Database Resources Diverted to Non-Revenue Activity: Study

Two-thirds of database administration resources are consumed by non-revenue-producing activity, and between 40% and 80% of their time is spent on problem identification and resolution, as opposed to optimization and management issues, according to a new study.

According to a survey of information technology professionals, database administrators have their hands full managing the manual processes that allow their systems to operate, as opposed to focusing on revenue-enhancing activities.

The study also found that meeting security and compliance standards, maintaining performance levels and overseeing database upgrades ranked high among database administrators’ concerns.

The best piece of advice offered by the study, which was sponsored by database automation and management firm GridApp Systems? Treasure your administrators and hold them dear: More than three-quarters of the administrators said that good data-knowledgeable employees are hard to find, and that hiring and training them can take more than three months.