The results of our first-ever Cloud Developer Survey are in, providing important insight into the development tools being used today, the role of open source, and the capabilities developers are looking for in next generation cloud-based tools and IDEs.
The Cloud Developer Survey was conducted April 22-May 1, 2021, with more than 300 software developers, DevOps specialists, architects, and IT leaders in the US, UK, France, and Germany being interviewed. It’s important to point out that this survey was fielded by an independent team of analysts with the express purpose of minimizing bias, and to provide a clear market perspective to our member community.
In commissioning this research project, our primary objective was to gain a better understanding of cloud-based developer trends by identifying the requirements, priorities, and challenges faced by organizations that deploy and use cloud-based development solutions, including those based on open source technologies. Our expectation is that through these findings, we can better ensure developers have the tools and technologies they need for cloud native application development.
An interesting finding is that more than 40 percent of survey respondents indicated that their company’s most important applications are now cloud native. And only three percent said their company has no cloud migration plans for important on-premise applications. This bodes well for the growth in cloud-based tools to help accelerate this trend and migration.
Developers Expect Open Source Tools and Technologies
One of the most significant trends revealed by the survey is the extremely high value developers place on open source. This is a rare number to see in survey results, but 100 percent of participating organizations said they allow their developers to use open source technologies for software development; though 62 percent do place at least some restrictions on usage.
Looking ahead, developers expect open source to continue to grow in popularity, with more than 80 saying they consider open source to be important both now and in the future. With the focus on cloud native applications and growing reliance on open source, it’s safe to say that open source and cloud development go hand-in-hand, and are here to stay.
Flexibility, Better Integrations, and Innovation are Attractive
The Cloud Developer Survey also revealed that while developers use a variety of tools, they prefer using those with which they’re already familiar. This is reflected by the fact that 57 percent of survey respondents are still using desktop IDEs, including the Eclipse IDE. What this means is that there remains a huge developer community that has yet to benefit from open source cloud IDE technologies like Eclipse Theia, Eclipse Che, and Open VSX Registry, along with the ecosystem and products built around them.
Developers that do use cloud-based tools aren’t necessarily tied to using what their cloud provider recommends. Instead, they prefer open source options that offer opportunities for customization and innovation. No matter which technologies developers opt to use, increasing productivity is crucial. Developers are looking for better integrations of APIs and other features and tools that help save them time and effort.
Developers also want the flexibility to choose best-of-breed products and tools as needed to work more efficiently and to support the next wave of innovation in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and edge technologies. Open source drives innovation in these technologies, and flexible, open source tools will be key to attracting top talent to these cutting-edge development opportunities.
Read the Full Report and Recommendations
To review the complete Cloud Developer Survey results and the associated recommendations, download the survey report.
For more information about the Eclipse Cloud DevTools ecosystem and its benefits for members, visit the website.
