Only as Good as Your Auditor

I wrote Only as Good as Your Auditor for SQLServerCentral because its something I’ve explained to people over and over again. For most of us in IT audits are something we tolerate and try to get done as quickly as we can, a test to pass, and because of that we don’t get to see […]

Would You Still Love Linux If Windows Was Free?

How often is cost the deciding factor in the case of Windows vs Linux? And what if cost wasn’t a factor (noting that Linux isn’t “free” if you’re paying a support agreement)? If you look at cloud offerings Linux has an advantage in pricing because its, if not free, considerably cheaper. I wonder how many […]

SSC Editorial: Does Log Data Belong in a Table or a File?

I think the topic of whether log data belongs in a table or a file would be a great one for a debate format. I think its one of my better editorial efforts because most people will already have an opinion on which is correct/better and will be curious to see if the writing and the […]

SSC Editorial: A Visit to Microsoft

A Visit to Microsoft was posted back in August and I just re-read it. Here’s a quote that might interest you: As a working DBA I heard two things that seemed very positive (not counting the new features and improvements of course). One was that Microsoft sees the ability to offer both cloud and physical options […]

SSC Editorial: Would You Move for a Job?

I won’t say never, but it’s unlikely I’d move for a job – my roots are here in Orlando and I like it that way, but things change, and certainly there are other points of view on the risk/reward calculation. I was struck by the comment that this is a “first world problem” which is […]

SSC Editorial: Is Powershell Intimidating?

Is Powershell intimidating? It’s an interesting question, though perhaps unfair – TSQL can be intimidating when you first start out too. I think we forget that sometimes, that learning something new can be scary, painful (and fun, and exhilarating). And of course today MS announced Bash is coming to Windows. Choices are good. Choices are […]

SSC Editorial: On Time, or Not

Is being on time important? I think that might be a revealing interview question. The answer might or might not be a deal breaker depending on the hiring manager or the culture, but just hearing how they answer offers some interesting insight into how they see the world. The comments on the editorial seemed mostly in favor […]

SSC Editorial: Lessons From Little Green Army Men

This one is about spending time with my daughter – she bought some army men as a toy after a visit to the doctor. It’s also a little bit about diversity because the package of army men was all male. Writing about father/daughter time is easy compared to writing about diversity. I like the story […]

SSC Editorial: Design a Better SQL Server Pricing Model

Design a Better SQL Server Pricing Model ran on January 21, 2016 and as you can guess from the title is about the challenges we have with the current pricing model…and how we might improve it. Nothing simple about that, from our perspective or from that of Microsoft. Ultimately it just feels more complex than it […]

SSC Editorial: Turn Out the Lights

This ran a couple weeks ago (Turn Out The Lights) to see if I could spark a discussion about how/when/why we might think more about costs incurred by the way we provide solutions. Based on the follow-on discussion I didn’t quite achieve that. It reminds me that there is a fair amount of resentment (for […]