Some New Year's Resolutions for DBAs

This is sort of a re-blogging (to coin a term). I first published this last month in the Data Management Today blog I wrote for NEON. Well, I no longer work for NEON and I'm not sure how long that blog will remain active, so I thought it might make sense to re-blog some of the pertinent entries here... so here goes with my New Year's Resolutions for DBAs blog entry...

At the beginning over every year many of us take the time to cobble together some resolutions for the coming year. We plan to lose weight, save money, stop smoking, and so on. Usually, it doesn’t take long before we’ve abandoned these resolutions. Perhaps we’d be wiser to make some business related resolutions. With that in mind, here are some thoughts on the New Year’s resolutions you might be wise to make as a DBA in 2010.

Are you insatiably curious? A good DBA must become a jack-of-all-trades. DBAs are expected to know everything about everything -- at least in terms of how it works with databases. From technical and business jargon to the latest management and technology fads, the DBA is expected to be "in the know." So perhaps “be more curious” would be a useful DBA resolution.

Most DBAs know that private time is a luxury we cannot afford. A DBA must be prepared for interruptions at any time to answer any type of question -- and not just about databases, either. With that in mind, how are your people skills? DBA are usually respected as a database guru, but also frequently criticized as a curmudgeon with limited people skills. Just about every database programmer has his or her favorite DBA story. You know, those anecdotes that begin with "I had a problem..." and end with "and then he told me to stop bothering him and read the manual." DBAs simply do not have a "warm and fuzzy" image. However, this perception probably has more to do with the nature and scope of the job than with anything else. The DBMS spans the enterprise, effectively placing the DBA on call for the applications of the entire organization. As such, you will interact with many different people and take on many different roles. To be successful, you will need an easy-going and somewhat amiable manner. So another good New Year’s resolution might be to “improve your people skills.” Take a Dale Carnegie course or start by reading Carnegie’s seminal book, How to Win Friends and Influence People.

How adaptable you are? A day in the life of a DBA is usually quite hectic. The DBA maintains production and test environments, monitors active application development projects, attends strategy and design meetings, selects and evaluates new products and connects legacy systems to the Web. And, of course: Joe in Accounting just resubmitted that query from hell that's bringing the system to a halt. Can you do something about that? All of this can occur within a single workday. You must be able to embrace the chaos to succeed as a DBA. So a third resolution might be to “roll with the punches” better – and without complaining!

Of course, you need to be organized and capable of succinct planning, too. Being able to plan for changes and implement new functionality is a key component of database administration. And although this may seem to clash with the need to be flexible and adaptable, it doesn't really. Not once you get used to it. You just need to prepare yourself to be adapatable and organize to incorporate change more rapidly than others. So my final suggestion for a 2010 New Year’s resolution is to adopt a planning methodology and stick to it. Buy a planner – either electronic or not – and use it this year. You might even consider taking a time management class.

If you keep all of these resolutions, just imagine how productive you will be in 2010. And then you can use 2011 to lose weight and save money and…

Evaluating a DBA Job Offer

Today's blog entry is for DBAs. Although this blog is focused on mainframe DB2 the advice here applies to any DBA job... so pass the linik on to your Oracle and SQL Server friends...


As a DBA, it is almost inevitable that you will change jobs several times during your career. When making a job change, you will obviously consider requirements such as salary, bonus, benefits, frequency of reviews, and amount of vacation time. However, you also should consider how the company treats their DBAs. Different organizations place different value on the DBA job. It is imperative to your career development that you scout for progressive organizations that understand the complexity and ongoing learning requirements for the position.

Here are some useful questions to ask:

Does the company offer regular training for its DBAs to learn new DBMS features and functionality?

As a DBA you need to be well-versed on the latest and greatest features of the DBMSs you manage. And, on average, there will be a new version to contend with every 18 to 24 months. It is possible to learn the basics by reading the WHAT'S NEW manual and skimming through the voluminous, additional manuals, but some formal training is warranted to get the most out of a new version of the DBMS.


What about training for related technologies such as programming, networking, e-business, transaction management, message queueing, and the like?

DBAs are also called upon to administer more than just databases these days. A top notch employer will allow its DBAs to be trained in new technologies... as well as time for independent learning through reading books and articles.


