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A talk on Kubernetes best practices, the future of DevOps tools, and more

A talk on Kubernetes best practices, the future of DevOps tools, and more

, Content Manager

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14 minutes read


At Timspark, we understand that staying at the forefront of software development and deployment processes is not merely a choice but our go-to strategy. We have gathered two specialists in the field to shed light on the future of DevOps tools and which solutions are genuinely effective. Our guest and developer advocate at Upbound, Viktor Francis, and Timspark’s leading DevOps expert, Mikhail Shayunov, bring a wealth of experience and share their thoughts on the tools that are shaping the future of software development, deployment, and operational excellence. 

Running databases in Kubernetes — what are the pros and cons?

Mikhail:

Let’s kick off with a burning question to warm up the conversation. It is our task in the current project, and we’ve had a lot of discussions today with the team. Running databases in Kubernetes — what are the pros and cons?

Viktor:

The best option is not to run databases at all and opt for managed ones. Just use a database service from your favorite cloud provider, like AWS, Google Cloud, or Azure. Whatever works. Cloud Native Postgres is actually one of the best options, to my mind.

If you don’t have to run a database, simply do not bother with that. Yet, if you want to manage it yourself, Kubernetes becomes part of the conversation. Kubernetes is the baseline upon which all the cloud vendors build their next generation of projects. Now, there are downsides to running a database on Kubernetes. And the main ones are usually two. 

First, databases are typically managed by database administrators. And they might not be sufficiently familiar with Kubernetes. And when I say familiar enough, I don’t mean, ‘Hey, I played with Kubernetes for a week or a couple of weeks.’ I mean, you need experience of running Kubernetes in production. So, the downside is that the person who will manage that database does not have production experience with Kubernetes itself. 

The bigger downside is that many databases were neither designed, nor rewritten, nor redesigned to run in Kubernetes. Many of the databases were a thing running for 20 years in virtual machines or bare metal. We learned how to package it in a container image. We learned how to write a docker file. Just run the same thing in Kubernetes… and then we have a miserable failure. That does not work straightforwardly, because Kubernetes primitives do not have everything required to run a database. You need to create your custom resource definitions and controllers; when I say you, I mean a vendor managing that database project.

So, that’s really a huge problem that many databases were not adopted to run appropriately in Kubernetes. An excellent example of something that is adopted would be PostgreSQL. PostgreSQL has good controllers and good customer service definitions that allow people to manage it truly in a way that is designed to manage something in Kubernetes, like cloud native Postgres. On the other hand, running an Oracle database on Kubernetes is just senseless. Simply because, as far as I know, nobody ever bothered to design how it should run correctly on Kubernetes. 

Argo CD workflows for Kubernetes

Mikhail:
Let’s talk about Argo CD workflows for Kubernetes. Can it replace previously popular CI/CD tools, in your opinion?

Viktor:

Absolutely no. It cannot come even close to replacing them. Not even previously popular CI/CD tools — it cannot replace CI/CD tools, period. 

And the reason is very simple. Argos CD ensures that the data from GitHub is synchronized with the data in some Kubernetes clusters. So, it’s about synchronization, or what people in the past would call deployments. 

Now, what is CI/CD? Continuous integration, or continuous delivery, or continuous deployment? It’s a whole process from the beginning to the end.

With CI/CD, which I prefer to call pipelines precisely because people are getting confused today, we build images, run tests, and perform security scanning, to name a few. We have dozens of different steps in a pipeline required for our code until it gets to production. And one or two of them would be the deployment itself. So, the correct answer is Argo CD can replace a part of the CI/CD process, which is currently performed by pipeline tools like Jenkins or GitHub. 

Deploying solutions with Cloud CI or Jenkins

Mikhail:

Yet, we can use Cloud CI or Jenkins for deploying our solution to Kubernetes without running any additional services.


Viktor:

Let’s say that you deployed your application right now, and you released it. And let’s say for the sake of argument that three hours from now, the process will fail. What happens after that? The actual state changed and compared to the desired state, and there is nothing that will reconcile those two. So the question to ask here is: do you want to have continuous drift detection and reconciliation and want it to repeat continuously? And how do you know the desired state, not only the actual one?


We never use one tool — we use one tool to orchestrate pipelines. And that orchestration involves many, many different tools. You’re not building with Jenkins. You’re telling Jenkins to execute, and I’m using Jenkins as an example. Pipelines are orchestrating the whole process. And using different tools to orchestrate those processes. From that perspective, we are not changing our pipelines’ work. We are just orchestrating the execution of tasks differently. Instead of executing Kubernetes in the pipeline, we are pushing the changes to Git.

And apart from drift detection, reconciliation, and security, I have another benefit. As a human, I can check for myself what is the desired state. Many people say we can consider Git as the source of truth. I think that’s wrong because the source of truth is only your system and is never what you want. But Git becomes your source of information. 

Mikhail:

So why is Argo CD becoming so popular right now? Do you personally use it?

Viktor:

I use it all the time. I mean, I use both Argo CD and Flux, sometimes even kapp-controller. Thus, I have certain guarantees that the state I have defined in Git is going to be the state that is somewhere else. But I don’t have that guarantee if I use pipelines. And the reason is relatively simple.

Pipelines are performing one short action, meaning when I push something to Git, certain actions will be performed, and they can be performed alongside other things. For instance, deployment with Helm. Once we execute these commands, we are going to get the exit code. And unless I get the exit code and then the notification, I do have a guarantee of a desired state from the pipelines. The problem is that those guarantees stop the second later. Whenever any changes happen to my system, it starts drifting. The application might fail five seconds later, and it’s not running anymore, or a whole zone went down. What GitOps tools do is drift detection so that reconciliation continues.

So with pipelines, I’m getting a guarantee something will happen when I tell it to happen, while with the GitOps tools I have guarantees we will continuously maintain the actual desired state, which is the same as anywhere else. We can constantly monitor those two states, and if there is a drift, we will reconcile one with the other.

In some cases, you do want things to happen once; in other cases, you want something to happen continuously. For instance, running tests is typically performed with pipelines, as you run them once and get the results. I’m excluding the case of flaky tests that are randomly failing. But GitHub is a good thing for something that should be maintained continuously in your system. Your infrastructure, applications, and services should be in the desired state 100% of the time. And the only way to accomplish that is to ensure that that drift is being searched for all the time.

Another reason why people like Argo CD, Flux, and other similar tools is security. When we use pipelines, we need to open access to our system so the pipeline can enter and change its state. If I’m using Kubernetes or GitHub Actions, the only way to change the state of my Kubernetes cluster is by opening the port. Surely, you will have credential security stored, but realistically, when you open the port, you allow other people, tools, or processes to potentially enter and threaten the system.

However, with GitOps, no external entity comes to your cluster and modifies it. The processes are running inside that cluster. They are very efficient and do not need much memory and high CPU usage.

So, apart from being primarily implemented for drift detection reconciliation, security is the reason for using Argo CD. It’s pulling information from Git while sitting in my system and performing changes to that very system.

