Shift left observability 2021 predictions

As this year comes to a close, it has become apparent that software quality and cloud computing are as important as ever. Looking forward, we see 2021 as the year software developers become the essential catalysts for business growth for organizations of all sizes and across all markets. Read on for the four predictions that Lightrun sees as having the biggest impact on enterprise IT in the coming year.

Shift Left Observability Gains Traction

2021 will be known for innovations in development, specifically by moving observability “left” or earlier in the software development lifecycle. By shifting left, organizations will be able to break down information silos and allow for speedy incident resolution. In a world where service uptime is incredibly important, this will be the difference between losing and winning a specific market through the ability to offer better superbly better reliability than the competition.

Developers will Impact IT Purchases

As more software companies evolve into major corporations, their developers have become profit centers as more software shipped leads to increased revenues for the organization. This will build on the growing trend of “Everything as Code” (EaC) due to developers' influence of high-ticket tooling purchases for their teams. 

The Next Kings of Software will be Generalists

In the coming year, improved and powerful infrastructure will become table stakes, and utilizing it correctly to create business value will require an understanding of the full development lifecycle. This in turn will make full-cycle ownership a desired trait for developers, propelling generalists as the new kings in the world of software.

Codifying Grows in Importance

High-touch, highly-granular configuration tools are losing ground to the practice of codifying and versioning instructions in standardized, textual formats, leading to better control and faster rollbacks. These faster operational procedures will greatly help organizations improve their overall software quality.

About Ilan Peleg

Ilan Peleg is co-founder and CEO of Lightrun, the continuous observability and debugging platform.