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DBA Fundamentals at SQLSaturday Cincinnati

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I will be teaching my all day “DBA Fundamentals” pre-con at SQL Saturday Cincinnati on March 16, 2018.   There is a $125 fee for this class, which includes lunch.  Possibly a cool DBA t-shirt as well…

This class is targeted at pretty much everyone that wants to know more about how SQL Server works and is not an experienced DBA.

Probable topics (I adjust on the fly depending on time…) can be viewed on the registration page.

Some unedited comments from previous attendees:

DBA Fundamentals comments

I love that one at the bottom!

If you are unsure if this class is for you, email me or ping me on Twitter…I want you to get your money’s worth! Or, check out this promo video I made to help you decide.

If you are anywhere near Cincinnati but can’t/don’t want to do pre-cons, come to the Saturday events…everything is free except for lunch!

Thanks for reading.

Kevin3NF

Rant: Dead DBAs

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Where I go on a rant about the “death of the DBA”…which by comparison to others barely even qualifies as a rant 🙂

This is the post I reference in the video:

My prediction of the DBA role

And these are the names I mentioned:

  • Grant Fritchey
  • Brent Ozar
  • Pinal Dave
  • Paul Randal

I’ll let you YaBingGoogleHoo them yourself…

One thing I forgot to mention:  If you are not improving your skills and learning all the time…you are not a dead DBA, but you are becoming a “Zombie DBA” (baaaackuuuupssss….)

Thanks for watching!

Kevin3NF

 

 

 

TSQL Tuesday: Folks Who Have Made a Difference

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TSQL Tuesday Brent Ozar PASS Summit Ewald Cress

 

T-SQL Tuesday is a monthly blog party for the SQL Server community. It is the brainchild of Adam Machanic (b|t) and this month’s edition is hosted by Ewald Cress (b|t), asking us to post about those who have made a difference our life in the world of data.

I’d like to call out 3 (of the many) people who have been instrumental in my SQL Server career (and two of them will only see this if I send it to them):

The early years:   Max Lutz

Max was my manager at Jobs.com back in 2000.  He taught me quite a bit about T-SQL development that I had no clue on.  Max had been with Microsoft for some time before jobs.com and came in with a wealth of experience.  He also covered me when I took down the company by pointing out that I had implemented a “disaster recovery” plan for situations just like that.  I have not seen or heard from him since 2001.

The middle – current:  Rand Boyd

Rand is one of my best friends on the planet.  I met him in 2004 when I was on the first of two contracts I did at Microsoft in the SQL Support center in TX.  He was my go-to for calls where I had no clue what to do.   After my second contract was up I recruited him into the job I was moving to and we worked side by side every day either in person or WFH for the next 8 1/2 years.   He’s still there, I’ve moved on but we stay in touch as well as 2 introverted DBAs can.   His friendship is more valuable to me than all the SQL I know.

The current:  Brent Ozar

Cliché?  Probably.  I met Brent at PASS Summit 2008, when I was wandering around the Daily Grill at the Sheraton the first morning.   Brent was waving people over to his table to join him for breakfast.  Funny guy, super approachable and great stories.   I recall bacon.  Tim Ford was there as well and someone else I’ve forgotten the name of.   Since then I’ve been reading his blogs, buying his training and went to a pre-con of his at SQL Saturday Houston this year.  A lot of people know the same things as Brent, but his style of teaching them works as well for me as it probably doesn’t work for others.  I’ve started speaking/presenting this year and in addition to my own personality I’ve brought in some Brent and some Pinal Dave to my style.

Special shout-out to Andy Yun (b|t) for giving me the kick in the pants I needed to start the public speaking journey I began this year. 3 SQL Saturdays, one pre-con and two DFW area independent classes…all in 6 months.   I had the chance to thank him in person last week at Summit.

There are a great number of people that could have been mentioned here due to their amazing work in and for the community, but these are the ones that have impacted me directly and in person.

Thanks for reading!

Kevin3NF (<<stalk me!)

PASS Summit 2017

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PASS Summit 2017

PASS Summit is the largest gathering of SQL Server developers, admins, vendors and MS product people in the world.

I’m making my third trip to Seattle next week for this festival of brain-melting, best friends making insanity.   For those not in the know, there is FAR more going on over the 3 official days of the conference than any person can possibly consume.  From all day pre-conferences, to multiple sessions across multiple time slots, to just chilling in the community zone, there is ALWAYS something to do, see or learn.  Plus the vendor area and their unofficial evening events.

As with last year, I have planned out my schedule, knowing full well that I will probably skip at least one session a day to just network with other members of the #sqlfamily, or even just be a new friend to someone that is on their first trip and looking very overwhelmed.

I have also volunteered to be the “host” of the Thursday night Game Night…set up for those that either are not into or just need a night off from the bar scene but still want to be around others.   Lots of board and card games available, or bring your own and teach your new friends.

I might even attend the unofficial #SQLRun on Wednesday morning.

