Voice of the DBA

Author: way0utwest

  • Canceling Customers

    Sprint Fail
    This is not the image you want your customers to think about.

    Today’s editorial was originally published on Sept 4, 2007. It is being re-run as Steve is on holiday.

    Last week’s guest editorial talked a bit about the customer fiasco at Sprint. I certainly don’t think armed services personnel should be penalized and really should be able to get out of almost any contract without penalties if they are transferred. We certainly owe the individuals serving in any of our countries a debt of gratitude and this is the least we can do.

    However this seems like a data mining report gone bad to me. I can just imagine some pinheaded MBA reading a BI report that shows customer services costs are $1M and we can cut that down to $200,000 by getting rid of the 1000 customers that cost the most money. You figure that you have 50M customers, losing 1000 or so isn’t a big deal. You probably lose 10,000 a month anyway.

    So you dig in and see that by manipulating the report variables in your Cognos or Proclarity report, you can find customers that call support more than 25 times a month and customers that roam too much and set a monthly report to auto generate a letter to these people canceling their service. You get this brilliant idea approved and …

    You’re in the Wall Street Journal for incredibly insensitive actions. Anyone want that job?

    I think this would not have been a big deal for Sprint if they would have dug in deeply to the circumstances of everyone they were thinking of canceling. Check customer service logs, listen to some calls, see if they are truly problems that cost you money or if you have broken processes. From the reports I’ve seen on various sites and message boards, there were definitely some problems with Sprint’s customer service.

    If you decide to go into consulting, you will have problem customers. It’s just the law of averages that out of every 10 clients, you’ll have 1 or 2 that eat up most of your time, are a pain, etc. Dropping them isn’t always an option, but neither should you feel that you have to put up with problem customers. Be fair, give them honest effort and service for your charges, and do a professional job.

    But don’t put up with unfair treatment. The customer isn’t always right and sometimes does deserve to be fired.

    Steve Jones

  • The Certification Debate

    MCITPro Logo
    Is certification worth it? I think it can be.

    Today’s editorial was originally published on Aug 7, 2007. It is being re-run as Steve is on holiday.

    Is it worth getting certified? What do you get out of it? I’ve noticed a few debates on the site, and many threads asking about the exams, preparation, and even requirements for certification. Since we’re primarily a learning site, publishing new information for you on a daily basis, the whole certified v real world experience question is interesting to me.

    I read this interview with the CEO of New Horizons and it kind of annoyed me since the guy has an inherent bias towards certifications. Most of the New Horizon’s classes are “official” classes from Microsoft designed and built to move you along the path to certification, not really to do your job.

    And make both Microsoft and the training company money.

    I have to admit that I have a bias here since I used to own part of a training company that delivers custom training in Orlando. However our intention in starting the training company was to help those with a need for SQL Server training that would teach them things needed in the real world, not just things needed to pass some test. There’s a difference and I might not feel quite the same way if Microsoft offered an SSIS certification, an HA certification, a replication certification and more. Heck, I write the QODs, granted sometimes badly , but I know there’s enough stuff to test people on in each of those areas.

    I think the idea of certification is a good one and it has the potential to really help differentiate those with the ability to perform well in a job and those that won’t do as well. However the testing has to be geared towards that and we need ways to differentiate the skills and abilities. Without some type of internships, residencies, and focus on some specialty, attaining some certification doesn’t really help. And I’m not sure that many of us know what we want to do and are willing to invest 5 years in training in one area.

    Most employers now realize that a certification, or at least most certifications, in the IT industry is one small measure of an employee’s skills. It shows a commitment for someone with experience and shows a desire to work, but not necessarily skill, for those new to an area. It’s usually a filter these days, and a low one at that, with no guarantee of employment.

    I still argue that certification exams are a good thing IF you have experience. You can use them to bolster your claim of skills and show that you care something about your profession.

    That’s if you pass.

    Steve Jones

  • Holiday

    Sort of.

    I’m off for a week to Camp Alexander near Pikes Peak for Boy Scout summer camp. My 13year old is attending and working his way toward Eagle Scout. He’s a Star scout now, and with any luck, this week we’ll get 3 more of the Eagle required merit badges and be that much closer to that amazing achievement.

    There’s no cell service, and no real Internet, so I’ll be completely out of touch for a week.

    Everyone behave.

  • Technology Guilt

    Guiltless Gourmet Bean Dip
    Do you feel guilty or not?

    I was reading a piece recently about the problems many new college graduates will face as they enter the workforce. There are less and less jobs available in many industries and a large reason for this is the advances in technology that have eliminated many jobs. Technology has made people more efficient, allowing companies to hire less staff. Or at least management thinks less staff is needed. New applications and devices have allowed self service operations for many types of tasks that might have required an employee in the past. This is a trend that is likely to continue.

    Do we just need less people working in the world? I don’t think so. For every job we eliminate, there are new opportunities that come about. Unfortunately the new openings often require different skills from the position eliminated, which means that often the person who lost the job can’t take advantage of the new opening without some re-tooling of their skills.

    Those of us in technology find ourselves moving from place to place, learning new skills and technologies easily because that’s the nature of the business. However in many other fields, it’s not as easy for individuals to gain new skills. This Friday I wanted to ask those in technology if they think about the impact their work has on others.

    Do you feel guilty about the jobs that technology eliminates?

    I used to feel that it was up to everyone to ensure they could find a new job if they lost their current one. It seemed to be a capitalist market idea that change will occur, new industries will arise as old ones die, and everyone ought to be prepared to transition to a new career. However technology seems to hasten the process, and so many people do not seem to be able to make the change quickly to a new field or a new industry.

    Or perhaps they are too slow to embrace the idea of change.

    I feel that technology has made the world better overall, and the tremendous amount of data that we capture, analyze, and use to make decisions allows the world to function better. We have room for improvement, and we certainly have security and privacy concerns, but we do need to find solutions to those problems and prepare for change in the future. We also need to make sure the next generation also understands that they will need to be more flexible and better trained then in the past.

    Steve Jones

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