It’s a fate that many technical personnel shares; when the language gets really technical, many times people tend to oversimplify things and think the job is not really that important. One of the many techie jobs that most of us hardly hear of is the DBA or the database administrator. Right from the get-go, the description could leave us clueless. How does a DBA contribute to the health of a business?
Well, as much as we might not have an inkling of what DBA is, they’re vital to business. In fact, the bigger the business, the more you’d need to have one. However, we may have to vary our approach a little to get going. We can go to a lengthy discussion of the importance of the database administrator that may prove counterproductive.
To illustrate how a DBA is truly indispensable we’re going to show you what will happen to your enterprise if you don’t have one. In the time of the virus, we believe that’s but fair. It’s easier to understand things that way, know the truth, and weigh in.
Business Continuity Disruption
Imagine your company is expanding by leaps and bounds. You have a plethora of big-time clients and you’re also launching new businesses online. That means you have payroll to keep, client accounts to etch in stone, and a host of data you can’t do without. In a very competitive world, information is key to properly function.
Now think Amazon. Would you be able to deliver to every address that orders if you don’t have the right data in your database. With about 47% of U.S. e-commerce in 2020 depending on the online store, it has about 12 million products in its inventory. In the first quarter of 2020, the online giant made $75.5 billion in sales revenue.
What will happen if your database, the aggregate total of all your customer’s addresses and names, for instance, gets stolen or is corrupted? You will not only have to pay for a lot of the confusion that follows (e.g., misdeliveries). Worse, you lose your patronage; customers start to look for another service.
That is how important a database a DBA or database administrator is. He ensures that needed data is immediately available when needed. Moreover, he ensures that only those who need access will get access.
This is also the reason why a reliable database health check SQL server is spot on. It allows a DBA to see underlying problems that may slow the system down and impede the timely delivery of data. In short, these are performance checks. Done periodically, such a health check ensures the system runs smoothly preventing a major breakdown from occurring.
Inability to Prevent a Security Breach
You might think a data breach is small fry. It definitely is not. An IBM study showed the extent of damage a data breach has given to businesses all over the world.
The report states that one single data breach has an average cost of $ 3.92 million in America. That’s, on average, 25,575 records stolen or altered.
And if you think hackers now are getting sloppy, think again. Not only are these individuals brave enough to do whatever it takes to break down your data security, but they’re also experts in social engineering.
For the uninitiated, social engineering is the psychological manipulation of people to divulge key information. When someone calls your telling you your credit card could be in jeopardy your kneejerk reaction is to listen. Then, if the lady on the other line identifies herself as from the credit card company giving you pertinent details, you could start to believe her. And things could get ugly from there.
A DBA is your best line of defense. He will roll out security strategies that will make your data unavailable for nefarious activities.
Inability to Measure Up to Audit
Just recently, data governance has become one of the tasks that became part and parcel of a DBAs to-do laundry list. It’s paramount the company upholds data security. In this regard, the DBA must prove to auditors that data is in good hands and truly secure.
It may seem strange but fines can be collected if your company doesn’t measure up. That may sound like a piece of cake. Not really. Data handling protocols as outlined in General Data Protection Regulation or GPDR and HIPAA for instance stipulates exorbitant fees in cases of breach of the data protocol. Such fees could force businesses to shut down.
So you see, a capable DBA is a treasure. Finding one makes sense because it can keep things in order inside your business.