In 1957, the Soviet-made Sputnik streaked across the sky in low earth orbit. It was clearly visible to millions of concerned Americans. The Soviet government had leapfrogged America technologically. The dot that traversed the nighttime sky marked a change in international politics and fueled the engine that became America's space program. Another far more subtle shift was happening in America's businesses as well. In the 1950's and 1960's, American employees gave their loyalty to their employer in exchange for a commitment for a career-long job within the organization. Over the past 60 … [Read more...]
Archives for July 2015
Professional Development – What a Difference 60 Years Makes
July 30, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Originally appearing at ForITPros.com. In 1957, the Soviet-made Sputnik streaked across the sky in low earth orbit. It was clearly visible to millions of concerned Americans. The Soviet government had leapfrogged America technologically. The dot that traversed the nighttime sky marked a change in international politics and fueled the engine that became America's space program. Another far more subtle shift was happening in America's businesses as well. In the 1950's and 1960's, American employees gave their loyalty to their employer in exchange for a commitment for a career-long job … [Read more...]
DBTA – IT Employers Must Adapt to the Looming DBA Shortage
July 29, 2015 by 4 Comments
Originally appearing in my monthly column at Database Trends & Applications magazine. In the first of this three-part series, I described some of the findings contained in an intriguing new survey published by Unisphere Research, a division of Information Today, Inc. In that article, I covered the macroeconomic and general trends that pointed to a looming shortage of DBA talent. In part 2 of the series, I described some of the issues and opportunities these trends offer to current and up-and-coming DBAs. Today, let’s talk about what this trend means from perspective of IT … [Read more...]
ICYMI – Recommended Intel Processors For SQL ’14, Should Indexes Be In The Key Or Included, Comparing Windows Azure VM Performance
July 28, 2015 by 2 Comments
A digest of great articles originally appearing at SQLPerformance.com. Grouped Concatenation in SQL Server and Grouped Concatenation: Ordering and Removing Duplicates In these two related blog posts, Aaron Bertrand ( b | t ) of SQL Sentry takes on the safest and most efficient ways to perform grouped concatenation in SQL Server. Then he follows up with a closer look at some additional requirements for typical grouped concatenation queries in SQL Server.Recommended Intel Processors for SQL Server 2014 Workloads Glenn Berry ( b | t ) of SQLskills continues his series on hardware … [Read more...]
Set the Bar High
July 23, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Henry Ford is reported to have once said, “Whether you think you can or think you can’t - you’re right.” That’s great insight. Too often people place self-imposed and artificial limitations on themselves. They tell themselves that they cannot accomplish something because they aren’t smart enough or don’t have enough creativity. They close their minds to the idea they can, in fact, succeed. Success, after all, is scary to many people. As a leader, one of your jobs is to inspire your team. Help them to recognize and realize their potential. Don’t let them settle for something less than … [Read more...]
Professional Development – Set the Bar High
July 23, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Originally appearing at ForITPros.com. Henry Ford is reported to have once said, “Whether you think you can or think you can’t - you’re right.” That’s great insight. Too often people place self-imposed and artificial limitations on themselves. They tell themselves that they cannot accomplish something because they aren’t smart enough or don’t have enough creativity. They close their minds to the idea they can, in fact, succeed. Success, after all, is scary to many people. As a leader, one of your jobs is to inspire your team. Help them to recognize and realize their potential. Don’t … [Read more...]
DBTA – Does the Looming Shortage in DBAs Spell Opportunity?
July 22, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Originally appearing in my monthly column at Database Trends & Applications magazine. In my last column, available HERE, I described some of the findings contained in an intriguing new survey sponsored by Ntirety, a remote database administration service provider, and published by Unisphere Research. You can read the full survey with analysis at HERE. One of the most startling and significant responses in the survey showed that 41% of data professionals intend to leave the field within the next 10 years. In that article, I also covered some of the broader industry growth and hiring … [Read more...]
Adding Filtered Indexes, Wait Statistics, Comparing Windows Azure Performance
July 21, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Some of my favorite articles originally appearing at SQLPerformance.com. Dirty Secrets of the CASE Expression Aaron Bertrand ( b | t ) of SQL Sentry takes a look at some unexpected behavior with the CASE expression and some of its derivatives. Did you know that Aaron is both an uber-genius and a curling fanatic? Improbable, I know. An Unexpected Side-Effect of Adding a Filtered Index Paul White’s ( b | t ) deep dive post explains some of the limitations in the special use and usefully special kind of index, the filtered index. When applied in the appropriate scenarios, filtered … [Read more...]
ICYMI – Adding Filtered Indexes, Wait Statistics, Comparing Windows Azure Performance
July 21, 2015 by Leave a Comment
A digest of great articles originally appearing at SQLPerformance.com. Dirty Secrets of the CASE Expression Aaron Bertrand ( b | t ) of SQL Sentry takes a look at some unexpected behavior with the CASE expression and some of its derivatives. Did you know that Aaron is both an uber-genius and a curling fanatic? Improbable, I know. An Unexpected Side-Effect of Adding a Filtered Index Paul White’s ( b | t ) deep dive post explains some of the limitations in the special use and usefully special kind of index, the filtered index. When applied in the appropriate scenarios, filtered indexes … [Read more...]
Professional Development – Interviews are a Two-way Street
July 16, 2015 by Leave a Comment
(Originally appearing at ForITPros.com). I was recently chatting with a friend who was seeking advice about difficulties in their job. This was a job which, a year ago, she described as her dream job. It quickly became evident to her that it was actually a nightmare job. The company, her coworkers, and her boss were all dysfunctional in one or more ways and it was making her life miserable. One of her big questions was “What sort of questions could I have asked during the interview that would’ve helped me foresee what it’d actually be like to work there?” It’s Not Only About Pleasing the … [Read more...]
