2023 isn’t kicking off the way we would have hoped. With a looming recession, a European war, and supply chain disruptions, companies need to be aware of the impact it will have on their IT and software teams. From investments and budgets being readjusted or cut completely, to the discount consolidations of companies and the backlash DevOps will receive, value and direct ROI will take precedence.
This can be exciting as it leaves room for solution-oriented companies to stand out, innovation to pave the way, and autonomous testing and new development tools to propel the industry forward. In preparation, we should be aware of the following DevOps predictions for 2023.
1. The IT Investment Landscape Has Changed
Budgets have shifted and investments will generally be pulled back unless an IT or software investment delivers radical savings within 12 months. While there will always be companies that hope to leapfrog with high-risk/high-gain investments, most companies will err on the side of caution by protecting their existing investments and only keeping the operations that need to be funded. When money is tight, demonstrating value, impact, and growth data is crucial.
What this will do is weed out some of the companies that can’t adapt or have been sliding by without the impact data. Others will shine and it will lead to a survival of the ‘fittest’ in terms of IT and software companies. When this happens, promising technology companies will become bargains as they run out of cash, and due to the fear-dominated business climate, there will be few potential buyers. The only way of survival for these companies will be a discount consolidation game.
2. DevOps Backlash
After years of DevOps fever, criticism towards DevOps is going to grow, for two different reasons. First, many businesses will fail to reap the benefits because they have only implemented tools without changing their working practices. Second, many companies have and will continue to reduce IT operations personnel assuming that “ops” will somehow happen by itself in DevOps.
Developing working practices and clearly communicating what DevOps needs to be successful can help provide transparency. As in any internal group, highlighting the business impact to other departments and leadership and identifying areas for growth can keep DevOps teams and tools off the chopping block.
Nevertheless, DevOps will continue to deliver success and gain popularity among those that implement it right and, despite temporary hiccups, the crowd of successful DevOps adopters will continue to grow.
3. Value Metrics for Fact-Based Management
Companies with large system portfolios will seek methods and tools for assessing and comparing the success and performance of their projects, products, and teams reliably and objectively. DevOps metrics and value stream analysis will be in demand among such organizations.
This circles back to the need for demonstrating value and impact. The tighter budgets get, the more metrics companies will need to justify spend and headcount. If your team hasn’t begun a system of value stream analysis, now is the time.
4. Autonomous Testing Will Shine
As low-code/no-code folks struggle with large-scale test automation, tool vendors will seek ways to automate more testing tasks, such as test generation from recorded user actions, test selection, test analysis, test healing, auto-regression, etc. This will help to propel autonomous testing and create opportunities for vendors already operating in this space or yet to enter.
Likewise, innovative solutions such as advanced machine learning technologies will enable no-code developers to innovate and create applications never seen before. This evolution may pave the way for a new breed of development tools, moving companies from no-code to no-brain AI quickly.
Summary
“More with less” and “work smarter, not harder” may sound like empty phrases, but some companies will make them real. When resources are tight, innovation is bred because companies are looking to maximize what they have and what they can do by leveraging the technologies available to them.
Low-code tools and innovative platforms enable business users to create applications faster – and often cheaper too! But these people are not trained in software engineering. To succeed on a larger scale and with consistent quality, they need a DevOps toolchain that can establish and enforce the right processes for them, automate anything that requires deep technical skills, and help them manage their process.
Keep a lookout for companies that can deliver on the needs for autonomous testing, no-code solutions, and DevOps metrics.