Developer relations is one of the most strategic roles in any company hoping to build a successful technology platform. However, most companies shortchange their DevRel teams and jeopardize their investment in this critical work.
Seventeen years ago, Joel Spolsky wrote the Joel Test, a broad framework advocating for empowering developers and investing in their work. Even as these ideas have evolved or specific rules have become somewhat outdated, the basic principles have matured quite well and helped the tech industry improve productivity. The Joel Test was one of the most effective efforts advocated on behalf of those who make software.
In the same spirit, we propose another starting point to discuss how to support a newer, less recognized, but equally important community: developer relations. Whether it’s called developer evangelism, developer experience, DevRel, or any other name, this field encompasses a range of related strategic key roles. The community includes people with actual developer relations titles, as well as titles like developer advocate, platform or product evangelist, or developer support.
No matter how we describe ourselves, DevRel’s work is crucial for any company providing technical platforms for their ecosystem.
However, despite DevRel’s importance, as we said in “It’s Time to Take Developer Relations Seriously,” most companies fundamentally don’t show DevRel the respect it deserves. We’ve seen valuable efforts from community members like Ashley McNamara starting to codify principles that should support effective developer relations. Of course, on our part, we’ve built communities like Glitch with the specific goal of being an important tool for DevRel.
Building on this work, and hoping to start changing the reality that most companies don’t support DevRel, below is the first draft of a DevRel Bill of Rights. We’re eager to hear your suggestions for changes and improvements.
DevRel Bill of Rights
Everyone working in developer relations deserves to be supported by an environment that follows these 10 principles:
- A clear set of business goals
- A well-defined place in the organization
- A structured way to impact product or platform
- Open lines of communication to marketing
- The right tools specifically designed for the job
- Explicit ethical and social guidelines
- Support for building inclusive communities
- A clear distinction from sales engineering
- Ongoing investment in professional development
- An ongoing connection to a community of peers
We’ll delve deeper into the vision of these key concepts that make DevRel successful, but we want to hear from everyone in the community who cares about the future of developer relations. We’re sure everyone in DevRel can think of an area we missed, or a particular pain point you’ve encountered in your career.
We believe we have the confidence to fight for investment, resources, support, and strategic focus for DevRel, thereby pushing the industry forward.
Reposted from: Developer Relations »
