Voice of the DBA

Category: Editorial

  • Big Data Comes to Hiring

    I remember first seeing kiosks a few years back in some stores such as Best Buy, Target, Barnes and Nobles, etc. The devices had banners above them that invited people to apply for a job using the computerized system. This was just before my oldest son started applying for jobs, and shortly thereafter I found a few articles that stated quite a few of these large corporations were using the same company to manage the kiosks and pre-screen candidates. Not only were they considering the applications, but they were examining employment records, noting which candidates might have been terminated or left another job quickly. They were trying to use analytics to decide which applicants to interview.

    That entire process reminded me of the “black mark” on your record that I heard about as a kid. It was a reminder to not make too many mistakes, at least not serious ones, that might follow you forever. It appears now that it’s not just entry level jobs that are starting to use data and analysis for hiring decisions. It seems as though some companies are starting to evaluate candidates with different types of algorithms and applications for a wide range of positions. This piece from the Atlantic talks about the history of hiring and a few ways in which data is being gathered about workers and used to analyze their performance. Even more interesting the section about halfway down that talks about how they analyze developer’s work from afar.

    It’s expensive, time consuming, and stressful to hire people. We’ve proven in technology over and over that many of the hiring decisions made, aren’t made that well. We find talented people being underpaid and quick to leave, while other employees are overpaid and are happy to toil away in their positions for years. Neither situation is good for the employer, and often not good for the employee either. It’s less than motivating for any of us when we don’t find some challenge and enjoyment in our jobs.

    Ultimately I know more “people analytics” will be used in the hiring process by some companies, but I find that even with the data, there’s one thing that seems to matter more: personal referrals. Networking matters, and there is no shortage of companies that are placing lots of value on their employees’ networks. Some of them are even looking to conduct the majority of their hires through networking. So make sure you’re networking with others in technology. You never know when it will be the way you get your next job.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcast

    Listen to the MP3 Audio ( 2.8MB) podcast or subscribe to the feed at iTunes and Mevio . feed

    The Voice of the DBA podcast features music by Everyday Jones. No relation, but I stumbled on to them and really like the music. Support this great duo at www.everydayjones.com.

  • Adding to SQL Server

    The next version of SQL Server will release in a few months. Most of the development is complete, and the feature list is set for SQL Server 2014. However there is work already underway for a version of SQL Server that will likely release in late 2016.

    Each product cycle brings with it new capabilities and enhancements to existing features. Despite the large resources that are devoted to SQL Server, we also find that choices are made and some features, functions, or tools that are ignored. As get ready for the release of SQL Server 2014, I wanted to ask you to look beyond this version.

    What feature, area, or tool would you like to see enhanced in SQL Server 2016?

    As I review the list of changes in each version, I find myself as disappointed as I am excited. The new features are interesting and bring about new ways to build on the SQL Server platform, but I find that so many existing areas receive little work and don’t mature over time.

    Service Broker has never had good tooling, and despite the fact that it underpins many features, and is a fantastic way to scale SQL Server, it seems to be largely ignore with each new release. Replication is barely changing, and spatial data seems to be a very low priority. Perhaps the most disappointing area for me is Management Studio, which seems to get the bare minimum of changes each version to support new features.

    The Connect system allows us to communicate with the SQL Server team, but the signal to noise ratio seems so low that I suspect the product managers don’t find it very useful. However if you could set a priority in one area for the next version of SQL Server, let us know what it would be in the discussion below.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcast

    Listen to the MP3 Audio ( 2.4MB) podcast or subscribe to the feed at iTunes and Mevio . feed

    The Voice of the DBA podast features music by Everyday Jones. No relation, but I stumbled on to them and really like the music. Support this great duo at www.everydayjones.com.

  • Software Patents

    I highly dislike the current patent system in the US. I think awarding patents for an idea like “1-click purchasing” is a poor practice that discourages innovation. There are numerous problems with our patent system, not the least of which is that it can stifle new ideas and prevent small companies from building on similar ideas that are, well, what I’d all common sense. I don’t quite share Richard Stallman’s view of software patents, but I do think we have fundamental flaws in the way we handle this intellectual property.

    I do, however, think that software has value, and the work we do as software engineers deserves compensation, as noted in this post. We should have some patents, and we should reward those that create truly innovative, and not common sense, ideas in the digital world. How we define those, and how we measure innovation isn’t clear to me, but I do think that non-trivial ideas deserve protection.

    Our legal systems around the world are slow to catch up to the digital world, and may never do so. As quickly as we can debate patents, copyright, trademarks, and more, the digital world grows, expands, and changes to stretch and challenge our thinking of how the world works. It almost seems as though digital ideas and software defy analogies and explanations that we can relate to the real world.

    I don’t know how I’d change patents, but I don’t want them to go away completely. I do, however, know what I’d do with copyright. I’d change it back to the original system we had, granting 14 years exclusivity to creators, with a single option to renew for 14 years and that’s it. The world certainly changes too fast to wait 95 years to use someone else’s work.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcast

    Listen to the MP3 Audio ( 2.4MB) podcast or subscribe to the feed at iTunes and Mevio . feed

    The Voice of the DBA podcast features music by Everyday Jones. No relation, but I stumbled on to them and really like the music. Support this great duo at www.everydayjones.com.

     

  • The DBA is Dead

    I love seeing articles like this one: The Database Administrator is Dead. They make me laugh and look back at previous incarnations of the same thought. I think I should save the text of this article, stick it in an appointment with a reminder for 2 years from now, and then read it again.

    The first time I heard this was back in 2000. I was working in a small company and SQL Server 7.0 came out with a marketing push that a DBA wouldn’t be needed. The developers I worked with crowded around and asked if I was worried about my job. I’ll admit I was a little worried, even as I denied any concerns to my co-workers, but as I read about the changes and thought about my job, I realized it was all for naught.

    While much of our jobs can be automated, the specific details and implementation of any automation at any particular job will vary widely at different companies. Even at different times. The work that DBAs do is not going away, and someone needs to continue to provide some administration and management of databases.

    I will admit that I think there is less of a need for DBAs at many companies, at least if the DBAs are strictly managing security and backups. The amount of time these tasks take now has been dramatically reduced with new tools for managing systems, both within SQL Server and from third party vendors. If you have a job that just deals with basic administration, good for you, but I wouldn’t stop learning. Those talents might not be enough to get you a new job if you need one.

    I also think that today’s DBAs need to be able to handle the limited administration that might be needed on other platforms, including the cloud. We need to understand how we can work with, and speed up development, with SQL Server databases while helping to improve the quality of any database code that’s written. We need to learn about how we can get the most from the platform while integrating with a variety of technologies.

    The DBA isn’t dead, and I’ve created that appointment for 2 years down the road. It will be interesting to see how things have changed in that time.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcast

    Listen to the MP3 Audio ( 2.9MB) podcast or subscribe to the feed at iTunes and Mevio . feed

    The Voice of the DBA podast features music by Everyday Jones. No relation, but I stumbled on to them and really like the music. Support this great duo at www.everydayjones.com.