How to Use Remote DBA Oracle for Solving In-house Database Administration Issues

Corporations are always looking for things they can do to get a competitive edge over each other. There are several ways this is done, but one of the most prominent is having leaner, more efficient IT teams who can work wonders even with limited resources and budgets. For most businesses, database administration is absolutely vital. It demands a high level of experience, skill, and dedication and is a highly technical and volatile job. It makes a lot of sense for a company to have an in-house DBA who can manage the entire suite himself and handle any issues when they arise. There are, however, significant challenges involved with the recruitment and retention of a skilled DBA.

Managing Skill-set

Most DBAs are viewed as a commodity by the top management in a corporation. They believe they are hiring a machine that would be able to handle pretty much everything they throw at him, but like any professionals, DBAs have a diverse range of skills and competencies. There are a number of other attributes involved which make a good DBA like their attitude towards security, performance, support, and issue resolution. No two DBAs are alike, which makes it rather hard for you to acquire a perfect fit.

Skill Complexity and Diversity

In recent times, Oracle has unleashed a whole range of database-related products, and it is getting painfully obvious that no single DBA can be expected to be competent enough or knowledgeable enough to handle the entire suite of products. This is a scenario which is drastically different from one ten years ago when it was enough to just know the basics of databases and operations like recovery, backup, tuning and so on. Things are getting increasingly advanced, so for a company to perform all its database-related tasks in-house, it is important that they hire a team of DBAs, each with one or two things that they are great at. This is a rather expensive proposition, and the other option is almost impossible, as it is not only difficult to find an administrator who is conversant with everything but also extremely expensive to sign with them.

Talent Retention

If against all odds, you are able to dig deep and find a DBA who has all the key competencies you are seeking and sign him on, you will find that keeping him on the payroll is going to be a difficult affair. He will need to be given a fair amount of freedom and also a large operational budget so that he can purchase a ton of Oracle products and buff up the infrastructure with sophisticated hardware and software. There is an element of experimentation involved, and the substantial investment might not always pay off, which could upset the higher-ups. You will also run into issues when the DBA is out sick, on vacation, or is simply going through a rough unproductive patch. A second senior DBA is not a luxury you can afford, and a younger junior will never be able to handle the complexities.

The Optimal Solution

Keeping these issues in mind, there is no better option for your business than hiring a firm which offers remote DBA Oracle services. You could go all out and outsource the entire department to them; so that they handle everything you need and free you of all the operational hassle. It makes a lot of sense to have a junior or mid-range DBA in-house to handle immediate concerns, but to have one of these remote DBA firms handling everything at the back, simply because they have the infrastructure and the expertise to manage things much smoother and better is a wise idea.

Conclusion

There is no doubt that your database’s continuity, security, service, and uptime are best fulfilled by complementing or even replacing the entire in-house team with remote database administration services provided by a reliable firm. Your database is in extremely able hands, you pay for what you use, when you use it and are given assurances of uptime and security which no in-house team can guarantee. This allows you to stay competitive without having to go all-out to find, recruit and retain a superstar administrator.