Us (us, us, us, us) and them (them, them, them, them)
And after all we're only ordinary men
- Wright/Waters
Database Administrator vs Developer
“Us and Them”, as many will know, is a powerful song by the rock group Pink Floyd about conflict. And, like it or not, conflict is a factor that runs through our lives, albeit limited (we trust) by good manners and the rule of law. Similarly, in the business world, conflict is perennial and ceaseless: sales v marketing; CFO (saving money) v COO (spending it); and, in the IT world, Database Administrator (DBA) (wants stability) v Developer (needs change).
I always enjoy the good natured banter at conferences between DBAs and developers. A recent event was a good case in point. Database administrators (DBAs) were portrayed acting like Gandalf and proclaiming to developers who tried to break “the rules” for application deployment, “You shall not pass!” There followed righteous indignation on social media – developers accusing DBAs of being boring and DBAs citing a catalogue of headaches that developers have caused them.