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79

answers:

2

In my case we are required to be physically present at office when developing software.

I am looking for help to argue for why software developers shall have a dedicated physical software development computer, to be productive and cost effective. As a business case we have argued that productivity will go down by 25%, however it's my feeling that the reality is probably closer to 50%. This business case isn't really accepted and I find it very difficult to defend.

Background information: I work in a company which main business is not to develop software.

Because safety/stability is such a big priority, non-production systems/applications are deployed in a physical separate network.

  • To access the test network the company has created a standard policy, which dictates that access to the test network shall go only via a remote desktop client. Practically from ones production computer one would open up a remote desktop client to a virtual computer located in the test network. On the virtual computer's remote desktop one would be able to access/run/install all development tools, like Eclipse IDE.

  • Another solution would be to have a dedicated physical computer, which is physically only connected to the test network.

Both remote desktop and physical access solutions are available in the company.

There is nothing technical wrong with the remote client, just not optimal and frankly de-motivating. Remember that we are physically in office. Now with the new policies put in place, plans are to remove the physical computers connected to the test network.

Further one can notice that we are talking about approx. 50 computers out of 2000 employees. Therefore the extra budget is relatively small. This is more about policy than cost.

Help is appreciated

A: 

I've done development via a remote desktop connection and while it is possible, it can be very frustrating. I would argue that employee morale and job satisfaction are reason enough to allow developers to have physical machines. If your happiness (and therefore productivity) are not a good enough reason for them you may be fighting a losing battle.

TLiebe
Moral is a difficult topic. It would be easier to have less emotional arguments.
s5804
Yes, it's a difficult topic but there is no doubt that it has an effect on long-term productivity. Working in a frustrating environment over a period of weeks and months will have a definite impact though it may be hard to give a dollar value to. Employers that don't take this into account will find productivity goes down and employee turnover goes up. Is a slight lag in screen response enough to demotivate people? Probably not - but it may be a contributing factor.
TLiebe
A: 

Biggest reason i hate it is cause there's no multiple monitor support. No matter how fast the connection is, my productivity is reduced when i'm limited to one monitor.

I know there are some work-arounds to make it happen..but it doesn't work for my multi-monitor configuration where I have one monitor vertical, and the rest horizontal.

Ed B