The growth of developer advocacy
Geertjan Wielenga: Over the last five years, developer relations has even become a service: you can hire a company to come in and set up a program for you. What has led to this progression?
Patrick McFadin: I think it's just a maturing of our industry and more companies understanding how much developers make a difference. Developer advocacy has grown so much in recent years because software is eating the world.
The dynamics of how we consume and buy software have changed. Open source, I would say, is to blame for that. Previously, when you bought software it was the most expensive part of your IT budget; now it's not. There's been such an explosion of options. Companies are fighting to get noticed and they're going to employ any strategies they can to make that happen.
"Businesses are starting to realize that developer relations is a significant way to get market share."
—Patrick...
