DBA Rules of Thumb - Part 3 (Share)

Knowledge transfer is an important part of being a good DBA - both transfering your knowledge to others and participating in having others' knowledge transferred to you.

So the third DBA rule of thumb is this: Share Your Knowledge!

The more you learn as a DBA, the more you should try to share what you know with other DBAs. Local database user groups typically meet quarterly or monthly to discuss aspects of database management systems. Healthy local scenes exist for DB2, SQL Server, and Oracle: be sure to attend these sessions to learn what your peers are doing.

And when you have some good experiences to share, put together a presentation yourself and help out your peers. Sometimes you can learn far more by presenting at these events than by simply attending because the attendees will likely seek you out to discuss their experiences or question your approach. Technicians appreciate hearing from folks in similar situations... and they will be more likely to share what they have learned once you share your knowledge.

After participating in your local user group you might want to try your hand speaking at (or at least attending) one of the major database industry conferences. There are conferences for each of the Big Three DBMS vendors (IBM, Oracle, and Microsoft), as well as conferences focusing on data management, data warehousing, industry trends (Big Data, NoSQL), and for others too. Keep an eye on these events at The Database Site's database conference page.

Another avenue for sharing your knowledge is using one of the many online database forums. Web portals and web-based publications are constantly seeking out content for their web sites. Working to put together a tip or article for these sites helps you arrange your thoughts and to document your experiences. And you can garner some exposure with your peers by doing so because most web sites list the author of these tips. Sometimes having this type of exposure can help you to land that next coveted job. Or just help you to build your peer network.

Finally, if you have the time, considering publishing your experiences with one of the database-related print magazines. Doing so will take more time than publishing on the web, but it can bring additional exposure. And, of course, some of the journals will pay you for your material.

But the best reason of all to share your knowledge is because you want others to share their knowledge and experiences with you. Only if everyone cooperates by sharing what they know will we be able to maintain the community of DBAs who are willing and eager to provide assistance.


Here are some valuable links for regional and worldwide database user groups:

• IDUG - International DB2 User Group
• Regional DB2 User Group listing
• IOUG - International Oracle User Group
• Oracle’s Independent Users Group Community
• PASS - Professional Association for SQL Server
• Regional PASS Chapters (SQL Server)

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Attend the 2009 IDUG North American Conference (at a Discount)

Today's blog post is just a friendly reminder to the DB2 community that the North American IDUG conference is fast approaching. This year's event will be held in Denver, CO from Tuesday May 12, 2009 through Friday, May 15th. And if you act quickly you can attend at a discounted rate using the early bird registration discount coupon valid through March 27th).

And don't forget those day long seminars that IDUG holds before the regular conference. Instead of being on a Sunday, the seminars will be on the Monday before the conference this year! The
Monday-Friday schedule is a departure from previous IDUG conferences, and was done to reduce or even eliminate the need for weekend travel.

IDUG is one of the best places to advance your DB2 knowledge. This year's conference boasts over 120 hours of technical material to be presented by a mix of real-world DB2 users, third-party vendors, DB2 Gold Consultants, IBM Fellows, IBM Distinguished Engineers, IBM Vice Presidents, and dozens of the most sought-after DB2 speakers in the world.

I will be delivering two presentations at this year's IDUG:

• DB2 9: For Developers Only - Wed, 5/13/09 at 1:30 PM
• Counting Down the DB2 Performance Top 40 - Fri, 5/15/09 at 9:00 AM

I will also be participating in the Data Privacy, Security and Audit Compliance special Interest Group (SIG), one of the many SIGs that will be conducted at IDUG.

Attendees will have ample time to meet informally between sessions, or as part of SIGs, discussion panels, or the Thursday night "dine-around" with some of IDUG's most popular presenters. And if you are thinking about getting certified, IDUG is the place to do that! Throughout the conference, IBM will waive the $200 certification test fee for all attendees, with no limit on the number of tests each attendee can take. IBM will offer 40 different certification tests that cover DB2, InfoSphere, U2, Content Management, DataStage, and other IBM Information Management products.

Seriously, you don't want to miss out on all of the wonderful learning and networking opportunities that IDUG offers DB2 professionals. Take the time to check out the IDUG conference details on the web and work on getting your management's approval for this great educational event.

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Hectic

Just a quick post to apologize for not posting here as often as I would like. I have been traveling quite a lot the past month or so and just haven't had the time to keep up with everything while I've been on the road. But don't give up on me... I'll be back and blogging here again after the New Year.

In the meantime, be sure to check in regularly on my other blog, Data Management Today.

And if you live in Richmond or Detroit, you can see me present at your local user group next week... Tuesday in Richmond (12/9/08) and Thursday in Detroit (12/11/08).

