{{Short description|Developer-facing software}} {{Tone|date=July 2023}}

'''Developer relations''', abbreviated as '''DevRel''',<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Singh Gill |first=Pawanpreet |date=Jul 26, 2022 |title=What is Developer Relations? |url=https://www.commudle.com/blogs/what-is-developer-relations |access-date=12 December 2022 |website=Commudle}}</ref> is an umbrella term for practices employed by an organization that builds developer-facing software to connect with the developers that use that software.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Revell |first=Matthew |title=What is developer relations? |url=https://developerrelations.com/what-is-developer-relations |access-date=4 March 2022 |website=DevRel|date=14 August 2020 }}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Lewko and Parton |date=April 23, 2021 |title=A Framework for Developer Relations |url=https://devrelbook.substack.com/p/a-framework-for-developer-relations?s=r |access-date=4 March 2022 |website=Developer Relations – The Book}}</ref><ref name=":9">{{Cite web |date=August 19, 2021 |title=How developers influence purchasing decisions in today's IT organizations |url=https://stackoverflowsolutions.com/topic/developer-influence/how-developers-influence-purchasing-decisions |access-date=4 March 2022 |website=Stack Overflow}}</ref> Developer relations is a form of platform evangelism and the activities involved are sometimes referred to as a developer program or a DevRel program.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":7">{{Cite web |last=Re:vere Communications |date=2021 |title=8th DevRel Survey State of Developer Relations 2021 |url=https://www.stateofdeveloperrelations.com/_files/ugd/383279_f1078321a1644f148c4d868da8a34651.pdf |access-date=4 March 2022 |website=State of Developer Relations}}</ref> DevRel programs often include the following:<ref name=":1" />

* Developer marketing: Outreach and engagement activities to create awareness and encourage developers to use a product. * Developer education: Product documentation and resources such as videos to aid learning a product. * Developer experience: Often referred to as "zeroth customer" and "friction logging", devrel programs include using the product directly, finding problems, and improving the developer experience. * Developer success: Activities to nurture and retain developers as they build and scale with a product. * Community: Events, forums, and social groups around the product.

== History and roots == Apple is considered to have created the first DevRel program in the 1980s, starting with Mike Murray, who coined the term software evangelist to persuade third-party developers to develop software and applications for the Macintosh platform.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Thengvall |first=Mary |date=May 23, 2019 |title=What Is Developer Relations (And Why Should You Care?) |url=https://www.marythengvall.com/blog/2019/5/22/what-is-developer-relations-and-why-should-you-care |access-date=4 March 2022 |website=Mary Thengvall Community Builder}}</ref> Mike Boich was Apple's first Software Evangelist for the Macintosh project <ref>{{Cite web |title=Mike Boich |url=https://computerhistory.org/profile/mike-boich/ |access-date=4 March 2022 |website=Computer History Museum}}</ref> and hired Guy Kawasaki who would become Apple's Chief Evangelist and popularize their DevRel program.

In 1997, the Microsoft Developer Relations Group created and distributed resources aimed at advancing Microsoft’s success through the support of independent software vendors (ISVs). This strategy, detailed in presentations and emails, focused on facilitating the development and distribution of applications based on the Windows platform. The success of evangelists was measured by the amount of Windows applications their ISVs built and marketed.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://antitrust.slated.org/www.iowaconsumercase.org/011607/3000/PX03096.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230412073131/https://antitrust.slated.org/www.iowaconsumercase.org/011607/3000/PX03096.pdf |archive-date=12 April 2023 }}</ref>

In the following decades many companies formed DevRel programs. In the 2010s companies like New Relic, Twilio, EngineYard, and SendGrid branded DevRel programs as a "Developer-First approach".<ref name=":11">{{Cite web |last=Stowe |first=Mike |date=May 25, 2017 |title=A Brief History Of Developer Relations Programs: How DevRel Evolved Into Developer Communities |url=https://influitive.com/blog/brief-history-developer-relations-programs-developer-communities/ |access-date=4 March 2022 |website=Influitive}}</ref>

== Organizational roles ==

=== Roles and job titles === DevRel theoretically intersects engineering, marketing, product management, and community management.<ref name=":3" />

There are several different types of roles/job titles in DevRel including:

