Home Blog What is a Database Administrator (DBA) and Data Management?

What is a Database Administrator (DBA) and Data Management?

Data management is crucial for business success, and a Database Administrator (DBA) plays a central role in this process. DBA services include strategic data management, protection, and optimization of company databases, which form the backbone of smooth data flow and secure storage. By customizing database structures and monitoring their performance, a certified database administrator enables organizations to improve operational efficiency and gain sharper business insights, helping the organization thrive in a data-driven world.
February 29, 2024
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These tasks require not only knowledge in database management but also significant experience in writing queries, providing effective solutions, and quick data analysis, which positively impact the reliability, availability, and security of information in any organization.

What is a DBA (Database Administrator)? 


The DBA responsible for the database is the expert who manages these platforms behind the scenes, ensuring smooth control of organizational systems without performance issues, crashes, malfunctions, and data loss. 

Database Administrators have one clear goal: to create the infrastructure with the best performance for data storage and retrieval. The db admin is responsible for identifying and quickly resolving issues, backing up and restoring databases in case of failure, and optimally planning the database schema so that queries in the system run smoothly without creating slowdowns that affect the entire organizational work.

Additional aspects of DBA services also refer to code writing


Databases, RDBMS for example, allow adding logic to the data layer. The DBA is responsible for writing code that generates desired inferences, either by themselves or through third-party developers.

In platforms like BigData or NoSQL, the professional steps into the shoes of a Data Engineer and writes processes for extracting and processing information from multiple sources, which undergo an optimization process for the organizational database.

In the increasingly popular cloud arena, the DBA needs to master both the infrastructure side with the organization’s IT people and the application side with the development department.

Data management services – what exactly do they solve?

24/7 Database Monitoring

Full confidence in system stability and availability through proactive monitoring of failures and malfunctions around the clock. The service also includes regular maintenance and data management based on active tracking of various servers used by the organization.

Performance optimization 

Performance and function tests, identifying bottlenecks, preparing improvement recommendations, and implementing them in the organization. Remote database administration services maximize the performance of organizational hardware against system requirements and determine the best hardware for the organization’s data (for example, Oracle or MSSQL).

SQL development and improvement

Developing applications that communicate with databases and improving SQL queries in organizational systems, BI development, and building ETL processes alongside generating performance reports and creating effective integration between various components.

dba administrator

Database installations, tests, and upgrades

Characterization and planning of SQL systems including general server tests, optimization and hardening, or alignment according to organizational needs and decision-makers’ requirements. Organizations with systems like ERP, SAP, or Priority can benefit from ongoing system analyses and improvements.

Information security and remote support

Establishing security policies including Firewall implementation and data encryption, implementing maintenance processes including backups, restorations, sorting and building new indexes, providing support and DR problem-solving, building and managing data survival processes, and data synchronization through SQL query execution.

Data Capability

Development CLR development work that expands database skills, creating access to external software and systems and establishing data traffic interfaces, characterization and expansion of DWH (Data Warehouse).

Who needs data management services?

Business data is much more than a collection of technical information; it’s valuable information that has had many resources invested in it and should realize its potential.

Software Development

Businesses in various fields now rely on software and code professionals to build a line of products and services on the appropriate computing/digital platform.

You need professional DBA services that support, manage, monitor, and improve your database on a regular basis if:

  • If your organization suffers from a disorganized, inaccessible, or insufficiently stable data repository
  • If you need regular, efficient, and practical use of information stored in systems and servers
  • When the system load is large or expected to grow soon
  • As long as the data is not properly protected and there is a risk to its survivability and availability
  • When there’s a need to quickly and neatly derive smart business insights from all the collected data

What Are the Advantages of DBA Services?

Organizational Efficiency

Even the payroll accountant is not always present in the organization itself, but rather an external factor that manages salaries, deductions, and taxation work, thus yielding full value to the organization with enormous cost savings.