Mikhail:

Let’s talk about AI for Kubernetes and whether you think it has potential now.

Victor:

So, it depends on how we define potential. If you define potential as the future tense, AI will certainly play a crucially important role in the future. I have zero doubt about it. AI will completely change how we as humans operate on many different levels, and that includes Kubernetes.

But does it provide value today? I would say a little bit. And that will probably sound strange because if you Google or go to a conference, you will see AI everywhere. We are on a hype train right now. Everybody talks about AI. ‘Let’s do something with it! Joe, can you please set up something over the weekend?’ And in 99% of the cases, literally, anybody can come up with a similar solution. Let’s say create a wrapper code that sends a message to ChatGPT API, gets the message back, and then shows you on the screen what the response is. Those solutions can be replaced with cURL. To make it clear, I’m not saying the same thing for AI in general. 

Regarding Kubernetes, there is a low impact and no investment in AI right now, particularly in this field. The majority of AI solutions for Kubernetes are not groundbreaking. They are basic and not secure. This happens for two interconnected reasons.

First, as an industry, we didn’t have enough time to come up with thorough solutions. Most people found out the importance of AI less than a year ago. Until last year, the buzzword for possible investment was ‘security’. Now, it’s about AI. Roughly speaking, these are mostly ad hoc solutions or even rapid prototyping, so you can put an AI sticker, market it, or probably get investment.

And second, the companies aspiring to come up with solutions for Kubernetes do not have enough ML or AI experts in their organization.

 

“

Regarding Kubernetes, there is a low impact and no investment in AI right now, particularly in this field. The majority of AI solutions for Kubernetes are not groundbreaking.

In the context of potential, the main area of AI must be the management itself. What I want to see within the scope of Kubernetes is a tool to fix my problems. I don’t want the tool to depress me and tell me, “Hey, this is wrong’. I already know it’s wrong. Can you please fix it for me? Sometime in the future, we will see AI intelligent enough to change your resources, scale them up and down to fix problems, and do whatever we as humans are doing, but implement it as a machine.

Mikhail:
Are there any not-obvious but must-have and must-learn DevOps tools you would recommend delving into today? Can you name a few?

Victor:

First tools are never good, so keep a hand on what comes next. I would say I’m fortunate. A significant part of my time is spent discovering things that almost nobody else knows about and figuring out what to do with them — testing them, researching, and delivering them to the public.

I strongly recommend Timoni. It is a relatively new tool, started maybe half a year ago. With Timoni, one can define a Kubernetes manifest using CUE as a configuration language.

Essentially, it replaces Helm, which I consider the worst possible option for defining the Kubernetes manifest. This is an ongoing problem—we never considered how to manage the Kubernetes manifest. 

Another tool I really like and which is relatively new is Port. It’s a front-end part of what people would call an internal developer platform. Right now, we have backstage as the most popular and finally adopted solution. Backstage is great, mainly because it shows us what we should do, but it fails miserably because it’s too complicated and tedious and requires too many people to operate. Port is providing that front-end part of the platform in a much more elegant way. 

“

First tools are never good, so keep a hand on what comes next. I would say I’m fortunate. A significant part of my time is spent discovering things that almost nobody else knows about and figuring out what to do with them — testing them, researching, and delivering them to the public.

Mikhail: What tools for improving security in your solutions on Kubernetes do you use?

Victor:

Github. I’m kidding, of course. First of all, many of the things I’m using are not even security tools, but more like practices. For instance, there are a lot of tools that scan your container images, which is great. You should be doing that for security purposes. But designing them right from the start is even more important than scanning your container images. And that brings me to ChainGuard. What the tool does essentially is give out secure images with zero vulnerabilities. 

And they provide images that are building daily in the first place. A base image might have zero vulnerabilities today, but then it will have vulnerabilities tomorrow, and ChainGuard prevents this.

There are a couple of solutions coming. Komodor, for example, is doing scanning of the cluster itself. The tool has already been released, and to me, it is extremely interesting. It performs dynamic scanning of your data instead of a static one. This helps identify vulnerabilities more effectively.

When scanning is concerned, my assumptions are tools will be moving to runtime scanning. They will get the context of something running in the system and then get the information about vulnerabilities. When we have the context, those tools can decide, within this context, whether it is truly a vulnerability affecting you or a CVE.

This allows you to use Kernel extensions, and by extending Kernel, you can, among many other things, contribute a lot to security simply because you are able to control Kernel processes without disrupting the system.

Mikhail:
Thank you so much. All worth checking out. And what about backup and disaster recovery for Kubernetes? Do you know any tools for this?

Victor:
There are two things you need to think about — restoration of the disaster recovery data and the definition of the system. By data, I mean databases. The disaster recovery of databases in Kubernetes does not differ significantly from restoring data from databases running elsewhere. You have a database and a specific way to back it up.

For everything else in a database that is not data, and now I’m not joking, that’s GitOps. Because if you have accurately defined the desired state of the system in Git, and let’s say that I destroy the whole cluster, then create a new cluster and still restore it in Git.

The only exception for using GitOps is data. And, of course, we should be running data in at least three data centers that are geographically close to each other but with separate electricity, network, and everything. So that we can spread the cluster across three zones and three data centers, so the chances for recovery are higher.

Mikhail:
And does it make sense to use Kubernetes Cluster Federation for high availability? If you want to run your application in different data centers that are not geographically collocated.

Victor:

Yes, in this case, you need multiple clusters, with or without Cluster Federation. A minimal number of companies truly need it, though — companies like Adobe or Netflix. But for a vast majority of companies, I would say ‘no.’ Simply because it doesn’t work well enough, and it proves to be more of a trouble than a really useful solution. Still, we do not have a decent way to spread Kubernetes cluster one way or another across multiple regions. And by regions, I mean data centers thousands of kilometers apart.

Mikhail:

So, in this case, we can say that the Kubernetes cluster is not for huge architecture and huge infrastructure projects.

Victor:

Quite the opposite. Kubernetes came from Borg, and there is nothing bigger than Borg. Massive companies are using Kubernetes, we just have challenges running data across different continents.

And that has nothing to do with Kubernetes. The reason why we do not deploy the same Kubernetes cluster across nodes in multiple regions is latency. And latency is the problem of physics. That nothing can travel faster than the speed of light.

Mikhail:
Let’s create a list of tools and services that we should provide for the support team in production so that they do not need to connect to the cluster.

Victor:

Essentially, you need two things. First, you need to be able to define the desired state of your deployment services. The most commonly used way to do that is GitOps tools, Argo CD, Flux, or kapp-controller. You’re defining whatever you want in Git, and they will get the information synchronized.

And the second thing you need is an observability-related tool. And I’m using observability in a very generic term, meaning that whatever you need to observe in any form or way. This equally applies even if you use kapp-controller. You need metrics, logs, and traces. Some tools will be able to store all three of those, like Elasticsearch. The problem is these are very different types of data. And if you try to store these in one place, you will not be able to use specific tools, only generic ones like Elasticsearch. And they become very inefficient, using much more memory CPU and being much slower. The alternative is using separate tools for all three of those: Prometheus for metrics, Loki for logs (I personally prefer it), and Grafana Tempo or Jaeger for traces.

