Describe Core Data Concepts · Topic 4 of 4
Data Roles and Responsibilities
DP-900 data roles: what a database administrator, data engineer and data analyst each do, with task by task comparisons and typical Azure tools for each.
- 4 min
- The DBA owns security, backups, recovery, performance and availability of databases.
- The data engineer owns pipelines, transformation and the data stores for analysis.
- The data analyst owns exploration, models, reports and dashboards.
What it is
Three roles appear in the exam. The database administrator keeps databases running safely. The data engineer builds the pipelines that move and prepare data. The data analyst turns prepared data into reports and insight.
Real teams blur the lines, but each role has a clear centre that the exam tests.
How it works
Database administrator
A database administrator, or DBA, looks after the databases that applications rely on.
- Installs, configures and updates the database software.
- Manages security: who can sign in and what each person can see or change.
- Plans and tests backups and restores data after a failure.
- Monitors performance, tunes queries and manages indexes.
- Keeps the database available, for example with replication or failover.
With managed services such as Azure SQL Database, Microsoft handles patching and many backups, so the DBA spends more time on security, performance and design.
Data engineer
A data engineer makes data usable at scale.
- Builds and runs pipelines that ingest data from many sources.
- Cleans and transforms raw data into a form ready for analysis.
- Designs and maintains data stores such as data lakes and warehouses.
- Applies security and governance to the data in those stores.
- Monitors pipelines and fixes failures.
Typical Azure tools are Azure Data Factory, Microsoft Fabric, Azure Databricks and Azure Synapse Analytics.
Data analyst
A data analyst answers business questions with data that the engineer has prepared.
- Explores the data to find patterns, trends and outliers.
- Builds data models that relate tables for reporting.
- Creates reports and dashboards with visuals that show the findings.
- Shares insight with the people who make decisions.
The usual tool is Microsoft Power BI.
Which role does the task?
| Task | Role |
|---|---|
| Restore a database after a crash | Database administrator |
| Grant a user access to a database | Database administrator |
| Build a pipeline that loads files nightly | Data engineer |
| Convert raw records into curated tables | Data engineer |
| Build a sales dashboard for managers | Data analyst |
| Model related tables for reporting | Data analyst |
A worked scenario
A retailer wants a weekly view of sales by region. A data engineer builds a pipeline that gathers the till data and store details, cleans them and loads them into a lake. A data analyst models the data in Power BI and designs the dashboard. The DBA keeps the order database healthy, controls who may read customer records, and makes sure backups can be restored. Each role contributes a different part of one result.
Tools each role uses
| Role | Typical tools |
|---|---|
| Database administrator | Azure portal, SQL Server Management Studio, monitoring and backup features |
| Data engineer | Azure Data Factory, Microsoft Fabric, Azure Databricks, Azure Synapse Analytics, Spark and SQL |
| Data analyst | Power BI, SQL queries, Excel |
Where managed services change the work
On a self managed SQL Server, the DBA installs updates, schedules backups and plans failover. On Azure SQL Database, Microsoft patches the engine and takes backups automatically. The DBA still decides who may connect, how to tune slow queries, which retention is needed and how to recover from a mistake. The role moves from running servers to protecting and tuning data.
Other people around the data
The exam focuses on the three roles above, but real teams include more. A data scientist uses statistics and machine learning to predict outcomes, and relies on the prepared data an engineer provides. A business analyst or decision maker reads the reports. Data stewards and security teams govern who may see which data. When a question names only the three core roles, choose by the main activity: operate, prepare or interpret.
A sentence for each role
- The DBA makes sure the data is safe and available.
- The data engineer makes sure the data is prepared and delivered.
- The data analyst makes sure the data is understood and shared.
What to remember for the exam
- The DBA owns security, backups, recovery, performance and availability of databases.
- The data engineer owns pipelines, transformation and the data stores for analysis.
- The data analyst owns exploration, models, reports and dashboards.
- Pipelines and data lakes point to a data engineer. Dashboards point to a data analyst. Backups and logins point to a DBA.
Look for the verb. "Build a pipeline" is the engineer, "visualise" is the analyst, and "back up" or "grant access" is the DBA.
How the exam asks about this
- "Which role is responsible for backing up and restoring a database?" Database administrator.
- "Who prepares raw data for analysis?" Data engineer.
- "Who creates visuals that show sales trends?" Data analyst.
- "A task of a data engineer rather than a DBA." Building pipelines for raw files.
Common mistakes
Giving the analyst the pipeline work. Moving and transforming data at scale is engineering. The analyst starts from prepared data.
Thinking the DBA builds reports. Reports belong to the analyst. The DBA keeps the database secure and available.
Assuming managed services remove the DBA role. They remove much routine work, but security, performance and recovery planning remain.
Mixing up access control and data modelling. Granting logins is a DBA task. Relating tables for reports is an analyst task.
Check yourself
Which role is responsible for database backups and security?
The database administrator.
Which role builds pipelines that ingest and transform data?
The data engineer.
Which role designs dashboards that show trends?
The data analyst.
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