What are the most recent software consulting trends and how can you leverage them?

Sustainable technology is pivotal for our future, addressing environmental concerns through renewable energy, eco-friendly manufacturing, and efficient design. Its importance lies in mitigating climate change and conserving resources. This trend gains momentum as businesses and consumers prioritizes sustainability. To leverage it, invest in sustainable solutions, adopt green practices, and integrate sustainability into corporate strategies. By combining environmental stewardship with technological innovation, we can create a sustainable and prosperous future.

Cloud native deployment helps in conducting Proof of concepts and allows users to fail fast and learn fast. Another advantage is users no longer have to build and maintain servers, no more paging DBAs in the middle of the night with auto scaling a common feature in cloud native architectures we can build and scale easily.

The most recent software consulting IT trends include cloud computing, AI/ML, DevOps, cybersecurity, and IoT. To leverage them effectively, firms should stay updated, collaborate, offer tailored solutions, focus on quality, and demonstrate value to clients. By embracing these trends and leveraging them effectively, software consulting firms can stay competitive, deliver value-added services, and drive innovation in the industry.

Designing, building, and running scalable, resilient, and cost-effective applications in the cloud with Cloud-Native Development. Creating customized, agile, and user-friendly solutions without extensive coding using Low-Code/No-Code Platforms. Enhancing software applications with intelligent capabilities, such as natural language processing and sentiment analysis, through Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. Improving collaboration, automating processes, and integrating security practices for high-quality software delivery with DevOps and DevSecOps. Breaking down applications into modular, independent units for improved scalability, reliability, and efficiency through Microservices and Serverless Architecture.

Software consulting is booming, driven by digital transformation and evolving tech. Here's what's hot: AI Power: Leverage AI for repetitive tasks like reports and data analysis, freeing time for strategic thinking. Lean & Mean: Focus on delivering quick wins and iterating based on client feedback. Niche Expertise: Become a trusted advisor in a specific tech area like cloud computing or cybersecurity. ROI Focus: Demonstrate the measurable impact your work has on clients' bottom line.

Top Low-Code/No-Code Platforms by Popularity **Open-Source: 1. Bubble: User-friendly web app development (free with limitations, paid plans available) 2. Appian: Complex enterprise applications (free community edition, paid plans available) 3. Mendix Studio: Basic web/mobile apps (free with limitations, paid plans available) **Paid: 1. Microsoft Power Apps: Business apps within Microsoft ecosystem 2. OutSystems: Complex enterprise applications 3. Salesforce Lightning App Builder: Extend Salesforce functionalities 4. Zoho Creator: Web forms, databases, workflows 5. Webflow: Responsive websites visually (no coding) 6. Thunkable: Drag-and-drop mobile app development 7. Caspio: Cloud-based database apps, forms, workflows

Microservices involve breaking down complex applications into smaller, independently deployable services, promoting scalability and agility. Serverless architecture allows developers to focus on writing code without managing infrastructure, offering cost savings and increased productivity. For example, a retail company might use microservices to build modular e-commerce components like product catalog, checkout, and payment processing, allowing for easier updates and maintenance. Mistakes to avoid are implementing microservices without considering the organizational readiness, complexity of the project, long-term costs and performance implications.

Regarding low-code/no-code, in my field of application, we talk more about ETL tools. Indeed, in a case of data migration for example for a Large Business client, we cannot afford to develop heavy scripts which may be unreliable and above all may fail during an audit. To overcome this, we use what we call Middleware (ETL) developed by trusted publishers and which implements the low-code/no-code philosophy or in other words the configuration of nodes to build application workflows. Visual programming, easy to approach and reliable.

Als SAP-Berater wird h?ufig mit SAP Build gearbeitet, einer Plattform, die es uns erm?glicht, schnell und effizient Anwendungen zu entwickeln. Mit SAP Build k?nnen wir: - Anwendungen visuell gestalten und erstellen, ohne tiefgreifendes Codieren. - Gesch?ftsprozesse automatisieren, um Abl?ufe zu optimieren. - Die Zusammenarbeit zwischen Teams f?rdern und gleichzeitig Governance-Standards unterstützen. Dies erm?glicht uns, agile und ma?geschneiderte L?sungen für unsere Kunden zu schaffen.

Low/no code platforms empower users to develop applications with minimal coding knowledge, but they often lead to vendor lock-in due to the reliance on proprietary tools and frameworks. Users become heavily dependent on the platform's specific features and integrations, making it difficult to migrate applications to alternative solutions. Additionally, the simplified development process can obscure underlying complexities, posing challenges for support and maintenance. Consequently, while low/no code platforms offer rapid development and accessibility benefits, organizations must carefully evaluate the long-term implications of vendor lock-in and consider the potential downsides of reduced supportability.

With the rise in use of social media we have petabytes of data on our users. Sentiment analysis gives us a deeper insight into the users perspective, and can help us recommend solutions. With low to no code platforms such as bedrock, automl time to market to develop these models are faster than ever.

In my experience, I have had an opportunity to help Law Firms build custom Chatbots using Microsoft Bot Framework Composer. These organizations discovered that they can use AI to discover cases from the past in their forest of large amount of data and use it to strategize on new cases. In other words, AI helped them interact with their own data at surface of the keyboard.

