Online Databases Degree Program

Online Databases Degrees – What Do You Study?

Database administration is the component of computer science that involves managing and maintaining database management systems such as Oracle, IBM DB2 and Microsoft SQL server. There are three forms of database administration which students may study. First, there is Systems Database Administration which is concerned with installation, configuration, patching, upgrades, backups, restores, refreshes, performance optimization, maintenance and disaster recovery of database management software. There is also Development Database Administration which deals with actually developing and writing code for database software programs. Finally, there is Application Database Administration which is concerned with helping companies who purchase 3rd party application software manage all of the application components that interact with the database. As the world becomes increasingly reliant on computer technology, database administration becomes critical since there is so much data that needs to be stored, organized and managed in computer-based databases. Therefore, the field has grown tremendously since the 1990's and will continue to expand and change into the future.

Related Online Databases Degree Programs

Schools that offer database administration degrees prepare students to focus on the integration of information technology with business problems and opportunities in order to enable them to understand technological issues in addition to business concepts and fundamentals. This prepares students for careers by giving them the tools and knowledge to best analyze the data needs of an organization or company, and determine how to organize and store the data in logical and useful ways. Degrees are offered at almost every level including the Associate, Bachelor's, Graduate Certificate and Master's levels. Typically interested students pursue this type of degree in computer science, information science or engineering with a concentration in database management. This means that while students specialize in database management, they are also often well trained in a variety of computer and information science areas.

Some typical courses in this line of study include introduction to programming, reasoning and problem solving, web technologies, database management (including Microsoft SQL, IBM DB2 and Oracle), database security, project management, fundamentals of organizational behavior and leadership, technical writing and IT fundamentals.

Career Options in Databases

As computer database systems continue to grow in importance within the global business community, skilled and educated database administrators are in high demand at some of the world's leading companies. Some technology companies currently hiring database administrators include major technology companies such as Microsoft, Sun Microsystems, Cisco Systems, Oracle Corporation, Apple Computers, Adobe Systems, Qualcomm and Google. These companies are mostly seeking employees to help with database development. Additionally, major companies from all sectors hire database administrators to help them find useful and efficient data solutions as well as to provide database software support.

While most new employees start out as Database Administrators or IT Support, there is an emerging career path that can lead to promotion to a Senior Database Administrator, then an MIS Manager and eventually even on to a Chief Technology Officer role. Others may specialize in a certain area such as security or integrity and choose to become experts in that particular category within a company's IT department. While database administrators must all be able to maintain and upgrade database system, there are major opportunities emerging in the areas of data integrity and backup systems, with so many companies both using computer-based systems and at the same time trying to keep their information confidential, safe and properly backed up.