As the Agile software development methodology gets closer to its 20th anniversary, it has truly entered the mainstream, illustrated by its wide adoption at many enterprises and smaller businesses. The maturity of this application engineering practice is evidenced by novel organizational structures aimed at facilitating Agile, most notably Tribes. The growth of DevOps is another example of a business innovation – focused on collaboration – influenced by Agile.
What follows is a look at a few of the expected trends in both Agile and DevOps over the coming year. Maybe some of these ideas spark some inspiration in your own software projects?
A recent study from Udemy for Business, an online learning platform, noted the candidate skills most in demand at organizations in 2017. Commenting on the growth of Agile workplaces throughout many industries, Udemy forecasts that businesses desire candidates with experience working in an Agile office or on projects using the methodology. These companies also want candidates with the soft skills – strong communication, business acumen, etc. – to help them thrive in an Agile environment.
This prediction truly reveals how this methodology, first developed in the early 21st Century, squarely resides in the technology mainstream.
There’s no denying that Agile, DevOps, and other methodology innovations made the process of software development significantly faster. One 2017 Agile trend is the growth of “citizen developers,” essentially employees working outside of a traditional IT role leveraging rapid application development (RAD) environments to quickly build software applications to serve a specific business need. Industry pundit, John Carione, commented on this trend for TechTarget.
“Agile methodologies changed how companies evaluate and implement technology. In 2017, we’ll see a new wave of Agile thinking enter the enterprise — this time with a focus on helping enterprises make strategic decisions more quickly. Employees — whether in IT, operations or a marketing department — will be able to use rapid application development and automated research tools to run quick tests and answer questions on their own. By more quickly understanding which processes and strategies are working and which are not, employees can be empowered to make intelligent decisions and adjust their business approaches on the fly,” said Carione.
IT security seems to be a constant worry for many CIOs, especially considering the growth of ransomware. Shops combining development and network operations under the DevOps moniker need to remain vigilant against hacking and other nefarious activity in 2017. This is the prediction told to TechRepublic by Reuven Harrison, CTO of the network security solution provider, Tufin.
He feels the need for compliance at many enterprises will force them to enhance their security, which may be difficult considering the rapid rate of project initiation and completion in the DevOps era. Ultimately, it is better to be safe than sorry. “We may see a major breach that gets tracked back to the DevOps approach, causing DevOps and security teams to become new best friends,” commented Harrison.
Be sure to return to the Betica Blog for additional insights from the ever changing world of software development. As always, thanks for reading!
Posted on January 13, 2017
Categories: Quality Assurance, Software Development
Tags: 2017, Agile, cyber security, DevOps, Quality Assurance, rapid application development, Software Development, trends