I've been the sole DevOps guy at my company for almost a year. I've set up the CICD processes for the developers, created a whole suite of Bicep modules for our infrastructure, and I'm also managing a self-hosted LGTM stack where I developed the OTel implementation libraries for our devs using JS and C#. Now, I'm delving into Kubernetes and Helm as I drive our containerization efforts. Given all that, I'm wondering—am I taking on too much? Is this normal for a single person in my role?
5 Answers
It really depends on your company's size. In smaller companies or startups, it's not uncommon for one person to handle all these responsibilities. However, if you’re swamped with self-hosting and implementing everything on your own, it could be a lot to take on. You should definitely talk to your manager about possibly getting some support to lower the risk of burnout. On the positive side, the experience will look great on your resume—just make sure you're not taking all the responsibility yourself!
What does BAU mean, by the way? Just curious!
Do you feel like your hard work is being recognized? Were these responsibilities planned out, or did they just happen? It's key to check in with how satisfied you are with your situation. It's important to balance workload and recognition.
If you're the only one handling all of this, you're putting the company at risk if you ever decide to leave. That’s not normal for a workplace; they really should have backup plans in place. Look into the concept of ‘bus factor’—it's crucial for maintaining a good team structure in development.
Absolutely, you're doing a lot. But should you keep going? Yes! And make sure they’re compensating you fairly for all this work you’re doing. You deserve it!
BAU stands for Business As Usual. It's essentially what routine work looks like in a typical scenario.