Is your IT team conducting an internal feud, with team members struggling against each other instead of fighting the real problems of limited time, money, and manpower to support your organization's technology needs? Buck Woody argues that you can't afford to become the Hatfields and McCoys. Also, both developers and DBAs have merit in the IT team. Although different, both jobs are crucial for a successful enterprise. However, conflicting responsibilities sometimes trigger members of the two related professions to face off. Baya Pavliashvili points out a few common situations that can cause tension between the two groups and provides some advice for working your way out of an argument before it leads to a war.
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Member since:2005-07-18
But still in my experience the majority of DBAs are obstructionist or secretive and like to cover themselves with jargon.
I am primarily a developer, not a DBA, but I work very hard at taking a DBA-like approach to my database design. Yes, there are definitely DBAs who meet your description, but also, it doesn't hurt to remember that these guys are paid to jealously guard a company's data. And that doesn't just mean making sure a table isn't dropped, but making sure that constraints are not violated, and data is prevented from corruption due to logical mistakes. This is serious stuff, and I look at it akin to being an air-traffic controller. In other words, their company is relying on them to be right, and it is *critical*. Stressful, I would think, so I try to cut them some slack ;-).
But yes, anyone can be an idiot. Ideally, both developers and DBAs would have a clear understanding of the value of set-oriented logic, and the relational model of data. But, it's pretty bad out there, and I meet almost as many DBAs as developers who have serious gaps in their knowledge.
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Good analogy. You've sold me on databases. But still in my experience (which could be based on a biased sample) the majority of DBAs are obstructionist or secretive and like to cover themselves with jargon.
Just my experience, and I'm not a developer. I'm a network engineering manager.