Re: Remote DBA
- From: Dave <david.best@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: andrew.kerber@xxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2010 16:02:34 -0400
I'll toss in my 2 cents.. I work from home a couple of days a week and would
love to do it full time. I still like to be onsite for meetings if there is
no web conferencing available. Most of our rooms tho have large LCD tv's
and tanbergs, so dialing in is just as good as being there.
As a DBA I like it because it provides me with alot of flexibility. As
many of you are more than aware, there can be alot of off hours work
for maintenance, upgrades, etc. By working at home, if I know I have to
spend 2 hrs later that night patching then i'll goto the gym in the
afternoon, or run an errand.
If you have a family at home, then you need a dedicated space. My office
area is open to the family room but a year ago we built a rec room in the
basement. My kids are in school 9-4 but for that hour or two when they get
home they can't come near my work area. The basement has all the toys and a
big screen tv so they rarely do anyways. My wife is at home, so I don't
have to deal with the fights either.
It all comes down to preferences.. Some people hate working at home, some
love it. Companies are moving towards it or providing the option. I
worked at IBM for a short period of time and a large portion of their staff
work from home or have the ability to work from home. There can be legal
requirements tho to having remote works in other countries. For some
organizations, workers have to be citizens, especially for government work.
On Mon, Sep 27, 2010 at 3:42 PM, Andrew Kerber <andrew.kerber@xxxxxxxxx>wrote:
> And how well would you have done working from home when the children were
> 2, 5, and 8? 'Daddy he hit me...'.
>
>
> On Mon, Sep 27, 2010 at 1:39 PM, Kellyn Pedersen <kjped1313@xxxxxxxxx>wrote:
>
>> "If the remote has young kids at home, it is likely to be very difficult
>> for him or her to be able to work effectively unless there is another adult
>> there to keep an eye on the children."
>>
>> This subject always peeks my interest, as I work from home approximately
>> 20 hrs. per week. I'm a combination of both the ticket closer and the lone
>> ranger type, appreciating small tasks to finish quick and challenging
>> mysteries to solve, so this discussion gave great discription of why I have
>> never had an issue working from home.
>>
>> I would have to say that Andrew's comment is a necessity if the children
>> are young and if teens are home due to after school/out of school
>> situations, the remote DBA must guarantee that they have an office separate
>> from the family area to work in.
>>
>> My three children, (ages 10, 13 and 15) have the library where their
>> computer workstations and media area is set up and I avoid the location like
>> the plague if I'm working. I have my office on a separate floor and as
>> lucky as I am to have incredibly independent children, their inane banter is
>> still very distracting, (has never been scientifically proven, but may
>> disolve braincells, too, which I can't afford... :))
>>
>> As for a positive vote on remote DBA work to the company- I can honestly
>> say that my manager gets a good 3 or 4 more hours out of me a day than he
>> would if I were in the office. One, I don't have the commute to and from
>> the office, which I apply towards working. Two, I have a tendency to lose
>> track of time and continue to work past 7 or 8pm until one of the kids comes
>> and tracks me down to tell me I better cook dinner or they are ordering
>> pizza with one of my credit cards.
>> Kellyn Pedersen
>> Sr. Database Administrator
>> I-Behavior Inc.
>> http://www.linkedin.com/in/kellynpedersen
>> www.dbakevlar.blogspot.com
>>
>>
>>
>> --- On *Mon, 9/27/10, Andrew Kerber <andrew.kerber@xxxxxxxxx>* wrote:
>>
>>
>> From: Andrew Kerber <andrew.kerber@xxxxxxxxx>
>> Subject: Re: Remote DBA
>> To: Richard.Goulet@xxxxxxxxxxx
>> Cc: cicciuxdba@xxxxxxxxx, "oracle-l-freelists" <oracle-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>> Date: Monday, September 27, 2010, 9:20 AM
>>
>>
>> I have worked very well remotely. I have worked with people who should
>> not work remotely.
>>
>> Unfortunately, here in the US, some of the questions that need to be asked
>> about someone working from home cannot legally be asked. For example, if
>> someone is working from home, you really need to know who else is in the
>> house. If the remote has young kids at home, it is likely to be very
>> difficult for him or her to be able to work effectively unless there is
>> another adult there to keep an eye on the children.
>>
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Sep 27, 2010 at 10:00 AM, Goulet, Richard <
>> Richard.Goulet@xxxxxxxxxxx<http://us.mc1202.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=Richard.Goulet@xxxxxxxxxxx>
>> > wrote:
>>
>> Alan,
>>
>> Well, I will agree with others on the list that working from home
>> takes a person with very good time management skills and discipline. I've
>> done the work from home thing and still do when Mother Nature makes a real
>> mess up here in the winter and it's hard to concentrate on work when home
>> projects beckon or the cat decides she wants to sleep on your lap. I do it,
>> but their not exactly my most productive days. If your going to hire people
>> who will be remotely located like this it's best to have someone manage them
>> who is familiar with the concept and how to manage it. I've worked for a
>> manager who didn't know how to do that, mandated that I work from home at
>> least 2 days a week, and made me miserable in the process never mind the
>> customer that I was actually working for.
>>
>> As to hiring someone you've never personally met, sure. We've two in
>> Hyderabad right now, one of which no one here has ever met in person. Damn
>> good technician too. And yes we did verify references and work experience.
>> If you don't want to do that then why are you bothering with an interview??
>> Once saw a resume for an individual who claimed to have played 2 seasons
>> with the Boston Celtics. Problem was that he was about 4 foot 6 inches.
>> Didn't exactly pass the smoke test, now does it.
>>
>> As for hiring or contracting with a service provider your basically
>> hiring a consultant who does DBA services. The more important point here is
>> what does the statement of work say and how do the service providers
>> references stack up. Good people sometimes work for poor providers which
>> can make for a bad experience and a poorly written SOW is not the provider's
>> problem.
>>
>> Dick Goulet
>> Senior Oracle DBA/NA Team Lead
>> PAREXEL International
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------
>> *From:*
>> oracle-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<http://us.mc1202.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=oracle-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>[mailto:
>> oracle-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<http://us.mc1202.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=oracle-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]
>> *On Behalf Of *Guillermo Alan Bort
>> *Sent:* Sunday, September 26, 2010 5:27 PM
>>
>> *To:* oracle-l-freelists
>> *Subject:* Remote DBA
>>
>> Hi List,
>>
>> I've been reading a lot about remote DBA services, these appear to be
>> companies based on different locations that provide customers with DBA
>> services while having all the DBAs physically in one location (or a limited
>> number of locations). These services are usually hired by companies whose
>> primary focus isn't IT.
>>
>> My question now is...would this work in reverse? Having several DBAs
>> working out of their own homes in whatever city or country they want for a
>> single company (or for one of the remote DBA services)? I understand the
>> complexities of having people without Green Cards or working VISAS working
>> for US based companies, even if they are now physically in the US.
>>
>> This one may be for recruiters or decision makers: Would you hire
>> somebody you've never met (or met only by phone) who lives in another
>> country (worst case) and whose experience you can't verify if they asked for
>> half of what an on-site DBA would?
>>
>> Thanks in advance
>> Alan.-
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Andrew W. Kerber
>>
>> 'If at first you dont succeed, dont take up skydiving.'
>>
>>
>>
>
>
> --
> Andrew W. Kerber
>
> 'If at first you dont succeed, dont take up skydiving.'
>
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