There is an excellent article by Doug Burns here regarding the role of an individual who acts as either Developmentt DBA, Developer/DBA, DBA/Developer etc. The bottom line, as pointed out in the article, is that in a development environment where a DBMS is at the center of the project/application/system, individual(s) with strong knowledge of the DBMS must be utilized.

Leaving the future of an application or a system in the hands of developers who have little knowledge of the DBMS is not a good idea. Many companies nowadays let consulting firms come in and develop what’s needed. Many time these incoming consultants come with *consulting* experience and not with product or technology specific experience.

Even though the article is listed on SQL-Server specific website, I thought the artice was generic enough, to-the-point and meaningfull. It’s a must-read.

Kirtan