 15 years. Others get promoted.
5.How much specialized this field is? Is this really a good carrier track for life?
Good Career track - yes. However, if you don't like working long hours and the potential of many days without sleep, then it probably wouldn't be.
6.For a DBA, what will be the milestones which can take one on to become on top of all others IT professionals?
It depends. This is a regional thing and depends on culture (corporate), attitude, work ethic and what the local competition is like.
Jason...AKA CirqueDeSQLeil
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