Voice of the DBA

Category: Editorial

  • Ship Safe…Ship Often

    The Red Gate tag line has been Ship Often…Ship Safe, which works great for developers. Make the changes to code as fast as you can and get them deployed. Keep things smooth (or safe) with a routine and a standard way of deploying code. Everyone wins, right?

    When we were rehearsing the SQL in the City keynote last year, we came to this line in the script. I wanted it changed. As a DBA, I need to Ship Safe first. If I can do that, then I’m happy to Ship Often, as often as changes can be tested. I haven’t ever worried about changes being made too fast, as long as they can be made safely.

    These two principles seem to be fundamentally at odds with one another. Certainly there is some tension and conflict, but if those pushing through changes can follow a well engineered process, then dangers shrink. If the people responsible for stability and availability accept the changes coming through a process, then they can accept them rapidly and more often.

    Ultimately the closer we move to an engineering process, the more likely that we can deliver software at a higher quality level and quicker. However we need to define our engineering processes using the best practices and knowledge we have, and then stick to the the steps we’ve decided upon. Only then can we Ship Safe, and Ship Often.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcast

    Listen to the MP3 Audio ( 1.7MB) podcast or subscribe to the feed at iTunes and LibSyn.

  • Burnout

    I’m sure that many people end going through burnout at some point in their career. While most of us might enjoy technology, and we get a kick out of working with data, at some point you’re not going to like your job. This could be because you’re overworked, or it could be that you don’t have enough to do. Either way, I would bet that many people flow through the phases of burnout that Kendra Little documented in this post.

    Burnout isn’t necessarily the end of a job, but it is a state that most of us wouldn’t want to remain in. Apart from disliking your own situation, and perhaps annoying your fellow employees, you certainly aren’t helping your career. Especially if you are in stages 1 or 2.

    I’ve seen stage 3 be positive or negative, but it doesn’t really work out well to try and outwork the job. Most of the time this leads to unhealthy levels of work for you, and unrealistic future expectations for your employer. When things aren’t going well, do as Kendra suggests and address the issues. Make those small changes that adjust your attitude and help you cope better. Smile, try to view the things that bother you from the perspective of others, and  look to keep perspective with what you do. Most of us aren’t in life-threatening or hazardous jobs, and we should remember that.

    If you think you’re burned out and really need to switch jobs, make a plan to move on. Looking for another job is stressful, and it’s hard, but the best time to do it is while you have another job. Take your time and make a good decision for your future. Perhaps the project of looking for a new job will help ease the troubles you face at this one.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcast

    Listen to the MP3 Audio ( 2.0MB) podcast or subscribe to the feed at iTunes and LibSyn.

  • Inception

    This editorial was originally published on Sep 7, 2010. It is being re-run as Steve is on vacation.

    I recently went to see the movie Inception on the recommendation of my wife. She had taken one of my sons to see it and loved it, so she convinced me to go. She actually enjoyed it so much that she went back a third time with another son to see it again.

    The movie is interesting, and deals with the possibility of planting an idea in someone’s head through a dream. It’s a very well done movie, and I recommend it if you haven’t seen it. It’s definitely science fiction (I hope) and not something I think is possible, but it is a very well done movie and gets you to consider the possibility.

    It’s Friday, and no, I’m not asking you what you think about the movie. I’m not looking for more movie recommendations, and I’m not asking if you think inception is possible. Instead, I want to ask you a more basic question, looking for how you find inspiration.

    How do you get your ideas?

    We all work with SQL Server, we solve problems, and we have to write code. More and more I see the work we do in building technological solutions as art, based in science. We must be creative in how we come up with a solution,  and then use best practices and proven techniques to implement the solution.

    Most of us are at work when we respond, so the answers can be based on how you develop solutions in code. But if you have a way that helps you think, a technique that focuses you on any problem, let us know this Friday. Maybe you’ll help someone else find a way to think more creatively about the problems they face.

    Steve Jones

     

  • Too Large a Workload?

    I often hear the technical staff in many organizations complaining about the amount of work they are tasked with managing. Plenty of technology professionals view their jobs are stressful, and I’ve had no shortage of people say they would never recommend their job, or even this industry, to others as a career choice.

    That’s unsurprising to me, which is a little sad. I’ve felt that we face a dilemma in this industry. Our skills are easy to acquire, with any of us able to learn new skills and gaining knowledge as quickly as we are able. Often, our ability to learn is limited only by the time and effort we put into understanding a skill, not any external factor.

    However that also means that our employers seem to expect that we can learn without training, quickly, on our own, and that we can instantly be experts that make computer systems do our bidding. When we can’t respond quickly enough, or as quickly as we did for the last request, our managers feel that we’re just being lazy this week.

    Perhaps we do respond quickly, and get tasked with even more work. This might not be the case for most of you, or even many of you. I’m sure plenty of you are in situations where your managers understand the complexity of your jobs, but I wanted to ask about your situation:

    Do you have too large a workload at your current job?

    By this I mean, do you feel you’re not able to get enough work done in a reasonable work week and you feel pressure to work longer hours. Are your managers asking you to do more than you think they should? Or do they appreciate that, like many endeavors, working with technology takes time.

    Certainly I think many of us could work more efficiently by automating tasks, but depending on the variety and complexity of tasks, as well as the amount of time you can invest in completing future work quicker, you might be stuck in situations that just require more hours. If that’s the case, I hope your workload isn’t too large, but let us know.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcast

    Listen to the MP3 Audio ( 2.3MB) podcast or subscribe to the feed at iTunes and LibSyn.