Now: Remote or Not? Was: Production Oracle DBA Needed in Rocheste

Hi all,

Thanks Chris for that nicely worded e-mail. It *is* true that Development work is easier to farm off elsewhere where it is cheaper, and even Oracle Corporation is farming out Internet-based Support and Development work elsewhere. These teams typically work with a bunch of junior developers somewhere else working on the major chunk of the project, fronted by one or two 'implementors' - typically senior and more 'culturally aware' locally working with the users/businesses they serve. This Development model does lend itself to such offloading.

However, I haven't heard of similar farming out of day-to-day DBA or SA services *outside* of the US. These services are perceived as 'Business critical' jobs still and Management wants to see/hear the key-clicks, esp. when a Disaster occurs or something goes wrong. Steve Orr - the one who escaped this $$$ valley for the wide open spaces he loves - made the point that Remote working is more an organizational issue than a technical issue. Face-to-face and human touch-and-feel still is still required, and time zones are still an issue (even here in the States where the West and the East is separated by just 3 hours).

Having said that, I have to say that I am in the process of wrapping up a 'remote' performance troubleshooting mini-project for a previous client. VPNs, Previous association and familiarity with systems/personnel and the requirement of out-of-the-ordinary skills for a limited period drove this remote assignment, and it worked out successfully. I did suffer from the 3 hour timezone difference, though it worked to our advantages at times. I do also know that many DBAs have been 'farmed-out' to 'Remote DBA Services' within the country (counting Canada too - Pythian, TUSC, ...), and a number of cross-country tuning assignments (from Australia - need I say more!) have also worked out well.

On a personal front, I observe that (at least in the US) the urban/suburban cost-of-living is driving more and more remote workers (quite a number of IT workers, esp. DBAs) into the extended suburbia (100 miles or more, up from the current 50 mile radius), where these workers do come in once or twice a week, sometimes to 'branch offices' spread out among the various suburbs.... Hence, you could theoretically work as a DBA in a city somewhere else for an organization with HQs/DBs somewhere else, as long as you have access/presence of a remote office, and possibly fly down to the HQ once in a while. Remote workers still need to be in a community, with access to education, recreation and health servcies, so this will probably not be too far off the beaten path.

On another tack, there was a discussion on this list about Ari's cool tools - the PocketDBA/SA. I could theoretically be far away in a log cabin (Steve - are you listening?!) and still be connected to the office - the question is: Do you want to be? In other words, most tools for full remote capability are available. But would Damagement accept them and not have to see a warm body fill a seat?

John Kanagaraj

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Grabowy, Chris [mailto:cgrabowy_at_fcg.com]
> Sent: Monday, March 25, 2002 12:46 PM
> To: Multiple recipients of list ORACLE-L
> Subject: RE: RE: Production Oracle DBA Needed in Rochester, Minnesota
>
>
> Ahhh...be careful what you ask for. If that were truly the
> case, then you
> might not be able to find a job, since you would be outbid
> from someone
> working else where. Obviously, skills are a critical factor,
> but explain
> that to the bean counters...
>
> Some of the developers here are becoming very angry because
> some of the work
> has been "farmed-out" overseas because of their lower rates.
> It is a very
> interesting situation that I am quietly observing. The world
> is indeed
> becoming smaller.
>
> I have carefully worded this email in the hopes that I do not
> offend some of
> the VERY talented/god-like DBAs we have on this list that
> come a variety of
> locations around this great planet. I hope that I have succeeded.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> Sent: Monday, March 25, 2002 3:04 PM
> To: Multiple recipients of list ORACLE-L
>
>
> Yeah, does anybody know what happened to the new Internet concept of
> "location doesn't matter"? I thought by now I could be sitting at home
> taking DBA assignments all over the country, if not over the world?
>
> Dennis Williams
> DBA
> Lifetouch, Inc.
> dwilliams_at_lifetouch.com
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> Sent: Monday, March 25, 2002 11:44 AM
> To: Multiple recipients of list ORACLE-L
>
>
> > If you need a change of location, you can get one easier...
> OK, now I understand what you meant.
>
> I can testify to the relocation potential because I recently
> escaped the
> Silicon Valley rat race to come up here to God's country.
> Nevertheless, I
> still fantasize about rendering remote DBA support via a laptop with
> multi-band satellite connectivity from a log cabin while
> snowed in at 10,000
> feet. (Or while lounging in a hammock on some Carribean Ilse.) While I
> support servers 1000's of miles away, employers like to see
> you and hear you
> tapping on the keyboard. Working and living ANYWHERE is not so much a
> technical problem as it is an organizational, human relations
> challenge.
> Sigh...
>
>
> Steve Orr
> Still in Bozeman, MONTANA!!!
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> Sent: Monday, March 25, 2002 10:04 AM
> To: Multiple recipients of list ORACLE-L
>
>
> Well, up until about a couple of years ago, that was very
> true from what I
> experienced... Now, perhaps it takes a bit more work, but
> there seems to be
> enough demand around for the time being..... Perhaps number
> 10 should be
> rather:
>
> 10. If you need a change of location, you can get one easier
> than with other
> jobs.
>
> RF
>
> Robert G. Freeman - Oracle8i OCP
> Oracle DBA Technical Lead
> CSX Midtier Database Administration
>
> The Cigarette Smoking Man: Anyone who can appease a man's
> conscience can
> take his freedom away from him.
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> Sent: Monday, March 25, 2002 12:04 PM
> To: 'ORACLE-L_at_fatcity.com'
> Cc: Freeman, Robert
>
>
> > 10. So I can live where I choose.
> Oh really? How do you manage that?
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> Sent: Monday, March 25, 2002 9:23 AM
> To: Multiple recipients of list ORACLE-L
>
>
> Hey, I got five scampers running around right now....
> youngest is 9 and the
> oldest is *gasp* 16....
>
> 10 Reasons I became a DBA
>
> 1. So I don't have to mow my own lawn
> 2. So I don't have to change my own oil.
> 3. So I don't have to move my own furniture.
> 4. So I can have 5 kids and a wife.
> 5. So I can afford two NICE cars (well, mostly nice until the
> kids get to
> them).
> 6. So I can eat out every day if I choose.
> 7. One word, big screen TV (ok, three words).
> 8. Because it's cool.
> 9. Because I like getting paged at 3 in the morning to save
> someone's butt
> and have them owe me BIG.
> 10. So I can live where I choose.
>
> RF
> --
> Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.com
> --
> Author: Orr, Steve
> INET: sorr_at_rightnow.com
>
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> Author: DENNIS WILLIAMS
> INET: DWILLIAMS_at_LIFETOUCH.COM
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> --
> Author: Grabowy, Chris
> INET: cgrabowy_at_fcg.com
>
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-- 
Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.com
-- 
Author: John Kanagaraj
  INET: john.kanagaraj_at_hds.com

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