Re: broad discussion about future market direction for DBA

"shridned" <shrniad_at_yahoo.com> wrote in message news:ar5uks$6sr$01$1_at_news.t-online.com...
> Hi,
>
> I have a lot of knowledge as a Oracle DBA, up to 9.2
> and I know Oracle works best in the Oracle world and not
> together with this crap software it is used with.
>
> the problem is the "real" oracle market in germany is dead. There are only
> few offerings only with old versions and only in combination
> with SAP, Peoplesoft , Siebel or worse.
>
> Knowbody cares to use Oracle software to its full potential. Also
> there is no demand here in Germany for new oracle features or
> new Oracle software like application server and so on.
> Also there is no demand for very experienced Oracle People,
> because everybody "knows" Oracle, like the other databases.
>
> Oracle is only a database like MS-Access and used in this way and
> only im combination with software who doesn't care about Oracle.
>
> My question is what diversification is possible for a very experienced
> Oracle DBA who always tries to use Oracle to its best ?
>
> I have done some investigation in the java-backend world in direction of
> Oracle Application server and portal software but there is absolutly now
> demand.
>
> The other possible opportunity I see is the xml-world in which oracle
> makes rapid progress. But this may be ten years before market
> penetration .
>
> Also the workflow software direction with AQ may be of interest but
> in the moment no customer would use oracle for this but rather other
obscure
> software .
>
> So my question is how does this look in the rest of the world , is it only
> a german problem or a problem of the economic situation ?
>
> I see a real problem for the oracle company because the market penetration
> as a "pure" database is good, but there is no demand for the broad
solutions
> Oracle today has to offer. Also software developer do not care about
Oracle
> in a other way than every other database.
>
> What seems to be the direction of diversification for the Oracle DBA or
the
> future demand for Oracle Solutions ?
>

Hi Shridned,

I must say the market here in Australia isn't particularly great but there's enough Oracle DBA work around to keep one going. There are very very few permanent Oracle DBA positions going around. All the positions are filled by people with nowhere really to move onto (a bit like musical chairs without the music and without anyone being game enough to leave their very comfortable seat). Oracle training is really struggling at the moment as there are so few new people that require training.

I think the whole IT industry is in a bit of a dip at the moment, I only takes a quick look at the NASDAQ to see things aren't too rosy. The end of the .com boom has obviously hurt Oracle and it will take it some time yet for it to recover. But recover it no doubt will and then so will the Oracle related job market.

The role of an Oracle DBA has always been an evolving beast and so it will continue. As some facets of the role become obsolete, new facets develop and become important. Of much importance is still Security, Data Safety, Availability and Performance and it's these key areas that ensures the role of the DBA is not redundant. Large organisations and Government departments still see value in someone that can provide these services. Whether that someone is a permanent employee, or an outsourcing agency or an all round nice guy contractor is another question ;)

On the specific issue of using "new features" and using "Oracle to it's full potential", I agree that few do. Then again, many of these so called new features have as many issues associated with them as they resolve. I personally believe that using Oracle to it's full potential primarily means ensuring applications are written to a reasonable level of efficiency. Most performance tuning issues I've resolved have been addressed by fixing code, not fixing the database or using any particular new feature per se.

I also find that due to advancements in servers and disk systems and the such, many of the old issues of fine tuning are not as relevant. Where previously it made some difference, now there's not the same return in investment. I'm not suggesting that database tuning isn't important, of course it is, it's just that now close enough is often good enough.

I also believe that some of the marketing hype by Oracle itself regarding such things as self tuning, self installation "out of the box" solutions and the such is having some effect. Organisations are now thinking, "Shit, if it's that easy, do we really need a DBA (or 5)". The answer invariable is "well actually, yes you do" but who is making these decisions ? Often people with limited technical knowledge and more of an eye on bottom lines and profitability, rather than buffer cache hit rates (oops, probably should have used a different example ;)

I believe there is still a market (albeit somewhat depressed) and will be a market in the future (until approximately 14i or so) for the knowledgeable Oracle DBA type position. And that's because the key issues I mention earlier (such as Security, etc.) genuinely requires it. Also many of these so called new features actually adds complexity to the database just as many reduce this complexity. (Note Oracle marketing will focus on some new features as added functionality and " in the same breath" mention how less complex looking after everything has become. The picture is thus distorted). The focus is continually shifting and hence should the focus of the DBA.

Having said all that, I'm still keen to learn the guitar and have something else to fall back on as my optimism could be totally and utterly wrong (and the way I play the guitar, this would be a real worry).

Cheers

Richard Received on Sun Nov 17 2002 - 08:45:16 CST