Mastering the Complex World of Software Management

This book reveals the breadth of domains that a software manager will encounter as they progress from competent contributor to manager and then as their career advances with more responsibility. Even experienced managers will find helpful new perspectives and insights; they will be challenged to think more deeply about the people they manage, the processes of developing products so complex that no individual can keep it all in their head, and the organizational behaviors surrounding them.

Software Development Managers are responsible for critical product delivery and information processing in the largest and most impactful global companies and in nearly every industry. Some of the more fundamental aspects, such as project management and team management, have been well documented and managers can easily find relevant books and training. However, the world keeps getting more complicated. Trends like cloud computing, machine learning, big data, Internet of Things, CloudOps, DevOps, SecurityOps, Agile methodologies, compliance, data privacy, observability, and full-stack development can throw a volume of technical requirements at a manager. Making good decisions further depends on a manager's ability to analyze risk factors, deeply understand operational metrics and cost trends, and to communicate or partner with product managers, marketers, customer support, lawyers, security experts, executives, and many others. And then there are whole organizational dimensions such as a continuous stream of human resources policies, all manner of compliance requirements, and of course, politics and inertia.

This book provides realistic scope, attacks the nitty-gritty realities, and challenges the reader to think about their situation so they can solve the myriad technical, process, organizational, and business challenges coming their way.

What You Will Learn

The fundamentals of managing technology teams

Operating teams and navigating themselves within a larger organization

Finding and working around the landmines in software development

Who This Book is For

Software developers who are considering a management path for their career; senior tech leads that are responsible for much of a software team's operation; software development managers that want to improve their capabilities in order to take on more responsibilities and earn a promotion.