Denise McInerney, a Database Administrator at Intuit, spoke recently to the Silicon Valley and San Francisco SQL Server User Groups. Denise made a strong case for how DBAs can help their employers, team members, and careers.

1. DBA AS PROTECTOR OF THE DATA:
NOTES FROM THE FIELD
Speaker: Denise McInerney
Development DBA, Intuit
San Francisco SQL Server User Group
October 13, 2010
Mark Ginnebaugh, User Group Leader,
mark@designmind.com

2. Agenda
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 Introduction
 Goals
 Topics
 My POV
 What is “bad” data?
D i
Design
 Garbage in
 Transactions
 Change Management & Controls
 Partnership
 Attitude
Copyright © 2010 Denise McInerney

3. Who am I?
 SQL Server DBA since 1998
 Web-based OLTP applications
 Focus on design and performance tuning
 Development DBA www.intuitmarket.com
 PASS volunteer since 2003
 Founded Women in Tech chapter
 Contact me
 denise.mcinerney@sqlpass.org
 denise_mcinerney@intuit.com
 Twitter: @denisemc06
Copyright © 2010 Denise McInerney 3

4. www.intuitcareers.com
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 Lead DBA  Openings in Menlo Park &
p g
 Sr. Database Engineer Mountain View, CA and require
SQL experience
 Senior Data Quality Analyst
 Senior QA Developer  Follow Intuit Careers on
F ll I t it C
 Software Engineer in Quality FaceBook, Twitter and LinkedIn
 Server Side Engineer for updates on job openings
 Software E i
S f Engineer
 Apply directly online at
 Architect www.intuitcareers.com
 Performance Engineer
 Test Automation Engineer  Questions on this job or any
 Systems Engineer others? Post, Tweet or Message
us on our Social Media ‘Intuit
 Software Tester Careers
Careers’ sites
Copyright © 2010 Denise McInerney

5. PASS
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 PASS Community Summit Nov 8 11
8-11
 Best SQL Server training value
 PASS Women in Tech
 8th Annual Women in Tech Panel @ Summit
 “Recruiting
Recruiting,
Retaining & Advancing Women in Technology:
Why Does it Matter?”
 http://wit.sqlpass.org
 #passwit on Twitter
Copyright © 2010 Denise McInerney

6. My Goals
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 Show you how to proactively ensure that the data in
your transactional system is clean and correct
GOING IN
 Explain why an integrated approach is needed
 Give Real-life examples
Real life
Copyright © 2010 Denise McInerney

7. My Point of View
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 Data protection intrinsic to the job
 Backups, security—what about quality?
 DBA s
DBA’s approach different, complementary
different
 Broad exposure to the stack
 Better at your job
B j b
 Morehighly valued, trusted
S
Successful
f l
Copyright © 2010 Denise McInerney

8. Define “bad” data
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 Inaccurate
 Missing
 Misleading
 Causes bugs
B
Bugs have consequences
h
 Breaks reports
 Impacts customers
I
Copyright © 2010 Denise McInerney

9. Design
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 Have one—even in an “agile” shop
one even agile
 It’s a system, not a collection of tables
 Don t
Don’t be lazy
 Re-use a column
 Just add a column
 Just add a table
 Bad design invites bad data
Copyright © 2010 Denise McInerney

10. Design
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 Always assume the data will be used by others
Copyright © 2010 Denise McInerney

11. Bad Design Examples
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Copyright © 2010 Denise McInerney

12. Garbage In
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 Failed INSERT…the silent killer
 Order header, no detail
 Order taken, not fulfilled
 Missing records = no reconciliation
 Concatenation
 First name + last name in first name field
 Zip code 5 + 4
 Phone + phone extension
h h
 Duplicate orders, different order numbers
Copyright © 2010 Denise McInerney

13. Garbage In
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 Default values substituted for real data
 NULL <> ‘’ or “”
Copyright © 2010 Denise McInerney

14. Garbage In
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Copyright © 2010 Denise McInerney

15. Transactions
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 Understand them
 Don’t assume others understand them
 BEGIN TRAN…COMMIT TRAN is not enough
Copyright © 2010 Denise McInerney

16. Transactions
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Copyright © 2010 Denise McInerney

17. Change Control
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 Lots of ways data gets IN
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 Code—application & SQL
 Version control
 Scripts for everything!
 Change management
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 Data updates
 How do your lookup tables get populated?
y p g p p
 People
 Who can update data directly?
 Everyone takes short cuts

18. It Takes a Village
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19. Summary--Pieces
Summary--Pieces of the Puzzle
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 DBA’s job to guard data quality
 Starts with design
 Many types of “bad”
 Transactions are crucial
 Know how data gets in your database
 Implement controls & processes
 Cultivate relationships
 Pessimism & vigilance
Copyright © 2010 Denise McInerney

20. To learn more or inquire about speaking opportunities, please contact:
o ea o e o qu e about spea g oppo tu t es, p ease co tact:
Mark Ginnebaugh, User Group Leader
mark@designmind.com