We have never had that before. Now we finally have a standard that tools do not matter anymore. And that’s awesome.

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About the speakers

Viktor Farcic

Developer Advocate at Upbound, a member of the Google Developer Experts, GitHub Stars, and CD Foundation groups, and a published author. The host of the DevOps Toolkit YouTube channel and a co-host of the DevOps Paradox podcast. His big passions are DevOps, Containers, Kubernetes, Microservices, Continuous Integration, Delivery and Deployment (CI/CD), and Test-Driven Development (TDD).

 

Mikhail Shayunov

DevOps expert at Timspark has 17+ years of experience in system administration and security infrastructure development and 10+ years of in?depth experience designing, implementing, and scaling highly efficient technical environments for banking IT systems and technologies.

 

September Wrap-up: Timspark at Business Events

September Wrap-up: Timspark at Business Events

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In September, Timspark employees attended five prominent IT industry events across Europe, and we’re excited to share their insights and experiences with you.

1. Big Data Expo 2023: Uniting minds and forging partnerships

Date: September 12–13
Location: Utrecht, Netherlands

Big Data Expo 2023 was an exciting opportunity to dive into the world of fascinating data companies and engage with some remarkable minds.

Reflecting on these two days, here is what our colleagues Konstantin and Ilya shared with us:

“Over two days, we conducted more than twenty meetings, reconnected with our partners, and explored potential future collaborations,” said Ilya Boroda, Timspark’s Head of Presales. “Some of these encounters marked our first face-to-face meetings, providing a tangible connection reaffirming our shared interests. Additionally, we forged new partnerships during the exhibition, recognizing the mutual potential for cooperation.”

“During these intensive two days, we outlined future steps in all three focus areas. In certain cases, we have already scheduled discussions to delve into specific details of upcoming projects next week,” added Konstantin Kariapin, Timspark’s VP of Business Development.

2. All About Automation: Navigating the future of technology

Date: September 13–14
Location: Wetzlar, Germany

Our representative, Olga Karpova, had some profound insights to share from the #allaboutautomation event:

“In the ever-evolving landscape of technology and automation, one thing remains crystal clear: robots are not people,” says Olga Karpova, our Regional Business Development Director in Europe. “While they have certainly revolutionized industries with their efficiency and precision, they are far from perfect. Robots constantly break down, demand human attention, and lack the ability to operate autonomously without human presence. However, there’s a way to navigate this landscape wisely and outperform your competitors: for instance, by choosing cutting-edge custom development solutions from Timspark.”

3. EMO Hannover: Exploring the world of industrial equipment

Date: September 18–23
Location: Hannover, Germany

The Timspark team made a strong presence at EMO Hannover, catching up with industry leaders and forging new connections.

“The exhibition amazed me by its scale and the active interaction among all participants. The showcased equipment can potentially change the world, provided you know where to find the leverage point,” says Aleksey Moliboshko, our Market Researcher. “It’s heartening to witness how future partners discover each other and actively engage in these integrations. Nowhere else will you find such a vast assortment of drills available in all sizes and formats.”

4. DMEXCO – Marketing meeting innovation

Date: September 20–21
Location: Köln, Germany

The DMEXCO—Digital Marketing Expo & Conference was impressively vast, spanning three halls and offering numerous opportunities for collaboration.

“In two days, we held over 40 meetings,” shared Hanna Strashynskaya, Chief Strategy & Marketing Officer at Timspark. “Many discussions revolved around potential partnerships, with numerous companies showcasing referral programs and actively seeking collaboration. It’s safe to say that we’ll be leaving this conference with a host of new connections and the intention to nurture these relationships.”

“Our meetings with Mondu, Talon.One, Mazing, Pimcore, and Supermetrics, left a positive impression,” added Ilya Boroda, Head of Presales at Timspark. “There’s potential for collaboration in the Power BI domain and beyond.”

5. IoT Tech Expo World Series: Navigating the IoT landscape

Date: September 26–27
Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands

The IoT Tech Expo World Series event in Amsterdam provided a specialized platform for exploring IoT hardware, software, and consulting solutions.

“In total, we had over 20 meetings during the event. We had the pleasure of connecting with a diverse array of participants,” said Hanna Strashynskaya, Chief Strategy & Marketing Officer at Timspark. “For our next visit, I would like us to consider having a booth where we could better present our case studies and services or bring team members who have worked on IoT projects.”

Timspark’s participation in these events exemplifies our commitment to innovation, partnership, and staying at the forefront of the IT industry. We look forward to the opportunities and collaborations that will undoubtedly emerge from these exciting events.

See where Timspark will be next and connect with us!

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DesignRush Acclaimed Timspark among the Top Software Development Companies in London

DesignRush Acclaimed Timspark among the Top Software Development Companies in London

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DesignRush, the global B2B marketplace with a network of over 20,000 professional software development agencies from over 50 countries, has rated Timspark as the fourth-best custom software developer in London.

“DesignRush recognition is the evidence of our great efforts during the last six months by solving our client’s most challenging business needs,” said Sergey Bondarev, CDO at Timspark. “We are sure Timspark’s cross-vertical expertise puts us in a unique position. With our set of skills, we can give businesses a competitive advantage.”

Many recognized companies trust DesignRush and choose strategic partners according to their top companies lists.

The Evolution of Outsourcing: From Cost Reduction to Strategic Value Creation

The Evolution of Outsourcing: From Cost Reduction to Strategic Value Creation

, Chief Commercial Officer

The shifting landscape of the business world brings new challenges to the forefront, causing clients’ expectations from outsourcing to change as well. In such dynamic conditions, outsourcing is gaining more significance, offering tangible benefits beyond mere cost savings, contrary to traditional perceptions. Third-party delivery models, in their turn, keep evolving to address modern operating models.

To illuminate customers’ evolving priorities over the past 5–7 years and understand the current direction of outsourcing, we have conducted a comprehensive analysis of four Deloitte reports from 2016 to 2022.

Consequently, Vlad Nemshon, Chief Growth Officer at Timspark, shares insightful and not-so-obvious findings regarding the evolution of outsourcing and clients’ expectations in this article. Backed up with Timspark’s extensive experience in the field, we delve into an enriched perspective on this topic.

Models of outsourcing services: what’s new

As organizations strive for growth, they encounter the challenges of a fiercely competitive global talent market. These are coupled with rapid technological advancements that surpass practical adoption timelines.

In this demanding situation, where balancing cost and accessing new skills and capabilities is crucial, organizations call upon agile and integrated service providers. While project-based outsourcing is still the most common type of third-party delivery service, businesses are becoming more open to new outsourcing models.

