Techno Management

There is common perception in the software industry that if you are a manager you don’t need to know the technology (I am talking about the delivery side). But if one has to progress in this (i’ll say knowledge industry) s/he should understand the domain nitty-gritty’s. But how the domain expertise counts? I have noticed the profiles of one of the author of Pragmetic Programmer . This guy has spent around 4-5 years in each of the domain and he is a software consultant. I will say it depends. Basically, if you are good enough in picking up the new things and providing the solution (should have good problem solving skills) that should be good enough. Generally, once should have good knowledge of the (working) domain knowledge and the software techniques (jargon). That should be good enough. Also, for a business case; a good ear for the customer. A techno manager is the one who sees a customer centric problem (and solution), plans it, collects the pieces together and delivers the solution. Again, it depends which space you are in services or the product. Being in service industry, it generally leads in to more people management. Again the involvement can be more depending upon the role. But yes, delivery side is more demanding on people management.