Re: Are Oracle GUIs causing a decline in DBA salaries?

Dave Hau wrote:

> "Karsten Farrell" <kfarrell_at_belgariad.com> wrote in message
> news:MPG.191346457001e42798975a_at_news.la.sbcglobal.net...
> > pharfromhome_at_hotmail.com said...
> > > Has anyone noticed that the Oracle GUI tools and wizards are making it
> > > far too easy to be an Oracle DBA?
> > >
> > > Just for fun, I asked my 9-year-old daughter to install Oracle9i on a
> > > PC, and she was successful without a word of assistance from me. (BTW,
> > > she though it was "real boring")
> > >
> > > Anyhow, I hear that the next OEM is going to be so easy that even an
> > > MSCE will be able to do Oracle DBA work, and I'm worried.
> > >
> > > How will us Oracle DBAs be able to justify our salaries once Oracle
> > > becomes as easy to use as MS-Access?
> > >
> > It's a good thing you had her do it on Windows instead of Linux or Unix!
> > It's a good thing you didn't ask her to install Oracle9iDS.
> >
> > Installing is the "easy" part ... but you do have a point. Personally,
> > I'm glad Oracle makes the "drudge" jobs a bit easier. I like OEM.
> >
> > I'm more concerned about Open Source databases stealing away a big chunk
> > of Oracle's customers, leaving a lot of Oracle DBAs pounding the
> > pavement, looking for a job. How many companies will look at the price
> > of Oracle versus MySQL and ask "Do we *really* need all that power?"
> >
> > MS Access will rule the low-end and Oracle/SQLServer will rule the high-
> > end and MySQL will yank away the middle layer. Uh-huh. And pigs will
> > fly.
>
> Regarding open source databases stealing away Oracle's customers, I think
> that'll happen, but not in a significant way. Open source databases will
> never achieve the level of performance of Oracle or DB2 because of patents.
> Unlike "new" technologies like web server where Apache can take a lead, or
> EJB app servers where JBoss can take a lead, databases have been around for
> such a long time that major ideas have already been patented. It's hard for
> MySQL or PostgreSQL to come up with totally new ideas and therefore it's
> hard for them to achieve comparable level of performance as the major
> commercial databases.
>
> Just my 2c.
>
> Cheers,
> Dave
>
> > --
> > /Karsten
> > DBA > retired > DBA

Patents expire.

But I think there is another reason and that is the size of the project to implement the features. There is just a minimum number of competent developers that must be involved in a project to build something as complex as Oracle. And to keep them working together as a team, year after year, without paying them as employees is virtually impossible.

Once a project gets larger than a couple of guys in a garage incorporated ... it becomes very hard to sustain without revenue.

--
Daniel Morgan
http://www.outreach.washington.edu/extinfo/certprog/oad/oad_crs.asp
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