Software Developers Prove Resilient in 2020, and Predict Growth in 2021
2020 was a difficult year for many businesses for numerous reasons, including the transition to remote work, lockdowns and budget freezes. Reveal surveyed software developers and IT leaders to understand how they were impacted by COVID-19 in 2020, their projections for 2021 and their plans for technologies and products moving forward.
We discovered three major themes:
- Many tech companies thrived even during a tough year. While COVID-19 devastated many industries, high tech was less impacted as companies ramped up their digital strategies, and consumers flocked online for entertainment, health, connections, and much more. Still, some tech companies saw revenues drop and projects delayed or canceled.
- Analytics growth skyrocketed, consistent with the rapid acceleration of digital transformation. In its May 21, 2020 article, Accelerating analytics to navigate COVID-19 and the next normal, McKinsey & Company authors state “organizations are standing up analytics capabilities in a matter of weeks to inform business responses to COVID-19 challenges and prepare for the future.” Respondents in our survey confirmed this trend with almost halfreporting an increase in their use of data and analytics.
- More companies adopted embedded analytics and expressed strong interest in new technologies such as machine learning. Consistent with the rapid adoption of analytics in general, software developers indicated a faster deployment of embedded analytics, which allows them to deliver real-time reporting with full white label analytics, integrating interactive data visualizations directly into enterprise business applications. And many of the newer technologies, such as machine learning and predictive analytics, make it easier for customers to quickly gain insights from data.
