Not so long ago, there used to be a time when the roles of DBAs and application developers (using the databases) were fairly distinct. DBAs, true to their name, were really database administrators. They were primarily tasked with creating objects (views, tablespaces, indexes), backed up and recovered data, and managed the use of disk resources and in general, looked after the database environment end to end.
Application developers, meanwhile, translated business requirements into application logic, designed UI/UX and determined what data elements had to be stored in database tables to support application functionality. Barring a few occasions where DBAs and application developers came together to resolve data access related or application performance related problems, in general, these role differentiated IT professionals tended to their respective traditional job descriptions without a whole lot of intergroup interaction.
A lot of friction can generate between DBAs and application developers by not working in tandem and as one team. In this blog, we’ll see what are some of the ways DBAs can eliminate a lot of that friction and work along with developers to deliver better apps faster to market.
Here are 5 ways DBAs can actually help developers create better apps that directly contribute to topline revenue:
- Identification of operational inefficiencies before production: DBAs can work with the application developers to identify business requirements and design the databases before the production phase. When DBAs communicate the infrastructure, network and systems capabilities before the production phase, it helps app developers re-scope the project or secure additional budget for additional hardware or management software.
- Faster Database Clones for Test/Development: A very common issue for app developers is to create ad hoc copies of databases for Test, Dev or QA purposes. Traditionally the process of creating copies requires a lot of manual steps & hoops and DBAs need to coordinate with storage admins to release more storage, with the backup admin to perform ad hoc restore and so on. If DBAs can provision database clones in a self service manner, that would not only reduce the time taken to provision these clones, but also introduce operational efficiencies resulting in better app development process.
- Eliminate excess storage costs for database clones: Another area which is a concern for DBAs is to account for all the extra storage required to provision production database clones for test dev purposes. For a 5TB database, 5 copies for Test, Dev, QA, UAT, SecOps teams would mean 25TB of extra storage. What if DBAs had a solution that could completely eliminate the extra storage and provision thin clones that took no extra space. Not only would this process be fast, DBAs could actually reduce the extra storage consumption and thereby reduce costs in the overall app development cycle.
- Eliminating manual steps for Database Cloning: A lot of times, DBAs struggle with a series of cascaded steps to provision production database clones to their test or dev teams. Automation tools that can deliver multiple clones rapidly in an automated manner can rapidly accelerate application development process.
- Masking/Securing confidential data: DBAs need to appropriately secure data such that only the rightful users have access to it. A solution that helps DBAs mask confidential user data for the test teams and can do it in an automated workflow manner by using custom scripts can really enable better app development. This will at the same time ensure that there are no data breaches and subsequent revenue losses due to it.
So, to summarize, DBAs can enable faster application development by using a solution that helps them create database clones faster, in a self-service manner, and in a manner that the clones don’t require any extra storage. All of this will ensure that app developers and testers get access to production data faster and ultimately contribute towards creating a killer application for your organization!
Learn more about Copy Data Management for Devops and Test Data Management