Re: Death of the DBA

From: gazzag <gareth_at_jamms.org>
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 2009 07:34:55 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <b2c81a73-a2c6-45cd-81c8-11140a121999_at_r27g2000vbn.googlegroups.com>

On 20 Aug, 15:23, John Hurley <johnbhur..._at_sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> It is certainly a valid question.  How much different people want to
> talk about this topic will vary quite a bit.
>
> There is a recent salary survey out regarding Oracle DBA pay ranges
> ( and some tie to certifications ).  Looks like the average salary in
> the US is ( still ) way above what other regions in the world are at.
>
> People that are able to find jobs in the US doing Oracle DBA work will
> tend to stay in that skillset as the pay range for SQL Server DBA's
> tends to be quite a bit lower.  I have known people unable to find
> things in the Oracle realm that have been "forced" to go in that
> direction.

I agree that it's a valid question. As you say, an Oracle DBA in the US or, as I am, in the UK, generally commands a relatively high salary. As I intimated earlier, the bean-counters who don't understand the *proactive* nature of the role, can sometimes want to reduce what they consider a high expense for someone who apparently does nothing. This can lead to the hiring of cheap(er) DBAs. As we all know, a bad DBA can remain embedded in an organisation for quite a while; it's only when something goes catastrophically wrong that the business then realises (a) the value of the database itself, and (b) the value of a competent (ie. well-paid) DBA!

Cheers,

-g Received on Thu Aug 20 2009 - 09:34:55 CDT