The world of database administration is pretty well served by tools. Like a carpenter’s array of implements, DBAs have their equivalents of hammers, drill bits and chisels of various sizes, screwdrivers, saws and mallets. If you asked carpenters a hundred years ago if they were happy with their tools, they would probably answer, “Yes, we’ve got all we need,” although they might add “but a bit more time to do things would be useful.”

For the carpenter the “bit more time” didn’t come in the shape of more hours being added to the working day or more days to the working week, it came in terms of automation. With the arrival of the electric drill, boring, repetitive chores like drilling holes were done automatically so that he or she could focus on the more creative tasks of woodwork that couldn’t be so easily automated. With the arrival of the powered hammer, the carpenter could not only drive in nails more quickly, s/he could save those aching muscles for the tasks requiring more finesse and precision. The carpenters of yore might have made wonderful furniture and fittings, but they wasted way too much of their time and effort doing things like screwing in screws and banging in nails that didn’t use their creativity.

Give a DBA a problem and he or she can investigate it, find the problem, and fix it. There are tools for that. But some DBAs don’t have the tools that let them get beyond the one-off fix. There is an automated tool, Data Palette, with the mechanism to “store” that fix, and have it run the next time without their involvement. Unlike the carpenter who has seen automation permeate their industry and take away much of the repetitive element, the DBA without automated tools has to “bang in each nail” individually, addressing the same fixes time after time, with nothing to capture the repeating element of their work and apply it automatically, thus leaving them free to get on with the creative stuff.

Like any other industry - be it carpentry, automobile manufacture, agriculture, or most others – the massive transformations are those that are brought about by technology and, more specifically, automation. When DBAs use a framework by which they can automate the mundane, they can focus on the elements of their work that add value to the forward progress of the organization. We’re some way off from having a robot that can talk to the business user of a database, get to understand their specific needs, and bring the databases into line with what is going to help the company grow. However, in Data Palette we do have a product with an intelligent engine, or brain, that monitors and remembers specifics of your database environment, applies automatic fixes, anticipates issues and fixes them before they cause a problem, and provides you with the reports you need to make decisions on organizational strategic direction that you’ve often wished for but thought were a mere pipedream.

To maximize their value, DBAs should focus on uniquely human activities - which are the ones that can bring the greatest value. Data Palette can focus on “automatable” areas, which drain the time and energy of the DBA and really only contribute towards the status quo (i.e. keeping things running, not moving them forward).

Dr. Brian Staff
Vice President - Marketing

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