* '''Developer Advocates''' (aka '''Developer Evangelists'''):<ref name=":4" /> Focus on getting the word out (i.e., evangelizing) through various means such as speaking at conferences, attending meetups, hosting hackathons, creating code samples, building webinars, hosting virtual office hours and/or advocating by acting as a liaison between the community and internal product teams.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |date=July 1, 2021 |title=What is Developer Relations and What are Common Roles? |url=https://www.moesif.com/blog/developer-relations/definition/What-is-Developer-Relations-and-What-are-Common-Roles/ |access-date=4 March 2022 |website=Moesif Blog}}</ref> They likely have coding experience<ref name=":4" /> and may collect feedback, create demos/code samples, or find solutions to issues with the product.<ref name=":5" /> * '''Developer Experience (DX) Practitioners''': Own user experience initiatives for products developers use.<ref name=":5" /> DX encompasses both products and documentation,<ref name=":1" /> and DX practitioners may deal with SDK or API design, onboarding flows, and documentation.<ref name=":5" /> * '''Technical Community Managers''': Community managers who focus on conversations of a technical nature, about technical aspects of a product.<ref name=":4" /> They may identify and track opportunities for Developer Advocacy teams to educate and inspire their peer developers.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nguyen-Huu |first=Dan |title=Building Community and Dev Rel at Product-Led Companies |url=https://www.decibel.vc/content/building-community-and-dev-rel-at-product-led-companies |access-date=4 March 2022 |website=Decibel}}</ref> * '''Developer Marketers''': Target and capture software developers' attention to grow awareness, adoption and advocacy of tools, solutions, and platforms.<ref name=":6">{{Cite web |last=utkarsh |first=0xZeus |date=August 28, 2021 |title=Developer Marketers-DevRel Carousels #6 |url=https://dev.to/devrel/developer-marketers-devrel-carousels-6-4bhk |access-date=4 March 2022 |website=Dev.to}}</ref> They focus on solving real-world problems by providing solutions to help developers improve their workflows and increase development efficiency.<ref name=":6" /> They also facilitate developer advocacy by empowering and evangelizing developers to champion a target product.<ref name=":6" /> * '''Technical Writers''': Technical writers produce content such as online help, manuals, white papers, etc. When working with highly-technical products, such as developer tools, a technical writer is often considered a DevRel role.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hughes |first=Karl |date=October 26, 2021 |title=What is a Developer Advocate? |url=https://draft.dev/learn/what-is-a-developer-advocate |access-date=4 March 2022 |website=DRAFT.DEV Blog}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Dhar |first=Shibam |date=February 4, 2022 |title=What is DevRel? {{!}} What is Developer Relations ? {{!}} What is Developer Advocate ? |url=https://tutorialslink.com/Articles/What-is-DevRel-What-is-Developer-Relations-What-is-Developer-Advocate/3198 |access-date=4 March 2022 |website=Tutorials Link}}</ref>

=== Report structure === DevRel practitioners may report to different groups within an organization – both technical and non-technical. In a 2021 survey, DevRel practitioners when asked "Which department does your DevRel team report to?" answered the following:<ref name=":7" />

{| class="wikitable" |+ DevRel reports to |- ! Team !! Percentage |- | Marketing || 26.2% |- | Product || 17.4% |- | Engineering || 15.9% |- | CEO || 11.8% |- | CTO || 10.8% |}

=== Salary structure === Annual salaries for DevRel practitioners vary from less than US$50,000 to over $250,000 in some cases. A survey from 2021 indicates that the largest segment of annual salaries was between $100,000 and $150,000.<ref name=":7" />

== Companies practicing DevRel ==

=== Developer-first versus developer-plus companies <span class="anchor" id="Developer-first"></span> === Organizations which practice DevRel may be '''Developer-first''' or '''Developer-plus''' (aka '''Dev +''') depending on their primary business model. Developer-First companies (e.g., Stripe, Camunda, PerceptiLabs, Unity, and Twilio) have a business-to-developer model (B2D) focused on selling products specifically designed to be used by developers. Developer-Plus companies (e.g., Slack, Spotify, Apple, Qualcomm, and Santander) tend to be business-to-business (B2B) or business-to-consumer (B2C).<ref name=":7" /> While the primary focus of Developer-Plus companies is to create and sell products for businesses or consumers, they also make products or services available to developers which benefit or enhance their strategy including: opening new market channels, creating new use cases, contributing to innovation strategies, or optimizing/enhancing existing products.

