Developer 2.0: New Roles and Challenges

Today, organizations and its IT departments are a close-knit unit. Multiple software allow for the smooth functioning of the organization. But the real hero of this whole scenario is the developer.

Though originally the role of the developer is to develop software applications, modify the existing applications, and test them, it has evolved to be more than that.

Rising as an Influencer

According to a survey, The Rise of the Enterprise Developer, 73 percent of the respondents meet with line of business to gather development requirements. On the other hand, 72 percent—82 percent of those are less than 45 years old—meet with senior management to talk about enterprise development needs.

Most of the developers—86 percent—describe their relationship with the business management as collaborative and 82 percent state it to be consultative. Going forward, communication and collaboration skills will play a major role in the success of a developer and 48 percent agree to it.

Many Facets of the Role

Being a developer isn’t an easy job as many challenges, unique to the role, get in the way. Twenty-nine percent state doing more work with less staff is a hurdle. Whereas keeping up with new technology advancements and changing skill requirements is a challenge for another 29 percent.

Scope creep or unprecedented growth of requirements in a project is a challenge for 28 percent of the developers.

But developers are resourceful and have found solutions ready for these challenges as well. For instance, 59 percent say problem solving/troubleshooting skills are most important to be successful in their role and 52 percent are confident in these skills.

Developers seek advice from peers when strategic and technical challenges arise.  They also perform Google searches, check blogs and posts in online communities.

The Road Ahead for Future Goals

Developers are clear about the areas to concentrate on in the coming days. Developing software takes the top spot with 44 percent opting for it, 41 percent want to research new tools and solutions, and 39 percent want to design software.

Developers—42 percent—are also looking forward to learning new programming languages. The top five languages are JavaScript, HTML, C#, Java and Python.

But developers believe they need to be trained in various skills. Thirty-four percent want to be trained in cloud API expertise, 33 percent want to know more about data analytics and 31 percent want to focus on security management.