By James Hanley, Chief Executive Officer of Crowd Machine

No code application and microservice development gain traction

Tired of Slow Digital Transformation, Enterprises Will Accelerate the Use of Unified Platforms for Cross-Cloud Integrations and Microservice-Based Application Development 

Enterprises love to talk about digital transformation (DX).  One industry survey notes 82% of CEOs and senior executives said they had initiatives or programs underway to become more digital businesses.  Other stats indicate executives want human resources to be one of the drivers in DX moving forward in 2020, with a do or die mentality, recognizing that without successful DX, businesses will lose. 

Surveys aside, enterprises in 2020 will still need to go back to the professionals for which DX is not just an ‘initiative', but something they live with every day.  This will require enterprises to become more innovative in executing digital transformation strategies, including cloud migration and application development.  They will need to do more with resources that are not going to expand.  

Cloud Migration Evolves into Cross Cloud Integration

In 2020, enterprises will have the benefit of lively competition between Microsoft Azure, AWS, Oracle, Google Cloud and others with price enticements like, "Now up to 30% less for VMs," (from Google.)  While considering choices in deploying to a public cloud, private cloud or hybrid cloud environment, the need will surface for better cross-cloud integration, and a more manageable unified platform.  IT will continue to be under pressure to move faster on cloud migration, particularly as enterprises tire of the Windows churn - the latest being, end of support for Windows 7.  They will want to move more operations to the cloud to free themselves from the Windows revolving door, and that takes up more of ITs limited staff time.

As a result, there will be greater emphasis placed on cloud-native applications as well as the integration of new cloud-native apps with existing legacy data and functionality.  Moving to the cloud will not be enough.  Instead, cross cloud integration will become a means to achieving DX. 

Application Development Evolves into Microservice App Development 

Doing more with less will be the theme song in 2020 as enterprises find ways to execute new applications that support DX, mindful of limited IT staff time and the desire to control cost.  Business users' need to accelerate enhanced business process and data analysis will drive the evolution of application development away from traditional development towards automation, and microservice- based architectures. 

No code application and microservice development will gain more traction as a means of enabling enterprises to get new cloud native applications to market in a competitive time frame.  Further, the use of microservice-based architectures will enable the rapid creation and iteration of custom-tailored cloud solutions.  When these microservices begin as cloud-native they help enterprises fulfill the goal of increased cloud migration and DX- all in an efficient timeframe.  The market will expand for sophisticated no code technology that can not only construct intelligent microservices, but also extract legacy functionality into smart components, that the business line can self-serve upon to snap together tailored IT compliant solutions. 

This advanced approach leveraging no-code application development will enable the line of business to become far more hands-on, crafting its own custom applications that support specific customer needs, without having the technical knowledge of an IT person.  Enterprises will also be looking for these cloud-native applications and microservices to be managed in one unified cloud platform - the objective being a nimble cloud environment. 

Emergence of Specialized Cloud Offerings Including AI Infused Microservices

Over the next decade, AI and machine learning will become a standard element in business processes.  In 2020, these technologies will gain in value as they become part of no code application development.  Business users will need to accelerate enhanced business processes and data analysis.  Integrating AI and machine learning into new microservices will be the solution.

To put it mildly, 2020 will be a year of complexity as enterprises will want to push further ahead on DX and cannot afford to be laggards due to limited IT staff or unclear cloud migration strategies.  The solution lies in looking at application development as no longer the exclusive domain of IT, but a process in which the line of business can play a much greater, productive role.

No doubt, enterprises taking an open-minded innovative approach to cloud integration instead of migration, as well as the automation of application and microservice development, with AI as the cherry on top, will end 2020 ahead of the game.

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About the Author

James Hanley is Chief Executive Officer of Crowd Machine.  Hanley served as COO at Crowd Machine prior to taking the CEO position.  Over the past two decades, Hanley has lead a broad range of functional areas, including P&L, field operations, sales, marketing, finance and R&D, as well as leadership positions overseas while living in Hong Kong and London.  He joined Crowd Machine in March, having previously worked at Accenture, where he was managing director for journey to cloud and automation. Prior to Accenture, he served as vice president and general manager at DXC (formerly CSC), where he managed global cloud and transformation services, platform, networking and data centers. Prior to DXC Hanley held positions as CEO and President, Field Operations, at Force10 Networks (now Dell/Force10).