Peopleware

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What Does Peopleware Mean?

Peopleware refers to the human role in an IT system. In many cases, peopleware forms a kind of “conceptual triangle” with hardware and software. The term refers to human talent as a kind of commodified piece of an IT process and a key part of providing various technical business models and other planning resources.

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Techopedia Explains Peopleware

Examples of peopleware include various job roles that are commonly understood as parts of an IT process. These include computer engineers, website designers, technicians and other IT specialists, such as database administrators or networking specialists. Those who are classified under the broad umbrella of peopleware typically hold key certifications in these and other areas of IT specialization.

The use of the term peopleware has led to a vibrant debate about how companies view human talent. Many individual IT specialists, bloggers and others see this type of classification as demeaning, and argue that human workers are not resources but independent parts of a team structure. As such, classifying professionals as peopleware promotes a simplification that can be harmful to corporate relationships. This issue is likely to become more prevalent in IT as corporate cultures often clash with the interests of independent knowledge workers who hold the kinds of talent that businesses need to achieve their goals.

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Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert
Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert

Margaret is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.