A visionary US retail startup approached our team to develop a groundbreaking integrated marketing platform. This case study details our collaborative three-year development journey, highlighting the project’s significant successes. Their transformative journey started with just having a product idea and culminated in the recent success, highlighted by our customer’s acquisition by a prominent NASDAQ-listed corporation.
This piece is essential reading for developers, project managers, and business leaders who are keen to leverage cutting-edge technologies to optimize their operations and drive innovation.
In this article, we will discuss the latest trends in software development, supported by statistics and facts, to help your organization navigate the evolving technological landscape effectively. Discover which trends will dominate the custom software development arena in the next two years, and why integrating these insights could be transformative for your projects and professional growth.
First, let’s dispel any concerns about a decline in the software market. Contrary to such worries, the sector remains robust with optimistic forecasts.
The global software market was valued at USD 589.6 billion in 2022 and is expected to soar to approximately USD 1,789.14 billion by 2032, growing at a CAGR of 11.74% from 2023 to 2032, according to Precedence Research. Meanwhile, the software development market itself is projected to reach $858.10 billion by 2028, with a growth rate of 5.27%.
C-suite executives rank technology as the top driver of change, with 61% expecting technological disruption to accelerate even more in 2024. Yet, nearly half (47%) admit they are unprepared for this rapid pace, and 44% anticipate needing more than six months to adapt and leverage the potential benefits. Accenture
From a strategic bird’s-eye view, insights from Gartner prove particularly illuminative.
InnerSource
InnerSource represents a logical and organic synergy, appearing as a robust strategy. It involves applying open-source practices to proprietary code, allowing organizations to bridge gaps and break down process isolation. This approach fosters a more robust and efficient software development lifecycle.
Ultimately, InnerSource accelerates software creation and enhances team collaboration, leading to higher quality development and improved documentation.
More detailed trends related to open source will be discussed at the end of this article.
Developer Experience
It extends beyond just tools and technologies. While daily tools are crucial for enhancing workflow quality, the developer experience also relies on non-technical factors. These include dedicated time for deep, creative, meaningful work, and the freedom to experiment without fear of failure.
Platform Engineering
Platform engineering integrates DevOps principles to streamline the development process, focusing on enhancing security, compliance, and efficiency within a managed environment. This approach supports a shift toward product-based thinking alongside strategic tool utilization.
Gartner forecasts that by 2026, 80% of engineering organizations will incorporate a dedicated platform engineering team. These teams are pivotal in developing internal platforms that streamline operations across various sectors like sales (e.g., Microsoft Dynamics, Salesforce), service fulfilment (e.g., ServiceNow), and communications (e.g., Twilio), significantly speeding up the creation of business value.
Such platforms optimize the developer experience by reducing complexity and automating operations. This strategic integration not only enhances productivity but also scales business operations efficiently and securely.
Digital Immune System
Digital immunity combines observability, software testing, chaos engineering, development, site reliability, and supply chain security to enhance app resilience and quality.
While many organizations employ these strategies, only their integration, synergy and symbiosis achieves the robustness needed to keep complex systems running under stress.
It needs to be considered even before building starts, specifically during the phase where the product discovery workshop takes place.
We will also touch on other topics outlined in the diagram as we discuss more practically oriented trends.
AI implementation and Machine Learning
Developers are progressively adopting AI-based coding tools that not only accelerate the programming process but also reduce manual mistakes, cutting both time and costs involved in development.
For example, GitHub’s Copilot employs AI to instantly recommend code snippets and complete functions. Likewise, AI-based analytics tools like Tableau enable businesses to extract valuable ideas and perspectives from their dataflows with unprecedented efficiency. Among the recent innovations designed to significantly ease developers’ lives, Devin AI by Cognition Labs has made considerable noise at the time of writing this article.
Undoubtedly, 2024 is poised to be a year of further development and integration of various breakthrough technologies, especially in automating tasks related to text, coding, visualization, and even testing, deployment, monitoring, and management.
This topic is currently of utmost importance, and to avoid repetition, this overview simply refers to our series of articles with detailed analyses of trends and expectations in AI.
Be sure to check out our separate writings on AI implementation trends:
Ensuring Best Practices in Software Development with a Focus on Security
Today, prioritizing best practices in software development, such as robust security measures and safe deployment strategies, is essential.
