Thalasar Ventures

Yes, the salaries for a seasoned Oracle DBA can be very attractive.  This has advantages and disadvantages for the DBA.  24X7 on-call duty is the norm, getting calls during vacation, weddings, baptisms, surgery, etcetera, is to be expected.  If the DBA is saavy and automates much of their job, they had better find other ways to *visibly* add value to the company, or they will be out of a job.

On the upside, the profession is always changing and always challenging, and that, for many keeps it from ever being boring.  The salary can be very good for an experienced database administrator with specialized skills and a degree (six figures), and even better, leadership/management credentials and experience.

A database administrator is not just a mechanic who keeps the database engine tuned and running.  She is involved with capacity planning, which has a financial impact for the company.  In many cases the DBA has a lot of direct customer contact if the company manages other companies data in anyway, and thus has a huge role in the relationship the company has with it’s customers.  The DBA is responsible for safe-guarding the security and integrity of enterprise data.  Negligence on the part of the DBA can tank a healthy company very quickly.

Ok, ready to get started?  If you have finished school and Computer Science was not your degree, it’s still possible to break into the field. I have a masters in animal physiology, and started studying Oracle because when I took over the environmental data management program at McNeese State University (mumble) years ago, the budget I inherited did not Here are some initial steps:

First, if possible, position yourself in your present job where you will have an opportunity to work with the current DBA(s), or set up a small database environment from scratch.  Perhaps you can propose a small project that won’t generate so much data (at least at the outset) that a lot of extra, expensive hardware will be needed.  If you propose a pilot project, you may be able to justify getting a small server nearing the end of it’s warranty from the spare parts pool.