Architects, Developers and Operations
by
Charlie Bess
I came across this article that polarizes the differences in perspective between Architects and Developers. It is a great read for larger organizations that have these kinds of distinctions in the way they approach creating business value through software.
A quote from the article about why there is a difference:
"We have a tendency as human beings to divide people into 'us' and 'them.' In organizations, we often form tribes with our peers, social structures that provide identity and support, but that also can become obstacles to effective interaction among groups. For example, differences in language and rituals, when not acknowledged, can create unnecessary divides. This is the nature of the architect/developer divide."
I view myself as being more of a developer, but since my development skills are years out of date, I'm likely an architect -- at best. It happens to us all.
There is one other classification I would add to the article though, and that is Operations. Once the architects and developers have left the area, there are still operations personnel toiling away cleaning up those pesky day-to-day issues. They have a whole other view of these other two groups and should not be dismissed (since they were left out of the article) for the important role they play in actually delivering the value and keeping systems running well.
