A database administrator (DBA) is the information technician responsible for directing or performing all activities related to maintaining a successful database environment. A DBA makes sure an organization's database and its related applications operate functionally and efficiently.

If your organization uses a database management system (DBMS) for mission-critical workloads, it is important to employ one or more database administrators to ensure that applications have ongoing, uninterrupted access to data. Most modern organizations of every size use at least one DBMS, and therefore the need for database administrators is greater today than ever before.

The DBA is responsible for understanding and managing the overall database environment. By developing and implementing a strategic blueprint to follow when deploying databases within their organization, DBAs are instrumental to the ongoing efficacy of modern applications that rely on databases for data storage and access.

A DBA can, and does, assume many different roles and responsibilities within the IT department involving database systems and applications. When adopting a new DBMS, the DBA is responsible for designing, implementing, and maintaining the database system. Often, this includes installing the DBMS and setting up the IT infrastructure to allow applications to access databases.