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This is the profit centre vs cost centre problem. Companies are incentivized to spend more on developers, since developers build features, and features drive sa
by yen223 10y ago
This is the profit centre vs cost centre problem. Companies are incentivized to spend more on developers, since developers build features, and features drive sales, and sales drive profit.
SysOps folks keep the site up, but once you start hitting >99% reliability, throwing more money at sysops isn't going to increase revenue.
- caminante 10y agoFrom a "job security" lens, the sysops crew needed to keep the site up will be the last to go during downsizing.
- bpchaps 10y agoNot always. I was one of the only devops/linux admin at a past job and was in one of the first rounds of layoffs. It's a bit dangerous to think that just because you're critical, you're immune - on paper, you're probably also one of the most costly.
- Sharlin 10y agoThere are plenty of managers with the "why are we paying them when everything just works?" mentality.
- Natsu 10y agoYeah, firefighting is a more visible show of "value" to those not directly involved than reliability is, because nobody at too many places likes to ask why we're always fighting fires in the first place.
- jldugger 10y ago> SysOps folks keep the site up, but once you start hitting >99% reliability, throwing more money at sysops isn't going to increase revenue. Which is why SRE evolved from ad driven sites like google -- all uptime is worth money.
- yen223 10y agoYup, it's always a good idea to figure out a way to position yourself as the profit generator, instead of overhead whose costs needs to be minimized. Funny thing, tech is pretty unique among industry sectors in that engineers are part of the profit centre. Just about everyone else treats engineers as operational costs.