Department level strategies
Here is a short list of things that you should be doing that can help dissuade an outsourcing decision in your department, provided that the decision makers are looking at more than just bottom-line figures:
- Examine your track record. Does your list of accomplishments, taken from your company's perspective, outshine your failures? Is every database project/deployment a major painful undertaking? If you don't know the answer to this, or your track record is less than stellar -- you had better take a hard look as to why and learn some lessons fast. Whether or not you are performing well, a perception of poor performance is one of the fastest ways to end up on the chopping block.
- Focus on customer service and being proactive. It is not enough anymore to just do the job -- you need to do it quickly, efficiently and in a friendly manner. Nothing wrong with that -- but that is not necessarily the mentality of every group in charge of database administration. Additionally, you have to get beyond the fighting fires mode of operation. A unit that spends the majority of its energies on putting out the latest fire rather than on reliable backup and recovery, performance monitoring and tuning, and disaster recovery planning will find itself looked upon less favorably in comparison to an outside competitor who claims they can do it better, faster, and smarter than you can.
Also, even if you are the smoothest running operation and no one hears a peep out of your department because things are so good, you are not safe. Assuming that good work is acknowledged and/or appreciated on its own is a mistake. Just because things are going swimmingly does not mean that anyone takes notice. In fact, it is the nature of the database business that smooth operation means no one is screaming about something going wrong. However, you have to make some noise. Let people know how well you are doing and why. Out of sight is out of mind and people need to be reminded about good performance. Bad performance is never forgotten. - Perform some metrics. While this part of the business is most unpleasant to many of the technical types that get into the database field in the first place, you must keep records on your performance. Uptime, number of support calls, successful projects, cost savings and whatever else you can think of must be documented regularly. You need to know how well you are performing and how much you cost/save. If you don't, you get the short end of the stick again when comparisons are made to that unit in Kiev or New Delhi.
- Work smarter. Some department managers and personnel believe that what they do is too difficult to be understood and that there is some sort of job security in doing things in an older/more obtuse method because it would be hard to find someone else who can do it that way. Not the case. All that does is make you look less progressive. By all means, take advantage of whatever tools and services are available that can make you work more efficiently in order to have more time to devote to being proactive and providing excellent customer support. I realise that database professionals in general are a cautious lot, and for good reason. However, you must be willing to expand your horizons in order to take advantage of the advances that can truly make your job easier.
