If Database Operators Automate Everything, Why Are You Still on Call?

Database operators automate many database operations, but they do not automate database ownership. Failover, backups, certificate rotation, and consistent deployment are handled well. The line between what the operator covers and what your team still owns is less visible — and it usually surfaces during incidents, which is why the pager still rings. This session draws on lessons learned from building and supporting Percona operators for MySQL, PostgreSQL, and MongoDB: which tasks the operator owns, which only look automated — backups that were never restore-tested, storage and capacity work, major version upgrades — and which stay with your team no matter which operator you pick. Attendees will leave with an honest picture of the work that stays on their side of the line, and a short list of questions to ask before trusting any database operator in production. For DBAs, SREs, developers, and platform engineers running or evaluating databases on Kubernetes.