It should come as little surprise that the technology industry as a whole experiences its fair share of change. One sector where this is no less true is in software development, in which several key areas are emerging as forthcoming trends that software designers are being advised to take cognisance of.

According to Malcolm Rabson, the managing director of Dariel Solutions, these trends include mobile apps, touch-screen interfaces, gesture controls and platform interoperability.

Rabson explained that in the 90s the rapid rise of the internet led to a renaissance in software development. This compelled aspiring programmers to harness the power of browsers, come up with interesting webpage designs, and leverage the functionality of bulletin boards that evolved quickly into significant community forums.

However, this rapidly changed after the dot com crash that characterised the beginning of the 2000s.

Down to earth with a (dot com) crash

“Many would argue that the dot com crash forced companies to take an honest look at technology and how they were implementing it to drive business strategy. This more realistic approach saw a shift in how software development was approached,” elaborated Rabson.

He continued that, suddenly, companies of all sizes were demanding software that was inexpensive and faster to deploy than the more cumbersome ‘traditional’ solutions. This in turn meant that programming methodologies needed to be simplified to provide an alternative to the ones that had significant legacy baggage.

No less important was the concept of technology consumerisation, which came to the fore. Indeed consumerisation of technology has become an oft-used phrase in business today, and for good reason.

Rabson explained that consumerisation refers to the shift whereby technology is first being adopted by consumers (general users) before it finds its way into companies and corporates. This marks a 180 degree shift from previous scenarios, where companies would first use technology before it filtered down to consumers.

“Think of things such as instant messaging, cloud-based email systems, and social networking. All these and more have infiltrated corporations. Today, business value is derived from how best these consumer-focused solutions are integrated into business strategy,” he added.

Interestingly enough, the trends that Rabson encourages developers to cater to are all visibly applied in the consumer space and valued quite highly by general users, rather than being solely applicable to large businesses.

Mobile, the web and big data

Rabson explained that part of the reason for the consumerisation of technology lies in the growing importance of mobile solutions. He pointed out that, even in South Africa, people are becoming used to being connected 24x7, continuing that people use smartphones, tablets, WhatsApp and other solutions, to not only interact with one another but to stay abreast of the latest news, views, and trends globally.

He further asserted that mobile operating systems, including Android, iOS, and Windows Phone, are creating significant shifts in the market with businesses watching developments closely before looking at how best to align themselves to a specific platform.

Indeed, the importance and popularity of mobile hardly needs to be debated, as its impact on the technological landscape is unmissable, but what of the web?

“HTML 5 is gaining momentum but it will be interesting to see how the battle for Web standards and platform interoperability develop in the coming months,” said Rabson.

Big Data is another bit of industry jargon that is steadily gaining in prominence. Rabson explained that this deals with data sets that are so large that they cannot be processed using traditional database management tools.

“Going forward, developers would need to find ways to harness this data and extract intelligence for companies and clients. This needs to be integrated into current systems in real-time for Big Data to really be as effective as possible.”

To the point

With the rise of mobile apps and social networking, Rabson pointed out that companies are backed into an ever-tightening corner when it comes to protection of information and management of privacy. Granted, many consider privacy to be a thing of the past, but organisations need to meet regulatory compliance to ensure that company (and client) data stay protected.

 

“Irrespective of what side of the software development fence you are on, there are exciting times ahead. Technology has moved past the tipping point and has permeated every facet of our lives. It is up to the software developers to make this an interesting journey,” he concluded.