Re: Question about time accounting at your work

I second what Jeff says though, a good DBA is the one you don't know about (from the Business perspective), simply because everything just works.

Jeff also mentions branding. <cough>Wanna buy a T-Shirt<http://oraclenerd.spreadshirt.com/us/US/Shop/Article/Index/article/DBAoraclenerd-5087309> ?</cough>

Seriously though, I whole-heartedly agree. We're (worker bees) essentially becoming entrepreneurs. We need to learn how to market ourselves and prove our worth. You guys/gals (DBAs) practice the art of black magic...as far as anyone outside your profession goes. You all manage incredibly complex systems, essentially stuff no one else wants to do or just can't do. My love <http://www.oraclenerd.com/2008/01/love-your-dba.html> and respect<http://www.oraclenerd.com/2009/03/whos-your-dba.html>for DBAs aside...:)

Start a blog, join your local IOUG chapter...make yourself (more) visible to the Oracle/DBA community at large. That's a start. (Do you think I've thought about this much?)

As to the other question, timesheets. I too, as a lonely developer, have had to do the same. Infinitely annoying but I believe it to be necessary from a management perspective. The reason being they can better plan for the future.

chet

(fueled by the Friday Happy Hour)

On Fri, Sep 18, 2009 at 4:28 PM, Taylor, Chris David < ChrisDavid.Taylor_at_ingrambarge.com> wrote:

> Ok fellow full-time employee DBAs I have a question. (Not for contractors
> :)
>
> How many of you use project accounting at your place of work. Where every
> hour has to be accounted for against projects, or maintenance or some other
> code?
>
> I was basically told I'm not "visible enough" --- this is 1 year after
> receiving a ton of awards and accolades for solving a problem at one of our
> sister companies. Now it "appears" that my value to the company is being
> questioned. I imagine questions like "What does he do all day?" are being
> asked.
>
> Usually I lump database support into 1 group, and patches/maintenance into
> another group and performance tuning into a 3rd group. Now, I'm goign to
> have to start micromanaging my hours. I work for an internal IT department
> at a large corporation. I think we bill the other departments for services,
> but not sure.
>
> Anyone else have to deal with this?
>
> *Chris Taylor*
> *Sr. Oracle DBA*
> Ingram Barge Company
> Nashville, TN 37205
> Office: 615-517-3355
> Cell: 615-354-4799
> Email: chris.taylor_at_ingrambarge.com
>
>
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