I think so highly of this conference and the opportunities available that I pay my own way.   As with last year, I will not be paid while there (contractor blues), unless a client needs me to resolve an emergency.   Conference fee, airfare, parking, Uber, hotel, food, beverages, etc.   This will cost me several thousand in non-income and expenses.

Worth. Every. Penny.

A short list of people I want to meet or see again:

  • Jen and Sean
  • Shane
  • Brent
  • Pinal
  • Dave M
  • David K
  • Ola Last Name not needed
  • Bob Ward
  • Rie
  • Andy
  • Alex
  • Sooooo many others 🙂

And I’ll do it again next year, Lord willing and the clients don’t dry up in between 🙂

Thanks for reading!

Kevin3NF

Are IT Certifications worth it?

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I’ve been in IT for 2 decades.   I got my MCSE in 1999.   Via a BootCamp training class that Microsoft paid my way into.

I was the walking definition of a “paper MCSE” – all knowledge and no experience.   At the time the MCSE was Windows NT 4.0, IIS 4 and some other elective, along with some networking tests.  I really don’t remember, other than TCP/IP which I had to take, fail, study and take again.

When i contracted at Microsoft (the second time) back in 2005, there were 20+ contractors all there getting ramped up for the SQL 2005 release.   Technically they were ramping up for SQL 7 and 2000, as the Full Timers were doing 2005 support. Most of them had the MCDBA certification….many hanging in their cubes.  Not one of them could admin their way out of a paper bag.   Nice people, but no experience.

I decided at that point that I would not be pursuing any more certifications, as these guys were making it look bad and watering the value down.   Certification tests are expensive, when you consider study time, prep materials, practice tests and exam fees.  I decided I would just learn the SQL Server things I needed to know and that were in wide use (skipped right on by Notification Services!).  This has served me well for the 10+ years since that contract at MS ended.

Fast forward to last month when I decided to quit being an old dog and go learn some new tricks.  Specifically Azure tricks…infrastructure and SQL, in parallel (MAXDOP 2).

I’m working through that.  I’m not ready to even think about the first test yet, because I’m taking my time and actually LEARNING the material, whether its on the test or not.  Shocking, eh? 😀  (Pluralsight is amazing for this, BTW).

The thing that triggered this blog came from a LinkedIn post this morning that caught the ire of Adam Machanic (w|t), as well as others:

Hello Folks,

Can someone please send me MCSA 70-764 and 70-765 exam dumps in PDF format.

My Email ID is: redacted@whatever.com

Thanks in advance..

Most of the responses were along the lines of “why not just study the material, you cheater?”

The original poster claimed this:

You are right . in my past I worked on old SQL version as of now working with new versions and everything is automation over here …hence just for reference I need them …

I call shenanigans.

OP is going for the “memorize, test, apply” method of certifications.   Maybe not apply for a new job. Maybe just to keep one.  Who knows.   But still shenanigans….and in .PDF format if you please.

As you might expect, this spilled over to Twitter, as many things do.   It was met there with a healthy dose of venom for those that shortcut the process, as well as places that issue fake certifications (I didn’t know that was a thing!).

For fun, I contacted my friend Gregory Knight at GTN Technical Staffing and Consulting (my first independent customer, way back in 2001) for some insider info on the other side of the recruiting and client pipelines.

My Question:

“Hey…curious how much recruiters and clients actually value Microsoft certifications these days, if at all…other then for resume filtering…thoughts?”

Gregory sent this wide internally at GTN and got these responses back:

I do. It tells me the following:

  • How much extra work a human has put into his/her career.
  • Suggests drive, love of the tech, going the extra mile
  • Low-level cert only or many unfinished certs (CCIE with no lab) and/or never finished college suggests lack of follow through.
  • Certs all over the place, e.g. MuleSoft, CCNA, MSCA suggests lack of career focus.
  • Date of completion matters. It tells me what the person was doing at a particular point of time.
  • E.g. an infrastructure/network candidate passing himself off as a network expert but has lots of Microsoft certs tells me the person likely leans more server side

It really depends on how much our individual client values it. MS Certs tend hold value and do demonstrate a general mastery of the technology. With that said, clients that do not require it tend to not be impressed or care enough about it to make a difference in choosing to select, interview, or hire a particular candidate.

I view certifications, any certifications, like a bachelor’s degree. It does not open the door for a candidate, but it can prevent the door from being slammed shut in their face…

Real world experience > certificates any time unless it’s Cisco.

Production > Lab

So…this settles nothing of course as far as whether you should pursue an IT cert or not.   If you do it the right way, you’ll learn things and have something to show for it.  If you shortcut the process, you’ll be found out when the time comes and others are depending on you to know what you are doing.

I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments section.  Any comments bashing people (candidates, recruiters or clients) will not get approved.   Thoughtful, considerate discussion?  Yes please 🙂

Thanks for reading!

Kevin3NF

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