In 2008, Harald van Breederode and Joel Goodman wrote a white paper titled "Performing an Oracle DBA 1.0 to Oracle DBA 2.0 Upgrade" in which they suggested DBAs needed to add storage and OS skills to remain relevant in a shifting technical landscape. The role of today's DBA has broadened considerably and with that comes a new set of abilities and concepts to be learned and mastered. DBA 2.0 was written prior to the release of Oracle 11g and 12c, so the Oracle DBA 3.0 upgrade adds Cloud and virtualization to the DBAs repertoire. Their inclusion also demands that DBAs be able to better manage security and compliance challenges that come with hybrid and Cloud environments, the ability to adapt to continuous deployment cycles, and heterogenous and comingled data stores. Most significantly DBA 3.0 signals an emergence of the DBA from a mostly utilitarian and anonymous role to one that is more in the limelight. The growing emphasis and influence of data and data-driven decision making means that the DBA must be a partner and driving force in the business and not simply a custodian of the data. Learn what it will take to build or upgrade your skill set to Oracle DBA 3.0, and how to encourage and mentor a new generation of data professionals into the field.

1. The DBA 3.0 Upgrade
Sean Scott
Vitalize

2. Agenda
• Some history
• Facing change and uncertainty
• Risk landscape
• Responding to challenges
• Finding happiness as a DBA

4. What makes a great DBA?
(Circa 2000)
• Nobody knows where you sit
• Nobody knows who you are
• Nobody knows what a DBA does

5. Traditional role of the DBA
• Often anonymous
• Highly technical
• Narrow organizational interface

6. Are DBAs becoming obsolete?
• Performing an Oracle 1.0 to DBA 2.0 Upgrade
~ Harald van Breederode & Joel Goodman
https://blogs.oracle.com/certification/resource/ORC-0646.pdf

7. Looking back on DBA 1.0/2.0
• DBA 1.0
• Installation
• Database performance tuning
• Backup/recovery

8. Looking back on DBA 1.0/2.0
• DBA 2.0
• Better understanding of operating system
• Better understanding of storage
• Touches on virtualization

9. Trends
• Roles broadened
• Responsibilities increased

10. The DBA is dead. Long live the DBA!
• Oracle 9i
• Advisors
• Automated management
• New features
• Again with Oracle 10g
• …and Oracle 11g
• …and Oracle 12c

11. The DBA is dead. Long live the DBA!
• New features
• Increasing complexity
• More technical choices
• Growth of the strategic role

12. Versions have historically been adjustments*
*so far

13. “…; for there is nothing good or bad but thinking makes it so.”
Hamlet

14. Epictetus
“What disturbs people’s minds is not events but their
judgement on events.”

15. Perceived threats to the DBA
• Cloud
• NoSQL
• Automation
• Agile/DevOps
• Candidate pipeline

16. Arguably, everything in the cloud ultimately
manages, or provides access to, data
The Cloud

17. The Cloud
• Rapid time to delivery
• Consistent
• Simple
• Empowering

18. Cloud Opportunities
• Consolidation
• Licensing
• Lifecycle management
• Administration

19. NoSQL
• Deep investments in relational technologies
• Traditional implementations
• The right tool for the job
http://searchdatamanagement.techtarget.com/essentialguide/Relational-
database-management-system-guide-RDBMS-still-on-top

20. Automation
forbes.com/sites/oracle/2016/12/06/future-of-the-
it-labor-market-an-optimists-view
• Manufacturing and demand are limiting
• Services are less limited
• Don’t look at it as zero-sum

21. Automation
• Become frontline contributors
• Broaden the organizational interface
• Build partnerships
• Engage
• Continuous education

22. DevOps and Agile
• Contribute to quality
• Education
• Protect against failure at scale

23. Candidate Pipeline
• Social media
• User groups
• odtug.com/page/leadership
• Meetup
• Universities
• Community programs

24. General Skills
• Security
• Version control
• Configuration management
• Licensing

25. General Skills
• Lifecycle management
• Automation
• Monitoring
• Orchestration
• Appliances

26. Managing Larger Datasets
• Partitioning
• Virtualization
• Sharding
• Spatial and temporal data

27. Dealing with Complexity
• DR consistency
• Defense in depth
• Storage tiering
• Capacity planning

28. Soft Skills
• Communication
• Accessibility
• Patience
• Responsiveness
• Being open minded

30. Finding Happiness
How do we build a
“Personal Emotional Connection”
to what we do?
Is it possible to be passionate as a DBA?

31. “The role of the DBA is shifting from utility to strategic.”

32. “The DBA will remain a curator of data but our proximity
makes us its most powerful and effective champions.”

33. sean.scott@vitalize.com
oracle.sean@gmail.com
@oraclesean