My current employer uses developers as data analysts. Thinking back to past employers, only the software company I worked for 12 years ago used developers strictly as developers. All the other employers (IT/IS) had developers doing data analysis to different degrees. By data analysis I am referring to producing custom reports/forms on demand. These reports/forms are then, when approved by the manager, used by a user to analyze data trends.

(My comments below are based on observations made in USA organizations. I was told by a German developer I worked with that there are differences in management roles between the USA and Germany.)

I have seen the trend to "empower" the end user come and go a few times. Each time it is presaged by a new round of tools. While some of the tools are good I believe that the problem is not the tool but the role of managers. They are predominantly paid to look at higher level organizational activity and not details. Detail work is delegated by the managers I have known. If the manager has the resources, then she/he may have a super-user who gets trained to use tools for data analysis. Otherwise, the developers get stuck with it because they are part of "Information Services" - emphasis on the services.

It is not all bad. Doing that kind of work allows you to get more familiar with the application domain you code for. However, there is usually so much data analysis to do that you never actually get to design better systems from the application knowledge you have gained.

I just do not see the use of developers as "typists" changing unless organizational roles change.

"The situation of developers doing simple clerical work is endemic in the business world." And who are the people assumed to be doing simple clerical work? Women.

"Depending on how much the manager depends on his secretary you might want to train her instead." The key word in the previous sentence is 'her'. And if there's a woman programmer around to train her, so much the better (cough).

Women programmers (, mechanical engineers, you name it) have the "Developers as Typists" problem in spades. This is especially true in small companies that have no secretary (or the secretary is a hopeless bozo), and everyone wants the company to succeed.

Hence, starting in 1982, I wind up being a power user of every computer and office-y app I touch. I'm the person who figures out how to do a mail merge, force inadequately designed Access databases to spit out useful reports, resize JPGs and convert them to GIFs, produce PDFs with bookmarks, etc.

I call this "playing secretary." Unfortunately, it often takes me a while to notice that I've been sucked into playing secretary. The pattern/trap becomes really obvious when the guys do interesting development work while I'm farting around creating InstallShield installers.

Watch out, gals, for the "playing secretary" power user trap.

Depending on how much the manager depends on his secretary you might want to train her instead. Some managers can’t even properly place a phone call without help. Again, if the manager was born after 1970 you might have a chance he is actually comfortable enough with computers to generate his own reports if it is easy enough to do.

The situation of developers doing simple clerical work is endemic in the business world. My guess is that in any big company the typical developer spends 30% of the time doing work that could be offloaded to an administrative assistant with intermediate PC knowledge. There is not enough incentive to do so for some reason.