Hi everybody!
My name is Daniel Hardegree and I'm currently the Box Office Manager at our organization. We've been on Tessitura for almost three years and we have a pretty small staff and only a handful of us really use Tessitura beyond just selling tickets. We've discovered that there is STRONG need for someone who can fulfill more of a comprehensive Systems Admin/DBA/Systems Analyst/General IT role, and I'm looking to move into that position. I'm in the process of gathering details to compose a job proposal to our executive staff and I was hoping some of you guys would be able to point me in the right direction on some of the details. I'm mostly looking to see what kind of training and resources one would need for this position.
Here's a little background on myself. I've been the box office manager for 5 years and am the closest thing to a Tessitura Superuser at our organization. I ran point on the majority of our implementation process with oversight from our university's IT project manager and staff. I am currently in school pursuing a B.S. in Information Systems so I'm already on the path for this kind of role. I do have some basic SQL skills and understanding but not any practical experience with it.
As mentioned above I really need to discover what all training and resources I would need for this role. Anything you can provide would be greatly beneficial, and I look forward to your responses.
Thanks!
Daniel Hardegree said:I do have some basic SQL skills and understanding but not any practical experience with it.
Are you a RAMP licensee? If you don't already have it, ask for SSMS access to your Test database (where you can't cause too much trouble). That will be an invaluable place to play while you learn more about SQL from other sources, and in doing so you will also be learning more about the guts of how Tessitura works. I've honestly learned more about how our organization functions by understanding how the database is tied together than any activity or discussion with staff members.
The other skill that is often handy when it comes to Tessitura is a grounding in C# and .Net. As Tessitura expands their offerings for HTML Templates and Interceptors the value of that skill will increase.
Yes, we are on RAMP and I do have access to SSMS. I will definitely play around in the test environment to gain some understanding. Thanks for the tip!
A way to get started there is to create some lists in the client, then go to manual edit and copy that code into your SSMS query window. From there you can start making edits to see how things change.
Especially when it comes to custom report writing, look at the ones which do similar things to what you want to do. The easiest way to learn to write a report and/or procedure is to copy an existing one and make slight modifications to what you want to do.
Also, never underestimate the value of looking at the "Show Query" part of List Manager on complex lists.
Hi Daniel,
Gawain and John offer some great tips. I've worked my way up professionally and am happy to chat offline if you have more questions.
My background:
Here are some resources that should help in understanding and learning what is involved in such a role:
I would start with those things as it will help give you a more complete understanding of what is involved. I would also encourage you to take Sara up on her offer to chat more about it. I'm happy to do that as well. (I have years of experience as a DBA and analyst on various systems, most recently focused on Tessitura and our website.)
Best of luck to you!
David
Thanks Sara! I would be glad to chat with you sometime offline.
We're a small org and I do all Ticketing, Box office, Data Analysis, Applications and DBA. I spent 5 years as a Box Office Manager and then Ticketing with a different org and then came over here last year to set up Ticketing and TNEW (previously we'd relied solely on the Venues to sell tickets). When I started last year I had zero SQL or database knowledge and a tiny bit of coding experience remembered from my Masters in Science, so I'm bit of an accidental DBA. Starting often felt like hearing a noise in the basement in the middle of the might and then having the bright idea to investigate. Pretty hair raising stuff.
With a bit of a grounding in SQL you should be fine. Like John and Gawain say it's practice, copy and steal for the most part. There are some great resources on the network for learning - I built my first SSRS report from reading TLCC2017 slides. Note that it's really handy to have someone to sit with you at least once and walk you through things like SSRS or Infomaker builds. If you don't have anyone on hand the Tess staff can quote you on 1:1 training. There was a big learning curve for me on getting across ALL business practices from Finance to Education to Development. I learnt more about our finance from writing finance reports that I'll ever wish to know.
Lastly the most valuable resource is the folks on the forum. If you need anything let me know. I've often said that a new DBA mentorship program would be great for Tessitura Community. I can also sent you my Position Description if that helps (or if you have insomnia).
Cheers,
H
Heath,
I second the DBA mentorship program. Even after three years in this role there are many times I long for the 'call a friend' option for those times you need a little guidance from an expert.
David,
This is wonderful information. I don't know how I missed the "System Admin and Beyond" presentation at TLCC 2018. it looks like I missed a good one. Thank you for posting this.
Hi -
Welcome to your new journey! Most people I've come across have been accidental DBA's - it's natural that you found yourself on this path. In my career, I've mentored career changers, old school coders and newbies alike. I think mentoring is the best approach because data is different everywhere, even if the database structure is the same. That being said, the information out in the general SQL community continues to evolve and develop. Some folks here have given you really solid advice and I'd like to add a site to the mix. It's SQL Server Central, particularly their 'stairways' series: http://www.sqlservercentral.com/stairway/. I've been a long time member so I don't know if you need to sign up to access that link. If so, I imagine it's still free. Hope that helps.
Heath, thanks so much! Sounds like we are coming form similar backgrounds. Thanks for the information. I agree with you that a DBA mentor program would be fantastic. Luckily our organization is part of a large university so hopefully there may be some resources I can utilize to help with SSRS and Infomaker. And yes! If you could send me your Position Description that would be super helpful!
Thanks Heather! I'll definitely check this out.
I guess I will throw my 2 cents in here too. I've been doing this since SQL Server 2000. I have a BS in IT and our configuration is a HA (High Availability) Database that is virtualized on premise. My role is developer/DBA and we are heavily customized here. Although we haven't dabbled in Interceptors yet, we have numerous table triggers that change the data. One of the biggest things we have implemented is a shared folder with sample code that covers the simple to specific things. My memory is not reliable so these code repositories are great when you have to reuse something.
Hi Daniel!
Your story sounds rather similar to mine; I was the Box Office Manager at my org, and in the process of implementing Tessitura and beyond, my role shifted gradually to be purely IT-focused. At the time, I had enough of a background in technology to get started (though my degree is in music), but the past five years have been characterized by constant learning of new skills and technologies.
I echo the great information already in this thread, and will add the following:
I can't overstate how beneficial it can be to immerse yourself in the community culture surrounding the technologies you find yourself working with. These forums obviously are a great jumping-off point, but I'll also direct you to some more community resources: https://www.tessituranetwork.com/devs -- if you scroll down the page a bit, you'll find information on the Developer Portal, Virtual Coffee, Code Repository, and Slack Channel, with a link to request access (authentication isn't automatic from your usual tessituranetwork.com login). I've invested personally into building out a small library of Community Documentation on the Developer Portal wiki that includes information on getting started in an IT role, lots of links to resources within and outside of the network, and a number of articles demystifying various aspects of database-level Tessitura functionality: https://developer.tessituranetwork.com/display/devportal/Community+Documentation. I would also say the Slack Channel is a primary venue for ad-hoc mentorship, and we've built a nice community there that runs the gamut from DBA to web developer. I hope to see you there!
Outside of Tessitura, the SQL Server Community is tremendous, and I would want people to know about the following:
If you have some money to spend and it fits your learning style, Pluralsight.com has a massive library which includes SQL Server- and Windows Server-focused training courses that are both comprehensive and high-quality.
P.S. I highly recommend looking up T-SQL in Microsoft's own documentation at https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/t-sql/queries/queries as opposed to "W3Schools" which often has higher SEO. Usually it'll be close by in your google results if you append "tsql" instead of "sql".