Production and Development DBA Skills and Things We Didn’t Touch On

We’ve covered a lot of ground for Production and Development DBAs in terms of the skills and applicable career topics. We’ve mentioned necessary skills with T-SQL, backup/restore, automation, PowerShell, troubleshooting, SSIS, SSRS, patching, Query Store, HA/DR, leadership and emotional intelligence. That’s quite a list! However, looking back at the series, there are still a number of things that weren’t mentioned.

Other DBA skills and career topics not discussed along the way:

1. OS skills – This once used to be just Window skills. However, with SQL Server on Linux, and depending on what is in use in your environment, you may need to learn the basics of the Linux platform as well as Windows.
2. I also didn’t touch on the topic of SQL Server Wait Statistics. This is a tried and true method for diagnosing server level issues that can lead to further investigation about what ails your SQL Server.
3. What about the cloud and virtualization? Azure, AWS, Google Cloud Platform, VMware, Hyper-V. These are all virtualization platforms that are in use these days, so you may encounter these and need to know, or might want to know, something about how they work.
4. What about certifications? Are they worthwhile? Should you pursue one? If yes, which one?

Then there is also a third career title I didn’t even mention. What about the DBA whose focus or specialty is in BI? You are the person who takes care of the SQL Servers, but maybe you also write a lot of reports for the business using SSRS, Power BI, maybe SSAS, Tableau, Qlik or some other reporting platform. This may really just be a specialty within the Development DBA role, but it could be separate as well.

Beyond the Senior levels of the types of DBA careers discussed, you’re likely to end up moving into management. That will open up an entirely different set of needed skills and career topics that you will need to explore.

Next Steps To Take

1. If you’ve read through this series and followed the instructions about building a training plan for skills you would like to develop, then you likely have a significant list of skills to work on. Don’t focus on how long the list is. Select one thing and work on it for however long it takes for you to feel at least semi-comfortable with it. Then, cross it off the list and pick something else. Repeat the process. Within a few weeks or months, you will see a lot of progress.
2. Remember to keep your skills/career development plan somewhere that allows you to see the plan every day. This will help keep you on track and your To Do list prioritized.
3. You can go to kand.io and find a variety of graded skills test. There is one for Database Administrators and one for Database Developers. Both were written by the fine people at SQLSKills.com.
4. If you would like help with anything in this post, or with something else related to SQL Server, reach out to me here, or on Twitter, and I’ll be glad to offer assistance.