According to the latest report by Deloitte, the pandemic has forced organizations to significantly expedite software delivery and become more resilient than ever before. However, implementing novel technologies while at the same time rolling out new IT solutions to withstand the competition is still challenging.
Especially if taking into account that software needs to meet strict quality standards. Such was the case where the issue with the flight control system installed on Boeing 737 MAX led to an incident of more than 300 victims.
To establish proper software functioning, ensure business continuity, and attain goals in the post-pandemic time, companies should consider these five tech trends
#1. Hyperautomation to deliver growth and efficiency
According to Gartner, this approach will constitute a part of strategic technology trends, helping organizations reap multiple benefits.
By automating as many IT processes as possible, companies improve product quality, reduce human error rates, and achieve streamlined business operations by eliminating repetitive tasks. They also improve agility for more accurate decision-making and lessen costs by scaling down manual intervention.
To attain hyper-automation and ensure high efficiency of business functions, organizations should focus on defining and orchestrating a fit-for-purpose toolkit that includes RPA, both AI and ML, low-code solutions, intelligent business process management suites, iPaaS, and other tools.
#2. Cybersecurity mesh to diminish the cost of breaches
As the number of sophisticated attacks and vulnerabilities is rising due to the increasing complexity of IT infrastructures and accelerated digital transformations, a need for greater cybersecurity is becoming paramount.
Gartner states that by 2024, companies that put safety in place will ensure higher security during remote work and will experience only 10% of the financial impact of security incidents.
They also note that the nature of cybersecurity risks is becoming external (e.g., IoT, public cloud) lying outside the traditional perimeter security. So, organizations need to secure enterprise data and systems irrespective of location, protecting each device and access point.
#3. Shift towards Agile/DevOps practices to boost competitive edge
While the world is briskly approaching the “next normal” era and emerging from lockdowns, the importance of accelerated time to benefits and boosted productivity comes to the fore. These and some other positive outcomes are possible when sticking to Agile and DevOps transformations.
The World Quality Report (WQR) 2021-2022 states that 64% of IT leaders vastly improved speed to market. And the recent McKinsey survey highlights that after embracing Agile, operational performance and efficiency skyrocketed by 30%, whereas financial output was boosted by 65%.
How do companies support this path to agility? Optimize QA efforts, and increase the probability of success (that declines due to the lack of test expertise, which remains the root issue nowadays). Organizations may initiate testing early and strengthen it with test automation and AI, engage software development engineers in test (SDETs), establish more profound collaboration between teams, and focus on building engineering mindsets.
However, the top-most point for performing big-time agility journeys is the readiness to adopt changes and follow business needs (WQR).
#4. AI and ML to improve organizational capabilities
Gartner predicts that this year, AI business value will swell up to almost $4 trillion. While the latest LinkedIn report asserts that in 2021, tech professionals with strong AI/ML skills were among the most in-demand job market participants. And this expertise will continue to be in demand in the future.
The number of AI use cases in diverse industries is growing by leaps and bounds. For instance, today, AI ensures emotional intelligence by predicting the potentially likable content by media consumers, makes the core for a pet companion robot, visualizes possible tumor growth (generative AI), and many more.
As for its usage in quality assurance, the technology helps businesses cut delivery time and enhance software quality. Among the most beneficial scenarios are the following:
- Develop and maintain automated scripts
- Optimize test suites by removing redundant test cases
- Perform automated root cause analysis of surfaced problems
- Prioritize tests
- Predict issues in test models.
#5. Ongoing transition to distributed enterprises to gain productivity
Due to widespread remote work that appeared as a consequence of lockdowns, traditional offices are turning into distributed enterprises with staff working from diverse geographical regions. Gartner forecasts that in a year, 75% of companies that rely on this model will augment revenue 25% faster than their rivals and will also provide a better experience for their employees.
On the way to more resilient organizations
To stay competitive and enable growth despite the fast-changing conditions, companies may focus on such technology trends and practices as hyperautomation, cybersecurity mesh, Agile/DevOps, AI/ML, and distributed enterprises.
Although due to their undoubted complexity, they’ll establish high standards for software quality and help organizations solve business challenges, and increase adaptability to the global situation.