As a software developer in my mid-50s who’s been with the same company for over 32 years, I need to resist saying “when I was your age…” on a daily basis as the millennials and Gen Zers begin to swell our ranks. The changing demographic is a direct result of revolutionary changes in technology, but even the newbs need to coexist with the dinosaurs to maintain a healthy company ecosystem and it takes a savvy management structure to ensure symbiosis between the two species.
This is where MIBAR has excelled throughout the years, constantly maintaining a happy medium between developers who dive in and take on the latest technology for newer customers and those who are willing to continue to develop and support the existing base.
When those long-standing customers come around to upgrading their comparatively dated ERP platforms to CRM and other cloud-based applications, they don’t necessarily start from scratch, but would rather keep the look, feel, and function of their old system. While sexy dashboard analytics are what’s in vogue now, it’s the veteran programmer who serves as the “walking library” and may need to dig through years of code to ensure that those queries, driven by the same underlying technology, play by the rules of the customized design. For example, sales analysis values on a BI widget may not match my application’s report because the underlying SQL code specifically excluded discontinued items or inactive customers, but only the “librarian” could know that.
“Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships.” – Michael Jordan
