The "Developer" phenomena is real and here to stay
It's real and the reason is that "developers" who used to be parochial, be hidden in basement rooms, and hump out C++ code, has morphed into those who manage the development process. In ten years we have gone from "waterfall" where wiser IT heads and system analysts dictate detailed, immutable specs to an "agile" scenario where those entering lines of code meet with marketing literally on a daily basis and demonstrate their products frequently.
This methodology, which because it is successful has many parents, each guru with their own cute name for how we develop, has dramatically shrunk delivery times and raised quality. That same philosophy has pervaded many organizations where instead of being a title, the "head of IT" is a real manager that has to be quick on his or her feet to actually manage -- the interplay of developers and product owners. Wait, it gets worse -- in many cases those creating the product may not even work for them and ... the ground changes every day thanks to the likes of Steve Jobs.
So yeah, it is the day of the developer, but if managers get with the program, there is also a bright future for those IT execs who embrace change and demonstrate they can deliver the amazing results that our present tools and developers make possible.
