Re: Episode 2: the EntMgr Green Light!!

"Domenic G." <domenicg_at_hotmail.com> wrote in message news:c7e08a19.0311061812.6659e5dd_at_posting.google.com...
> Here is another episode of a typical day for me as a DBA ...
>
> Boss: I got a call from Mary that the database is down.
> Me: Hold on while I check ...
> Me: Just a sec while I open a cmd prompt ... sqlplus "/ as sysdba" ....
> Boss: Don't do that! -- go check the green light in OEM!
> Me: That's for babies.
> Boss: That is our documented procedure.
> Me: But it's faster for me this way.
> Boss: Please follow our documented procedure.
> Me: FUMING
>
> Two hours later ...
>
> Boss: What are you working on?
> Me: Looking through index_stats to see if any indexes need rebuilding.
> Boss: Check with the vendor first to see if they allow that.
> Me: Don't worry, it's just normal routine DBA stuff.
> Boss: Still, please check.
> Me: Don't worry, it won't affect functionality -- they won't care either
way.
> Boss: Still, please check.
>
> Time to look for a new job -- this is a romper room Oracle shop
> Dom.

Well, Dom: you only have yourself to blame for the last one. Indexes shouldn't need rebuilding at the best of time (yawn, yawn)!

Also, strange thing about documented procedures... they're there for a reason. A company's ISO9001 certification could be up for grabs if the procedures aren't followed. And whilst they may seem stupid to you, they're there to allow someone to perform the same function as you even were you to fall under a bus. Someone for whom sqlplus is not perhaps such a familiar tool.

So I tend to agree with your boss: if that's what the documented procedures say should happen, that's what should happen. There will, of course, be a documented procedure for how you go about modifying other documented procedures. So that's where the effort should have been directed.

I learnt this a long time ago: procedures give you transparency and visibility. They might not get the job done as fast or as simply as it might be, but a company can't survive for long depending on the invisible and opaque innate genius of its staff.

Regards
HJR Received on Thu Nov 06 2003 - 20:20:26 CST