Nowhere does my post indicate that I think I'm the "sole reason" the company makes any money. We are all just cogs in the machine. But, as with anyone who makes the product, we are a huge part of the reason the company is in business and it would be nice if management would stop looking down at us. Maybe they should be looking up to us instead. (And if you disagree, read into the tone of the article.... "techies"??? Ideas for paying us less?)

Not to discount other departments like marketing or operations -- they are important too. But they don't make the product, they are more numerous, and more interchangeable.

> But they don't make the product

Not sure how important that is, though. Often the product gets sold despite of the product, thanks to marketing, operations, logistics, sales, support, legal and management (product/project).

Genuinely curious but do you consider product/project management to also 'be making the product'?

If their project is said product, then yes; because they are, in a way, architecting the final deliverable. And that recognition goes up the chain, in an increasingly diluted form, until it reaches the top.