2024 Software Engineering Priorities and Challenges
Which priorities are most important to software engineering leaders in 2024? How might larger economic and talent-related trends impact departmental success? Read on to find out.
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Top goals for 2024 include integrating AI and increasing developer productivity
Skill gaps and budget restrictions may present challenges to achieving departmental goals
There is little consensus on how the global economy might impact 2024 goals
Organizations plan to integrate AI and increase developer productivity in 2024
Integrating AI (48%) and increasing developer productivity (48%) are among the top three strategic goals for many respondents’ (n = 120) software engineering departments in 2024.
Based on your personal knowledge of your software engineering department’s goals, what are its top three strategic priorities for 2024? Select up to three.
Develop new software products 30% | Improve developer experience 30% | Reduce technical debt 29% | Strengthen cybersecurity 28% | Support digital transformation 16% | Adopt product-centric delivery model 16% | Improve cross-functional relationships 12% | Establish platform engineering teams 8% | Implement green software engineering practices 6% | Migrate to cloud 5% | Other* 1% | Not sure 0% n = 120 *Other includes: “Provide better products for our customers”
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Question: What are your final thoughts on your software engineering department’s priorities and planning for 2024?
The topmost priorities in 2024 are going to be training the engineers on how to develop software around AI using AI, and [to] become more productive and let AI/ML drive some of the traditional aspects of software engineering.
Skill gaps and budget restrictions may pose problems
More than half (52%) expect skill gaps and training needs to pose significant obstacles to achieving their departments’ top three strategic priorities.
Which talent-related issues, if any, do you think could pose the most significant obstacles to achieving your software engineering department’s top three strategic priorities in 2024? Select all that apply.
Engineer and developer productivity 34% | Succession planning and leadership development 31% | Employee engagement and morale 31% | Changed working requirements (e.g., return to office) 18% | Team diversity, equity and inclusion 14% | None — I don’t foresee any talent-related obstacles 6% | Other* 1% | Not sure 0% n = 120 *Other includes: “Changing priorities”
Aside from talent concerns, 60% of respondents expect budget restrictions to present challenges.
Apart from talent-related issues, which of the following do you think may pose the biggest challenges to achieving your software engineering department’s top three strategic priorities in 2024? Select all that apply.
Regulatory changes 23% | Supply chain disruptions 15% | Not sure 2% | Other* 2% n = 120 *Other includes: “Ability to scale the
Question: What are your final thoughts on your software engineering department’s priorities and planning for 2024?
With budget cuts and [a] tight economic environment, efficiency and quality will be the key for software engineering teams.
There is little consensus on how the global economy might impact 2024 goals
40% of respondents expect the global economy to have a positive impact on their 2024 goals, while 39% expect it to have a negative impact.
How do you think the anticipated state of the global economy will impact your software engineering department’s operations and strategies in 2024, if at all?
n = 120 Note: May not add up to 100% due to rounding
Question: What are your final thoughts on your software engineering department’s priorities and planning for 2024?
Inflationary pressures will continue to force us to be creative.
In Other Words...
Question: What are your final thoughts on your software engineering department’s priorities and planning for 2024?
There is a lot of uncertainty in the world, the economy, and the markets, which brings a lot of uncertainty to what engineering is focused on in 2024. While there have been a lot of layos, people are also reluctant to switch roles and are paying a lot more attention to what company they join and what the team will be focused on. Businesses are careful with capital and investments, citing uncertainty and the ‘higher for longer’ mantra. In general, this manifests as a conservative investment focusing more on incremental improvements rather than bigger bets.
Adaptability is key to the success of the software engineering departments of 2024. There will be continuous changes in process flow and technologies that the department will need to adapt to.
I think we have some very good features coming up that will enhance [our] customer experience. That being said, we have a return to work policy that is hindering productivity at the moment. I feel once we all get used to being back, productivity will increase as long as the top talent doesn’t look elsewhere. We have worked hard on reducing technical debt and I feel it will pay o in 2024.
Respondent Breakdown
