[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”4.4.1″][et_pb_fullwidth_post_title meta=”off” featured_placement=”background” _builder_version=”4.6.6″ title_font=”||||||||” title_text_color=”#ff6317″ title_font_size=”3.5em” meta_font=”|300|||||||” meta_text_color=”#ffffff” meta_font_size=”1em” background_enable_color=”off” use_background_color_gradient=”on” background_color_gradient_start=”rgba(248,248,248,0.85)” background_color_gradient_end=”rgba(248,248,248,0.75)” background_color_gradient_overlays_image=”on” min_height=”20vh” height=”400px” custom_padding=”6vh||6vh||false|false” global_module=”403″ locked=”off”][\/et_pb_fullwidth_post_title][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”intro” _builder_version=”4.4.6″ custom_padding=”|||0px||” locked=”off”][et_pb_row use_custom_gutter=”on” _builder_version=”4.4.6″ custom_margin=”||||false|false” custom_padding=”6vh||||false|false” border_color_left=”rgba(0,0,0,0)”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.4.1″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.6.6″ text_font=”|300|||||||” text_font_size=”1.1em” text_line_height=”1.6em” quote_font=”|700|||||||” quote_text_align=”left” quote_font_size=”16px” header_2_text_color=”#ff6317″ header_2_font_size=”1.5em” header_2_line_height=”0.9em” header_3_font_size=”23px” header_4_font=”||||||||” header_4_font_size=”16px” header_4_line_height=”1.5em” header_5_font_size=”14px” custom_margin=”||||false|false” custom_padding=”||||false|false” border_color_left=”#ff6317″]<\/p>\n
In this second of two 2020 Review articles, let\u2019s look at how several big technologies evolved during the year.<\/p>\n
As we have seen last week<\/a>, the major impact of the pandemics was an accelerated movement of businesses into digital\/online. The big winners were remote communications and work, ecommerce and logistics\/delivery, online entertainment, and pharma. On the opposite side of the spectrum, big losses have been carried by travel and tourism, commercial real estate, and traditional retail and entertainment.<\/p>\n Does this have an influence over various technologies\u2019 development? Absolutely! [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row use_custom_gutter=”on” _builder_version=”4.4.6″ custom_margin=”||||false|false” custom_padding=”6vh||||false|false” border_color_left=”rgba(0,0,0,0)”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.4.1″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.6.6″ text_font=”|300|||||||” text_font_size=”1.1em” text_line_height=”1.6em” quote_font=”|700|||||||” quote_text_align=”left” quote_font_size=”16px” header_2_text_color=”#ff6317″ header_2_font_size=”1.5em” header_2_line_height=”0.9em” header_3_font_size=”23px” header_4_font=”||||||||” header_4_font_size=”16px” header_4_line_height=”1.5em” header_5_font_size=”14px” custom_margin=”||||false|false” custom_padding=”||||false|false” border_color_left=”#ff6317″]<\/p>\n If you\u2019ve been blown away by OpenAI GPT-3<\/a>\u2019s show-off back in July, it\u2019s for a good reason: the quality of its generated text is as close to human as it has ever been (with pretty much the same good and bad sides of a human). This comes from a huge leap from anything that has been done before: the model works with 175 billion parameters (with an estimated training cost of ~$10M) and brings impressive advancements on vectors like \u201cCommonsense\u201d and \u201cLinguistics\u201d (although \u201cKnowledge\u201d is still to catch up).<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_gallery gallery_ids=”6591,6593″ posts_number=”24″ show_title_and_caption=”off” show_pagination=”off” zoom_icon_color=”#ff6317″ hover_overlay_color=”rgba(255,255,255,0.75)” hover_icon=”%%186%%” _builder_version=”4.6.6″ module_alignment=”center” custom_padding=”2vh||2vh||false|false”][\/et_pb_gallery][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.6.6″ text_font=”|300|||||||” text_font_size=”1.1em” text_line_height=”1.6em” quote_font=”|700|||||||” quote_text_align=”left” quote_font_size=”16px” header_2_text_color=”#ff6317″ header_2_font_size=”1.5em” header_2_line_height=”0.9em” header_3_font_size=”23px” header_4_font=”||||||||” header_4_font_size=”16px” header_4_line_height=”1.5em” header_5_font_size=”14px” custom_margin=”||||false|false” custom_padding=”||||false|false” border_color_left=”#ff6317″]<\/p>\n While GPT-3 is \u201cjust\u201d humanly good at writing text (and oh! translating and debugging from one programming language to another), its effect on businesses does not appear to be immediate. However, it is just the tip of the iceberg for what happens in AI\/ML. As AI\/ML gets closer to maturity, we can also see a shift from \u201chow to build models\u201d (R&D) to \u201chow to run models\u201d (Operations), i.e. the rise of MLOps (DevOps for ML).