In this era where consumers’ expectations for speedy deliveries of high-quality and innovative products are at an all-time high, digitalization is the crucial component for any company to stay competitive in its respective market. The transition into a hybrid work model further demands the digitization of processes and information to create and deliver innovations as effectively as before, if not more. In fact, according to the State of Application Modernization Report, companies in APAC stated that their main reason for app modernization is to improve security and customer experience. The ability to deliver innovative customer experiences thus hinges on choosing the right application modernization strategy.
However, most companies encounter several obstacles when they attempt to modernize their systems and accomplish software innovation. This includes a lack of developer talent, technical debt, and companies’ inadequate adoption of innovation programs. For instance, in Singapore, it is predicted that the highly skilled worker deficit will hit 1.1 million by 2030. In the long run, talent shortage could lead to lower productivity as the workloads of existing employees increase, hampering creativity and innovation in the company’s app development.
7 business tips to succeed in an ever-changing technology landscape
Seeing all these challenges, companies cannot help but question if there is still hope. Fortunately, there is. Nevertheless, to keep pace with this era of digitalization, companies must see software development from different angles. Below are the three ways in which companies can overcome the aforementioned obstacles, and modernize their application strategy to emerge as a successful software innovators.
Create a well-developed software sourcing technique
Corporations that deliver their products and services with software tend to have better-developed software sourcing strategies as they use software to solve multiple problems rather than just solving a single issue with a single vendor. A mature sourcing strategy ought to be made with consideration of multiple strategic perspectives, allowing software developers to deliver solutions in a much shorter time period as it leverages existing systems and integrates with legacy systems. Through a streamlined process, the ideal software sourcing platform should allow this integration and tradition into digitalization to be secure and reliable.
Aside from facilitating the digital transformation of existing systems, another crucial function of software sourcing strategy is to allow flexibility in developers’ operations. This not only lightens the load of developers and empowers them to personalize apps with more ease, but also affects the customer experience. With more personalization and higher efficiency in product deliveries, the customer experience tends to improve. Therefore, by utilizing a software sourcing strategy and including the application roadmap in the early discussion, companies have a higher chance to obtain the best results.
DIY your software
Be a software producer, not the consumer. By 2023, about 60% of Asian 1000 (Fortune 1000) companies will plan and manage security earlier on in the development process so that the DevOps teams could review the security framework and design as well. As companies begin to take control of earlier sections of the process chain, successful software producers need to deliver their products and services with lower and lower code complexity. That is when low-code platforms come in.
In Singapore, two-thirds of the firms have already started utilizing low-code platforms. The stereotype that low-code platforms are not for real developers has been long outdated. As low-code platforms function more to remove the complexity that many developers face in-app or system creation, these platforms provide automation and efficiency.
By automating the undifferentiated elements of the CI/CD process, low-platforms allow developers to focus their time and energy on the highest-value portions of an app. From an IDC report, when developers are asked about the advantage of using low-code platforms, the most common answer is code abstraction. The increased efficiency enables developers to focus on the innovation, personalized, and intricate parts of the programming pipeline.
High-performance low-code platforms let developers do what they really want: not to waste time on debugging or conducting software requirement analysis, but to produce functional, customizable, and highly impactful software.
Build on what you have
In an era where everything is online, starting software from scratch is often not worth the effort. Instead, one should take advantage of the repeatable bits in cloud marketplaces in building software. A platform that provides developers with the necessary tools, processes, and ease of using cloud marketplaces in building their software is where the companies should invest.
Furthermore, low-code platforms have been expanding to firms outside of the tech sector rapidly, especially in the APAC region. Today, most vendors provide certification and training programs along with the solutions they sell. There is not a better time to ask your software vendors about how you can continue to reskill, upskill, and invest in your employees.
By combining all these technologies, skills, and strategies, you now have the recipe for a successfully digitized company that empowers your developers and enhances customer experience with innovative and quickly delivered products or services.
This article was contributed by Leonard Tan, Regional Director, Singapore, OutSystems
About the author
Leonard has over 8 years of experience in working with enterprise customers in the APAC region, focusing mainly on the IT industry. As a thought leader in leveraging technologies to drive deep culture change in organizations, he takes pride in ensuring he tailor a solution that is relevant and crucial to all clients to help them achieve their business goals. As an advocator in relationship selling, he believes in nurture rather than touch, empathy rather than apathy.
He is currently the country manager for OutSystems in Singapore, where he has helmed projects to drive the adoption of OutSystems in the ecosystem, whilst ensuring he penetrates into the market to ensure customers understand the value of how low code can truly help lower barrier to entry, cost and deployment times and set organizations free from maintenance burdens.