Even before the full-scale war in Ukraine and the attacks on Israel began, annual business losses due to cybercrime (see the detailed list of data breaches) were estimated at amounts comparable to the annual budgets of major countries.
According to Cybersecurity Ventures, global costs from cybercrime are expected to grow by at least 15 percent per year, reaching $10.5 trillion annually by 2025. With the intensification of geopolitical issues and the activation of wars, the importance of this issue is set to increase even further.
This topic is currently of utmost importance, and to avoid repetition, this overview simply refers to our series of articles with detailed analyses of trends and expectations in AI.
Here’s a breakdown of key areas to focus on:
- Zero Trust and Enhanced Encryption: This category replaces traditional perimeter-based security models with a ‘never trust, always verify’ approach, mandating authentication for all users/devices, irrespective of their location. Moreover, the growing frequency of data breaches is catalysing the adoption of sophisticated encryption techniques to safeguard data both at rest and in motion, incorporating nascent methods like homomorphic encryption.
- Safety-Focused Coding Techniques: Increasing emphasis is placed on training developers in secure coding methods. This involves consistent code assessments, vulnerability evaluations, and the application of both static and dynamic analysis instruments to identify and correct security vulnerabilities during the development phase.
- Cybersecurity as a Service (CaaS): Many organizations now adopt CaaS, a security solution providing comprehensive protection against cyber threats. Demand for CaaS is expected to rise as businesses become more aware of security implications.
- DevOps as a Service: Incorporating DevOps practices as a service helps streamline deployment, cloud migration and operational tasks, ensuring they are executed with security in mind, enhancing both efficiency and security.
- DevSecOps – The Security Guarantee: With security as a critical priority, there’s an increasing shift towards merging DevOps functions with cybersecurity expertise within organizations. This integration, known as DevSecOps, guarantees that security measures are embedded throughout the development.
- Development of Highly Secure Networks: This strategy involves a versatile, component-based approach to security, where each device receives individual protection. This strategy fosters a more robust and flexible security framework equipped to handle the evolving landscape of contemporary cyber threats, thus securing the entire network more effectively.
- ML + Cybersecurity: When scouting for upcoming trends, it’s essential to keep in mind the significance of integrating machine learning in cybersecurity to bolster future security protocols.
These strategies collectively enhance the security and integrity of custom software development processes, positioning organizations to better protect against evolving cyber threats.
Quality Control Automation as a Driving Force in Software Quality
In 2024, quality control automation will play a pivotal role in enhancing software quality. This automation will adopt new trends such as artificial intelligence integration, DevOps cohesion, and early defect detection to meet critical needs. Such advancements will enable timely problem identification, leading to improved software quality, reduced testing cycles, and enhanced user experience. The synergy of these factors will take software quality assurance to new heights in the coming years.
Crypto Development: Closer to Cryptography Than Cryptocurrency
Crypto-related software development is moving beyond mere cryptocurrency speculation, and today it’s less about the blockchain technology itself.
It now encompasses the development of data storage security, Distributed Physical Infrastructure (DePIN), privacy, “zero knowledge” concept and cryptography best practices, identification, supply chains, symbiosis with traditional finance (TradFi), including totally integrated automation, and seamless integration solutions with existing payment systems and FinTech solutions. There’s also an emphasis on linking with RWA, Real World Assets (commodities, real estate, etc.), and gaining popularity through the entertainment industry, among other areas.
As a result, despite minor setbacks, crypto development continues to grow in the medium term. Those interested in more details can refer to the “2023 Crypto Developer Report” by Electric Capital for an in-depth analysis of development dynamics.
As a result, there is a shortage of skilled developers. This includes those in Rust (Solana and beyond), smart contract developers, backend specialists, and those capable of creating quality frontends, which are crucial for crypto projects.
Furthermore, discussions about crypto often immediately shift to blockchain, although the field offers much more depth across various protocols—from Layer 0 to Layers 2 and even 3. However, crypto development extends far beyond just blockchain and smart contracts. It encompasses backend development, microservices, integrations, and more.
Stay tuned for Part 2, where we will explore how emerging technologies like IoT and cloud-based solutions are revolutionizing software development across various platforms and industries. We’ll delve into architectural trends, ‘as a service’ models, and UX/UI and omnichannel strategies. Plus, discover ways to simplify development and accelerate adoption, and much more.