How Long Would Your Organization Last Without Programmers
The crucial role of programmers in organizational longevity A little straw poll I did recently on Twitter has proved to be especially timely after a visit to the accident & emergency ward at my local hospital (don’t worry — I’m fine).It struck me just how reliant hospitals have become on largely bespoke IT systems (that’s “software” to me and you). From the moment you walk in to see the triage nurse, there’s software — you’re surrounded by it. The workflow of A&E; is carefully controlled via a system they all access. There are computerized machines that take your blood pressure, monitor your heart, peer into your brain build detailed 3D models, and access your patient records so they don’t accidentally cut off the wrong leg. From printing out prescriptions to writing notes to your family doctor, it all involves computers now. What happens if all the software developers mysteriously disappear overnight? There’d be nobody to fix urgent bugs. Would the show-stoppers literally stop the show? I can certainly see how that would happen in, say, a bank. And I’ve worked in places where — without 24/7 bug-fixing support — they’d be completely incapable of processing their overnight orders, creating a massive and potentially un-shiftable backlog that could crush their business in a few weeks.
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