Top 5 Software Development Trends That will Take Over 2018

In the world of technology, “change is the only constant”!What is trending today might get outdated tomorrow. Keepingup with the fast-changing trends in the industry is indeed adaunting task for a software development agency. However,recognizing a technology’s potential to make a long-terminfluence on the industry can enable you to differentiatebetween trends and fads.

As 2017 is nearing a close, are you wondering which softwaredevelopment trends are capable of keeping you ahead of thegame? You are at the right page for our softwaredevelopment experts are predicting that the following 5evolving trends will dominate 2018 and are worth yourinvestment.

Today adopting artificial intelligence (AI) has almost become acompetitive necessity. Smartphones, voice-activated virtualassistants, Big data will all have big time as a consequence ofthis AI adoption. Therefore, the demand for data scientistsand Chief Data Officers (CDO) will explode in 2018 andbeyond.

#1 AI adoption becomes absolute necessity

AI and machine learning (ML) are helping companies totransform their businesses in three key ways:

• Digitizing the customer experience.

• Changing value proposition by developing smart or AI-enabled products.

• Automating large-scale processes managed by employees.

75%of Software Development teams will include AI functionality in one or more applications or services by

2018.

Some Facts

AI is having significant impact on the business world and theearly adopters of this technology are reaping substantial gains. JPMorgan, for instance, has successfully implemented a few AI andML-led solutions to manage its contract portfolio withcommercial clients. And the machine manages this laborious taskwith speed and more accuracy than its human counterparts.

So, the least you can do is just get in touch with an outsourcingsoftware development agency in India and invest in AI-poweredwebsite design solutions. You can also talk with our experts totransform your ideas to reality.

#2 Internet of Things moves closer to the edge

Today almost everything, from cars to roads, smart home appliances todeep sea oil rigs, is turning into a data-generator. Even your toothbrushcan collect data about your brushing behavior and share it with yourdentist to ensure better dental health.

These connected devices collect colossal amount of data pushing ITcompanies to explore cheaper and faster methods of processing data.

Here comes edge computing in the picture! We believe it is goingto play pivotal role in 2018 to enable IoT devices to performfaster real-time analytics especially in a place with poorconnectivity.

Edge computing, usually means processing data at the “edge” ofthe network or near the device using a mesh of micro datacenters. This enables companies to save time and moneyrequired to port all the data to a centralized data center.

Moreover, the ability to analyze data closer to the source will have the following benefits:

• Minimization of latency.

• Reduction of load on the internet.

• Improvement in privacy and security

• Reduction in data management costs.

• However, the cloud will continue to play a crucial role in IoT,collecting critical data and performing analyses on thisenormous set of information in order to glean insights thatcan be disseminated back to the edge IoT devices.

• Don’t you think that the combination of cloud and edgecomputing will enable you to better manage and analyze yourdata in 2018?

#3 Blockchain developers in high demandYou must have heard a lot about blockchain this year, thanks to themeteoric rise of bitcoin. However, we believe that this technology isendowed with the capacity of revolutionizing nearly every industry.And in 2018, we would begin to see more ventures at this disruptionthrough business-class blockchain platforms.

In 2017, we saw many technology giants introducing their ownblockchain platforms and IBM is the leader among them. Amazon,Oracle and Microsoft are also close behind as more and morecompanies are joining the bandwagon for enterprise-level blockchaindominance.

57%of the world’s large corporations are considering the deployment of their own block chain solutions, According to Juniper Research.

Some Facts

Wondering, what this would mean for the softwareindustry? Businesses, irrespective of the industry they areoperating, would start to invest in app development onblockchain platforms. This in turn would catalyze the demandfor blockchain developers. Blockchains being distributeddatabases are useful no doubt but its benefits come at a price.This is because building distributed applications is very hard.

Developing and testing them are also way too difficult.Blockchains applications can help you build new and moreefficient business processes; however, you have to overcomecertain challenges before you reap the benefits. Do keep an eyeon this evolving technology!

You won’t disagree that 2017 has been a terrible year for privateinformation on the web, remember WannaCry? Every enterprise,organization and government institution has security on top-of-mind, which infers that demand for security solutions will rise.

Businesses would need to take cybersecurity initiatives bothinternally and externally.

#4 Cybersecurity reaches a tipping point

Internal initiatives could be focusing on building security intotheir software. For instance, our DevOps teams are focusing onautomating security testing into our software developmentlifecycle. This helps them to ensure that vulnerabilities are notintroduced during development stage. Venture capitalists aresupporting cybersecurity startups with capital as externalcybersecurity initiative.

• According to cybersecurity market report, global spending on cybersecurity products and services will exceed $1 trillion cumulatively over the next five years, from 2017 to 2021.

• So, you can make out that funding might not be a problem, but there is a lack of cybersecurity talent. There, software development specialists who would want their skills to stay in-demand in the future must try their hands in cybersecurity, another green pasture besides blockchain.

43% of all cyberattacks are targeted at small and medium sized businesses.

Moreover, cybersecurity data also reveals that out of totalnumber of cyberattacks, 43 percent are targeted at SMEs. So, asa small and medium sized business owner, your first step wouldbe getting your business website developed by softwaredevelopment companies who follow security by design.

High-end commercially-available VR headsets have caught lot ofeyeballs in 2017 but didn’t witness much adoption. Although,Facebook’s Oculus Rift and the HTC Vive were the leaders in full-powerVR systems, sales of less than 1 million units have been reportedbetween the two.

What would it take for VR to go mainstream? Technology journalistDaniel Terdiman had affirmed that for VR to truly become part of mostpeople’s lives, the following things must happen:

#5 Virtual Reality to go mainstream

In 2018, however, both Facebook and HTC are making big moves toexpand the market. Both the companies have considerably slashedprices on their flagship VR headsets. They would be much lighter andalso start at much lower price for attracting new customers. Facebookrevealed that Oculus Go will start at $199.

Moving on to the gear, the higher-end systems offering the bestexperience are also the most cumbersome. However, experts arevisualizing VR systems that would be hard to distinguish from a pair ofspectacles and you can expect to see some of them in 2018.

Although, much of the early focus of VR was to attract hard-coregamers, they are still not enough to support the entire VR ecosystem.Therefore, we are expecting to see more of animated, immersive VRstorytelling in 2018 in an attempt to bring wider audiences to thistechnology.

We have great news for a Star Wars fan! Star Wars: Secrets of theEmpire is a fully-immersive VR ride that merges virtual and physicalelements into an adventure game. This game would help you tobecome a part of the Stars Wars universe and the story as well. So, it’stime to collaborate with developers to give wings to your ideas andmake your VR app a reality in 2018.

AS 2018 is just round the corner, our software developers have put on their creative caps and are focusing on these trends. Although trends are volatile, we firmly believe that these five trends are here to stay and deserve your attention for you to stay relevant in your industry.

Are you on the same page with us? Either way, we would love to hear from you, please begin a conversation by leaving your comments below. You can also talk to our software development experts with your ideas.

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