Als SAP-Berater bin ich begeistert von den M?glichkeiten, die #SAP Business Technology Platform (#BTP) und #GenAI bieten. Mit diesen Werkzeugen kann ich ma?geschneiderte L?sungen für meine Kunden entwickeln, die auf fortschrittlicher KI basieren. #Deloitte's Zusammenarbeit mit führenden AI-Anbietern wie #AlephAlpha erweitert diese F?higkeiten weiter. Ein für mich besonders spannedes Beispiel ist #DeloitteAscend? mit den so genannten #SmartOfferings, die in der Lage sind den kompletten Projektlebenszyklus AI-basiert zu unterstützen und so eine schnelle und effiziente Projektabwicklung zu erm?glichen.

AI and ML have been around for a LONG TIME! With the advancement of fast and inexpensive hardware, infrastructure, and software as a service, we are now seeing it hit mainstream lines of business. Data science and identifying patterns and trends across massive data samples and sets has also proven to be a defining strategy to dominate the market space you occupy. You will be behind the competition if you don't do or have AI\ML in your technical toolbelt. My guess is if you are reading this you know you need to sharpen your AI\ML skills and allocate a budget to leverage this in your industry and business domain?

There is a lot of hype around implementing AI in businesses. However it is important to keep in mind the actual value and time saving it brings to the users. There are some really quick and easy ways to improve productivity without needing a big AI strategy or hundreds of hours of consulting. Start with prompt engineering. There are many free great templates or customGPTs out there to get started without knowing how to write good prompts. However I think prompt engineering will be one of the most valuable skills in the future, therefore the earlier you start learning it, the better.

Als SAP-Berater verwende ich den DevOps-Ansatz von Deloitte, um z.B. ein SAP-basiertes Projektmanagement-Tool effizienter zu gestalten. Mit DevOps verbessern wir die Zusammenarbeit zwischen Entwicklern und IT-Betrieb, wodurch Funktionen wie Echtzeit-Bugtracking und automatisierte Updates schneller implementiert werden k?nnen. So gelingt es, die Softwareentwicklung agiler zu machen und gleichzeitig die Systemstabilit?t und Betriebseffizienz zu erh?hen. Dieses Vorgehen erm?glicht es uns, die Entwicklungszeiten zu verkürzen und gleichzeitig hohe Sicherheitsstandards beizubehalten.

DevOps practices bring significant efficiency gains by fostering collaboration between development and operations teams, breaking down silos, and streamlining workflows. Automation plays a pivotal role in DevOps, enabling continuous integration, delivery, and deployment processes that accelerate software development cycles. By automating repetitive tasks such as testing, building, and deployment, DevOps reduces manual errors, enhances consistency, and increases deployment frequency. The result is faster time-to-market, improved product quality, and enhanced customer satisfaction, making DevOps indispensable for modern software development organizations.

I think the way we think about DevOps will change dramatically in the next 5 years. The trend will go more into Full-stack Apps or fully managed infrastructures. AWS Amplify, which I use for my applications, for example doenst require any knowledge about docker, kubernetes, pipelines whatsoever. It is all managed by AWS. So I think big legacy applications will have a harder time as they are a lot more expensive in maintenance. On the other side this is a great opportunity for lean start-ups to disrupt the Software / SaaS industry.

In software consulting, microservices and serverless architectures are two modern approaches to designing and developing distributed software applications. Microservice architectures are an approach to application design that involves breaking a complex application into a set of smaller, self-contained services, called microservices. This approach promotes modularity, scalability, maintainability and resilience of applications. Serverless architecture is an application development and deployment model in which the cloud provider dynamically manages the allocation and scaling of the computing resources. Serverless architectures allow developers to write and deploy code without having to worry about the underlying infrastructure.

Microservices have been trending for a while now. However complexity increases in big and old architectures, diminishing the benefits of serverless architecture. I think for many use-cases the trend will go back to some form of Monolithic application, or at least only the main parts of the application. This keeps the applications more manageable. Probably only for really big applications some form of micro-service architecture will be best practice.

As an SAP consultant, I recommend reading the Deloitte Tech Trends 2024 report, which highlights key trends shaping our field. Generative AI will revolutionize data processing and analysis. Advancements in spatial computing and the emergence of the Industrial Metaverse are opening new avenues in digital twin technology and AR/VR applications. These trends provide opportunities to innovate in software development and data management, enhancing both the efficiency and effectiveness of solutions for our clients.

Data Analytics and Business Intelligence Leveraging data analytics and business intelligence tools can help organizations gain actionable insights, make informed decisions, and drive business growth. Consultants should help clients harness the power of data by implementing analytics solutions and visualization techniques.

Every Software firm will become an AI company ... or will eventually die. The shift towards AI does not only affect start-ups or super innovative companies. The key differentiator in the future will be how companies can leverage their data with AI. As the efficiency increases will become bigger and bigger corporations will only be able to compete if they work together with start-ups in that field or leverage their own USP with AI. Many will fail, some will succeed. I think what we saw with winner-takes-it-all markets will affect even more industries and companies. Once again it states true to "Differentiate or die"

True IT-Agility in an organisazion fosters business agility to facilitate rapid response to market changes. In a traditional hierarchical organization, implementing changes across departments or teams can be slow and cumbersome, resulting in missed opportunities. With SAFe principles, organizations can leverage agile practices at scale, allowing them to quickly adapt to evolving market demands. This agility not only helps organizations stay competitive but also fosters innovation and resilience in today's dynamic business landscape.