Managing Database Administrators - Essay Example

[Your full full December 06, Managing Database Administrators Management refers to the conceptof controlling behavior of people and motivating them to bring improvement in their performances. Managers not only manage and control their employees according to the company’s employee management policy but also help them achieve their tasks in an appropriate manner. “Managers should have a good understanding of the roles and responsibilities of those they manage” (Larabie). Managers develop a supportive and kind relationship with the employees and encourage them to work hard to achieve organizational goals and objectives.

Successful Achievement of the goals is dependent on the working relationship between the management and the employees of the company. If we talk about management of database administrators, we can say that providing training to the administrators and retaining them effectively are two of the major responsibilities of the manager of a team of database administrators. As a manager of a team of database administrators, I would focus on providing effective training to all newly employed administrators to improve their database tuning and monitoring skills and abilities.

“The DBA needs to be able to examine the activity metrics of the suspect operation including explain plans to gauge the ‘cost’ to the database” (Keller). I would make them skilled in using all Oracle features and related products. As per my knowledge, a good understanding of physical database design and underlying operating system is very important for a database administrator. “The overall goal of the DBA is to keep the server up at all times” (Spenik). Therefore, I would work on improving their knowledge regarding physical database design and maintenance of Oracle backup and data security.

Moreover, I would provide them with practical training instead of building their theoretical concepts because all database administrators are well qualified and are already aware of theoretical concepts. As far as retaining of database administrators is concerned, I would use effective methods to retain the administrators. Employee recognition, pay for performance, and salary increment based on performance are three of the most effective ways to retain and motivate employees. Employees like to work for such companies which value their input and provide them with rewards and bonuses.

I would implement a well-structured incentive system to retain my key employees. Provision of benefits increase motivation and employees feel good to work for their companies. Therefore, I would use the above-mentioned methods to retain my team of database administrators. If we talk about management of database systems, we can say that managing databases is a task which needs high level of knowledge and proficiency. “Database administrators often handle the process of creating backup records of the information contained in the databases on the system” (Tatum).

It is not easy for a database administrator to manage a number of database systems properly. However, a highly skilled database administrator can manage more than one database easily if he/she has a good command over use of Oracle tools and applications. A professional database administrator needs to have a good understanding of all database concepts to administer more than one database successfully. It is true that managing database administrators is different from managing technical staff. Technical staff members are usually unable to express their viewpoints properly to their supervisors that makes it hard for the supervisors to handle them properly.

Some staff members are not very well qualified because of which level of confidence is also low. In contrast, database administrators are highly qualified and confident employees. They know how to talk to their managers and the ways state their ideas and viewpoints. Therefore, managers find it easy to manage such employees as compared to technical staff members. A common thing in both technical staff members and database administrators is that of logical thinking. Both types of employees think logically and do not let their emotions overshadow logic and facts.

This characteristic makes it easy for the managers to manage them. Some of the effective ways to manage database administrators include providing creative work environment to the administrators, protecting employees from workplace politics, rewarding performance of each team member, and providing them with bonuses on achieving organizational goals and objectives. In contrast, some of the ways which managers can use to manage technical staff members include providing right opportunities to staff members, helping and supporting staff members, and appreciating individual and team performances.

If we talk about optimization of database administrators, we can say that performance optimization is a very important activity. Managers need to optimize team performance in order to achieve desired goals successfully. As a manager, I would optimize the performance of my team of database administrators by guiding them properly regarding their job responsibilities. I would direct my team members in every issue and would offer them required support to make them productive for the company. Works Cited Keller, Gregory.

“DBTA Article on Database Administration Issues.” Embarcadero.com, n.d. Web. 06 Dec. 2011. Larabie, Andre. “Attributes of a Good Manager.” Ezinearticles.com, 16 Aug. 2011. Web. 06 Dec. 2011. Spenik, Mark. “What Is a Database Administrator?.” Developer.com, 20 Mar. 2001. Web. 06 Dec. 2011. Tatum, Malcolm. “What is a Database Administrator?.” Wisegeek.com, n.d. Web. 06 Dec. 2011.