Our day to day lives are actually closely recorded on 'databases'. You might not realise some of this, yet a lot of the actions we perform each day are noted, filed & archived in different ways. The whole of our economic system is run on records from Databases. Details such as share values, bank documentation and property information are all indexed on advanced databases, & though plainly we can still retrieve a lot of this detail on paper, digital records are much less complicated to get hold of. Your purchase history will be documented on a Database every time you make a payment electronically (that is by card). If you ever wondered why you started receiving discount coupons for pet food from your local super-market, then you probably purchased a few things that demonstrated that you now, most likely, own a pet. All car dealers (and of course the police) utilise the 'DVLA's' auto registration mark database to bring up all of the details of any motor vehicle or truck etc. documented in the UK. This DVLA database is also used as the foundation for the congestion-charge in the Capital & to establish road tax avoidance, by working along with the Cameras that populate our roadsides.

Anyone who's not familiar with this business should be thinking about commencing their training with a software-support course. This will provide you with some lower-level qualifications, to assist you to get your first IT job, as well as provide you with an understanding of a different worthwhile area of the industry. Look into the 'Microsoft Certified Desktop Support Technician' ('MCDST'). The complete path of MCDST, 'MCTS' & 'MCITP' is usually likely to be completed in around five hundred hrs of part-time training, thus it's reasonable for one year's part time study. Don't ever get pressurised about making the right decisions on the best career-track alone though. Get help and advice from a professional specialist to reassure yourself that you're getting into the correct program to suit you, both in terms of learning-style and choice of career. Remember the object of training is to properly instruct you to do your particular profession - it isn't the goal per se, and must always carry out that objective at a competitive price and in a fitting way .

And so, if databases abound and such a crucial part of modern life, what sort of employment roles exist? If we take the careers of of I.T. specialists, there are 2 primary Database sectors - Creating and building the 'databases' - plus the actual software that controls and allows access to them; and managing them - as well as building reporting systems which use the information. The Administrator (management) position is much more sought after - in business a Database Administrator is more generally referred to as a DBA. A DBA may characteristically work for a medium-sized or large organisation, & manage the every day functions of a particular database. They'll handle the operations that have an impact on the data, including 'security' & backing-up, and talk with often senior management to produce reporting - to ensure the business can employ that 'intelligence' to function better. They'll also fully grasp the database 'language' of 'SQL' ('Structured Query Language') - pronounced as 'see-quel' - which offers a 'standardised' method of interrogating a Database for the data needed.

Both DBAs and DB Developers are usually incredibly systematic and orderly individuals, who pay a great interest in the details, & appreciate being employed in smaller teams, or by themselves. Good communication skills are an advantage, because there'll be regular inter-action with senior managers. Database management is a very important occupation, as security demands ever more vigilance within this field of work. Business employers demand individuals with some integrity who they can rely on completely, & certain companies will in fact require you to obtain security-clearance before offering you a job. Those who have previously been employed in business-processing or accountancy generally prosper in database Management. A number of 'DBA's' achieve very good promotions to higher-office because they inherently expand their business management skills.

If you're more interested in the 'development' aspect, then Microsoft supply the MCITP DB-Developer certification. This particular program teaches about how to set databases up - design, rationalisation etc., but it won't expand on how to develop programs for databases. If you're interested in database programming then you really should visit the more appropriate programming pages on this web site. In all honesty, there tends to be a higher involvement in the DBA aspect from students & employers alike. For anyone who is interested in the DB Developer path, then it would make far more sense to include that certification into a programming career-track. In the next few years, you'll also find supplemental 'MCTS' qualification in SQL Server 2008 increasingly relevant.

'Oracle' and SQL Server from MS are the main database systems in the world right now. 'Oracle' is a more mature system which is still utilised on large scale installations, but SQL-Server is a lot more well-known today in typical commercial environments; 'SQL' has grown to be the 'de-facto' norm for databases on the net. Needless to say, as SQL Server is owned by MS, the organisation has built it into each of it's programs & platforms. For all those aiming to become vendor certified therefore, this is the natural path to consider. The 'MCITP' ('Microsoft Certified IT Professional') and 'MCTS' (Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist) programs have now superceded the previous 'MCDBA' ('Microsoft Certified Database Administrator') qualifications. Even though 'SQL' Server 2008 is starting to secure some foothold, the existing prevalent commercial version of MS 'SQL' Server is 2005, and it is this release which features in the 'MCITP' DBA qualification. To obtain the full MCITP certification, various 'MCTS' modules need to be done first.

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