Does the company allow DBAs to regularly attend local user groups? What about annual user groups at remote locations?

User groups are essential for networking with others who perform the same, or similar, job duties. By attending local user group meetings you can not only get inexpensive training through watching the presentations, but you can also learn exchange ideas with your peers.


Are there backup DBAs, or will you be the only one on call 24/7?

Nobody wants to be the only DBA on call, every night, all the time, on weekends, holidays, etc. And if there is no backup what happens if you take a vacation? Is it really a vacation if you have to carry a company cell phone everywhere you go?


Are there data administration and system administration organizations, or are the DBAs expected to perform all of these duties, too?

DBA is a full-time job but some organizations expect the DBA staff to handle data administration and system administration duties, too. Depending on the volume of work this might not be a deal breaker, but be cautious.


Does the DBA group view its relationship with application development groups as a partnership? Or is the relationship more antagonistic?

A partnership is essential in order to produce optimally performing database applications. And if you do not have applications that perform well, then the DBA job will be burdensome.


Are DBAs included in design reviews, budgeting discussions, and other high-level IT committees and functions?

The more involved the DBA team is in the overall IT strategy the better prepared the company's databases will be to support the required work... and the easier your job will be as a DBA.


The more YES answers you get to these questions, the more progressive the DBA environment is. Be sure to ask these questions during your interview. It will show that you have experience and that you care about your career. Be sure to research the answers later, too. Ask around about the company to those who used to work there and anyone you know (remember those user groups) that currently works there. Sometimes the answers given by the workers will not exactly match those given by the interviewer.

Keep in mind, too, that these are not the ONLY questions you need to ask.

And good luck with you DBA career!

Free Statistics Software for DB2 for z/OS

I'm sure you've heard that age old expression that there is no such thing as a free lunch, right? Well, sometimes even the old tried and true sayings can be wrong. No, I'm not going to tell you how to eat lunch for free, but you can get some helpful DB2 mainframe software for free!

NEON Enterprise Software continues to offer free software for checking the health of the statistics in your DB2 Catalog.

Statistics HealthCheck for DB2 z/OS enables you to quickly and effectively analyze and judge the quality of your DB2 Catalog statistics. Checking the health of your DB2 subsystem is especially important considering the heightened sensitivity of DB2 V8 and V9 to bad statistics.

The extensive rule system used by Statistics HealthCheck is based on best practice recommendations for maintaining good statistics. Using a violation system, Statistics HealthCheck pinpoints precisely those objects that could benefit from a RUNSTATS utility health check... or that otherwise require statistics housekeeping.

Statistics HealthCheck is particularly useful as a prerequisite to Bind ImpactExpert during a DB2 version migration. First, Statistics HealthCheck identifies the RUNSTATs you need. Then, Bind ImpactExpert provides REBIND insurance to further guarantee consistent and improved access paths.

With Statistics HealthCheck, you know exactly what is “wrong” with your statistics so that you can proactively correct any problems that might negatively affect DB2 subsystem performance.

And come on, it is free after all. What do you have to lose by downloading it and trying it on your DB2 subsystems today?

Bad Standards

Just started a new series on bad standards over on my Data Management Today blog.

Check it out when you get a chance and share your favorite "bad standards" either here or there... or by e-mailing me.

DBA Rules of Thumb

Database administration is a very technical discipline, but it is also a discipline in which the practitioner is very visible politically within the organization. As such, DBAs should be armed with the proper attitude and knowledge before attempting to practice the discipline of database administration.

Just as important as technical acumen, though, is the ability to carry oneself properly and to embrace the job appropriately. With this in mind, I wrote a series of blog entries on DBA Rules of Thumb over at my Data Management Today blog... and I thought the information I wrote there may be helpful to my DB2 and mainframe readership here, so I'm sharing the eight rules of thumb (with links) here on my DB2 Portal blog:

1. Document Everything!
2. Automate Ingelligently
3. Share
4. Don't Panic!
5. Focus Your Efforts
6. Invest In Yourself
7. Diversify
8. Develop Business Acumen

What do you think? Did I miss anything important?

