IT support teams organisation

[Gonzo]

I must admit to being slightly perplexed by the 'Dev vs. Support = who's best?" debate.

I agree with Barbie, but am baffled by him at the same time..

Of course you need good developers, in the long run it's better (and cheaper) to prevent bad design and bugs than to fix them down the line. But when software stops being 'sexy' to developers (ie, once it's written and tested) and they've gone onto the next dev project, it still needs to be released and supported for the benefit of customers (who are paying our day rates, ultimately). And don't forget software does bugger-all without it sitting on a server, probably playing with a database, talking down the wire to another server somewhere else, maybe even saying hello (wirlessly) to a laptop....

It's not a case of who wins the race in a dash to the finish, it's a team race - if the baton gets dropped by anyone the race is lost...

This is a really interesting topic (if you are a sad bastard like me) but I don't really want to hijac the thread.

In my experience all devs have an over-inflated sense of their own abilities so jump at the opportunity to operate in an Agile environment (because it is like the old days when everyone was baffled by and in awe of what they could do and gave them free-reign to do what they liked).

My first question is what happens if your superstar dev dies in a car crash mid project? Can the project still deliver? That's what processes are for.

[MPwannadecentincome]

Processes are for people who have never seen a really good dev team.

As really good dev teams are the exception not the norm, then some process is required.

My first question is what happens if your superstar dev dies in a car crash mid project? Can the project still deliver? That's what processes are for.

Often are really good dev team is really just one person and a few others doing things around the edges - and if something happens - boy does everyone sit up and notice then! Unfortunately the processes in these cases are only as good as the superstar's willingness to follow them - a bit of catch 22 here.

[BarbarianAtTheDoor]

As really good dev teams are the exception not the norm, then some process is required.

Not if you know how to choose your people. It would also have the added benefit of weeding out people unfit for this sort of job.

You don't have to be the sucker paying for nothing.

When I see an incompetent team, my first thought is, "the hiring manager should be fired".

[MPwannadecentincome]

Not if you know how to choose your people. It would also have the added benefit of weeding out people unfit for this sort of job.

You don't have to be the sucker paying for nothing.

When I see an incompetent team, my first thought is, "the hiring manager should be fired".

Great advice if its a greenfield site or if the place if full of contractors and budgets and HR policies allow the manager to get the 'best'.

Not so great if the poor manager has inherited a team or has been given the leftovers from more lucrative projects or has been told by HR "no way can you pay anyone that much for a developer".

So weed out where its possible, where its not you have to work with it.