IT outsourcing is becoming increasingly popular and bringing significant changes to businesses around the world. According to a report by Gartner, global IT spending, which reached $3.8 trillion in 2019, will only increase in the coming years. The statistician estimates global outsourcing revenue at $92.5 billion in 2019 and predicts rapid growth in 2021.
These figures reflect the unlimited potential of new technologies. After all the recent innovations, most companies have already accepted the inevitability of digital transformation. Companies of all sizes are following the prevailing trends in software development outsourcing.
Outsourcing shapes global markets, changing the way companies think about their development, and bringing unique opportunities to exploit. That’s why we’ve highlighted ten trends in software development outsourcing that are unprecedented in 2021. So get ready for all the hype that your business can take advantage of.
Software development outsourcing trends: what to expect in 2021
1| The rise of niche boutique software companies
Opinions may vary: some say they prefer to work with a single outsourcing company. Others say they take advantage of multiple suppliers.
But the facts show that more and more companies need specialist firms. The reason for this trend is the rapidly developing technology sector. An in-house team can’t keep up with all the emerging innovations every day and have all the necessary skills.
Companies are looking for outsourcing providers experienced in delivering maximum quality. Working with more than one supplier is not a problem as long as the desired results. However, suppose a large outsourcing company offers full-cycle software development with a diverse team of skilled professionals. In that case, it also has a severe advantage in being a good supplier that can build open solid relationships.
2| Customers are looking for a better experience with AI and IoT.
Online shopping has long since permeated our daily lives. Moreover, according to Forbes magazine, it has become the new norm with the COVID-19 epidemic, and even the over-65 age group says they are more likely to shop online than offline. The growing demand for online shopping leads businesses to invest more in improving the user experience (UX). Customers are 140% more likely to spend if they have a positive shopping experience.
AI and IoT solutions will improve e-commerce by providing a more personalized customer experience. AI chatbots are already replacing human interaction and providing customers with the advice and guidance they need.
The process of outsourcing software development
A Gartner report claims that 85% of customers order products or services without human interaction. 80% of customers prefer companies that offer a personalized customer experience over those that do not.
3| High demand for blockchain services
Global blockchain-related spending expects to reach $16 billion annually by 2023.
As such, it has become one of the key trends in IT outsourcing. From the development of smart contracts to the instant execution of micro-transactions, distributed ledger technology has been proving to increase security and transparency and provide innovative funding solutions for start-ups.
The growing demand for knowledgeable and competent blockchain services has created a need for experienced specialists. These days, there is still a shortage of blockchain specialists.
As a result, a wide range of industries, from financial institutions to private start-ups, are looking to outsource companies with teams of experienced blockchain specialists.
Faced with the growing need for blockchain talent and its scarcity, companies compete to hire the best talent on an equal footing.
4| The growing need to strengthen cybersecurity
Data has long been the most valuable resource. That is not news. But that is why its protection has never been as crucial as it is today.
With cybercrime on the rise, more and more companies are investing money and trying to comply with the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation). The need of the hour is that all data is well protected.
Whether you’re an IT company or a small family business with a website, owners need to ensure that their security concerns are addressed, their business data is protected, and they meet GDPR compliance standards, especially when government agencies become victims of cyberattacks. Will turn to outsourced cybersecurity services.
5| Growth of the global cloud computing market
Another prediction by several sources, including a report by Gartner, is that the demand for cloud computing will only increase. According to the forecast, global cloud shift spending will be close to $1 trillion.
With the increasing amount of data that needs to be stored, businesses will outsource for an effective cloud platform. With the need for cloud outsourcing services comes the demand for security services. The number of public cloud platforms for data storage is already growing.
6| The fintech, healthcare, and telecoms industries will be significantly digitized.
Trends in outsourcing go hand in hand with trends in technology affecting specific industries.
In particular, Fintech, Healthcare, and Telecom will have a high demand for outsourcing services required for digital transformation.
In Fintech, AI, blockchain, and Peer-to-Peer transactions will become the new norm. In addition, public and private healthcare organizations will require AI-based VR outsourcing services to expand the range of diagnostics.
Not to mention the impact that 5G networks will have on the telecoms industry, opening the door to unprecedented opportunities for large-scale connectivity with IoT networks.
7| Expansion of the IT outsourcing based in Eastern and Central Europe
Until a few years ago, the demand for outsourcing services was primarily driven by the need to reduce costs, but by 2021, companies will be focusing on quality rather than low prices.
To achieve this, they will look to Eastern and Central Europe, rather than China and India, for their outsourcing environment.
Ukraine, Poland, and Belarus are already attractive locations for experienced offshore development teams to work with.
The growing development market in Eastern and Central Europe is due to the high quality of service, well-trained teams, and still moderate prices.
