Make a smart choice about your career and you would be earning way more than your peers with excellent career growth and job stability.

Here are the practical reasons why the DBA/Azure career is always "THE BEST":

Let's be practical. An IT career - just like any other profession - is mostly about how much you earn at the end of the day, whether your job is safe and have a good work-life balance.

Security of employment depends upon requirement. When the time to decide, who should be retained, and who should be sacked, the factor of utility plays the most key role. If an employee is not needed, he is sacked, or his job is outsourced. But, DBAs and Azure professionals have the most power in the IT industry. They are the last to be fired!

DBAs and Azure professionals have access to all data, control over all the data, and responsibility to manage it in the most secure manner. Such data access is about maximum power and maximum utility. Data drives the business. No company would want to let go of the person who controls all the data, maintains it, and is GOOD at his job. At any stage in a company's development, or downsizing, it's the data professionals who remain the most important employees.

The truth is that programmers and testers do not command that kind of value in the industry. Non-IT people do not think very high of .NET/JAVA programmers or QA testers even if they are very good at their job. This is the practical reality. Most companies find it convenient to purchase software off the shelf than hire programmers and retain them in employment.

Yes, DBAs could be outsourced and replaced too, just like engineers and programmers. But the chances are less. Data is the heartbeat of any company. Logically, and practically, people who own and run companies find DBAs more useful and important, as compared to .NET/JAVA programmers or QA testers.

For management professionals, ORACLE, JAVA, C#, SQL SERVER, and DB2, are only technical terms that cannot be translated into profit. But the importance of database management is understood by everyone. An interesting poster in an office read: "if this DBA left, they'd be up the creek and in trouble!" Now, you wouldn't find anyone say that for .NET/JAVA programmers or QA testers.

In today's times, it is obvious that if people think your services are required, you will keep your job. If people feel your services are not required, you would be fired. It is no longer only about excellence. It is about excellence at services that are required in the market. If you're looking for a career path, go for the niche that is valued in the market. That is the more dependable way to keep your employment and succeed.

We all work for eight hours or more a day. We pay with the hours of our life - literally speaking - to earn. Why would you want to settle for anything less than what is your due? Make a smart choice about your career and you would be earning way more than your peers without fears of losing your job!