Long-term Economic Benefit

Hiring a DBA through outsourcing is necessarily cheaper than employing new company employees, but when you have a DBA, the infrastructures, systems, and software with which the business operates will also start to reduce costs. This is because the DBA expert is responsible for finding the best hardware and system for the organization and builds operation, upgrade, and maintenance processes that save a fortune in future expenses.

Freeing Teams to Work as Usual

Instead of the organization’s human capital being overwhelmed with technical troubles arising from data loss, crashes, bugs, and disinformation, DBA services allow organizational employees to return to their routine work and perform it smoothly and quickly throughout the day.

Achieving a prominent competitive advantage

DBA experts know when it’s right and smart to use different technologies and platforms that differentiate the organization from its competitors, thus maintaining a constant advantage. DBA services support your ongoing data from all directions and are therefore expected to create the most optimal infrastructure for customers, suppliers, business partners, and more.

What Do DBAs (Database Administrators) Do?

Information system managers engage in rather dynamic work that varies according to the size, nature, and requirements of the organization. In large companies, they are responsible for the operation and ongoing management of the database, classifying permissions, synchronizing between different systems and software, and of course, dealing with complex problems. In smaller companies, the DBA may also integrate into development and system roles and focus on efficiency and system upgrades.

db admin

The system manager’s workday is quite intensive. They operate across various interfaces, are required to initiate improvement and innovation moves, and often deal with unexpected events and loads.

The information systems expert tunes and optimizes the organization’s performance, maintains databases, and provides help and solutions as needed. Additionally, they must recommend how the organization can streamline or upgrade its activities and then implement them.

What skills are required to be a DBA?

Database management is indeed a technical role, but one that requires creativity, initiative, and mental flexibility at a high level. In addition, an expert DBA must possess several traits, skills, and attributes that come with their accumulated experience:

Basic requirements

Relevant training certificate: DBA course, Information Systems Management course, DevOps, Data Engineer, SQL Server, and of course certificates for managing specific systems and technologies such as Azure Administrator, AWS Solution Architect, GCP (Google Cloud Platform), and more.

Hard skills of a DBA

Primarily SQL query development and writing, knowledge in installation, operation, and optimization of systems such as Oracle, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, SQL Server, MySQL, DB2, and more. Another important skill is in data maintenance which includes using monitoring and alert systems, performing backups and restorations, defining permissions and encryption.

Soft skills of a DBA

The data manager is required to work with people, which requires them to have good communication skills, perfect availability, and provide professional responses to all organizational personnel. DBAs work a large part of the time with developers, IT and BI people, QA and information security personnel, so their personal and human approach will affect the organization’s success.

Tools and programs DBAs use

During the day, ongoing optimization of the database and various systems will be performed, alongside monitoring failures and malfunctions that may affect data integrity. This work takes place with dedicated DB systems such as K8’s, Mongoose, Grafana, Docker, and more.

certified database administrator

Types of DBAs

There are two main types of DBA expertise:

Infrastructure DBA – Focuses on planning, building, and developing databases, servers, and infrastructures, a role usually performed with the organization’s IT people and sometimes also classified as a DevOps position.

Application DBA – Their main role is managing and writing SQL schemas in organizational systems, a role performed with development teams and also classified as a Data Engineer.

What Is the most important role of a database?

The database is where information controlled by a data management system (DBMS) is stored and needs to be organized in the best way so that large amounts of information can be managed, retrieved, changed, updated, and sorted. To do this, a data query language like SQL is usually used.

When the organization collects a massive amount of data, it’s clear that each piece can be leveraged to streamline, improve, gain competitive advantages, and expand activities. Therefore, the database that stores and converts data into relevant pieces of information is a critical component that supports decision-making, growth, and good organizational acceleration.

Why use Porat’s Outsourcing DBA services?

At Porat, we believe in promoting rapid business success through managed DBA services outsourcing – which saves the organization a lot of money while allowing it to improve performance in a powerful way. We specialize in matching the best factor for each organization and provide you with ongoing monitoring, optimization, and support for the database, at the highest level and based on rich professional experience. If you need an excellent DBA expert right now, contact us and we’ll be at your service immediately.

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