<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_gallery gallery_ids=”6597″ posts_number=”24″ show_title_and_caption=”off” show_pagination=”off” zoom_icon_color=”#ff6317″ hover_overlay_color=”rgba(255,255,255,0.75)” hover_icon=”%%186%%” _builder_version=”4.6.6″ module_alignment=”center” custom_padding=”2vh||2vh||false|false”][\/et_pb_gallery][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.6.6″ text_font=”|300|||||||” text_font_size=”1.1em” text_line_height=”1.6em” quote_font=”|700|||||||” quote_text_align=”left” quote_font_size=”16px” header_2_text_color=”#ff6317″ header_2_font_size=”1.5em” header_2_line_height=”0.9em” header_3_font_size=”23px” header_4_font=”||||||||” header_4_font_size=”16px” header_4_line_height=”1.5em” header_5_font_size=”14px” custom_margin=”||||false|false” custom_padding=”||||false|false” border_color_left=”#ff6317″]To reinforce our hypothesis that \u201cAI\/ML is good for business\u201d, we also had a look at McKinsey\u2019s The state of AI in 2020<\/a> survey (published Nov 17, 2020). One of their major findings: \u201crevenue increases from AI adoption this year are more commonly reported in half of business functions, but cost decreases are less common\u201d.<\/p>\n Surprisingly (or not), McKinsey\u2019s survey shows an increase of investment in AI during the pandemics. This is variable from one industry to another, but the trend is still significant.[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_gallery gallery_ids=”6601,6603″ posts_number=”24″ show_title_and_caption=”off” show_pagination=”off” zoom_icon_color=”#ff6317″ hover_overlay_color=”rgba(255,255,255,0.75)” hover_icon=”%%186%%” _builder_version=”4.6.6″ module_alignment=”center” custom_padding=”2vh||2vh||false|false”][\/et_pb_gallery][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.6.6″ text_font=”|300|||||||” text_font_size=”1.1em” text_line_height=”1.6em” quote_font=”|700|||||||” quote_text_align=”left” quote_font_size=”16px” header_2_text_color=”#ff6317″ header_2_font_size=”1.5em” header_2_line_height=”0.9em” header_3_font_size=”23px” header_4_font=”||||||||” header_4_font_size=”16px” header_4_line_height=”1.5em” header_5_font_size=”14px” custom_margin=”||||false|false” custom_padding=”||||false|false” border_color_left=”#ff6317″]At Berg Software, we think that, due to maturity and potential outcomes, enterprise clients should give a better look to AI\/ML in 2021.[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row use_custom_gutter=”on” _builder_version=”4.4.6″ custom_margin=”||||false|false” custom_padding=”6vh||||false|false” border_color_left=”rgba(0,0,0,0)”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.4.1″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.6.6″ text_font=”|300|||||||” text_font_size=”1.1em” text_line_height=”1.6em” quote_font=”|700|||||||” quote_text_align=”left” quote_font_size=”16px” header_2_text_color=”#ff6317″ header_2_font_size=”1.5em” header_2_line_height=”0.9em” header_3_font_size=”23px” header_4_font=”||||||||” header_4_font_size=”16px” header_4_line_height=”1.5em” header_5_font_size=”14px” custom_margin=”||||false|false” custom_padding=”||||false|false” border_color_left=”#ff6317″]<\/p>\n By now, cloud is everywhere and pretty much \u201cthe new normal\u201d. If you expected it to do well in 2020, then you were right. For organizations which wanted to accelerate their digital transformation, cloud assets delivered scalability and cost efficiency.<\/p>\n According to Gartner\u2019s Forecast on Cloud Spending<\/a> (published Nov 17, 2020), cloud spending increased slightly in 2020, and should grow by 18% in 2021.