I’ve mentioned several times this concept of being a Data Guardian.

I want to dive a bit deeper into why I think Data Guardians are replacing the Database Administrator.

What is a Data Guardian

You may have had bad experiences interacting with your Database Administrator.

All you wanted to do was adjust the schema to allow for a new feature, or understand why a particular request was running more slowly.

And that Database Administrator just jumped in your face and made you feel terrible.

I’ve got a secret, though. That way of behaving is not acceptable.

A Data Guardian would not behave this way.

So what is a Data Guardian, and what are their roles?

A Guardian both protects something and advocates for it to be able to interact with the world without being destroyed.

So, the Data Guardian protects the data, while helping those who need the data to interact with it without destroying it.

Data Guardians work with the developers, the operations team and the business decision-makers to successfully access and use the data appropriately.

To do this, the Data Guardian must have the technical chops as an operator of databases.

But they also need some key non-technical skills, sometimes called “soft” skills, as well. Let’s look at those first.

“Soft” skill requirements

First and foremost, a Data Guardian has to have a strong appetite to learn.

Technology is constantly changing, and the old ways of doing something are likely not the best ways when starting new projects or solving new problems.

Also, to be constantly learning requires the Data Guardian to be aware of what they don’t know. The Data Guardian can therefore put themselves in a different perspective to help guide other teams to work with the data better.

Simply put, it’s much easier for a person with a learner’s mindset to not be a jerk.

This is key to being able to work well with other teams. And being a good team player is another important attribute of a Data Guardian.

A person who is a jerk and unapproachable cannot provide the needed education for safe and healthy accessing of the data. They become gatekeepers, and a blocker to company growth.

And finally, a Data Guardian has to be able to communicate well. If one cannot communicate well, one cannot successfully advocate for the data. This requires both excellent written and verbal communication skills.

Technical skill requirements

Now for the technical chops required by the Data Guardian.

The Data Guardian will spend their time tending to three key areas in protecting the data: Data Availability, Data Performance and Data Security.

If the foundation for ensuring the data is available is not properly set, then the data is not reliable to the business. And it can be hard to change the foundation once the data is established. So it’s important to get it mostly right from the beginning.

Similarly, if accessing the data is painfully slow, the business’ customers will get frustrated. And this will hurt the business. The Data Guardian will want to have good visibility to quickly understand changes in data performance.

Finally, good security practices must be implemented by the Data Guardian. I would say a Data Guardian tends to keep out of the spotlight, and there’s no surer way to be in the spotlight than to have your data exposed to a data breach.

Often, these three areas can conflict.

For instance, Security and Performance typically are opposites. If the Data Guardian increases auditing for Security reasons, the Performance of accessing the data most likely will be negatively impacted.

So a Data Guardian must be able to balance these areas and adjust to the demands of the business.

Conclusion

A Data Guardian is an advocate for the company’s data, helping to protect it and educate others to properly use the data.

The Data Guardian must be able to constantly learn, and share their knowledge effectively for safe data access.

For sure the Data Guardian has the technical capacity to effectively balance the requirements of good availability, performance and security hygiene of the data environment.

While we may not be soft and cuddly, Data Guardians cannot be bottlenecks to accessing the data like the stereotypical Database Administrator.

Ultimately, a Data Guardian applies their expertise to remove friction to the data so the company can use it to quickly adjust to the market.