SRE Stakeholders: A Spotter’s Guide

For Every SRE or SRE-adjacent team in any organisation, there are many kinds of stakeholders; people who care (or don't care!) about how your team operates, and the outcomes of that. They differ massively in how they view your team, and in how they, in turn, should be viewed, and managed.

In a timeline that doesn't contain a canonical book setting out what SRE is here for and how it achieves that, the sad and annoying answer is that "it depends". Because of this, we need to get good (or remain good) at stakeholder management and communications about why we're here, and what we do.

While primarily useful to SRE leadership, the kinds of stakeholders you run into can be useful to know for any SRE. Learn to spot the different stakeholders in your life, what they (generally) care about, and how you can help reduce misunderstandings and tension, no matter where you're sitting.