Virtualization Themes for DBA's

Proposed themes for DBA’s. VMware focus is on unique VMware value capabilities. I think that the key EMC messages map cleanly onto this; I’m certainly open to adjusting if necessary.

Our goal is to wrap up a first draft deck for use with selected Oracle User Group chapters. The themes below are intended to be issues that DBA’s will be interested in,  and that will facilitate deeper discussions about the technology and capabilities. The deck will use these themes to frame our pitch. Please comment by responding to this discussion.

• Data availability trumps everything.  If you increase availability of your databases without sacrificing performance or spending more to do it, you win.  If you can address throughput and performance issues before they become availability issues, and do it without sacrificing more of your time, you win big. (VMware focus on DRS and HA)
• Your operational efficiency correlates to your quality of life.  If you spend less time on test and install and config without sacrificing confidence, you win.  If you can spend less on these functions and re-direct the savings toward strategic work, you win big.  (VMware focus on unified test/dev environment, virtual machine templates, provisioning efficiency)
• Data backup is a tax that you must pay.  If you can make database backup more efficient and cheaper without sacrificing confidence in recovery, you win.  (VMware focus on backup capabilities, but primary value is in partner enablement)
• Disaster recovery is like an automobile accident at high speed:  you hope it never happens, but if it does, you want your vehicle to be bombproof.  If you are 98% confident that you can restore every data source you’re responsible for within 36 hours, congratulations.  If you’re not, you should be advocating a strategy that doesn’t expand cost dramatically and works reliably.  There are more choices for cost-effective, reliable DR if you’re virtualized.  (VMware focus on SRM)
• Licensing and support costs are another tax you must pay.  If you can run the same databases with fewer licenses without sacrificing performance, you win.  If you can re-direct the savings toward strategic work, you win big.  (VMware focus on importance of consolidation ratios and hypervisor efficiency)
• Virtualization / infrastructure specialists can provide all the system visibility you need to be confident that all of the physical and virtual assets related to database operation.  You should ask for access to key tools to work with them more effectively.  (VMware focus on vCenter and DBA perception of risk)