As businesses evolve, the services they seek from providers shift towards more intricate and essential functions. This demand goes beyond traditional capabilities and fosters closer integration with internal and external talent. In fact, 45% of executives embrace new outsourcing models to address changing regulatory requirements. By partnering with third-party providers, organizations gain the needed technology and process guidance and can tap into their deep industry knowledge.

As businesses evolve, their demand goes beyond traditional capabilities and fosters closer integration with both internal and external talent.

Deloitte, in particular, coins such new outsourcing models as Operate Services. These possess several distinguishing features:

  • They prioritize outcomes and innovation, leveraging technology and cost optimization;
  • They grant clients on-demand access to rare talents, experiences, skills, and cutting-edge technology;
  • The scope of services they offer is extensive and adaptable, fostering a highly collaborative relationship with the vendor that often feels like an extension of the organization.

We at Timspark developed a unique approach of core teams, filling the gap left by traditional outsourcing models. Other relatively new outsourcing models are Team as a Service (TaaS) and Dedicated Teams.

While specific terminologies may differ across services, the key aspect is that these disruptive models employ automation and data insights to drive value within their services.

Now, let’s delve deeper into each factor that shapes the outsourcing landscape and new collaboration models and examine its evolution over the past five to seven years.

Shifting priorities from cost reduction to value creation

The last 5-7 years revealed a significant shift in clients’ outsourcing priorities as they recognized broader benefits of outsourcing beyond cost savings.

In 2016, clients recognized that outsourcing could deliver tangible benefits beyond cost savings. They viewed outsourcing as a critical enabler of M&A activity and sought value-added benefits, strategic impact, and innovation from outsourcing partnerships. This indicated a shift in priorities toward value creation.

In 2018, the objectives of outsourcing moved towards enabling speed to market, scaling faster, enhancing user experience, and achieving competitive advantage. There was an emphasis on value delivery and accountability for action, as disappointment in value delivery led to bringing work back in-house.

Comparing a 5-years’ difference (from 2016 to 2020), one may notice a bounce back to cost reduction as a priority for a great number of organizations. The impact of COVID-19 bringing an uncertain economic environment played a key role here.

Source: Deloitte Global Outsourcing Survey 2016

Source: Deloitte Global Outsourcing Survey 2020

From 2018 to 2022, the trend toward value creation intensified, and cost reduction diminished in importance. Clients focused on accessing capabilities, technology, and comprehensive support from outsourcing partnerships.

In 2022 value creation became a key focus, reflecting the evolving nature of outsourcing relationships and their strategic value to organizations. In particular, clients started to see outsourcing as vital for M&A activity, seeking value, strategic impact, and innovation.

Timspark’s take on the trend

As clients increasingly focus on accessing new capabilities, leveraging technology, seeking collaboration with service providers, and value creation, we at Timspark keep up the pace. 

Rather than focusing solely on cost reduction, we take advantage of outsourcing and Team-as-a-Service (TaaS) models yet enhance them with our bold vision of dedicated teams with unique expertise and high motivation. We believe that comprehensive support and transparency during all the stages of product development, from the discovery phase to launch, help drive value to the business.

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Software Development Companies Rates in 2023

Survey results

Embracing innovation and digital transformation

From 2016, the overall trend suggests an evolving mindset toward embracing innovation and transformation as key considerations in outsourcing strategies.

In 2016, customers recognized the need for innovative services and transformational requirements facilitated by technological advancements. They sought service providers who could offer innovative solutions and enable business growth. The importance of embracing technological advancements, such as robotic and cognitive process automation, was recognized for driving transformational change.

In 2018, clients were open to disruptive solutions and innovative approaches, actively considering how to change solutions, which partners could elevate them, and how to incentivize continual innovation. There was a proactive and forward-thinking attitude toward leveraging new technologies and approaches to drive innovation and transformation.

For the year 2020, the Deloitte report mentioned the importance of innovation, market competitiveness, and leveraging the latest technologies for driving business transformation. Clients sought providers who could help them embrace disruptive technologies and identified cloud and automation as driving forces for change.

From 2018 to 2022, the importance of innovation and transformation in the outsourcing industry is consistently recognized. Clients increasingly seek innovative services, disruptive solutions, and the ability to leverage new technologies to drive business transformation and stay competitive. The shift in priorities from cost reduction to value creation aligns with this focus on embracing innovation and transformation.

Following the evolving trend toward innovation, teams at Timspark tap into cutting-edge technologies and best practices for software development, such as automation, AI, data management, cloud computing, and more, to drive digital transformation for businesses. 

Shift to a strategic objectives approach

Tracing the trends, one can notice that customers have evolved their understanding of outsourcing from a cost-centric approach to a strategic approach focused on achieving value, driving transformation, and aligning with long-term business objectives.

2016
The information provided in the report implies that customers were broadening their approach to outsourcing and considering it beyond a cost-cutting measure. Strategic objectives such as value creation, innovation, and risk mitigation were becoming increasingly important. Customers sought innovative solutions, recognized the value of outsourcing for business growth, and saw it as a means to mitigate legislative and cyber security risks.

2018
While the texts did not explicitly discuss strategic objectives, there was an emphasis on achieving competitive advantage, increased agility, efficiency, and effectiveness through outsourcing. This suggests that strategic objectives related to improving overall business performance, driving innovation, and focusing on core competencies likely influenced outsourcing decisions.

2020
While the texts did not explicitly discuss strategic objectives, there was an emphasis on achieving competitive advantage, increased agility, efficiency, and effectiveness through outsourcing. This suggests that strategic objectives related to improving overall business performance, driving innovation, and focusing on core competencies likely influenced outsourcing decisions.

2022
The report explicitly mentioned a shift in the outsourcing mindset from a tactical cost-saving approach to a strategic focus. Clients prioritized capabilities, value, and outcomes over cost reduction, indicating a recognition of the broader benefits outsourcing can offer. Clients sought comprehensive end-to-end solutions and emphasized ecosystem management across vendors for transparent and integrated support aligned with their strategic objectives.

From 2018 to 2022, there is a clear shift towards a more strategic approach in outsourcing decisions. Clients increasingly prioritize strategic objectives such as value creation, business transformation, scalability, agility, and technology enablement. There is a recognition that outsourcing can be a tool to achieve broader business goals and drive change. The focus on comprehensive solutions, ecosystem management, and aligning outsourcing with strategic objectives further emphasizes the strategic nature of outsourcing decisions in 2022.

Timspark’s take on the trend

At Timspark, we see our role in the project as strategic partners, not just executives. Our semi-independent Core Teams accumulate expertise in both — the technological vertical and business domains. They bring their motivation and product vision at all stages of development, striving for the project’s success in the long run.

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Risk mitigation and regulations compliance

Overall, the trends indicate that risk mitigation and compliance remain key considerations for clients in outsourcing. One can notice an increasing emphasis on proactive management, addressing changing regulations, data security, and leveraging specialized expertise.

In 2016, customers recognized legislative and cyber security risks as a priority and saw outsourcing as a means to mitigate these risks. Compliance with legal and regulatory requirements was also implied as a concern. However, the report indicated room for improvement in dedicating more outsourcing resources to vendor management capabilities.

