Kendra Little thinks about the evolution of the DBA role:
Lots of things have been reported to kill the DBA over the years
SQL Server 2005 was said to be “self-tuning”! Who needs a DBA when the instance tunes itself? (Apparently everyone.)
Outsourcing: All the DBA jobs are going to X location, then Y location, then Z location. Then back to X. DBA jobs have become more global, but “outsourcing” hasn’t gotten rid of DBA jobs in the United States. It has been part of the trend to make working remotely more normal and easy, which is generally good for DBAs.
DevOps! All the developers will manage everything. And somehow know to do so. I love Dev Ops, and I have seen it wipe out some QA departments, but I haven’t seen it wipe out DBAs. I think it’s fun to be a DBA working with a Dev Ops team.
Consider this in contrast to Dave Mason’s concern. My perspective is a lot closer to Kendra’s, but both posts make the good point that IT roles are ever-shifting.