With just over 6 weeks left of the year, now seems like the perfect time to look back on all that has gone before us and start thinking about all that is ahead. Tech moves fast and the things that were ‘hot topics’ at the start of the year are not always the things that make it through to the end.

This is an overview of trends that have gone before and a prediction of what we think needs to be kept in mind for 2020.

Highlights of 2019:

Low-code

Low and no code is giving firms the ability to develop software by using minimal, or even no code whatsoever, hence its name. Ultimately, low code is about making coding accessible for all. But, although this type of coding was revolutionary when it was first developed, and has seen lots of traction throughout 2019, a lot of companies have seen the benefit it can have and are catching on to using it themselves.

On the topic, Nick Ford, chief technology evangelist at low code company Mendix says, “The thing about low code, is the problem it’s trying to solve: software development is hard, it’s difficult to do. It’s highly complex and highly skilled. So, what low code is trying to address is two things: to abstract you away from that underlying complexity and make it simpler using visual models, the kind you use to drag and drop; to address the collaboration problem inside organisations.”

AI and automation

Artificial Intelligence is more than having its day. It’s having its decade and no doubt, probably its century.

At the beginning of the year, Marlene Spensley, application optimisation practice lead, Nuvias wrote: “Artificial intelligence is already starting to facilitate predictive analytics and coding to replace manually intensive tasks with intelligent insights, recommendations and automation.”

Therefore, AI needs a definite 2019 mention, but as it will continue to grow in automation (along with most other types of tech, too), perhaps this is more becoming a way of life, rather than a ‘trend’.

Predictions for 2020:

Multi-cloud

Towards the end of this year, Multi-cloud is being heard about more and more. And the further that it is heard about, the more questions that are being asked about it. What is multi-cloud? How does it differ from just the cloud? How does one migrate to multi-cloud?

Well, luckily, the additional questions that are being asked about multi-cloud, the more answers that professionals are giving.

In discussing why companies are adopting multi-cloud, Mark Pidgeon, Vice President Technical Services at Sumo Logic , says, “Businesses want to keep ahead of their competitors and retain control over their infrastructure plans.” Adding, “In practice, multi-cloud is still in its early stages…currently, around nine percent of companies are running multiple clouds…. While multi-cloud deployments are still in their initial stages there is a strong correlation between this and use of Kubernetes”

A prediction in the coming year is that multi-cloud will start to dominate DevOps practices and integrate with well-known cloud providers.

Microservices

Although microservices aren’t particularly new to this year, they do seem to be growing in popularity and can highly develop DevOps methodologies when used correctly.

“Realising the full potential of modern databases; microservices; AI technologies; and edge computing – such as in mobile apps and IOT – to name a few, requires serious thinking. Architects are tasked with making the right technology choices and picking the right vendors that will guarantee their initiatives’ success.” Says Ravi Mayuram, SVP of Engineering and CTO, Couchbase in discussing the recent findings of a survey about digital transformation.

Digital transformation

Digital transformation has got to be the phrase of 2019! From major software organisations to growing start-ups, most firms are having to adapt to digital transformation in some sort of way. In fact, one surprising piece of information coming out of this trend is that due to the pressure growing pressure firms are feeling, many places are actually struggling to adapt to this change.

According to another report from DevOps company Couchbase, 86% of company heads admitted to struggling with taking digital services further than they would like.

However, this does not mean that adopting digital transformation going into 2020 is impossible.

“Digital transformation has reached an inflection point,” said Matt Cain, the CEO of Couchbase. “At this pivotal time, it is critical for enterprises to overcome the challenges that have been holding them back for years. Organizations that put the right people and technology in place, and truly drive their digital transformation initiatives, will benefit from market advantages and business returns.”

As we head into 2020, it will be interesting to see if these predictions come true and find out what next year has in store.