As Published In July/August 2004

Incentive, Inspiration, and Advice
By Blair Campbell

Peers around the globe muse about clowning, loving Linux, and learning from experience.

April Wells

Peer Specs Company: Corporate Systems, a provider of risk-management software solutions Job Title/Description: Oracle DBA Location: Amarillo, Texas Oracle Credentials: Oracle-certified DBA (Oracle8, Oracle8i, Oracle9i) with five years of experience in using Oracle products

How did you get started in IT? At age 29, I needed to figure out a way to support my family. I'd held only minimum-wage jobs—everything from a clown to a construction worker to a deejay. The University of Pittsburgh's School of Information Sciences offered a program that interested me, and two years and four months later, I had a B.S. in information science—and a deep fascination for what computers could do.

You've also taken Oracle University classes. What led you to do this? I took several classes to get up to speed on being a DBA, and later I took a Forms class. OU was the quickest way to get over the learning curve and become a truly productive team member.

You've mentioned that you're interested in Oracle 10g's application of databases in a grid environment. Can you expand on that? I'm working on a grid database design book for CRC Press. In my research, I'm trying to figure out how to make a database event aware enough to understand not only that it's taxed and needing more resources but also that new resources are available.

Sikandar Hayat

Peer Specs Company: Crescent Bahuman, the largest vertically integrated denim manufacturing facility in Southeast Asia Job Title/Description: Senior DBA/programmer, handling installation, patching, upgrading, and performance issues for Oracle Database and Oracle Financials Release 11.5.7 Location: Pindi Bhattian, Pakistan Oracle Credentials: Oracle-certified DBA and developer (Oracle8i, Oracle9i, Developer 6i, Developer 2000) with six years of experience in using Oracle products

Tell us about your role at Crescent Bahuman. Crescent Bahuman and Crescent Textile implemented Oracle Financials in 2003, so I've been working with those applications for the past year. I handle installation, patching, upgrading, performance, and all other DBA activities in both companies, and sometimes I perform system administration as well. These days I'm working to migrate Oracle Financials to Intel Itanium 64-bit servers. Incidentally, Crescent is the first textile group in Pakistan to have adopted Intel Itanium technology.

What other new technology is inspiring you right now? I'm exploring Oracle9i on Red Hat Linux. I've installed the database on a Linux box and used it extensively, and I haven't encountered any crashes like what I've had to face in Microsoft Windows. Because Linux is cheaper, reliable, and open source, upper management is now interested in adopting Oracle products on Linux.

Do you have a favorite vacation spot? I like to spend vacations with my parents in my hometown of Sirhal, Soon Valley, Khushab. Soon Valley is a beautiful place surrounded by mountains, green fields, and lakes.

Yibing Mei

Peer Specs Company: LTCQ, a provider of long-term-care consulting services Job Title/Description: Database architect, doing modeling and design Location: Lexington, Massachusetts Oracle Credentials: Oracle-certified DBA (Oracle8i) with eight years of experience in using Oracle products

What technology has most changed your life? Definitely Oracle. I started my career as a developer working on Java, Web development, and C++ development. During this period, I'd already been working on the Oracle database for years, doing things like designing and developing data warehouses for genomic, gene-expression, and interaction data. But as time passed, I wanted to shift my attention more and more to the database, and now I devote all my time and focus to Oracle.

What advice do you have about getting into Web and database development? The first step is college—find a university with a good database program. Pursue a master's degree—or at least a bachelor's—in computer science and, with that foundation, try to find a database job. You should also try to read as many books as possible and consider professional certification.

What's been your most helpful tool on the job? Experience. If you work at different places and on lots of different databases, you're going to encounter lots of problems. Every time you find a solution, you can solve it with much less effort the next time you encounter that problem.