Happy to be here.
I form a part of this ubiquitous task force of the Indian IT industry. I have been in this industry for just one year. But I have fallen victim to mundane job routine which most of the IT professinals have and are experiencing. Most of the jobs are of maintenance nature. Maintenance implies the product has already been in production and the so called geeky professionals have to maintain the product. The main job is fixing the defects that crop up and also some enhancements, if at all the clients require it.
Whenever a defect is raised and is assigned to a particular module, the first thing to be done is to blame it onto some other module. Then follows a series of mails called Mail Ping-Pong in which you send a mail, forcefully putting the burden on someone else. Then he does the same thing and it goes on until it gets a bit personal. Then there is a meeting among the top brass to discuss whom the defect should be put on. It's just survival of the fittest. One who doesn't survive wins the defect as a consolation prize.
I had to do some serious introspection to come out of this rut. Did I make a mistake entering into this arena? Did I have a lucrative equivalent which I should have considered before entering this domain? One of the better options would have been to study medicine. But they aren't in a better position as I am.
They also work on a product which is already into production(the human body). There are existing defects or defects are created by the system itself. They were not involved when the original product was being made; they just have a "maintenance" job. Some defects are critical and have to be solved at the earliest. Some defects are reopened once solved. Some times you need to provide a workaround.
There are striking similarities between what I do and what the Docs do.
But one thing because of which I am sticking to where I am right now is I can take measures for system crashes but what can they do ;-)).
This reminds me of the line from the latest Hindi movie "Salaam Namaste" -- "frustrated yet smiling".
Whenever a defect is raised and is assigned to a particular module, the first thing to be done is to blame it onto some other module. Then follows a series of mails called Mail Ping-Pong in which you send a mail, forcefully putting the burden on someone else. Then he does the same thing and it goes on until it gets a bit personal. Then there is a meeting among the top brass to discuss whom the defect should be put on. It's just survival of the fittest. One who doesn't survive wins the defect as a consolation prize.
I had to do some serious introspection to come out of this rut. Did I make a mistake entering into this arena? Did I have a lucrative equivalent which I should have considered before entering this domain? One of the better options would have been to study medicine. But they aren't in a better position as I am.
They also work on a product which is already into production(the human body). There are existing defects or defects are created by the system itself. They were not involved when the original product was being made; they just have a "maintenance" job. Some defects are critical and have to be solved at the earliest. Some defects are reopened once solved. Some times you need to provide a workaround.
There are striking similarities between what I do and what the Docs do.
But one thing because of which I am sticking to where I am right now is I can take measures for system crashes but what can they do ;-)).
This reminds me of the line from the latest Hindi movie "Salaam Namaste" -- "frustrated yet smiling".