In 2018, organizations were increasingly proactive in managing cyber risk and took steps to address security, changing regulations, organizational resistance, and skill gaps. Clients were concerned about data security and compliance with laws and regulations when selecting service providers, and they enforced data risk and security protocols through contractual agreements and periodic evaluations. The emphasis was on risk mitigation and compliance in outsourcing decisions.

According to the report, as of 2020, risk mitigation was a key concern for organizations in outsourcing. Clients sought more robust mechanisms for risk mitigation, aimed to avoid vendor lock-in, and expressed concerns about cloud data security. Service providers recognized the importance of improving cloud data security as a focus area. Risk mitigation and compliance remained significant considerations.

From 2018 to 2022, there is a consistent focus on risk mitigation and compliance in outsourcing decisions. Clients continue to prioritize these aspects and seek outsourcing partners who can provide comprehensive support in managing risks and ensuring compliance. They also recognize the value of engaging trusted third-party providers to leverage their expertise in cybersecurity and data analytics. Ecosystem management, including transparency, culture, and trust, was emphasized to address complex risk and compliance challenges.

Timspark’s take on the trend

We take a proactive approach by bridging the gap between Delivery and potential clients and between Presales and Delivery. We aim to minimize risks from the early stages by involving the Core Team and Team Manager during presales. They study your requirements, suggest ways to bring them to life, and provide estimates. This collaboration ensures the proper transfer of guidelines and vision to the Delivery (Core Team), resulting in a shared understanding and commitment.

High-performance certified teams with domain expertise and an experienced project manager in charge provide for compliance with industry-specific regulations and standards, such as ISO, GDPR, and HIPAA, while regular security controls, encryption mechanisms, and data protection protocols help meet compliance requirements.

Evolving priorities and challenges

Overall, the trends indicate that risk mitigation and compliance remain key considerations for clients in outsourcing. One can notice an increasing emphasis on proactive management, addressing changing regulations, data security, and leveraging specialized expertise.

The information from the report suggests that, as of 2016, companies were broadening their approach to outsourcing and recognizing it as more than just a cost-cutting strategy. There was a shift towards focusing on value creation, innovation, and business transformation. Clients were redefining their approach to outsourcing and actively tracking innovation in outsourcing agreements. The recognition of evolving challenges related to cybersecurity was also evident.

The year 2018 marked a shift in the focus of outsourcing from traditional work transfer to upfront transformation and automation. The emphasis moved towards achieving competitive advantage, top-line growth, and driving innovation through outsourcing. Clients faced evolving priorities and challenges related to security, cyber risks, changing regulations, organizational resistance, and skill gaps. Proactive measures, including contractual enforcement of data risk and security protocols, were taken to address these challenges.

In 2020, the outsourcing landscape was constantly evolving with new disruptive solutions. The outsourcing priorities shifted towards market speed, scaling faster, enhancing user experience, and achieving competitive advantage. The challenges associated with outsourcing included balancing details with speed, the emergence of faster contracting mechanisms, and the importance of change management.

Overall, from 2018 to 2022, there was a noticeable shift in client attitudes towards outsourcing. While cost optimization remained important, there was a clear focus on achieving competitive advantage, driving innovation, and aligning outsourcing with strategic goals. Clients faced evolving priorities and challenges related to security, cultural impact, and budget considerations. The emphasis on collaboration, value creation, and the emergence of new outsourcing models demonstrated the need for innovation and transformation in addressing evolving priorities and challenges.

Timspark’s take on the trend

The shift in the outsourcing mindset from a tactical cost-saving approach to a strategic focus leads the way for vendors. As clients view outsourcing as a tool to enhance overall business objectives, outsourcing partners should also prioritize capabilities, value, and outcomes. This may happen only in tight collaboration with service providers and constant synchronization on the vision of the value creation.

Partnering with Timspark, you will always be in the know about the development process, retain quality control throughout the project, and keep it aligned with your company’s objectives at all stages.

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In conclusion

Summing up all the above mentioned processes, clients recognize outsourcing as a strategic enabler for achieving long-term business objectives, driving innovation, and ensuring sustainable growth. 

Here are the main takeaways you may consider:

 

  • There is a vivid shift in priorities from cost reduction to value creation, emphasizing strategic objectives, innovation, risk mitigation, and compliance. 
  • Clients increasingly recognize the broader benefits of outsourcing beyond cost savings and prioritize competitive advantage, agility, and effectiveness. 
  • There is a growing focus on embracing innovation and transformation, leveraging new technologies, and driving business growth. 
  • Strategic considerations such as value creation, scalability, and technology enablement are now central to outsourcing decisions. 
  • Risk mitigation and compliance remain key concerns, with clients seeking trusted providers to address cybersecurity and regulatory requirements. 
  • The evolving nature of priorities and challenges necessitates a flexible and proactive approach to outsourcing driven by collaboration, value creation, and new outsourcing models.  

The attitude towards outsourcing has undergone a significant transformation, with clients embracing a broader perspective encompassing strategic value creation, innovation, risk management, and agility. While cost reduction remains a factor, it is now accompanied by a more holistic approach to achieving long-term business goals. By leveraging the expertise of external service providers, organizations can unlock new opportunities, drive innovation, and achieve sustainable growth.

Sources used

Deloitte Global Outsourcing Survey 2022
Deloitte Global Outsourcing Survey 2020
Deloitte Global Outsourcing Survey 2018
Deloitte Global Outsourcing Survey 2016

About the author

Vlad Nemshon, Chief Commercial Officer at Timspark, has 5+ years of experience in IT marketing and sales and a lawyer background at Deloitte. With a talent for extracting valuable insights from data and identifying untapped marketing opportunities, Vlad’s passion lies in translating research findings into actionable strategies for business growth.

Vlad Nemshon Market Research Manager

Cultivating High-Performance Teams: Key Insights from a Decade in IT

Cultivating High-Performance Teams: Key Insights from a Decade in IT

In the rapidly advancing IT industry, the key to success often lies in the hands of well-coordinated, motivated, and high-performing teams. Experience across multiple sectors within this industry reveals invaluable insights into building and nurturing effective teams. In this article, Timspark’s CMO Hanna Strashynskaya shares her insights and practical advice, drawn from her almost decade of experience managing diverse teams in analytics, business development, and marketing to foster high-performance teams.

 

After analyzing my experience with different teams, I see several pillars that make a solid, high-performing team, regardless of the team’s expertise and profile. These must be in place to ensure that the construction is stable enough to withstand all the challenges and pressures of the business.

1. MOTIVATION: THE FUEL FOR SUCCESS

Motivation is an essential element for teams handling the complex tasks and tight deadlines in the technology sector. The variety of industry research (for instance, this research on teams and project performance) indicates that motivated teams can enhance business performance significantly. However, a lack of motivation can lead to decreased productivity, lower quality of work, and higher turnover rates.

