We have a Power User who knows the database very well and has become a great asset since we gave him access with SQL Server Management Studio. Unfortunately, we also gave him a user/pwd used by all Development which carries ability to change data.
Without going into all the wrongs behind having such a privileged db-user and giving such access an end user, is there a tool that would give the user ability to query without any ability to update/insert/drop/ or anything else?
My guess is that the user probably does not want to change the database — for his/her protection as well as yours.
Just enable this user’s login using Window to have read-only access. Or, set up another read-only user and give it to the power user. At the extreme, you may need to change the password of your super user account.
I would recommend in the mean time that you set up a development group, give the group privileges, and assign the developers to the group. They can then login through that id. Perhaps one day, you’ll be able to disable your super user account. For now, you should think about ways to work around it.