Why a DBA is Becoming More Valuable

A Database Administrator (DBA) is becoming more valuable due to several reasons:

1. Increasing Data Volumes: With the growth of digital transformation and the increasing use of technology, the amount of data being generated and stored is growing rapidly. As data volumes increase, managing and maintaining databases become more complex, and DBAs are needed to ensure that data is managed efficiently and effectively.
   
   
2. Security and Compliance: With the increasing amount of sensitive data being stored in databases, security and compliance have become critical concerns for organizations. DBAs are responsible for ensuring that databases are secure and comply with regulations, such as GDPR and HIPAA, and any other industry-specific standards.
   
   
3. Data Integration: Many organizations operate with a range of different databases and applications, and it can be challenging to integrate data from various sources. DBAs are needed to help design and manage complex database architectures and to ensure data is integrated efficiently
   

 

Honestly, I think the industry is steering way from the tile, "DBA"; I have only seen Data Analyst, Data Engineer, Data Scientist. The DBA (Database Administrator) seems to be dissolved into those tree professional titles. Maybe that is a good thing for the DBA (Doctor of Business Administration) to claim the professional degree title.

 

Yes, Database Administrators do all that - and more. Things you didn't mention, like capacity planning, preventing data loss by creating backup and recovery strategies, using tools to optimize and improve database operation, migrating databases to new hardware / software, on-premises or in the Cloud.

Why are you sharing this info? Do you have an interest in DI members choosing to become Data Base Administrators? Did you write this piece for a school? ... Are you an AI --- and instance of ChatGPT, maybe? The post looks like it was pulled from several of the "usual suspects" and compiled. And BTW - DBA around here (Degreeinfo) most often means "Doctor of Business Administration." But we recognize both meanings..

I'm genuinely interested in why you posted this on DI. Perhaps the Moderators are, too. Advertising in forum posts violates the Terms of Service.

 

I agree with the article about what DBA (Doctor of Business Administration) studies are all about. However, I am unsure if it is more valuable than MBA in the eyes of corporations. Maybe a Ph.D. is more beneficial if crossing into academia. Other than that, a DBA is just another MBA, sometimes even less. A friend of mine is a hiring manager for cybersecurity management; he tossed out a resume of someone who graduated from California Southern University's DBA program. The candidate had yet to gain experience in management but only had ten years of technical support and system engineering. The article is written by UpGrad, a profit company that advertises and sells DBA degrees for Golden Gate University and the Swiss School of Business and Management (SSBM), which is biased, even though using the name Harvard Business Review credibilities.

 

We've now conflated two threads here:

This one, which started off with a post on Database Administrators (DBA) and the following,which covers Doctorates in Business Administration. (DBA) https://www.degreeinfo.com/index.php?threads/why-a-dba-is-becoming-more-valuable.61627/#post-577527

2 Threads, Same thread title, Same Acronym - 2 different careers. Mods: (1) Do we (i.e. you) fix this or let it roll? And is the first post here within the TOS?

 

The "person" posting about database administrators is likely a bot.

 

Yes. I asked him, here, if he was an AI. Looked like the work of ChatGPT. No reply. In silentio, veritas.

 

Sorry. My bad. They're the same thread. PLEASE DISREGARD MY EARLIER POST, cited above.

 

Post 21 (database administrator) now reported. AI and/or advertising - probably both.

 

Thanks, Steve.

 

I have mixed feelings on this. I agree that many people likely opt for the MBA over the DBA because of the quantitative coursework. I was worried enough going into the MBA. Looking back, I could have handled the DBA coursework. With the MBA I was looking for a specific concentration and had not found one that would be accessible to me for numerous reasons. I got lucky when Sanatone posted about the school offering a free term on the sister board and I saw the school offered the only MBA program with the concentration I wanted that was available online! I still am extremely interested in my concentration, and have no regrets. However, I can say from other previous interests that it can be easy to burn out on something once liked, and maybe I will feel that way on the concentration a decade from now. Or, maybe I am just a freebird that does not want to be boxed in.

 

Back in the day, quantitative methods in an MBA program could be quite daunting, with an understanding of calculus necessary to get through things like operations research. But with the shift from technical management to leadership (and the accompanying improvement and availability of computers), that changed. Most MBA programs require little more than statistics (descriptive and inferential), and the math in those is hardly more than arithmetic.

The DBA's focus in this area would normally revolve around research methods. Having done both a quantitative dissertation and qualitative dissertation, the former was much more straight-forward than the latter. Many of my PhD peers shied away from quantitative studies because of a fear of math--unfounded. Until they found themselves up to their ears in snips of excerpts from interviews, little pieces of color-coded paper strewn about. (I used a CAQDAS program to do mine, so I avoided this as well.)

The simplest path forward is to do a deductive, quantitative study using extant data to test a set of hypotheses forming your theory. It only gets more difficult from there.