How to build it:

1. Foster a positive working environment that encourages and rewards effort.
2. Align individual roles with personal career goals to enhance intrinsic motivation.
3. Recognize and reward milestones for sustaining team motivation.

2. THE TRUST FACTOR: THE BASIS FOR COMMUNICATION

Trust is the cornerstone of effective team productivity. High-trust environments promote open communication, risk-taking, and innovation. In contrast, a lack of trust can lead to poor collaboration, stifled creativity, and a reluctance to take necessary risks.

How to build it:

1. Promote open communication, allowing team members to freely share ideas and concerns.
2. Cultivate a culture of transparency, clarifying roles, and team objectives.
3. Facilitate team-building activities to foster mutual understanding and trust.

3. EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION: THE BINDING GLUE

Effective communication consolidates trust and motivation. Clear communication aligns team members with objectives, encourages problem-solving, and promotes cooperative goal achievement. Without effective communication, misunderstandings may arise, slowing down project progress and creating unnecessary conflicts.

How to build it:

1. Schedule regular team meetings to maintain alignment with project progress.
2. Utilize collaborative tools for seamless and real-time communication.
3. Foster a feedback culture for continuous improvement.

4. CONTINUOUS LEARNING: THE KEY TO ADAPTABILITY

In the rapidly evolving IT industry, a culture of continuous learning is critical. This principle allows teams to adapt and grow effectively. However, failing to prioritize continuous learning can lead to stagnation, decreased competitiveness, and a disconnect with industry trends and advancements.

How to build it:

1. Provide regular training and development opportunities for your team.
2. Encourage knowledge and insight sharing among team members.
3. Promote curiosity and stay current with industry trends and advancements.

As we all know, the devil is in the details, yet, without these principles in place, organizations risk inconsistent performance, reduced client satisfaction, and, ultimately, a lack of growth and innovation.

UNITING THESE PRINCIPLES AT TIMSPARK

Timspark’s principles of motivation, trust, effective communication, and continuous learning are our daily bread. Our dedicated development teams are familiar with their roles, trust their peers, and are motivated to deliver their best, contributing to our consistent success. The principle of continuous learning is integral to our culture, enabling our teams and all departments to adapt and grow with each project. For instance, in the marketing team, we regularly challenge our approaches to marketing channels to find the most effective ones, explore new AI-enhanced marketing tools, and polish up our brand awareness strategy.

More about How we work

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In our partnerships with clients, we stick to the same principles. We strive to accumulate the best practices, both in the domain and team cooperation, within our squads and bring them to the customer. It’s what underpins the superior quality and innovative approach we guarantee in every partnership.

How to practice these principles in partnerships:

1. Extend the culture of trust, motivation, and continuous learning to your client partnerships.
2. Encourage transparent and open communication with clients.
3. Incorporate client feedback into your team’s learning and development process.

IN CONCLUSION

Building high-performance teams extends beyond merely combining skills. It involves fostering an environment of motivation and trust, ensuring open and effective communication, and embracing continuous self-development. A team’s strength lies in its collective spirit. A motivated team that trusts one another communicates effectively, and is dedicated to learning and growth will always find its way to success.

Whether you’re part of a startup or a large enterprise, the principles discussed here are universal and can help you build more cohesive, high-performing teams. Adherence to these principles underpins the innovative approach and superior quality that we at Timspark deliver to our clients.

Further reading:

1. MIT SMR—Deloitte Future of the Workforce global study
2. Organizational performance: It’s a team sport
3. Teams and Project Performance: An Ability, Motivation, and Opportunity Approach
4. The Economist — Communication barriers in the modern workplace

Timspark’s Analysis of Tech and Business Trends for 2023-2024

Timspark’s Analysis of Tech and Business Trends for 2023-2024

, Content Manager

At Timspark, we strive to be one step ahead and see where to get a competitive edge. Our Chief Delivery Officer, Sergey Bondarev, has analyzed the most significant technology trends likely to shape the industry for the next few years. Read on to discover how to leverage and keep the balance between tech trends and business needs, and see how Timspark navigates this challenge.

Timspark’s approach to analyzing trends

 

As the digital landscape continues to evolve and many buzzwords are hitting the market, it is essential to maintain a clear understanding of the matter. How you perceive trends is always the question of your approach. I’ve turned to a range of trusted sources to comprehensively understand what trends to look out for. These included:

  • leading consultants in the field (McKinsey, Deloitte, Gartner, Forrester, Mercer)
  • popular expert development resources (GitHub, Stack Overflow, Technology Radar)
  • leading business magazines (Forbes, Harvard Business Review)
  • and, no less necessary, my colleagues’ valuable expertise.

Overall, Sergey managed to identify 65 trends. However, moving on to the specifics, you can only have some things on the plate and test hypotheses with all the trends simultaneously within your business model. Therefore, rather than go blindfolded, I took the next step of breaking down all the trends.

 

How you can analyze trends

When diving into the vast range of trends in the field, I applied the following criteria that helped me to highlight the most significant ones. 

1. Trend source and its credibility level (the source credibility expertise-wise)
For instance, I chose Gartner, Deloitte, and Mercer as the most reliable business consultants and Stackoverflow as the most well-known source of technical reviews.

2. Trend level

Here, I looked into how trends may affect different operation layers—whether they affect only the technical level, like applying new technologies, having a broader scope on the solution level, or concern processes with employees.

Depending on what area of development your business is focusing on at the particular moment, it may influence your choice—whether you consider it or not.

3. Potential durability level

Some trends may last, while some of them may go. Therefore, I prefer to conduct some analysis to see whether the trend will hold for a year, more than a couple of years, or probably will shape the decades of the digital and business realm.

For business, it is the factor that is the basis for feasibility and return on investment.

 4. Primary affected tech area

Here, we speak about the spheres affected by the trend.
Trends can be universal for several tech areas or have an impact on a specific area, for instance:  

      • Data
      • DevOps
      • Platforms
      • Architecture
      • Hardware
      • Management
      • Backend
      • Frontend
      • Mobile
      • Design
      • Security
      • QA,

        to name a few.

        The next step was to devise a formula for calculating the business’s trend perspective, taking all the factors into account.


Trend Perspective consists of Trend Popularity and Durability. Here Popularity means the overall number of mentions in the chosen resources multiplied by its credibility level.

As for Durability, one should consider it is a more weighty factor than Popularity, thus avoiding short-life trends that may lose ground in a year or two and, therefore, do not have long-term perspectives for your business.

Thus, I suggest such grades for Durability: 

Continual (<5 years)
Long Term (<3 years)
Medium Term (<2 years)
Short Term (<1 years)

If this seems feasible for you already, you can use this takeaway and focus on the possible directions for your business. Yet, you can go further by setting a rating for each trend, and it will help you be even more selective and focused.

I suggest that the gradation of “How it fits your company” goes from low to high and calculated in percentages, yet you are free to apply a shortened or extended scale: 

Low — 20%
Medium — 50%
Good — 70%
High — 100%

The approach described above can be applied to any trends you encounter if you want to analyze them deeper and weigh their relevance to your business objectives.

