It’s nice to be wanted!

Personally, I’ve always believed that “It’s the data, stupid!” when it comes to enterprise application development. I’m gratified to see that enterprises are figuring this out! It’s unfortunate that salaries seem to be slumping in all but three IT areas, but I’m glad to be part of one that’s not!

That counter-trending is what Foote called "an urgent demand for talent" in three areas: management/methodology/process, database, and messaging and communications skills. IT pay up in three areas, down elsewhere (infoworld.com)

As I’m sitting on the review board today for prospective MCA|SQL Server candidates (formerly known by the less politically correct monicker “SQL Rangers”), I see yet more validation that companies are learning more every day that the data is where the real value is. The database architects that we certify through the MCA program are top notch, all-around gurus; most of them come from previous lives with deep experience in non-Microsoft database platforms, and many of them know SQL Server better than they know themselves!

Just remember, there are lots of way to get to the data… and it doesn’t always have to be a web app!