When DevOps is embraced by an organization it should mean that DBAs get aligned more closely with development and applications than in the past. By deploying agile development, with DBAs participating in teams along with the developers, you get increased cooperation and communication between the folks coding the application (that’s Dev) and the folks developing and managing the database (that’s Ops, or the DBAs).
So an overarching change required to succeed with DevOps is that DBAs should be working in teams with developers, instead of in teams of other DBAs... at least for periods of time when development projects are very active. For some applications, a permanent DBA, or team of DBAs, may be assigned. For others, the DBA may rotate back and forth between the development team and a centralized DBA team.
Regardless of the pattern, DBAs are becoming more application-savvy. That’s a good thing because with improved application knowledge the DBA will be better able to administer the database for an application’s needs as the app moves from development to test to production.
The Bottom Line
Db2 for z/OS administration and management techniques need to adapt to the modern practices of agile application development and DevOps. But this is easier said than done.
It includes adapting the behavior of both developers and operations to be more collaborative between developers and operations (DBA) personnel. It also requires automating as much of the software development lifecycle as possible into a DevOps toolchain to reduce development time and deliver a better return on investment to application development and support.