 

Global Business Trends and Correlation with Tech Trends

Overall, business trends define challenges and gaps, while tech trends describe a way of how these challenges can be solved with disruptive technologies, or needs in such technologies. Therefore, businesses should have a robust IT infrastructure that supports today’s business needs while innovating with an intention for the future.

The most perspective business trends go as follows:

Scalability and growth (95%)

To scale and grow seamlessly, it’s crucial to develop technology that can be easily adapted to different business models or scaled as needed in the future. If your company’s product or processes might require costly changes, investing in scalable technology solutions is essential.

For instance, BI allows you to gather and analyze valuable data about your business and customers. The data lets you spot trends, monitor performance, and make informed decisions based on data, helping you scale your business more effectively.

With the long-term perspective and popularity, this trend gets the top grade.

Advanced automation and decisions (78%)

Automation is the technology that is no longer a ‘nice-to-have’ but a ‘must-have,’ able to improve business and employee performance across every department: sales, service, marketing, commerce, IT, human resources, finance, and more. 

By saying ‘automation,’ we mostly imply processes with DevOps, RPA (Robotic process automation), AI, and data-driven decisions. The trend is relatively durable and popular.

 

Cost savings (66%)

The trend’s popularity throughout different sources is not high, yet it looks rather durable and likely to stay for a couple of years. Especially with the continuing economic uncertainty, cost optimization becomes a critical theme for any business, whether a small enterprise or a tech giant. And digital transformation can significantly reduce costs. 

Possible cost-effective and scalable solutions range from automated AI and ML solutions and cloud computing to data management.

Security and reliability improvement (66%)

Though the trend’s popularity in the media is moderate, its significance for businesses cannot be overlooked. Ensuring data reliability is crucial for meeting regulatory requirements and building customer trust. Today, customers expect companies to not only protect that data but also expect more valuable insights from these companies, like offering personalized products and services. 

Reliability problems can affect organizations differently depending on their size. For example, small service-based businesses may experience impacts on management and staff, whereas larger enterprise-level organizations could potentially face disruptions in vendor relationships, distribution channels, and transportation operations. Blockchain or cloud security solutions, For instance, can address such challenges.

 

Innovations (62%)

Last but not least, we should mention innovations as the driving force for businesses that want to gain and keep the competitive edge. Technology acts as a catalyst here, and innovation can be scaled. Research and Development (R&D), data analytics, and automation are some possible solutions to drive innovation within your company, and the list could go on.

Now let’s dive deeper into the essence of the most meaningful tech trends.

Cloud computing and moving to cloud (92%)

With multiple cloud solutions available, businesses can choose the most suitable cloud services for each workload or application. For example, they might use one cloud provider for storage and another for computing resources. It helps spread workloads across multiple cloud providers and reduces the risk of downtime or service disruptions. All these solutions, each in its way, offer flexibility, scalability, and cost-efficiency, as users can access computing resources on-demand and pay only for what they use. Here are some of them marking a milestone in how businesses can use technologies to their advantage.

Cloud edge and computing
Cloud and edge computing involves distributing computing workloads across remote data centers and local nodes to improve data sovereignty, autonomy, resource productivity, latency, and security.

Moving to cloud
According to recent research, organizations are increasingly looking to move their IT estate to the cloud by 2025 (about 60%), utilizing multi-cloud architecture and industry cloud platforms. However, moving to the cloud requires careful planning and execution to ensure a successful transition. Businesses must evaluate their current IT infrastructure, data, applications, and security needs before choosing a cloud provider and planning the migration process.

Industry cloud platforms
They can be highly beneficial for businesses as they come with prepackaged applications and configurations designed to meet the industry’s specific needs. Companies can save time and money by developing custom solutions and instead focus on their core business operations. Additionally, industry cloud platforms provide shared resources, and users can scale them to match their needs and pay only for what they use.

Cloud economics 

Recent research has shown that companies tend to focus on cloud costs once they break $100 million, which is not just a tremendous waste but also a wasted opportunity to generate value. In that respect, cloud economics can potentially transform businesses with such practices as cloud infrastructure audit and improvement, cost optimization, and account management.

Digital Immune System (DIS)
Last but not least, one recent trend is implementing DIS solutions. Thus, Gartner predicts that companies investing in creating digital immunity can reduce downtime by 80% and increase customer satisfaction significantly by the year 2025. 

 

 

 

AI solutions (85%)


AI technologies have already achieved mainstream exposure decades ago and are improving time-to-market, as they require less Involvement in code and speed the testing process. For instance, Google Colab will soon introduce AI coding features, like code completions, natural language to code generation and even a code-assisting chatbot.


Applied AI

In practice, Applied AI is used in various industries, from healthcare and Finance to transportation and manufacturing. The creation of self-driven robots, face and object detection for security, speech recognition for customer assistance, user behavior analytics, forecasting services for manufacturing, and sensor data processing for error and damage detection are just a few solutions with AI assistance. Applied AI holds great promise to solve complex problems but requires careful planning and execution. Proper selection, design, and deployment of AI-based systems can bring significant benefits to businesses, including increased efficiency, productivity, and profitability.


Adaptive AI

As adaptive AI can learn from its experience and automatically adjust its functionality and performance to optimize results, it becomes a solution where you must deal with dynamic data volumes. For example, an adaptive chatbot can learn from past interactions to identify patterns and improve its conversation quality. AI integrations of online training algorithms have been for Finance, ad tech, eCommerce, and other industries. 


Creative AI (Generative AI)

What is already unfolding in front of our eyes, human-oriented content, is being generated by AI at an exponential rate. OpenAI, Midjourney, DALL-E, Stable Diffusion, large language models, generative adversarial networks, unsupervised deep learning approaches, and generative models are just a few on the list, with more yet to come.

These solutions may help fill this talent gap and dramatically increase programming speed and comprehension.

 

 

 

 

Data management (83%)

With the amount of data that businesses use multiplying daily, the trend will likely stay for decades. Data management’s primary focus lies in the overall management of data throughout its lifecycle. It has manifold directions, from data strategy consulting to data mining and data warehousing solutions to intelligent process automation and applied observability. Let’s have a brief overview of these trends.

 


Developing company data foundations is the vastest category here. It practically means creating well-structured and scalable data environments that can handle large volumes of data, ensure data quality and provide seamless integration with other systems.

Applied observability

Business-wise applied observability refers to a strategic approach that enables organizations to have complete and accurate visibility into the performance of their systems and applications. To proactively identify and resolve issues and gain in-depth insights into their data, companies should apply reliable BI and data clustering and perform data processing and analysis.

Big Data

Big Data is what businesses have to deal with daily in their workflows. Therefore it requires a system of solutions around it. First, it requires robust storage and management solutions that can handle the volume, velocity, and variety of data an organization generates. Secondly, Big Data analytics involves processing and analyzing large and complex data sets using tools such as Apache Spark, Apache Flink, and MapReduce. All the tools mentioned enable organizations to extract valuable insights and make data-driven decisions.

