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This person is needed early in a project life cycle, when designing new data models for a system. To know the deep database stuff is too time consuming for programmers. We should add to our programmers' job descriptions, though, that at a certain level (5 or 6) they need to have a certain level of database knowledge and skill.
Needed The application DBA is needed in early design specifications so applications don't go off on a useless tangent. The person would keep an eye on database side of the application but has to be fluid in the application side also. This is a resource for programmers.
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