Re: Where does the DBA fit in ?
Date: Thu, 1 Dec 1994 16:47:12 GMT
Message-ID: <D055Ao.2L9_at_lanier.com>
In article <mark.786073065_at_snark>,
Mark Hessling <mark_at_snark.itc.gu.edu.au> wrote:
>I need some information on the positioning of the DBA within organisations.
> . . .
>I would also like to hear from any organisation that has only a single
>DBA group where in the organisational structure (systems support or
>applications development) the DBAs reside.
>
I think the reason this issue is confusing is due to the nature of the DBA's job. C.J.Date listed the DBA's duties in his _Introduction to Database systems_. I don't have copy at hand, but I remember that the list of duties (about a dozen items) included some that were clearly data-related -- overseeing the definition and use of the data -- while others were clearly system-support duties -- installing software, placing data files on disk packs, creating users, managing backups and doing recoveries, etc.
The ideal answer is that the data-related duties belong in the application organization, and the system-support duties belong in the systems group. Real database systems don't allow for such a clean separation, so there arises a need for <*choke*> cooperation. :-)
This is an example of Weinberg's Law: "Whatever the problem looks like, it's always a people problem." The real problem is not the structure of the organization, but the working relationships among the people. Either structure may work or fail in a given organization.
Donald E. Vick (dvick_at_lanier.com, dvick_at_crl.com) Voice: (404) 493-2194 Fax: (404) 493-2399 Received on Thu Dec 01 1994 - 17:47:12 CET