How Software Developers Are Super-Charging Their Productivity
Software powers the modern world. It enables us to do everything from making quick bank transactions on our phones to sending emails to family members in faraway places.
The economy’s growth is pushed by the development of new software that brings new products and services to the fingertips of consumers worldwide.
The demand for increased productivity and the pressure to perform has never been greater for software developers and engineers. Here is a look at some of the techniques software design houses and engineering firms use to increase their output and profits.
Autonomous Application Testing
Most of the software being developed today is for consumer-focused apps or business-to-business services where data security is paramount. Any app can hold crucial, sensitive consumer data that if accessed by online criminals can lead to fraud or ransom.
Testing applications for security and identifying and fixing bugs are time-consuming and costly. The advances in smart algorithms and intelligent automation means developers can now rely on tried and tested software to do the job for them. This cuts costs reduces zero-day threats, and supercharges the development process, getting the product to the marketplace quicker.
ForAllSecure has an intelligent application testing suite that is used by some of the world’s biggest corporations and governments. They have helped protect consumer and business data from a variety of online threats using autonomous software that can seek out vulnerabilities, test them, and provide a report for the development team; all before the application goes online.
This kind of application testing ensures that a reliable and secure product reaches the market and its user base, as well as the company behind it, can feel safe using it as it keeps data secure.
Workplace Social Media Applications
Communication between workers is crucial. Sharing information, forming work groups, and quick and easy teleconferencing are all possible with social media applications for the workplace. Zoom calls are commonplace in all kinds of working environments now, and often allow for remote working.
The big tech companies are following the trend of collaborative working through online resources. Google’s Docs and Drive are used extensively by many businesses to share information quickly and allow teams to collaborate on multiple projects simultaneously. Facebook and Microsoft are also trying to get in on the act, with Microsoft’s Teams providing a worthwhile contender to the Zoom video platform’s early dominance.
People are now social media savvy and know how to get the most from it and use it to communicate effectively. The runaway success story of workplace social media is Slack, which has become the go-to communication app for businesses worldwide. Companies are using it to speed up processes and increase their productivity.
Workplaces as diverse as The New York Times and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory use the service to communicate more efficiently and produce a higher quality product in a shortened timeframe.
Developing The Developers
Giving software engineers and development staff the opportunity to learn new skills and qualifications is boosting productivity for design houses and IT companies around the world. Investing in the development of your team pays huge dividends to productivity and helps retain the most valuable workers.
Training and developing people and helping them continue their education encourages them to do more and improves their overall job satisfaction. This leads to more efficient and more productive workers, who often go on to support and develop other members of their team.
Too many employers fail to see the value of making long-term investments in their employees, preferring them to learn skills and educate themselves on their own time and on their dime.
Activity Based Working
The hot new trend in business liberates office workers and software developers. The focus of activity-based working is to provide workers with various workstations suited to specific tasks. This gives them the tools they need to complete processes quickly, speeding up many different elements of the business.
Developers can switch environments when they switch tasks, helping them to stay focused and putting the tools they need at their fingertips. This can have a massive positive impact on productivity, helping software engineers to get more done in less time.
Activity-based working initiatives have been successful for some of the biggest names in business, including Microsoft. They trialed activity-based working in their Amsterdam offices and the redesign was so successful they have begun to implement it in areas of their global headquarters in Seattle.
Activity-based learning, or ABW, is helping companies become more productive and more flexible. It is popular with employees too, helping to increase morale and push productivity further. By harnessing the power of design, ABW can revolutionize the modern workplace and the modern worker. It has something to offer every business, big or small.
The skills and techniques that software developers are using to push up productivity levels can be used in many different industries. They are developing more than software; they are developing new ways of working for the whole world.
