DevRel | Meaning, Steps, Components and Challenges

What is DevRel?

DevRel stands for Developer Relations, is a strategic approach that companies use to build and maintain strong relationships with developers in their ecosystem. The primary aim of DevRel is to support developers, encourage them to use the company’s products, platforms, or technologies, and foster a sense of community and collaboration. It involves various activities and initiatives geared towards engaging, educating, and assisting developers while gathering feedback to improve products and services.

Goal of DevRel

The goal of DevRel is to support developers, encourage them to build applications or services using the company’s products or platforms and foster a sense of community and collaboration. The ultimate goal of DevRel is to create a vibrant and engaged developer ecosystem that benefits both developers and the company, leading to increased adoption, improved product quality, and the growth of a loyal developer community.

Steps and Required Components to Set up DevRel

Step 1: Define DevRel Goals and Objectives

• Determine the primary goals (e.g., developer adoption, community growth, feedback collection).
• Identify specific objectives (e.g., increase API usage by XYZ%, host XYZ developer events per year).

Step 2: Establish a DevRel Team

• To establish a devrel team we need to Recruit and onboard developer advocates, technical writers, and required community managers.
• Next, we need to assign roles and responsibilities within the team.

Step 3: Develop Developer-Centric Resources

• Create technical documentation.
• Write sample code, tutorials, and instructions.
• Build a developer portal or website.

Step 4: Participate in the Developer Community

• Host the required developer events (conferences, meetups, webinars, hackathons).
• Participate in relevant developer forums and online communities.
• Provide responsive developer support (email, chat, forums).

Step 5: Collect Feedback and Take Action

• Create channels for feedback (user surveys, bug tracking).
• Gather feedback from developers and bug reports.
• Collaborate with product teams to address the issues and implement required improvements.

Step 6: Measure and Report

• Define key performance indicators (KPIs).
• Monitor and measure the success of DevRel initiatives.
• Prepare regular reports on DevRel activities and their impact.

Step 7: Iterate the report and feedback and Improve

• Review and analyze feedback and performance metrics.
• Adjust DevRel strategies and activities based on insights.
• Continuously improve developer resources and support.

The Outline of the steps involved in setting up and running a DevRel program. The specific details and activities within each step will depend on the goals and resources of your company, as well as the nature of your developer community and the products or services you offer.

DevRel Set up with Real-time Examples

• Many prominent technology companies use DevReal to support their products and their platforms and build stronger developer communities. DevRel initiatives vary in scale and focus depending on the company’s offerings and target developer audience, but they all aim to create a positive and productive developer experience.
• Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Salesforce, Adobe, etc., use DevRel to support their products indulge in Developer Relations and maintain developer forums.
• Google provides extensive DevRel support for various products and platforms, including Android, TensorFlow, and Google Cloud. They host the annual Google I/O developer conference, offer comprehensive documentation, maintain developer forums, and create educational content on YouTube and its Medium.
• Microsoft has a dedicated Developer Relations team that focuses on engaging with developers through events like Microsoft Build.
• GitHub, a platform for hosting and collaborating on code, actively engages with developers through its Developer Relations team. They host GitHub Universe, an annual developer conference, provide extensive documentation, and offer GitHub Actions and GitHub Discussions to facilitate collaboration.
• Facebook’s DevRel team supports developers building on Facebook’s various platforms, such as the Facebook Graph API and Instagram API. They offer technical documentation, tools, and educational resources for developers.
• Adobe’s DevRel team supports developers using Adobe’s Creative Cloud, Document Cloud, and Experience Cloud products. They offer API documentation, developer forums, and resources for building integrations and extensions.

These examples illustrate how technology companies invest in DevRel to support developers, offer resources, and build strong developer communities around their products and platforms.

Challenges of DevRel

While Developer Relations (DevRel) programs can provide significant benefits to technology companies and developers, they are not without their potential disadvantages and challenges. Here are some disadvantages of DevRel:

• Resource Intensive: DevRel programs require dedicated resources, including personnel, budget, and time. Building and maintaining developer-focused resources, events, and support channels can be costly.
• Scalability: Scaling a DevRel program to accommodate a growing developer community can be challenging. As the developer base expands, maintaining the same level of personal engagement can become more difficult.
• Long-Term Investment: It can take time to see the full benefits of a DevRel program. Building a strong developer community and gaining developer trust can be a long-term endeavour.
• Maintaining Relevance: Keeping developer resources up to date and relevant can be a constant challenge, as technologies evolve, and developer needs change.
• Dependency Risk: Over-reliance on a DevRel team for developer support can lead to problems if the team is downsized or members leave the company.

Although there may be some drawbacks, many IT businesses believe that DevRel’s advantages—such as higher developer adoption, improved product feedback, and a thriving developer community—outweigh these possible drawbacks. Successful DevRel programs are those that are well thought out, in line with business objectives, and flexible enough to change to meet the changing requirements of both the business and the developer community.