Re: broad discussion about future market direction for DBA

19 Nov 2002 15:03:50 -0800, grjohnson said (and I quote):
>
> Well, depends on where you look at it from. There seems to be a
> growing trend for companies to move away from the traditionaly

No there isn't. What there is is a marketing drive to bring us back to the bad old days of hierarchical databases, using XML as an excuse to do so. This under the false pretence that somehow "hierarchical" databases are more suited to store XML. Nothing could be more false. This is driven by you know who.

> relational model for storing data. XML helps this functionality. I.e
> storing data which changes from minute to minute, i.e. the TAGS of the
> record are added and/or removed without any modifications to the
> underlying table structure.

If the actual STRUCTURE (TAGS) of the data changes from minute to minute, something is very wrong with that data and how it is being used.

If the VALUE of the data changes that often, then XML has no use whatsoever in making it more efficient to store.

> It's not posible to store this type data
> in a traditional database WITHOUT DBA intevention, i.e. addition,
> removal of columns,

It's not possible to store that type of data in ANY database structure, XML or "hierarchical" has nothing to do with it.

> and the less DBA intervention, the lower the
> cost... and lowering the cost does make the CEO's heart race.
>

If a significant cost of the IT operation is the DBA salary, I can guarantee you something is VERY, VERY wrong with that organization...

If it isn't, then changing the way data is represented involves a MUCH HIGHER cost than any DBA salary can possibly ever match.

I'm all for innovation, but XML as a "replacement" for ANY database, not just relational, reeks of deranged marketing...

Cheers
Nuno Souto
nsouto_at_optusnet.com.au.nospam Received on Thu Nov 21 2002 - 04:32:46 CST