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There is Still Time to Attend IDUG Regional Forums

Just a quick entry today to remind everyone that IDUG has started conducting regional events. The first one was held last week in San Ramon, California, and next week two events will be held: in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, and Kansas City, Missouri, (actually Lenexa, KS). The forums offer you an opportunity to obtain DB2 education rather quickly and inexpensively.

Each Forum offers 2 days of education with 2 tracks: one covering DB2 for z/OS and another covering DB2 for LUW. IDUG is offering full two day registrations for $425 and single day registrations for only $225.

Here are the scheduled dates:

* Camp Hill, PA - November 17 and 18
* Kansas City, MO - November 19 and 20

Check out the links above for the full list of sessions in your area.

I'll be delivering my presentation titled "DB2 9: For Developer's Only" at both of these forums. And there will be many other great speakers there, too!

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On The Road Again

I will been traveling extensively in June this year (2008). Last week I traveled to Phoenix to speak to the American Express Information Summit on the topic of regulatory compliance and its impact on data management and database administration. And I also spoke at the Los Angeles Area DB2 User Group on DB2 performance tuning and database trends.

This week (the second week of June) I will be traveling to Washington, DC to speak to the Baltimore-Washington DB2 User Group (BWDUG) on June 11th to deliver "The Impact of Regulatory Compliance on Database Administration." And then, later in the week, June 13th, I will be in Tampa to speak on the topic on database auditing to the Tampa Bay Relational User Group (TBRUG).

And the week after that I will be speaking to the Chicago chapter of (DAMA) on June 18th, on the topic of "Managing Data For Long Retention Periods."

So, if you are in one of the regions where I'll be speaking, I hope you can take the time to attend. And if not, you can always keep track of my speaking schedule on my web site at http://www.craigsmullins.com/speak.htm.

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Another IDUG in the Books

Well, here it is late in the day on May 22, 2008 and the IDUG North American conference is officially over. And, of course, it was another successful conference!

From the start of the festivities on Monday with the welcome address and keynote session (which can be downloaded here) to the traditional IBM panel and closing session today, IDUG offered consistently high quality education and unparalleled networking opportunities for DB2 professionals.

Usually I blog about the sessions I attend but this year I used Twitter instead to micro-blog the highlights of the sessions I attended right from the sessions using my Treo. I hope you followed my Twitter posts (Tweets, they're called). But even if you didn't it is not too late to follow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/craigmullins.

One thing I would like to mention, though, is that it looks like the Special Interest Groups are finally being taken seriously. Used to be that the SIGs were put on the schedule late in the day and almost nobody showed up. This year, there were more SIGs and they were scheduled at better times throughout the day - and people showed up for them... and participated. I very much enjoyed participating as a subject matter expert in the Changing Role of the DBA SIG, and I attended a couple other SIGs that were very worthwhile, too!

If you didn't get to the conference this year (or even if you did and missed a few sessions) IDUG will be making audio recordings from this year’s technical sessions available on the IDUG Online Learning Center in July 2008. Full-conference attendees get twelve complimentary downloads with their registration. If you did not attend, individual sessions can be downloaded for a nominal fee. You can check out the IDUG Online Learning Center here (again, that is where the session downloads will be).

And if you just want to voyeuristically take a look at what you missed, you can check out photos from this year's conference online at http://idug2008northamerica.site.shutterfly.com/.

Thanks for another great event, IDUG... and hopefully we'll see you next year in Denver, CO (May 11-15, 2009).

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On the Road Again

If you live in or around Birmingham, Alabama or Dallas, Texas or Phoenix, Arizona I will be in your neck of the woods the next two weeks speaking at the local DB2 user groups.

On April 30th, 2008 I'll be speaking at Alabama DB2 User Group on the topic of Managing Data For Long Retention Periods.

Then, on May 2nd, I mosey on over to Dallas to speak on two topics at the DB2 Forum meeting. I'll cover database auditing in one talk and the other will be my "famous" DB2 Top 10 Lists presentation.

The following week, on May 8th, I'll be in Arizona to discuss The Impact of Regulatory Compliance on Database Administration at SWARUG.

And in my last presentation before IDUG, I'll be giving a shortened version of the regulatory compliance presentation in my hometown of Houston, TX at the Techxans: CIO Speaker Forum.

So maybe I'll see you on the road... and, if not, I hope to see you in Dallas for IDUG the week of May 18 thru 22, 2008. I've got a presenation on data breaches from a database perspective (4 PM on Tuesday), and I'll also be leading a Special Interest Group discussion on the changing role of the DBA (9:15 AM on Thursday). You can see the entire agenda here on IDUG's web site.

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