In 2021, a survey showed that 63.6% of organizations with DevRel programs were Developer-Plus, and 36.4% were Developer-First.<ref name=":7" />

=== Developer influence and market sizing === Regardless of Developer-Plus or Developer-First, companies are recognizing the growing power developers have in influencing purchasing decisions.<ref name=":9" /> This includes new companies focused on making tools for developers, and existing companies whose primary focus was elsewhere, which are now recognizing the developer opportunity. Thus, business leaders are now involved in starting new DevRel programs at their companies or increasing the impact of their existing programs.<ref name=":10">{{Cite web |last=Lewko and Parton |date=2021 |title=Developer Relations How to Build and Grow a Successful Developer Program |url=https://www.springerprofessional.de/en/developer-relations/19661896 |access-date=4 March 2022 |website=Springer Professional}}</ref>

Products or services targeted at developers comprise an estimated $49 billion (in 2021)<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jewell |first=Tyler |date=September 7, 2021 |title=Developer-Led Landscape: 2021 Edition |url=https://tylerjewell.substack.com/p/developer-led-landscape-2021-edition?s=r |access-date=4 March 2022 |website=Tyler’s Musings}}</ref> ''Developer-Led landscape'' that spans many categories including:<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ahrens |first=Ken |title=The Developer-Led Landscape |url=https://speedscale.com/2020/09/23/the-developer-led-landscape/ |access-date=4 March 2022 |website=Speedscale|date=23 September 2020 }}</ref>

* '''Software Delivery Lifecycle (SDLC)''': SDLC solutions for processes such as designing, developing, and testing software. * '''Dev Tools''': Tools for building software. * '''Dev Infrastructure''': Hardware and software that support the distributed, repeatable construction of software. * '''Dev Platforms''': Developer-interfacing, code-first, and API-only runtimes. Twilio, is an example of a Developer-First company, and more specifically an ''API-first'' company,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wilhelm |first=Alex |date=March 1, 2022 |title=As API-first startups multiply, GGV builds an index |url=https://techcrunch.com/2022/03/01/as-api-first-startups-multiply-ggv-builds-an-index/?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAIk_Mknk-lxDCWiNN2xlCG1PSeizqPdaCiJO061IKmuAKC0bmhjDfFef3zBxdQI73MKILU_JmTfVEwSumVB9q1cwIrSwrPKwJ6ydPh1Affji1evdExzzjf2W1CF4t1VZIXiFO5QSBBEeBlYi9AQ2UMlB6y1O9YQFWune8EUXvrPn |access-date=4 March 2022 |website=TechCrunch}}</ref> that helped to shape the ''API economy''<ref>{{Cite web |date=January 4, 2017 |title=On the Origins of API-First Companies |url=https://blog.readme.com/on-the-origins-of-api-first-companies/ |access-date=4 March 2022 |website=ReadMe}}</ref> (business models and practices designed around APIs<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lutkevich |first=Ben |title=API economy |url=https://www.techtarget.com/searchapparchitecture/definition/API-economy |access-date=4 March 2022 |website=Tech Target}}</ref>), popularize DevRel programs,<ref name=":11" /> and became known for platform evangelism. Notably, their three-word billboard in Silicon Valley that simply said: "Ask Your Developer", followed by the Twilio logo, is credited with having started conversations between executives and developers in strategic decision making.<ref name=":11" />

=== Breakdown by region === DevRel initiatives are practiced by organizations around the globe. In 2021, the breakdown of companies practicing DevRel globally were primarily in North America (Canada and the US – 61.5%) and Europe (Eastern Europe, Western Europe, and the UK – 21.6%). Other countries/regions include Australia/New Zealand, China, India, and the Middle East.<ref name=":7" />

=== Breakdown by industries === While DevRel is primarily prevalent in IT/IS it is also used in other industries. The general breakdown in 2021 was:<ref name=":7" />

* Information Technology/Services 44.6% * SaaS 20.5% * Telecom 6.2% * Financial services 7.7%

== References == <references />

Category:Technology evangelism Category:Interdisciplinary subfields Category:Subfields of computer science Category:Business management Category:Marketing Category:Software engineering