8| Explosive growth of the AR and VR market
By 2021, the AR market will increase to $133.78. As smartphones enter the global market, the demand for AR and VR solutions will increase.
Shopping experiences expects to be boosted by AR technology. The recent launch of Pokemon Go is a vivid example of the interactive character that AR can bring. These technologies will continue to enter markets such as tourism, e-learning, and manufacturing.
Although the market for AR and VR is still uncertain, companies are looking for outsourcing services to implement interactive elements to increase sales. Large companies such as Mercedes and Apple are already adopting these technologies.
9| The hype around robotic process automation
Lower operating costs, better coordination of work, fewer manual errors – these are just some of the benefits of RPA technology that are becoming more widespread.
In an ever-evolving digital environment, automating your business is paramount. Logistics management, payment processing, and more personalized experiences can all benefit from RPA technology.
Virtual assistants and robots are just the tips of the iceberg for facilitating simple and repetitive tasks performed by humans. That’s why IT outsourcing companies are investing heavily in business automation and advanced analytics.
10| Growing interest in progressive web applications
The growing demand for a better user experience is driving the need for PWAs, which are app-like experiences on websites.
The first wave is Google’s unfriendly attitude towards sites that do not have a mobile version. The second wave is customers themselves who do not welcome websites with UX problems. It is why companies are adopting PWAs and looking to outsource to meet their customers’ growing demands.
Summary: Why is IT outsourcing growing so fast?
We did not misuse the word “team.” One of the key trends in software development outsourcing is strategic partnerships with multiple vendors. Companies are short of talent and need to outsource to experts.
However, despite having established relationships with multiple outsourcing companies, these relationships have changed and continue to change.
As the demand for outsourcing increases, collaboration is becoming more open and interpersonal. In addition, companies are focusing more on value than on cost reduction.
As a result, collaboration with several suppliers specializing in a particular service is becoming more common.
In other words, to stay ahead of the curve and meet the quality requirements of 2020, companies will look to outsourcing partners to share the risk and co-create better value. At top software outsourcing companies in India, empower companies and their employees with cutting-edge transformative solutions and data-driven insights.
Rest or Representational State Transfer is a popular and standard data exchange protocol that acts as an interface between two different applications integrated into a site. When it comes to creating API (Application Programming Interface) for service app development, REST is the most preferred choice. No wonder, many leading web and cloud companies like Facebook, Google, Twitter, YouTube use REST APIs due to their flexibility and scalability. Availing services of experienced developers of a leading Rest API development company will help you gain maximum leverage from REST API to make web and mobile apps user-friendly.
Web developers often choose REST for API development rather than SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) which is quite complex, albeit of high capacity. If you are keen to learn ways to design APIs with REST, here is a checklist of some valuable resources you will find useful.
Book- Restful Web Services (Leonard Richardson)
If you are new to this and want to learn the basics of REST web services, the book—RESTful Web Services by Leonard Richardson can be quite valuable. In this book, you will learn how REST works and many basic things related to web services with some practical examples.
REST API Design Rulebook by Mark Masse
If you are looking for a concise book to learn best practices in designing REST APIs, then this Rulebook written by Mark Masse is just for you. Learn rules for designing optimal APIs. Check out guidelines for conveying metadata through HTTP headers, and learn efficient ways to employ design principles to HTTP’s request methods and response status codes.
Rest Cook Book
It is a collection of amazing blog posts that will guide you about various RESTful API design patterns. Browse the website created by Joshua Thijssen and get deep knowledge about HATEOAS (Hypertext as the Engine of Application State) and its importance in REST API and other things.
Insomnia
Insomnia is an intuitive, cross-platform REST and GraphQL client that works on various operating systems like Mac, Windows, and Linux. It comes with features like code generation, environment variables, cookie management, and authentication for different OS.
REST-Assured
Java Developers find Rest-Assured as a reliable open-source REST testing platform that helps them test the efficiency of their REST APIs. As there is no need to design boilerplate code for testing, it saves their precious time and efforts.
CORS in Action by Monsur Hossain
Want to know more about Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS) from both client and server perspectives? Read this book and learn ways to deal with various elements such as performance, debugging, and security, when creating APIs.
REST with Spring by Eugen Paraschiv
Eugen Paraschiv has started this online training that guides developers to developing RESTful web services using Java and Spring. Learners can learn even advanced concepts like pagination, filtering, security, error handling for their RESTful Web Services using Spring.
PyRestTest
When it comes to finding a secure Python-based API testing platform for testing JSON or YAML config. files, you can rely on PyRestTest. With a few dependencies, you can deploy it on-server for smoke tests and health checks.
API Sandboxes
API Sandboxes are a dedicated environment that enables developers to test new features and services by creating simulated responses from all APIs, the application relies on. Thus, it minimizes the cost and risks associated with using 3rd party APIs, before releasing any app.
