Recently I heard a question asking "Why should DBA's support Azure?"
I thought I would muse a bit on it here.
IMHO it boils down to the question "What is your job?"
I ask myself this all the time. Is it my job to write really cool code or to tune that sql query? I don't think so. I think my job is to "solve business problems". Regardless of if that problem is provide accounting the ability to do their thing or give people the ability to purchase our products, IMHO, technology is the means to that end and we as IT professionals must not forget that. IMHO our focus needs to be providing the best solutions for our customers regardless if that is Azure, a local SQL Server instance, or a XML file. They are paying us to "solve their problems".
A historical perspective:
I would assume back in the day when we used computers with vacuum tubes, someone had the job of replacing them. I would also assume that when we used punch cards someone had the job of feeding them into the system. However we don't see positions for those jobs any more, and if I may be so bold, I don't think the industry is worse off because of it. I think that we have chosen an industry that is constantly changing, and it is a fact of life that technologies in the long run will come and go. The only constant is there will always be change, and IMHO we need to embrace it.
I think each of us needs to, every few years, look at our skills, and where the industry as a whole is going and pick a set of technologies that we feel complement our current skills and put us on a long term path that is consistent with the direction that the industry is going. Now I am not saying that Azure is going to replace the need for local DBs or DBAs. However if we constantly realign our skill sets with what the industry wants we will always be ensured that folks will come to us when they need their problems solved. IMHO, selecting IT as a career path means committing a lifetime of continual learning and continual change.
These are my thoughts what are yours? Please post them below in the comments area. . .