A few weeks ago I was in Bletchley Park, at the facility where the Allies decoded and broke many of the German Nazi messages in World War II. It's quite a facility and museum, and I hope to go back. I was distracted that day and didn't get a lot of time to enjoy the exhibits and really learn more about what happened there.

I was there for our Redgate 2026 Company Kickoff and as a part of that, two different executives in our company shared their stories of people who had worked there. What was interesting is that until we planned this event, these two people had no idea that the people they knew had been a part of the effort to end World War II at Bletchley Park, which can be considered as one of the birthplaces of computing.

They were some of the hidden heroes of World Way II.

Our executives drew a parallel to our customers, notably the DBAs we work with. These are often hidden heroes in their organizations, toiling away, getting things done, keeping systems running, without the recognition or gratitude they might get if their efforts were more widely broadcast.

That might be a bit of a stretch. However, many of us who work on database systems are doing essential work that our organizations depend on. If we do a poor job, many people complain. If we make mistakes, (usually) lives aren't lost, but profits can be. Often no one knows our names, we don't get a lot of thanks for databases working well, and we have high expectations from our customers.

Many of us know that data is critical for most organizations today. Many in management today are acknowledging this as well, at least to investors. I don't know if they'll ever start to truly appreciate data professionals who build software and manage systems with kudos and compensation. That might not be a step they're willing to take since many other departments might claim to be just as important since will also be working with data in some way.

Perhaps we will remain the hidden heroes in today's organizations.