Voice of the DBA

Category: Editorial

  • One Time Passwords

    Facebook seems to be constantly under fire for one privacy issue or another. I think it’s likely something that they will deal with forever, since their fundamental purpose is to find ways to share data with others and many people don’t understand the tools that Facebook has built for them. As I follow the growth of Facebook and see the new features that they add, I think they do have some commitment to making it easier for people to better secure their information and only share it in the way they want.

    Recently I saw on the Facebook blog two neat features that I really liked, and I think might be nice additions to SQL Server. One was the ability to remotely log your account off from other locations. This could be handy for people that might access Facebook from a public terminal and forget to log off. We can easily have an administrator do this in SQL Server by killing off a session.

    The other feature was the addition of a one-time password for someone that might want to access their account from an unsecured terminal. At first I thought I’d never need to use this, but then I thought about all the times that I had accessed a server from a friend’s computer. Or how often I had a request for some data that required a new account. What if I could setup a one-time password for an account in Reporting Services that would allow someone to view a report, or download some data without permanent access?

    It would be an interesting way to handle ad-hoc access to systems. In the past I’ve usually enabled a specific  account for a short period of time, but then I’d have to set a reminder or remember to do disable it. That wasn’t something I always remembered to do.

    However allowing someone a one-time password might be a good way to allow them access to data they need on a limited basis. I could see the need for a one-time execution of a report being a feature that would allow me to distribute data easily for a single use. It could be very useful in ensuring that accounts that were granted rights did not have them forever.

    Steve Jones

    This was also published at SQLServerCentral, which includes a discussion of this piece.

  • Swarms

    First we had agile programming, designed to respond to quickly changing requirements for software development. Now we might have the addition of swarms as a way of getting things done in our jobs.

    One of the predictions that the Gartner Group has for the workplace in the next decade is the introduction of swarms as a more common way for companies to get things done. I think that a swarm is designed to be a rapidly formed, ad hoc group that comes together for a period of time. They are self forming, probably driven by one person that needs help with a problem and  either seeks out colleagues, or perhaps just somehow posts a request for help from people in the company.

    It sounds a lot like an action movie plot where the best soldiers are pulled together for a mission suited to their unique skills. Hopefully it’s more like a Mission Impossible team and not a Mystery Men one, though I wouldn’t be surprised to see more team formed like the one in the latter movie.

    This is really like the crisis team in a company, or a new project team  crossing multiple departments, but organized in a less-formal, and much quicker manner. I do think that more and more we will be called on to do work for people who are not our supervisors as businesses look to be more reactive and responsive to changing requirements.

    I can see us evolving some businesses to having a “guidance counselor” who approves our expense reports, performs periodic reviews, helps us manage our careers, and is available to discuss issues. I think many of us might prefer this to a direct manager that is looking to assign us work. It might be more interesting to go find your own work, or respond to requests from others inside the company.

    Steve Jones

  • Happy Halloween 2010

    I know Halloween was yesterday, but since it’s a holiday, and I continue to make plenty of mistakes, I’m putting out the blooper reel today.

    As I get ready for my trip to SQL Server Connections this week, I’m entering a busy period of travel and could use a minor break. Especially after spending yesterday around a horde of 9 year old girls trick or treating with amazing amount of energy, lots of sqeals and more OMG!’s than I think I’ve every heard in one day.

    I hope everyone is having as good a Monday as you can and look for some editorial thoughts about SQL Server Connections later in the week.

    Steve Jones

  • The Growth of Professional Development

    When I started in my career, it seemed that there wasn’t a good way to grow your career. Myself, and many others, somewhat fumbled around, looking for jobs with bigger databases or more money. We thought that learning to be the best at a particular technology was the way to grow your career. That or go into management, something very few of us were interested in.

    Most people I worked with took a job with the expectation that they’d be there forever. When that didn’t work out, they started applying for other jobs, hoping the next one would be the last they’d need for a long time. Managing one’s career was something you did by updating a resume and asking your friends if they knew of any jobs, along with the random learning that comes from new projects or reading magazines.

    I’ve been amazed in the last 4-5 years to see so many people taking a more active role in their own careers, spending more time on a regular basis managing their careers. I have been giving a presentation on The Modern Resume for a couple years and I find more and more people interested in attending and finding new ways to formalize their professional development. Not everyone will actually make the effort,  but new tools like social networking sites make it easier, and I regularly find more people that are spending time on the professional development in their lives.

    I recently submitted a pre-conference session to the upcoming SQL Rally event next May with Chris Shaw that deals with Finding Your Dream Job. I am still surprised that it was accepted, but it seems more and more people want to get career related information along with the technical sessions at various events. Voting is open for the sessions, which will be an interesting test in and of itself. Are there enough people that will pay for a professional development session alongside the other technical sessions submitted? Grant Fritchey has a great one on Query Tuning and Brian Kelley has one on security. Tough competition.

    Whether or not Chris’ and my session is accepted doesn’t matter. I’m excited that the topic is even under consideration, and that there are two other great sessions from Joe Webb and Kevin Kline. I would urge you to vote, and vote honestly. Let us know what you truly think is worth paying for and valuable for your career.

    Steve Jones