SendGrid. You will never find a more wretched hive of middle managers.
autoresponder November 10th. 2020, 10:12am
When business owners adopt middle management driven business models like DevOps and Agile, it always comes at the expense of; developers, the product and the customer. I’ve been saying that for some time on this channel and – as usual – I stand alone in this assertion.
Today I’d like to discuss a case in point that underlines my hypothesis.
SendGrid.
The SendGrid website is a disaster. It’s what we professional developers would call a ‘Frankenstein’. It’s broken.
In this video, I’m going to highlight a few of the flaws that I experienced with the SendGrid website. More importantly, I’m going to have a look at the broader customer support system and overall management structure of SendGrid – as a company.
What I discovered – in my research – was a hen house of middle managers, bad code and – of course – DevOps.
Let this video serve as a warning to any business owner who thinks that DevOps is a good idea.
DC
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November 10th, 2020 at 11:10 am
Just a quick follow up: I contacted SendGrid and let them know about this video. Their response? "please create a ticket in our support portal and DM us back with the ticket number"
November 10th, 2020 at 12:01 pm
Wow. So many managers. This company must be as big as Google or Apple….
November 10th, 2020 at 1:00 pm
It reminds me of a typical Object Oriented programming mindset in languages like Java where they love creating useless buggy middle manager classes for everything just for the sake of Object Orientation.
November 10th, 2020 at 1:36 pm
Sounds like the way Lawyers operate.
That just may answer all the predicaments.
The only thing that really matters is a pretty 404 page.
November 10th, 2020 at 2:27 pm
In my opinion, 'training' is the keyword here. I've worked in a number of companies who had zero interest at all in training staff, other than to 'pump-and-dump' – use them up to the point of burnout, then get rid, in favour of 'fresher' talent. Rinse and repeat. The corporate mentality is: "Why train when you can just pull in new 'talent' right off the street every 18 months?" (just before two years employment when they become much harder to get rid of).
Outside of the big cities, web development is widely considered a cheap, 'disposable' talent. If staff turnover was any kind of metric for the perceived worth/value of an organisation (or at least available for public scrutiny) the landscape would change pretty quickly.
November 10th, 2020 at 2:42 pm
Where's the "assistant to the regional manager"?
November 10th, 2020 at 3:39 pm
What a hen house. THIS is what happens when you put middle managers in the driving seat, instead of paying developers a decent salary. All those managers and directors should hang their heads in shame.