Skills for DevOps Pros of Tomorrow
April 09, 2019

DevOps pros have one foot grounded in today's hybrid IT realities while also setting their sights on emerging technology, according to IT Trends Report 2019: Skills for Tech Pros of Tomorrow, a new report from SolarWinds.

Specifically, tech professionals in DevOps, web product manager (WPM), and developer roles have prioritized coding and scripting, systems and infrastructure, and database management skills development in the past 12 months. When it comes to the next three to five years, they are looking to develop skills in areas like security management and hybrid IT, while eyeing career paths such as data science and analytics.

However, without improvement in time and budget constraints, the majority of all DevOps teams, developers, and WPMs (75 percent) say they will be unable to confidently manage future innovations. This reality ultimately puts businesses at risk of performance and competitive advantage losses, making the prioritization of skills and career development for DevOps teams, developers, and WPMs paramount.

Key findings show that:

The majority of tech professionals in DevOps, web product manager (WPM), and developer roles are not fully confident they have all the skills needed to manage their environments into the near future, especially when it comes to emerging tech

75 percent of all DevOps teams, developers, and WPMs surveyed are not "completely confident" in having all the necessary skills to successfully manage their IT environments over the next three to five years — even though 98 percent have worked to develop a skill over the past 12 months.

When it comes to the idea of implementing or managing specific technologies, emerging tech is a pain point (despite how much mindshare these buzzworthy technologies get in headlines). The top three technologies DevOps teams, developers, and WPMs feel unequipped to manage with their current skillsets are:

1. AI (55 percent)

2. Blockchain (50 percent) and quantum computing (50 percent)

3. Machine and/or deep learning (45 percent)

According to the Gartner list of strategic technology trends (see video below) that have the potential to disrupt and are on the verge of becoming more widely used in the next five years, AI, blockchain, and quantum computing all rank in the top 10. There is a great opportunity for DevOps teams, developers, and WPMs to increase their knowledge of these technologies and to have productive conversations with businesses on the reality of implementation in the near future.


DevOps teams, developers, and WPMs will continue building skills in daily operations with an eye toward areas like data science

In the past 12 months, DevOps teams, developers, and WPMs have prioritized skills in coding and scripting (54 percent), systems and infrastructure management (43 percent), and database management (41 percent).

In the next three to five years, the top two skills developers and WPMs plan to develop are security management (45 percent) and data science and analytics (41 percent).

DevOps teams', developers', and WPMs' instincts are correct when it comes to the top skillset area as they are expected to see continued growth, according to Gartner.

Gartner research analysts also estimate that global revenue for the information security market will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.8 percent between 2017 and 2022, reaching US $143 billion in constant currency terms.

Hybrid IT deployment monitoring and management rounds out the top three skillsets DevOps teams, developers, and WPMs plan to develop in the next three to five years.

Gartner also predicts that the Worldwide Public Cloud Services market will grow by 17.33 percent in 2019, going from US $175.8 billion in 2018 to US $206.2 billion this year.

DevOps teams, developers, and WPMs say cloud and/or hybrid IT, big data analytics, and AI are the key technologies for career development, which will help achieve higher goals like innovation

DevOps teams, developers, and WPMs say the most important technologies for their career development are (by weighted rank) aligned with the top three technologies for organizations' transformation over the next three to five years.

1. Cloud and/or hybrid IT (59 percent)

2. Big data and analytics (55 percent)

3. AI (54 percent)

When it comes to career development goals over the next three to five years, DevOps teams, developers, and WPMs will look to prioritize (by weighted rank):

1. Technology innovation (49 percent)

2. Programming, coding, and/or scripting (33 percent)

3. Data analytics and/or data science (38 percent)

Management/leadership skills (people management) and IT security protocol and/or processes round out the top five career development goals for the next three to five years.

DevOps teams, developers, and WPMs have an appetite to prioritize career development on a weekly basis but are hindered by factors like time and cost

Nearly eight in 10 DevOps teams, developers, and WPMs (79 percent) say their day-to-day IT tasks extend into time earmarked for career development, with 20 percent saying this always happens. This is alarming, considering DevOps teams, developers, and WPMs enjoy technology skills training, with 49 percent finding it informative, 32 percent saying it's engaging and interactive, and 27 percent reporting it's not long enough.

Currently, DevOps teams, developers, and WPMs engage in IT skills training and/or career development programs ranging from a few times a year (25 percent) to monthly (23 percent) and weekly (19 percent); however, if there were no schedule or workload restrictions, most (42 percent) would prefer weekly training.

Developers and WPMs cite time and availability (48 percent) and cost (25 percent) as the biggest barriers affecting their current ability to participate in IT skills training and career development programs at the frequency they would like.

Share this

Industry News

March 28, 2024

Check Point® Software Technologies Ltd. announced a collaboration with Microsoft that utilizes the Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service to enhance Check Point Infinity AI Copilot, marking a significant advancement in cyber security AI applications.

March 28, 2024

ArmorCode announced ArmorCode Risk Prioritization, providing a 3D scoring approach for managing application security risks.

March 28, 2024

AppViewX and Fortanix announced a partnership to offer cloud-delivered secure digital identity management and code signing.

March 27, 2024

WaveMaker has updated its platform in response to customer demand for more sophisticated API and code management tools.

March 27, 2024

Vercara announced the launch of UltraAPI™, a product suite that protects APIs and web applications from malicious bots and fraudulent activity while ensuring regulatory compliance.

March 27, 2024

Legit Security announced the launch of its standalone enterprise secrets scanning product, which can detect, remediate, and prevent secrets exposure across the software development pipeline.

March 26, 2024

Progress announced a strategic partnership with Veeam® Software, the #1 leader by market share in Data Protection and Ransomware Recovery, to provide customers with an enterprise-ready cyber defense solution that strengthens the security of their business-critical data.

March 26, 2024

GitGuardian released its Software Composition Analysis (SCA) module.

March 26, 2024

DataStax announced a milestone in its journey to simplify enterprise retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) for developers by integrating with Microsoft Semantic Kernel.

March 25, 2024

Check Point® Software Technologies Ltd. is collaborating with NVIDIA to enhance the security of AI cloud infrastructure. Integrating NVIDIA BlueField DPUs, which feature a broad range of purpose-built, innovative security capabilities, the new Check Point AI Cloud Protect solution will help prevent threats at both the network and host levels.

March 25, 2024

Sentry announced the release of Autofix, an AI-powered feature to debug and fix code in minutes, saving important time and resources.

March 25, 2024

Apiiro announced a product integration and partnership with Secure Code Warrior, the agile developer security training platform, to extend its ASPM technology and processes to the people layer.

March 21, 2024

Progress announced that Progress® Semaphore™, its metadata management and semantic AI platform, was named a Champion in SoftwareReviews’ 2024 Metadata Management Emotional Footprint Awards.

March 21, 2024

The Cloud Native Computing Foundation® (CNCF®) has partnered with Udemy, an online skills marketplace and learning platform.

March 21, 2024

GitLab has acquired Oxeye, the provider of a cloud-native application security and risk management solution.