Abstract
What are the deliverables of the database administration role? How likely is it that the deliverables will be completed if you cannot articulate what they are? Deliverables are not the same as current priorities, because priorities change from day to day; performance improvement may be your priority today, but it may not be your priority when performance returns to acceptable levels. Deliverables are not the same as assigned tasks, either, because assigned tasks change from day to day; resetting passwords for forgetful users may be one of your assigned tasks today, but you may not have do it any more if, for example, your organization begins using self-service technology or single sign-on technology, or if the task is assigned to a Service Desk. An example of a deliverable is “databases that meet the needs of the business”—the deliverable does not change from day to day. If there is only one DBA in the organization, then it is the individual’s deliverable. If database administration is performed by a team, it is a deliverable.
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Notes
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The descriptions and definitions used in this chapter are from ITIL V2.
- 2.
ITIL ® is a registered trademark and a registered community trademark of the Office of Government Commerce and is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. ITIL Glossaries/Acronyms © Crown Copyright Office of Government Commerce. Reproduced with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Office of Government Commerce.
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I remember a case when a customer vociferously expressed dissatisfaction with the work performed by a certain individual, going so far as to suggest that he be dismissed from service. Management finally agreed that the real problem lay with the “process,” not with the performer, and that written procedures would be a better solution than dismissing the performer. I believe that IT management in general is too eager to blame the performer rather than the process. Performers are evaluated every year, but organizational processes are rarely evaluated. I believe that improving organizational processes will inevitably lead to improvements in employee performance. The likelihood that unwritten standards will be violated is much greater than that written standards will be violated. Standards can be violated intentionally or unintentionally. An unintentional violation of unwritten standards usually results when a task is performed by a newcomer to the group or when a veteran performer forgets to use one of the elements of the standard. An unintentional violation of written standard usually results from inadequate training or from sloppy execution. Standards can also be intentionally violated. However, the violator has a convenient excuse if the standard is unwritten, and deliberate violations stem from the belief that the standard is imperfect. It is not difficult for experienced individuals to find something about a procedure that they might choose to do differently if left to their own devices, and therefore organizations that rely on unwritten standards are likely to experience steady erosion of standards.
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Telephone is a game in which each participant whispers a sentence to the next. Errors begin to accumulate, and the last participant receives a highly garbled version of the original sentence.
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© 2015 Ignatius Fernandez
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Fernandez, I. (2015). The Big Picture and the Ten Deliverables. In: Beginning Oracle Database 12c Administration. Apress, Berkeley, CA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4842-0193-0_15
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4842-0193-0_15
Publisher Name: Apress, Berkeley, CA
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