Written by Marco Passerini

Data administration and Database administration, two professions that are acquiring more and more relevance in an era in which the collection, management and exploitation of data has never been so essential.

Despite (or perhaps also thanks to) the shift from “traditional” information technology to “cloud computing” onward to the new frontiers of data use, to the technologies on which AI and Big Data are based and to new systems which can be characterized by self-capacity-tuning, these two I.T. individuals remain fundamental pillars to avoid incurring inefficiencies and risks of violations.

It is mandatory that the professional individuals close to the data increase their skills evolving from a previous “legacy of the past” to focal points of IT.

The Data Administrator is still indispensable for traditional activities of optimal design of the “logical structure” of the data, but must acquire ever more competence in the design of the “metadata” and of the life cycle of the data (“Data Lineage“), thus making it possible to take advantage of the immense wealth of data that is made available today, ensuring the absolute certainty concerning the order of information, its logical sequence, its availability and the usefulness and validity. All this in the presence of extremely heterogeneous sources.

The Database Administrator’s first task is that of understanding the needs of their user business, and then finding the best solutions for an optimized, functional and efficient management of databases. Currently, with more and more attention being directed towards the aspects related to security, both from a technology point of view (risk of violations) and legal point of view (GDPR), comprised of “Agile Development” and “Dev-Ops“. Obviously their “traditional” skills remain valid, but the focus of their activity must necessarily shift from the “technological” aspects (the new technologies are much more “self-sufficient”) to those related to the “data process“.

RES IT, as a result of our more than thirty years of experience alongside with a number of large customers all over the world, is committed to the essential need to grow these two professional positions. As a result, this is the reason RES IT offers its customers skills which specifically address the needs of continuous evolution with its consultants (at the managerial consultancy level and at the manpower level to support the client’s staff in a growth path) and also through a dedicated Line of Business called RIDS (RES Institute for Data Science). Keep in mind that in the DNA of RES IT there has additionally always been the creation of support methodologies and products. This also applies to the data area where RES IT offers solutions that make the Data Administration and Database Administration activities complete, safe, automated and industrialized. This wide range of solutions contains among others:

  • DMD (Data Meaning Discovery): helps find sensitive data which at times is hidden in the complexities of data design.
  • Daisy Suite: depersonalizes data making it anonymous and helps create subsets of anonymous data for test purposes.
  • GDPR Document Analyzer: allows for the monitoring of the location of all documents that store personal information.
  • Docet/EV: Data Life-cycle identification plus assessment and measuring of the code in order to guarantee secure deployment with respect to best programming practices.

Aristotle (Greek philosopher of science, 385-325 b.c.) used to say: “Where your skills and the needs of the world meet, your call resides“.  It is fascinating to note how certain statements maintain (increase?) validity over the centuries, even if applied to a world now pervaded by technology. RES IT is there, side by side with his clients, always ready to accept challenges together.