P.S. Just a reminder that I will be presenting a webinar on assuring DB2 recoverability with my colleague, Michael Figaro, this Thursday, October 23, 2008 at 10:30 Central time. If you are at all interested in the topic, be sure to register today - and attend this Thursday!

A Perfect Storm?

There is something of a perfect storm brewing in the world of data today. The world is becoming more automated, more connected, more wireless, and more complex. The next wave of database administration is intelligent automation. I refer to this as implementing software scrubbing bubbles that “work hard, so you don’t have to.” (Remember that commercial!)

As more of the tasks required of DBAs become more automated, the DBA will be freed to expand into other areas. So one front on this storm is the autonomic computing initiatives that automate DBA tasks. At the same time, IT professionals are being asked to know more about the business instead of just knowing the technology. So DBAs need to understand the business purpose and definition of the data they manage, as well as the technological underpinnings of the DBMS. The driving force here is predominantly regulatory compliance. This second front of the perfect storm will cause DBAs to work more closely with metadata to drive database archiving, data auditing, and security to ensure their organization complies with regulations like Sarbanes-Oxley, HIPAA, and others.

Regarding the wireless aspect of things, pervasive devices (PDA, handhelds, cell phones, etc.) will increasingly interact with database systems. DBAs will need to get involved there to ensure successful data synchronization. And database systems will work with disconnected data seamlessly, such as data generated by RFID tags.

Yet another big database trend is technology "suck." By that I mean the DBMS is as it sucks up technologies and functions that previously required you to purchase separate software. Remember when the DBMS had no ETL or OLAP functionality? Those days are gone. This will continue as the DBMS adds capabilities to tackle more and more IT tasks.

Another trend impacting DBAs will be a change in some of their roles as more and more of the recent DBMS features actually start being used in more production systems.

The net result of this perfect storm of changes is that data professionals are absolutely being required to do more... sometimes with less (less time, less money, less staff, etc.)

If you know the technology but are then required to know the business, this is doing more – much more. But the technology, in many cases, is also expanding. For example, DB2 9 incorporates native XML. Most DBAs are not XML savvy, but increasingly they will have to learn more about XML as the DBMS technology expands. And this is just one example.

Additionally, data is growing at an ever-increasing rate. Every year the amount of data under management increases (some analysts peg the compound annual rate of data growth at 125%) and in many cases the number of DBAs to manage that growing data is not increasing, and indeed, could be decreasing.

And, budgetary limitations can cause DBAs to have to do more work, to more data, with less resources. When a company reduces budget but demands more work, automation is an absolute necessity. Turning work over to the computer can help (although it is unlikely to solve every administrative issue). Sometimes IT professionals fight against the very thing they excel in – that is, automating work. If you think about it, every computer program is written to automate someone’s work – the write (word processing), the accountant (financials, payroll, spreadsheets), and so on. This automation did not put the executives whose work was automated out of a job; instead it made them more efficient. Yet, for some reason, there is a notion in the IT industry that automating IT tasks will eliminate jobs. You cannot automate a DBA out of existence – but you can make that DBA’s job more effective and efficient with DBA tools and autonomic computing.

And the sad truth of the matter is that there is still a LOT more than can, and should, be done in most companies. We can start with better automation of DBA tasks, but we shouldn't stop there!

Corporate governance is hot – that is, technologies to help companies comply with governmental regulations. Software to enable archiving for long-term data retention, auditing to determine who did what to which piece of data, and security to better protect data are all hot data technologies right now. But database security need to be improve and technologies for securing and auditing data need to be more pervasively implemented.

Metadata is increasing in importance. As data professionals really begin to meld together technology and business, they find that metadata is imperative. But most organizations do not have a metadata repository fully-populated and up-to-date that acts as a lexicon for business data.

And finally, something that isn’t nearly hot enough is data quality and integrity. Tools, processes, and database options that can be used to make data more accurate and reliable are not implemented appropriately with any regularity. So the data stored in our corporate databases is suspect. According to Thomas C. Redman, data quality guru, poor data quality costs the typical company at least ten percent (10%) of revenue. That is a significant cost! Data quality is generally bad in most organizations – and more needs to be done to address that problem.

With all of these thoughts in mind, are you prepared to weather this perfect storm?