RE: OT: Guidelines/Standards for supporting non-oracle

From: Orr, Steve <sorr_at_rightnow.com>
Date: Tue, 10 Dec 2002 14:54:17 -0800
Message-ID: <F001.00517075.20021210145417@fatcity.com>

You need a corporate data administrator nazi-type technocrat... A "data administrator" god not a mere database administrator dweeb. :-) Here's a long quote from a Tom Cox article:

---

"The Data Administrator

With the rise of data warehouses and data marts has come an increasing awareness of the strategic value of corporate metadata. Without good metadata, users and IS shops find it nearly impossible to compare data from different systems. Metadata is becoming the next battleground between database firms. And someone needs to be in charge of metadata: the data administrator. Identifying and empowering a formal data administrator will shorten data-warehouse project time lines and will improve the quality of data flowing through the organization.
"Metadata is the connective tissue of information," says Mohit Sahgal of
Andersen Consulting. "With it, the most far-flung applications in the organization can be tied together into a functioning whole. Without it, nothing will make sense."
The data administrator must deal with the political reality that information is power. Just as banks have strict policies on the handling of cash--it must be checked in, checked out, counted, and tracked--so must information systems. We must treat information like banks treat cash. If some were to go missing, it must be clear who was responsible for it. Someone must set data-handling policies: Who enters new product numbers into the system? Who changes the format of product numbers? Who must be notified of format changes? What format will a new application use? These are the questions the data administrator must answer and then track the answers and audit compliance with policies.
The data administrator finds out or assigns who owns which data elements and who can create, change, and delete what. If a regional database keeps a copy of the corporate master price list, then who is responsible for keeping that copy current--the price-list owner, who must then push changes in, or the application owner, who would have to poll for changes and pull them in? Do appropriate people have the right permissions to read the data they need? This implies, quite correctly, that the data administrator creates the security policy for the database, although others will likely implement it.
"

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-----Original Message-----
Sent: Tuesday, December 10, 2002 3:23 PM To: Multiple recipients of list ORACLE-L

Hi,
I've made a lot of money over the years fixing Access databases as a consultant. They usually called me after being painted into a corner with a non-normalized, Excel spreadsheet looking thing. I have to diplomatically tell them that their baby is ugly. Then they can either pay me to fix it or say goodbye.
If you start supporting these half-baked databases you probably (1) won't get paid any extra and (2) won't be able to say goodbye. Plus you just might pi$$ off some department head by telling them that their baby is UGGGGLLEEEE.
Unless you get more resources with this extra 'little' tasking, you are going to feel some pain.
Jerry Whittle
ASIFICS DBA
NCI Information Systems Inc.
jerome.whittle_at_scott.af.mil
618-622-4145
-----Original Message-----
At 01:15 PM 12/10/2002 -0800, Rick_Cale_at_teamhealth.com wrote:

Hi,

We are virtually an Oracle shop with 2-3 sql server databases due to 3rd-party software restrictions.
We have been asked about supporting other "small" databases such as Access,etc within our company. My question is if you were asked to support "smaller" databases what restrictions/guidelines/standards are worth considering? Be kind-constructive answers only :-)

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Author: Orr, Steve
  INET: sorr_at_rightnow.com

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Received on Tue Dec 10 2002 - 16:54:17 CST