This post originated from an RSS feed registered with Java Buzz by Michael Cote. Original Post: Eventually, to do a developer strategy your execs have to take a leap of faith Feed Title: Cote's Weblog: Coding, Austin, etc. Feed URL: https://cote.io/feed/ Feed Description: Using Java to get to the ideal state. Latest Java Buzz Posts Latest Java Buzz Posts by Michael Cote Latest Posts From Cote's Weblog: Coding, Austin, etc.

I've talking with an old collegue about pitching a developer-based strategy recently. They're tryin to convince their management chain to pay attention to developers to move their infrastructure sales. There's a huge amount of "proof" an arguments you can make to do this, but my experience in these kinds of projects had taught me that, eventually, the executive in charge just has to take a leap of faith. There's no perfect slide that proves developers matter. As with all great strategies, there's a stack of work, but the final call has to be pure judgement, a leap of faith.

"Why are they using Amazon instead of our multi-billion dollar suite?"

You know the story. Many of the folks in the IT vendor world have had a great, multi-decade run in selling infrastructure (hardware and software). All the sudden (well, starting about ten years ago), this cloud stuff comes along, and then things look weird. Why aren't they just using our products? To cap it off, you have Apple in mobile just screwing the crap out of the analagous incumbants there.

But, in cloud, if you're not the leaders, you're obsssed with appealing to developers and operators. You know you can have a "go up the elevator" sale (sell to executives who mandate the use of technology), but you also see "down the elevator" people helping or hendering here. People complain about that SOAP interface, for some reason they like Docker before it's even GA'ed, and they keep using these free tools instead of buying yours.

It's not always the case that appealing to the "coal-facers" (developers and operators) is helpful, but chances are high that if you're in the infrastructure part of the IT vendor world, you should think about it.

So, you have The Big Meeting. You lay out some charts, probably reference RedMonk here and there. And then the executive(s) still isn't convinced. "Eh," as one systems management vendor exec said to me most recently, "everyone knows developers don't pay for anything." And then, that's the end.

There is no smoking gun

If you can't use Microsoft, IBM, Apple, and open source itself (developers like it not just because it's free, but because they actually like the tools!) as historic proof, you're sort of lost. Perhaps someone has worked our a good, management consultant strategy-toned "lessons learned" from those companies, but I've never seen it. And belive me, I've spent months looking when I was at Dell working on strategy. Stephen O'Grady's The New Kingmakers is great and has all the material, but it's not in that much needed management consulting tone/style - maybe his upcoming book on Oracle will add to it.

Of course, if Microsoft and Apple don't work out, don't even think of deploying all the whacky consumer-space folks out like Twitter and Facebook, or something as detailed as Hudson/Jenkins or Oracle DB/MySQL/MariaDB.

I think SolarWinds might be an interesting example, and if Dell can figure out applying that model to their Software Group, it'd make a good case study. Both of these are not "developer" stories, but "operator" ones; same structural strategy.

Eventually, they just have to "get it"

All of this has lead me to believe that, eventually, the executives have to just take a leap of faith and "get it." There's only so much work you can do - slides and meetings - before you're wasting your time if that epiphany doesn't happen.