RE: A DBA's career development

I went the ERP route after having been an Oracle DBA for 3 years in 2001 when I was recruited by SAP to become a Basis consultant even though I had no SAP experience whatsoever (I think there were around 40 of us, many without any previous SAP experience). They put me in boot camp and fully trained and certified me in SAP Basis, but then the market dried up and they were unable to keep me (and many others) billed at their ridiculous rate. As a consequence, I was laid off along with 10 others from the new hires. (I believe SAP America also laid off to what amounted to close to 8% of their workforce the next month).

But, I firmly believe the "shake-down" was merely an adjustment and partly due to the economy as well customers demanding more value for their money. ERP will be around for a long time and people with those skills are very much in demand. I've been contacted by recruiters all over the country (but I have no desire to relocate!). I think it's very desirable to be working for a shop running ERP, SCM, or CRM packages as well as multiple flavors of databases because many companies are "branching out" and taking a "best of breed" approach and the experience will prove to be valuable.

Randy Kirkpatrick
home: (303) 772-7467
cell: (303) 885-2102

-----Original Message-----
J
Sent: Thursday, January 03, 2002 6:40 AM To: Multiple recipients of list ORACLE-L

Some people mentioned ERP --> here is a newsletter on ERP, but not limited to Oracle.

If you enjoy reading ERPCentral’s Newsletter, please tell a friend or colleague about it. Anyone can sign up for a free subscription on our Web site at http://www.erpcentral.com

e.g. of Oracle-related items:
All you need is. . .Oracle?
http://www.erpcentral.com
Earthweb.com December 20, 2001
It was less than a year ago that Larry Ellison informed Oracle users that the company’s 11i application suite would provide all the functionality they needed to run their businesses, without custom programming to add special features or tie in products from other software vendors. (Read)

Oracle’s hard sell illustrates industrywide problems http://www.erpcentral.com
CNET News.com July 2, 2001
In a special case study, we analyse corporate software sales, and examine why the industry is in the dire straits it finds itself in It is a scene repeated countless times in the corporate jungle: a company endures months of sales pitches, pays millions of dollars for new software, discovers massive problems, and spends far more to fix the product than the original cost of buying it.

Oracle Special: Customers pay the price
http://www.erpcentral.com
CNET News.com July 2, 2001
Software consultants bemoan the fact that they only have time to be reactive - there is no time for forward planning The project deadline was considered ambitious even for the frenetically paced high-tech world. At the height of the dot-com mania last year, Oracle promised a small business-to-business startup that it would install 60 percent of the software it needed in two months. When that deadline slipped, Oracle said it could finish 30 percent in that timeframe. Even that proved unrealistic.

Larry to Everyone: King Me!
http://www.erpcentral.com
Fortune June 25, 2001
Oracle’s Larry Ellison thinks he knows how to simplify matters for corporations: Just buy everything from him. Monday, Historically, enterprise software has been mind-numbingly complex. Different packages manage everything from financials to manufacturing to human resources. But Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle, thinks he knows how to simplify matters for the corporations that purchase the stuff and then rely on it completely: Just buy everything from him. (Read)

2001 was dismal for ERP. I can't find the particular item that I am basing this statement on, but here is a related one: e.g.
Overcoming Tech Fatigue Syndrome
http://www.erpcentral.com
Clickz.com, October 22, 2001
I spent some time recently with business leaders in the Bay Area. We discussed a number of topics—finance, marketing, alliance, and exit strategies. But, surprisingly, one subject area never came up: e-business, the Internet, or anything even remotely related to information technology.

I think that to become an IT Architect doing ERP you need to be part of a shop that already does it (? mind you, I am not an ERP person, so I probably don't know what I am talking about, please correct me if I'm wrong). You must know clients already, and they have to be comfortable working with you, because of the impact --> they have to trust you. Hence potential higher revenues if you are reliable at ERP and do a great job. Once they hire a firm to do an ERP project, will the client still need its services once that project has completed? That must be a challenge, continually looking for future contracts. I imagine you have to be comfortable making presentations to Board members.

Regards,
Patrice Boivin
Systems Analyst (Oracle DBA)
Acting Head, System Admin & Operations
Bedford Institute of Oceanography
Fisheries and Oceans Canada

-----Original Message-----
Sent: Wednesday, January 02, 2002 4:30 PM To: Multiple recipients of list ORACLE-L

> Or may be it's time to move to some sort of system analysis ,
> datawarehousing ,ERP or ... ???

ERP is certainly a good area to be, and I notice that Oracle Applications is steadily increasing in its reach and depth of market penetration. I grew from a 'normal' DBA to an 'Apps DBA' - there are a few additional things, but one needs to grow from a 'normal' DBA position into this. Such a path will utilize known, hands-on skills. So would System Analysis (to some extent) and Data Warehousing - these skills do command wide employability. One thing that you could think of is aquiring expertise in the area of Security - not only IT but organizational/process/networking security - I believe there is a huge untapped market for this out there in the future.

YMMV! and a happy new year to all.
John Kanagaraj
Oracle Applications DBA
DBSoft Inc
(W): 408-970-7002

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Author: Boivin, Patrice J
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