Still, the future is far from doom and gloom for DBAs. Provided they’re willing and able to adapt, the professionals currently in these roles needn’t fear obsolescence. On the contrary, I believe that today’s DBAs will likely see their professional prospects expand and their careers grow as a result of the changes to come over the next few years.
Seeking job security? Go where the data is
Before delving into the specifics of those changes, though, it would be negligent to not at least acknowledge the enormous changes that are taking place in and around data itself. In relatively little time, we’ve seen an explosion in the volume, variety, and value of data collected, stored, and analyzed by the average corporation. What was once the exclusive domain of developers and accountants is now essential to virtually every aspect of business decision-making. Whether you’re in marketing, PR, or human resources, making a decision of any material significance without the guidance of data has become something of a cardinal sin. Moving forward, the rate of growth will only accelerate as more organizations find more uses for more data across more parts of their operations.
If for no other reason than this, I think it’s safe to assume that database administrators will remain valuable assets to corporations for quite some time. Add to that the increasingly significant role of AI and the growing interest in proprietary solutions and I feel quite confident that the de facto guardians of enterprise data will have a place in the corporate world for some time to come.
