What does the working day of a Database administrator at the bank look like?
A Database Administrator (DBA) in a bank typically has a structured and demanding workday focused on maintaining the integrity, security, and performance of the bank's database systems.
Throughout the day, a DBA must be alert to any issues that arise and ensure a quick resolution to maintain the bank’s system integrity and performance. They also have to balance routine tasks with strategic projects while adhering to strict security and regulatory requirements.
Here is an overview of a typical working day in Banca Intesa:
Typical Day of DBA
In the morning, the main task is to examine the health of the system by checking performance metrics, error logs, and alerts from our monitoring tools and ensuring that all backups have been completed successfully. This allows us to troubleshoot any issues or outages during the night and verify the backup.
Attending meetings with the IT team and other departments is essential to discuss our long-term projects, issues, and shared priorities, such as database migrations and upgrades.
Ongoing collaboration with the developers focuses on optimizing queries and the database structure for performance and developing new projects or improvements by working on the database design.
Mentorship and Junior Support
At Banca Intesa, we attach great importance to teamwork and support. We have developed various mentoring support programs for each new employee. We believe that each of our colleagues has different needs and goals. To support them, we need to provide a development path specifically tailored to their needs.
For the role of database administrator at Banca Intesa, the daily tasks are the same for everyone, regardless of seniority. However, the more experienced colleagues actively support younger ones and provide them with mentoring.
As they work primarily with SQL, we have a special website at Banca Intesa that contains a lot of material, both videos and texts about SQL Server itself.
Once a week, the SQL administrators have an hour-and-a-half training session together, where they go through a LAB on the website and work on unrevised topics. With the juniors, the mentors practice concrete examples related to the entire SQL Server system to better prepare them for their daily work.
This new platform helps senior employees to train junior colleagues efficiently, saving time and increasing the quality of training, while providing them opportunities to learn something new.
You also do not need to worry about how you will settle in with us. Whether you are starting your career in this field or are an experienced professional looking to develop further, we will provide you with appropriate support from the moment you join our team!
Professional qualities Database admins should have
Database admins should possess a combination of personal traits, technical skills, and professional qualities to effectively manage and optimize database systems and ensure they are efficient, secure, and reliable, contributing to the overall success of the organization.
Since a bank is a living system where different situations and problems arise daily, admins must be willing to work in a team and collaborate with developers, IT staff, and non-technical stakeholders.
Patience and persistence in finding solutions and dealing with complex issues are crucial. A meticulous approach and strong analytical skills are essential to ensure accuracy, identify trends, and prevent potential errors. Given the complexity and sensitivity of the data, admins must handle it responsibly and maintain confidentiality.
Working with databases is far from dull or monotonous, so it is important to adapt to changing environments, commit to ongoing education, and stay updated with the latest industry trends and technologies.
The main tools we use daily
The most important tools we use on a daily basis:
1. FogLight, a product to monitor all production servers (databases). This monitoring tool is the primary tool that detects various anomalies in the system and predicts a problem (to prevent it);
2. Nagios is a tool that monitors all possible servers, the state of usage of other resources, and the network itself;
3. SQL Server Management Studio, a query and system monitoring solution (can also be used for development and other analytics as it is very versatile);
To keep pace with the market, an audit is conducted every four years to evaluate and potentially replace our current tools.
Growth opportunities inside the bank
Thanks to the wide range of roles available at Banca Intesa, the career ladder goes sideways as well as up. The complexity of the system provides the opportunity to move sideways and have more opportunities for advancement in your current position. Our mentors create structured opportunities for advancement by creating individual career paths for employees who gain experience and responsibility within the company.
If the DBA with sufficient knowledge of SQL or various programming languages (Seesharp, PowerShell, C++, etc.) at some point feels the need to reorient himself within the organization, the two most common options are the application maintenance and the development team, as they use similar languages in their daily work.
In terms of progression within the team, there is the opportunity to take on a management position and form your own team, as our IT department grows rapidly.
Closing thoughts
Banca Intesa, like any other large system, has so many different internal opportunities to offer.
Precision, quality, and accuracy are very important to us because banking applications are very specific, as they need to be secure, always work correctly, and contain accurate data.
Working with people who have years of experience in their business field provides you possibility to always find someone from who you can learn something new.
Different projects, internal development opportunities, and a diverse environment are something that can never get boring, so you never feel like you are learning everything. If you just think about it for a moment, something new will always come up, offering more opportunities to learn and develop your career.
