Over the years that I’ve worked in technology, I’ve found that the 80/20 rule seems to apply pretty well to all the different areas that one can specialize in. It doesn’t matter whether you build PCs, work on the help desk, administer systems or develop software, the rule has pretty well been true for my career.

The 80/20 rule essentially says this: 80% of your job takes 20% of your time (or skills) and the remaining 20% of your job takes 80% of your time (or skills). It doesn’t matter if this is your daily work or a project that you are assigned. Most of your effort is in finishing the last details, or handling the most complex parts.

I’ve heard this joked about in software development as the rule of 90s as well, saying that the first 90% of a piece of software takes 90% of your time and the last 10% takes the other 90% of your time.

I built my presentation, The Top Ten Skills You Need for SQL Server, based on this rule. It includes the most skills that often solve questions I see asked at events or on forums. It seems that these ten skills along with the basics of performing them will solve most of your problems.