The annual IT Pro Day holiday, celebrated on each third Tuesday of September, was created in 2015 to thank IT pros that keep businesses up and running each and every day, all year long. This year marks the 7th IT Pro day and many of you reading this newsletter likely support systems two or three times as old.
As an IT Pro myself, I know no one ever stops by your desk to say “thanks” for the fact that everything is working as expected. That’s not the way the world works. I’ve never called to thank my cable company, for example. No, people only contact IT pros for one of two reasons: either something is broken, or something might become broken. And if it’s not something you know how to fix, you’ll be expected to fix it, and fast.
And thanks to the ever-connected world in which we live, IT pros are responding to calls for help at all hours of the day. Not just work calls either. Family and friends reach out to ask for help with various hardware and software requests.
IT Pros don’t do it for the money. We do it because it sparks joy to help others. Sure, the money helps bring home the bacon, but that’s not our end goal. We want what anyone wants: happy customers. And we make customers happy because we respond to alerts when called, we reduce risk by automating away repetitive tasks, and we fix things fast (and those fixes last, sometimes for years).
This year take the time to say THANK YOU to your IT Pros by nominating them for one of four awards - Rookie of the Year, IT Mentor of the Year, Trailblazer, and Rockstar. Nominations close on 31-Aug, so don't delay!
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Community Links
What’s New in the 2021 Cost of a Data Breach Report
In 2021, the average cost of a data breach reached a record high of $4.24 million. For most companies, that number is high enough to convince executives to take action.
The Life Cycle of a Breached Database
Great summary of events taking place once a database is breached. Use this to remind the executives at your business the real risks involved should your data be breached.
Events
The agenda for Live! 360 and SQL Server Live! has been released, you can review all the details here.
Live! 360 brings the IT, Developer, and Data communities together for six days of training, knowledge sharing, and networking. With unlimited access to Live! 360’s five co-located events, you and your team will get the training you need to keep you and your business competitive and future-ready.
If you like saving money, use the Alumni Promo Code ALUM8 when you register and save $800 off the 5-Day or 4-Day Standard Rate when you register by August 13.
Send any questions about the event to me at SQLRockstar@thomaslarock.com
Data Janitor Roundup
Machine learning applications need less data than has been assumed
There is a tendency for data scientists to believe they need more data to build better models. However, we also know there is a point of diminishing returns once data sets hit a certain size (width and/or length). Experienced data scientists know to monitor for finding the right size and shape of the data to create a good enough model.
Immutable storage with versioning for Blob Storage is now in public preview
This feature adds an extra layer of security for anyone using blob storage as a location for database backups. If you are not using immutable storage for database backups, you should consider doing so.
Google Fires 80 Employees for Exploiting User Data
A reminder that the data you share with Google or Apple is data you share with employees there as well. You might want to think twice about the information you share by default with cloud service providers.
Amazon will give you a whole $10 for your palm print
Your palm print is something unique to each person on Earth. Something that only you possess. It can be used to identify you, or mis-identify you. Giving away your palm print for $10 is a terrible idea. Imagine having your identity, included palm print stolen. Good luck getting a new palm print created.
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Send links to me on Twitter at @SQLRockstar or email me some data or feedback at SQLRockstar@thomaslarock.com
Love you, mean it.
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