Data Lake

This technology can help businesses when there are vast amounts of raw data from various sources to be stored and analyzed (such as databases, streaming platforms, and third-party applications). With no pre-processing, managing data becomes more cost-effective and drives informed decision-making. Additionally, Data Lake architecture provides businesses with scalability and flexibility to accommodate future data demands and integrate with other systems and tools.

Data Visualization

Being data-driven is no longer a vogue but a necessity. It is critical to communicate complex data clearly and concisely, uncover key insights, and accelerate decision-making processes to keep the competitive edge. In search of reliable data visualization tools, businesses often turn to Tableau or Power BI as the most famous and renowned ones.

 

Next-gen development (78%)

Next-gen development goes beyond the traditional development of software applications and involves improving processes and software quality across each stage of the software development life cycle. It harnesses modern technologies, methodologies, and practices, such as:

  • AI-enabled testing
     We expect automated script writing to exceed 80% of test coverage within the next decade, making testing faster and more efficient.
  • AI ‘pair programmer’
    Code recommendations based on the context from input code or natural language help developers code faster with reduced friction. 
  • AI-based code review
    Eliminating manual inputs and removing human biases results in faster, more efficient code reviews.
  • Low-code or no-code platforms
    Allow non-developers to build apps in a more resource-consuming way. 
  • Microservices and APIs
    Microservices and APIs serve as building blocks, making development faster and businesses more agile. APIs open new revenue streams, which can be provided externally to other companies’ integration. Overall, with all the tools and practices mentioned, developers can focus more on the capabilities their applications would enable than on the specifics of building the apps, which, as a result, saves resources, as well.

Dev culture and management (77%)

As said before, trends can affect not only technologies but also people management and the employee sphere. Dev culture and management trends embrace strategies that help developers deliver better outputs and stay motivated, thus bringing more value to the business.

Among these are:

  • tech debt estimation and fixing
  • retaining the best talents
  • accessible inclusion for new growth
  • employee productivity management
  • reimagining the workforce.

Tech debt estimation minimizes incurred costs and technical troubles, keeping the company on track and within budget. Retaining loyal employees is vital for employee morale and business success. Organizations prioritizing accessibility and inclusivity attract a diverse workforce and new growth opportunities.

Metaverse (59%)

Although Metaverse has received significant attention before, this trend does not seem to be well-timed, and there is little evidence that it can have a significant impact on businesses in the near future. Metaverse is a relatively newborn and continuously evolving technology, and it still needs to be made clear how it can be applied to business operations or provide a clear return on investment. Additionally, since the technology is still in its early stages, it still beholds high risks for entrepreneurs. There may also be a ‘hype gap,’ where interest and enthusiasm for the technology can outpace actual capabilities and adoption by users and businesses.

Improve connectivity (58%)

By leveraging innovative technologies like cloud computing, 5G networks, AI chatbot development, and IOT, businesses can significantly improve connectivity to their customers, clients, and internal teams. Improving connectivity is a critical investment for companies seeking to modernize their systems and drive innovation and growth.

xTech (58%)

TX-tech (or ‘cross technology’) combines cutting-edge fields, such as Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Virtual and Augmented Reality, the Internet of Things, blockchain, and quantum computing. 

While advanced digital solutions in banking and finance started the trend and were coined FinTech, other sectors followed in the footsteps that would result in terms such as Edtech, HealthTech, or RegTech. One can spot directions that are now most in demand. For instance, FoodTech has equipped the food sector to automate supermarkets and retail outlets. On the other hand, we see how the tourism industry is beginning to embrace X-Tech solutions, with self-check-in as one of the most prominent innovations, also called Know Your Guest. Electronic signature solutions stand out among the technologies that have made possible the online contracting of all types of insurance. InfoTech is a vast branch, extending to brand-new solutions like NeuroTech, Biotech, SpaceTech, and more.

Overall, X-tech can benefit businesses in many ways, such as efficiency improvement, cost-effective solutions, new revenue streams, and competitive advantage.

 

 

Decentralized platforms

Blockchain and web3 technologies have revolutionized how you can manage your data. They are disrupting various industries like finance, healthcare, education, supply chain management, and social networking by creating decentralized platforms where data is securely stored. Web3, specifically, offers the possibility to create decentralized financial systems that enable many users to carry out peer-to-peer transactions without traditional banking. Additionally, with Web3, it is possible to develop transparent and secure supply chain systems that track the movement of goods from manufacturer to consumer. Overall, if you opt for decentralized platforms, it can provide your business with increased transparency, security, and efficiency. 

However, deploying blockchain projects can be daunting due to the technology’s complexity. This is where DevOps, digital platform engineering, and platform engineering come into play.

 

 

How Timpark Leverages Top Tech Trends

As mentioned above, knowing the current trends and their potential, you are more likely to set off in the right direction and focus on what is feasible specifically for your business.

Having explored an extensive array of trends, I proceeded to analyze which ones could fuel growth for Timspark and our business model.

How the trends fit Timspark’s goals and expertise

To get the final list, I applied the above mentioned formula to get a rating for each trend and sort them accordingly.

Summing up, we at Timspark have chosen four main directions in which we have deep expertise and would like to deliver our services for the next couple of years.

Data Management

  • Developing company data foundations
  • Applied observability
  • Data visualization

Cloud Computing

  • Moving to cloud
  • Cloud economic
  • Digital immune system
  • Industry cloud platforms

Dev Culture & Management

  • AI-enabled development and testing and low-code or no-code platforms
  • Industry cloud platforms
  • Platform engineering
  • Superapps

Next Gen Development

  • Tech debt estimation and fixing
  • Make employees to do more 
  • Retain best talents 
  • Employee productivity management
  • Fullstack development

Let’s shape the future together with Timspark!

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Companies must remain agile and flexible by adapting to the latest technology and business trends as we look to the future. By embracing these trends, businesses can remain competitive, agile, and thriving in an ever-changing landscape.

 

Materials used

 

Gartner — Top Strategic Technology Trends 2023McKinsey — New year’s resolutions for tech in 2023
McKinsey — Projecting the global value of cloud: $3 trillion is up for grabs for companies that go beyond adoption
McKinsey — The data-driven enterprise of 2025
McKinsey — Demystifying digital dark matter: A new standard to tame technical debt
McKinsey — How companies can use DataOps to jump-start advanced analytics
Forbes — The Top 10 Tech Trends In 2023 Everyone Must Be Ready For
Forrester — Predictions 2023
Mercer — Global Talent Trends report 2022-2023
Stackoverflow — Comparing tag trends with our Most Loved programming languages
Stackoverflow — After the buzz fades: What our data tells us about emerging technology sentiment
Deloitte Insights — Tech Trends 2023
Deloitte — The skills-based organization: A new operating model for work and the workforce
Harvard Business Review — Where Is Tech Going in 2023?

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