DEVOPSdigest

Blueprint predicts that application development will become more complex through 2017 as new processes and technologies change the way organizations develop products and engage with markets. As the volume and complexity of development projects grow, enterprises will continue to shift toward Agile and continuous delivery, and new technologies that enable collaboration between stakeholders will be essential.

Here are Blueprint's top four predictions for enterprise software development in 2017.

Enterprises will shift toward continuous delivery as speed continues to be a priority

The trend toward Agile development will continue in 2017, which will also require enterprise organizations to adopt DevOps and Continuous Delivery practices. Implementing these practices will introduce new challenges between business and IT, and it is likely that doctrinal Agile will be challenged in enterprise organizations, especially those that have dispersed teams.

Instead, enterprise organizations will adopt the speed, collaboration, and iterative aspects of Agile, and retain the requirements aspect of traditional development to ensure business needs are met.

As organizations prioritize digital transformation, business functions that were previously behind the wall will shift to consumer facing apps

With the growing demand for self-service and consumer-facing technology, institutions like banks will increase their focus on engaging customers by moving traditionally internal services and processes to external apps. It will be critical for organizations to align business needs with development in order to ensure that customer insights result in a strong user experience.

For complex enterprise organizations, new technologies that facilitate collaboration between business and IT, such as an Agile requirements solution that integrates with planning tools, will be needed to facilitate this alignment.

Security concerns will grow as more and more services and products are connected

The number of connected devices and services has exploded over the last few years, and this trend will continue. Both the number, and the sophistication of these products and services will intensify, which will expose organizations to security risks. Quality development will be the organization's best defense. Having better systems and processes to build and test software, ensure compliance with regulations, and detect and fix bugs will be critical in 2017.

Organizations will develop sophisticated intelligence to optimize internal development and release processes

Currently, most organizations gather data on external aspects of their business, including their consumers, sales, and marketing; however, data and analytics around internal processes is a relatively unexplored area. Greater emphasis and more resources will be allocated to gathering data and optimizing internal processes around development projects, business operations, and releases.

Technology that helps organizations to analyze and store data will also be prioritized. As a result, 2017 will be marked with greater investment in machine learning, enabling real-time analytics and faster decision making.

In summary, 2017 will present significant opportunities and complex challenges around development and business transformation. Organizations that are able to successfully implement new agile IT systems and processes in a manner that is well aligned with their overarching business objectives, will ultimately be the most successful in 2017 and beyond.

Ruth Zive is VP of Marketing at Blueprint.