The DBA might be called upon to act as a consultant to developers, designers, and end users.
This consulting might include the following tasks:
* Assisting end users individually with specific problems,
developing a training curriculum, or even teaching that curriculum.
In many cases, ad hoc SQL is used as well as packaged queries for decision support systems (DSSs).
* Providing developers with information
about how the system has been used in the past and how new development can benefit users.
This discussion might precede informing users
about new tables and indexes available to them
as well as any other new features users might find handy.
* Providing designers with input about how different design features can benefit users.
The application that designers have developed might lack some features that the users want or need.
Passing this information to developers can help future development.
You are the most likely person for the users to come to with questions about how to use certain features, which makes you a good source of feedback to developers.
* Analyzing the data in the database and how that data is accessed.
This information can help you with the capacity-planning and tuning process.
It might also help you improve the database schema.
Source:
Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Administrator's Companion eBook