IT and software development outsourcing is going nowhere but up. Its popularity is huge, bringing fundamental changes to the world of business. IT spending in the world continues to balloon and would continue doing so in years to come.
Outsourcing your IT needs could be a boon, especially during this pandemic where economies all over the world have gone down and companies closing, and the widespread retrenchment. If the growth of your company depends on software, and if having an in-house team is not within your means, then you should have no doubt in outsourcing your software development requirements.
Software outsourcing is molding the market in the world, revolutionizing how companies perceive development and bringing in unparalleled opportunities to grab. As technology continues to evolve to meet the changing demand of the times, outsourcing also sets new trends to keep up with the lightning pace of changes.
Software Development Trends to Expect in 2021 and Beyond
The year 2020 is almost through. Now is the perfect time to begin predicting the software outsourcing trends that will happen in 2021 and beyond. if you own a business or a decision-maker considering outsourcing your software requirements, then the trends give you an overview of what to expect in the industry next year and the near future.
1. Scary Scarcity and the Need for Skilled Software Developers
In 2021, the spending on IT services all over the world is deemed to surpass one trillion US dollars, seeing a slight increase of 5.5 percent because of the negative impact of Covid-19. The small gap is however not the problem: the real concern is that in-house experts are running short; thus a lot of companies are expected to outsourcing their Information Technology requirements.
Technology so far continues to evolve rapidly that it becomes difficult to meet the demand for talent. With such extensive growth in technology, IT vendors are pressured on staying competitive in all sorts of services, from cybersecurity, AI, Blockchain, and cryptocurrencies. The new technologies are overwhelming and employee shortages led to a cut-throat quest for high-qualified developers with cutting-edge skill sets.
2. Change in Outsourcing Relations
Nowadays, outsourcing IT has become one of the most rudimentary services of organizations from Asian and African countries. With numerous benefits, from free access to IT talents, reduction in cost, and high speed in production, the service has become an indivisible part of the working routine of a client. Thus, the role of outsourcing vendors has slowly shifted from streamlined manual labor to top-level decisions on a lot of critical concerns, like full-cycle product development and software architecture.
Outsourcing service providers, with such entrustment, are not considered as ‘agencies for developers hiring’ anymore. A lot of vendors, from an IT Talent connector, have turned to full-on strategic partners for business owners, with an aim for shared risks, long-term partnerships, and business alignment.
3. More than a Single Vendor at a Time
As spending becomes bigger, huge corporations also tend to outsource their software requirements further. Still, the broader scope of work is, the harder one could converge all human resources, from skilled engineers, top managers, creative designers, or lousy sales. These lead to outsourcing to various vendors at one time in order to have the best of, and even several worlds.
For big software development outsourcing vendors, gathering a diverse team and building via communication channels within teams and departments definitely is their edge against the smaller competition. Perfect delivery control and keeping minimal involvement of customers through the tech processes, at the end of the day is still of great significance.
4. Organizations would begin Spending More on Outsourcing Vendors
Of course, every business wants to optimize its processes with a price-oriented mindset. The situation in 2021 however is changing gradually. The outsourcing trends serve the natural consequence of the shortage of IT professionals.
As high-skilled professionals raise their rates, organizations would be hard put on adjusting their software development spending. Furthermore, product quality is now the key driving factor in outsourcing than the reduction of cost. When it comes to outsourcing software requirements, what organizations emphasize is enhanced security, customer experience, and business expansion.
5. Cloud Sourcing Trend
Cloud services is the latest tech trend for outsourcing. To have everything posted on the cloud nowadays is the priority for a lot of businesses, as numerous projects will be passed cloud storage to minimize expenses. One thing however to notice about cloud computing is the worrisome cybersecurity.
With such sensitive data that outsourcing could get exposed to, it’s a top priority to outsource to a secure and reliable vendor to keep the private information of users and project details protected.
6. Growing Need for Enhanced Cybersecurity
Data, for all organizations, has long become the most valuable resource, therefore making cybersecurity the utmost preference for all IT services, which include outsourcing software development. Today, the demand is to make data extremely secured to not become cyberattack victims. Innovative outsourcing software development organizations therefore now have implemented multi-level security approaches to guard business and eradicate risks.
7. The Craving for Enhanced AI and IoT Experience
Online shopping has penetrated our lives every single day. Additionally, with the outbreak of Covid-19, it’s become the new normal. The escalating demand for online shopping experience has caused companies to invest more in improved UX.
The IoT and AI solutions would boost eCommerce by offering a customer journey that’s more personalized. Chatbots that are AI-powered have already replaced human interactions when providing customers with needed advice and guidance. The Internet of Things would be one of the means of boosting customer satisfaction by statistics gathering, providing data in real-time, personalized communication, and perceiving issues with equipment.
Summing Up
We are faced with a fast-growing tech environment. Business organizations that want to stay on the competitive edge are investing their money and time already in digital transformation. Still, there are challenges to overcome, one of which is the innovation speed.
Even big corporations with well-equipped teams could not keep up with the pace and are in dire need to outsource to specialists. Neither could smaller companies embrace all of the digital changes without the support of outsourcing IT providers.
Miley on January 27, 2021 
