End of the Year is Near
Just two more working days until 2013. With that in mind I’m turning my thoughts to accomplishments this year, and goals for next year. I’m not sure if that is something unique to the culture of the USA, but I grew up learning to take a look back, and planning for the future.
One of the things that has become more and more clear is the changing role of the DBA. We have talked about it from time to time, and had lots of confirmation from many of our readers that the tasks and tools of a DBA are changing.
So, as you are considering your future skill set options there are a few things you may want to consider. Perhaps Business Intelligence is of interest to you. You can exercise your system operations skills with many of the BI solutions from IBM, Oracle and Microsoft. However, if you wish to become a true BI analyst, you are going to need to work on data mining skills. Some of those are technical for writing queries and designing data warehouses. Others are mathematical for strategies to mine data and make assumptions.
Others are looking to cross platforms. Oracle is still holding a strong position in many businesses. It also has a better following with true DBA positions to design, deploy, and maintain databases. So, perhaps, if you’re an MySQL or Microsoft DBA you may wish to cross train on Oracle or DB2
Another options would be to move into software development. In this area you can take advantage of your understanding of set logic, and learn to apply it to object oriented programming. Many DBAs have become keepers of report development.
Sharepoint is another growing technology for a Microsoft DBA to find work. For companies really utilizing SharePoint, a DBA is a great asset to keep it performing well.
If you have other ideas for skills a Microsoft DBA may find interesting, drop me a note at btaylor@sswug.org so we can share them with our readers.
I’d like to take a straw poll on Windows 8. Are you using it in your job? Do you find it easier to use or harder? Drop me a note at btaylor@sswug.org about your experience with Windows 8.
Cheers,
Ben
$$SWYNK$$
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