REST API Tutorial
Check out the mini-tutorial created by Todd Fredrich that will guide you on the six constraints of REST and quick design tips. The tutorial comes with a status code cheat sheet and other helpful open-source tools.
For most field service organizations and asset-intensive industries, enterprise asset management is a full-time job. It gets even more complicated when trying to locate GIS, keeping track of and maintaining a highly detailed asset registry—property, plant, sites, equipment, inventory, fleet, etc.—and related information. At any given time, a part could fail, an asset disappears, or preventative maintenance is required, calling on your mobile field workforce to know when and where to respond. Whether the assets are internal or your customers’, with all that, requiring delicate coordination, how do you manage it all? That is why asset registers are essential. Let’s check out the key features and benefits.
Effectively maintain, service, and trace assets
• They provide an effective way in maintaining, servicing, and tracing any type of asset i.e., mobile, or fixed in a single platform.
• Displaying and viewing all your field assets on the map
• Displaying asset details via barcode or QR code scan within no time
• Storing the location of fixed assets
• Tracking mobile asset location history over time
• Easily define assets with native GIS capabilities
• Enhancing the accuracy of your assets data
• Visualizing assets on the native map or leveraging a zero-effort integration to your existing maps and overlays
Schedule recurring maintenance work orders
• The nature of enterprise asset management requires managing, planning, and scheduling operations work. It enables work order creation and scheduling of preventative maintenance against your assets.
• Quickly schedule recurring maintenance tasks against assets
• Assigning work orders by skills, availability, proximity, and certification or training requirements for effective resource planning
• Generating digital work order forms in a drag-and-drop editor
• Enabling automated workflows to schedule recurring time- or meter-based maintenance work orders
• Assigning emergency work orders by the nearest available technician
• Capturing before and after Photos, barcodes, signatures, and more
• Providing digital work order forms right in the field for scanning barcodes, taking photos, adding markup, annotations, and more
• Capturing and visualizing time series data against assets including temperature and pressure readings
• Connecting your existing third-party systems to lookup values and catalogs across assets and work orders
• Triggering automated workflows, including the creation of work orders with third-party systems
Offline availability so you can locate and manage field asset data in remote locations
We understand asset and field service work can occur in some of the most remote places on Earth where connectivity can be a challenge and loss of data is common. The asset registers mobile, sync, and merge engine works online and offline, so even if your cellular or Wi-Fi network is down, your mobile field workforce can keep working and everything will sync when connectivity is restored.
• Attributing level merge of offline changes
• Displaying and view all your field assets on an interactive map, on both the web and mobile applications
• All changes are GPS and time-stamped for accurate auditing and record-keeping
• Asset data is version controlled and history tracked
• With real-time in-app field service collaboration and messaging, you can increase efficiency and be proactive at managing your assets.
• Gauging asset performance, with analytics and reporting.
NORTHVALE, New Jersey, USA – New Yorker Electronics has released the newest Innodisk SSD solution, the InnoBTS™ SSD, integrated with Innodisk’s new patented blockchain technology. The increasing presence of AI in everyday applications brings concerns about data integrity and validation.
With this new solution, Innodisk combines blockchain technology to secure the valuable data in recent IoT scenarios, such as POS system at unmanned stores, smart meters and digital ID cards from third-party access. The important data written to the SSD will create an encrypted hash string that corresponds to the specific data set, and the encrypted hash string is spread on the blockchain network, essentially creating a decentralized ledger that is distributed between numerous unique computers. The process is to make encrypted hash string to be “chained” on the blockchain network. If tampering happens, the chained data is checked with encrypted hash string on the network, clearly showing any discrepancies.
The InnoBTS SSD incorporates hardware-run digital signature. Through the sophisticate use of private and public keys given to each file that is sent, the receiver can always verify the correct sender. The SSD creates and secures the private key within an internal safety zone, ensuring maximum private key security. Only the public key will be available for anyone to verify the correct sender.
The new InnoBTS SSD series benefits from blockchain technology and data streaming combines to create an industry-leading solution for data integrity at the edge. Removing the need for software eases system integration as well as strengthening data integrity by moving the functions to the more inaccessible SSD firmware.
Innodisk’s solution allows for easy blockchain setup for edge applications that is not reliant on software, and meanwhile connects numerous devices to the blockchain network. This makes the InnoBTS™ SSD suitable for cutting-edge AI applications such as smart cities, smart vehicles, smart factories and intelligent surveillance.
As a franchise distributor, New Yorker Electronics supplies Innodisk’s full line of Flash Storage products including SSD, SATADOM, mSATA, Embedded Disk Cards, as well as Embedded, Server, Wide-Temperature and Customized Draw Modules and Embedded Peripherals.