On the naming of "DevOps Engineers"

Alex Yates discusses the contentious use of the job title "DevOps Engineer" in the tech industry, arguing that it misrepresents the collaborative and comprehensive nature of DevOps practices. He points out that DevOps is not a task for a single individual or team but rather a broad organizational approach involving multiple roles and departments working together. Yates suggests that assigning the title "DevOps Engineer" can lead to misunderstandings about DevOps, reducing it to mere deployment pipelines or infrastructure as code, which overlooks its broader cultural and procedural impacts. Instead, he advocates for more precise job titles such as "Build/Release Engineer" or "Infrastructure Engineer" that reflect specific responsibilities. Yates also emphasizes the importance of recognizing DevOps as an organizational capability rather than an individual one, and highlights the potential negative perception of companies that use "DevOps Engineer" as a job title.