Software bean-counters
Is it just me? After the bad years of the web bubble, when large fortunes were put up and spent on blue sky projects with no prospect of a revenue stream... once all the hard-working technically-able developers were made to join the dole queue... the software bean counters and project managers once again gained the ascendancy... or did they ever lose it? Speaking in terms the CEO could understand they persuaded the executives that only they could produce value from software development. They had the new (old) magic. And expected the developers to work like slaves. The days of endless conferences and freebies changed to being locked to a terminal producing code the PM and IT Director say is of value to the business. Endless timesheets were completed to match ever-revised project plans. As long as it all kept going fast enough no-one would notice that the plans were free of meaningful content, nor that the development would have happened anyway - only quicker and cheaper - had the PM b...