2020 was a year of unprecedented change, disruption, and IT growth. Businesses had to rewrite how they connected with customers and supported employees. Organizations pivoted to remote-first environments overnight, and it was the largest scaled digital transformation IT has ever seen.
During the past year, software developers became “digital first responders,” keeping their organizations agile and resilient by moving workloads to the cloud, enabling collaboration across organizations, and developing software faster. Software development teams have already undergone massive change in the past year, but Microsoft has also identified seven key trends that will play a major role in development teams in 2021.
In this blog, we are outlining the seven trends Microsoft has highlighted that will affect software development teams in the new year.
Demand for Developer Talent – Research estimates that we will see 150 million tech jobs over the next five years with digital skills like programming topping the list. There will be high demand for developer talent.
Training – With the high demand comes the need for training the next generation of software developers. Training, in-person and virtual, will be a major trend in the new year.
Workplace Flexibility – Most developers prefer to work in a remote-friendly environment. In 2020, we will see many organizations adopt a remote-first culture to allow developers the flexibility and comfort to work where they want.
Team Culture – With the rise of remote work, there will be a greater emphasis on inclusive and supportive team cultures that advocate for human-centered design and coding.
Open Source – Open-source projects jumped 25% since April and has become a go-to resource for developer teams.
Low-Code – Developers were tasked with reinventing how businesses operate in a remote world. While being stretched beyond capacity, many developers adopted and supported low-code tools. According to Microsoft, “low-code has the potential to fundamentally change how developers work,” and get solutions and tools developers more quickly.
Continuation – The last year will have a lasting impact on the technology industry, and many of those changes will continue into the new year.
