How does a bank update your checking account information instantaneously when you pay a utility bill online? How are you able to track the delivery of a parcel containing your new purchase from an electronics factory in Asia? And, how do online retailers know exactly what items you might be interested in purchasing, based on what you've browsed and bought before?
The answer to all of these questions is: somewhere, a database administrator has done their job.
Database administrators (DBAs for short) tackle challenges like these and other critical functions on a regular basis, placing them among the tech elite in many organizations. The relational database has been a tool of the public and private sectors for decades, but the growth of Internet commerce, social networking and online government-citizen interaction over the last two decades has resulted in an explosion of database growth, activity and expanding functionality.
This explosive growth has had a direct impact on the demand for DBAs. It has also created a subset of data management specialties which all stem from the field of database administration.
It takes an extensive amount of IT training and experience to join the prestigious ranks of database admins. But, the effort can result in a highly-rewarding and fulfilling career path.