My teams role involves design, estimation, testing & development environment config and running support, recoveries, production config and implementation support, and system configuration. We have continued to develop a lot of semi or fully automated process to make it easier, quicker and better quality. We understand support each other out of necessity to reduce the stress, 'try' to keep people off our backs, with bureaucracy doing it's best to hinder at every stage. We have to evolve, you can't keep still because nothing and nobody else does.
Now with all this back-ground you might think it would qualify us somewhat to contribute to ideas and discussions (even peripherally) around 'DevOps' given that it seems to roughly fit how it is described? Well you'd be wrong it seems. Since the Agileisters and DevOps mania has invaded we've been sharp elbowed and talked over or totally dismissed. Not because we did anything wrong or failed to deliver within the tight parameters we work within. It seems more that it's because we don't speak their smug condescending 'inclusive' (except us) language which they endlessly foist upon us. We don't tremble like breathlessly excited children and wet ourselves every time a new Agile or DevOps 'bible' book hits the shelf, or some LeanAgileScrumDevOps 'guru' gives yet another presentation.
Now, all the chancers are jumping in, being given massive budgets to buy off the shelf solutions for processes we had to painfully develop ourselves because there was 'no budget, we're cost cutting'' whenever we asked. You realise there is an entirely parallel operation evolving that is the favoured one, while the yours is left to whither. You see endless rounds of conferences you're not invited too, and nauseating self promotion from the talking heads and their sycophantic side-kicks. You see wild often unfounded optimism all around, like protesters in front of the tanks in Tianamen Square.
The chancers, despite these canned solutions manage to often make a mess of it because of lack of experience, and the fact they never ask for advice at the early stages where deep knowledge helps embedding of standards that will set you up right for all that follows. Oh no, they want all the glory for themselves. 'I have my new 4x4 and I know how to mount a kerb thank you very much, I'm the expert here'. 'Mind the people and bollards though' you say as they accelerate on. Regularly you find they're on your shoulder all friendly for a 'minute' (which often becomes a considerable amount of effort), wanting you to help when they're floundering, even if you're working your bollocks off to support stuff that is actually working. ('Yes you're busy with that old stuff, but MY stuff is so much more important'). There will be no mention of your contribution to fixing it. Ever. But if you don't help, you'll marked down as 'negative', 'not supportive' and even further side-lined, if that is possible.
Eventually the parasite will consume the host, and find they have rely upon themselves, suffering the consequences of whatever they created, good or bad. In later years the ones that actually stay will become disillusioned as they're no longer the bright young things getting all the attention because the 'next best thing' will appear. They will then be at my paragraph two above. .
Of course the more 'Agile' parasites will have fled the ailing host well before this. They always do.They leave well sated, looking up at the maggots scrotum as they pass to a new host and start again.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