[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_gallery gallery_ids=”6607″ posts_number=”24″ show_title_and_caption=”off” show_pagination=”off” zoom_icon_color=”#ff6317″ hover_overlay_color=”rgba(255,255,255,0.75)” hover_icon=”%%186%%” _builder_version=”4.6.6″ module_alignment=”center” custom_padding=”2vh||2vh||false|false”][\/et_pb_gallery][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.6.6″ text_font=”|300|||||||” text_font_size=”1.1em” text_line_height=”1.6em” quote_font=”|700|||||||” quote_text_align=”left” quote_font_size=”16px” header_2_text_color=”#ff6317″ header_2_font_size=”1.5em” header_2_line_height=”0.9em” header_3_font_size=”23px” header_4_font=”||||||||” header_4_font_size=”16px” header_4_line_height=”1.5em” header_5_font_size=”14px” custom_margin=”||||false|false” custom_padding=”||||false|false” border_color_left=”#ff6317″]This increase does not come from a few companies: almost 70% of organizations using cloud services today plan to increase their cloud spending in the wake of the disruption caused by COVID-19. We can see pretty similar findings in Flexera\u2019s 2020 State of the Cloud Report<\/a>: regardless of their company\u2019s size, most of the survey respondents indicate an increase in cloud usage:[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_gallery gallery_ids=”6609″ posts_number=”24″ show_title_and_caption=”off” show_pagination=”off” zoom_icon_color=”#ff6317″ hover_overlay_color=”rgba(255,255,255,0.75)” hover_icon=”%%186%%” _builder_version=”4.6.6″ module_alignment=”center” custom_padding=”2vh||2vh||false|false”][\/et_pb_gallery][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.6.6″ text_font=”|300|||||||” text_font_size=”1.1em” text_line_height=”1.6em” quote_font=”|700|||||||” quote_text_align=”left” quote_font_size=”16px” header_2_text_color=”#ff6317″ header_2_font_size=”1.5em” header_2_line_height=”0.9em” header_3_font_size=”23px” header_4_font=”||||||||” header_4_font_size=”16px” header_4_line_height=”1.5em” header_5_font_size=”14px” custom_margin=”||||false|false” custom_padding=”||||false|false” border_color_left=”#ff6317″]<\/p>\n And of course, we see the same reasons:<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_gallery gallery_ids=”6611″ posts_number=”24″ show_title_and_caption=”off” show_pagination=”off” zoom_icon_color=”#ff6317″ hover_overlay_color=”rgba(255,255,255,0.75)” hover_icon=”%%186%%” _builder_version=”4.6.6″ module_alignment=”center” custom_padding=”2vh||2vh||false|false”][\/et_pb_gallery][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.6.6″ text_font=”|300|||||||” text_font_size=”1.1em” text_line_height=”1.6em” quote_font=”|700|||||||” quote_text_align=”left” quote_font_size=”16px” header_2_text_color=”#ff6317″ header_2_font_size=”1.5em” header_2_line_height=”0.9em” header_3_font_size=”23px” header_4_font=”||||||||” header_4_font_size=”16px” header_4_line_height=”1.5em” header_5_font_size=”14px” custom_margin=”||||false|false” custom_padding=”||||false|false” border_color_left=”#ff6317″]However, not everything is rosy when it comes to the cloud. Depending on the company\u2019s cloud maturity, the lack of resources, security or cost optimization can be pretty challenging.[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_gallery gallery_ids=”6613″ posts_number=”24″ show_title_and_caption=”off” show_pagination=”off” zoom_icon_color=”#ff6317″ hover_overlay_color=”rgba(255,255,255,0.75)” hover_icon=”%%186%%” _builder_version=”4.6.6″ module_alignment=”center” custom_padding=”2vh||2vh||false|false”][\/et_pb_gallery][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.6.6″ text_font=”|300|||||||” text_font_size=”1.1em” text_line_height=”1.6em” quote_font=”|700|||||||” quote_text_align=”left” quote_font_size=”16px” header_2_text_color=”#ff6317″ header_2_font_size=”1.5em” header_2_line_height=”0.9em” header_3_font_size=”23px” header_4_font=”||||||||” header_4_font_size=”16px” header_4_line_height=”1.5em” header_5_font_size=”14px” custom_margin=”||||false|false” custom_padding=”||||false|false” border_color_left=”#ff6317″]<\/p>\n At Berg Software, we have seen an increase in cloud installation and migration services<\/a>, and we recommend clients to put up the best infrastructure to serve their users\u2019 needs<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row use_custom_gutter=”on” _builder_version=”4.4.6″ custom_margin=”||||false|false” custom_padding=”6vh||||false|false” border_color_left=”rgba(0,0,0,0)”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.4.1″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.6.6″ text_font=”|300|||||||” text_font_size=”1.1em” text_line_height=”1.6em” quote_font=”|700|||||||” quote_text_align=”left” quote_font_size=”16px” header_2_text_color=”#ff6317″ header_2_font_size=”1.5em” header_2_line_height=”0.9em” header_3_font_size=”23px” header_4_font=”||||||||” header_4_font_size=”16px” header_4_line_height=”1.5em” header_5_font_size=”14px” custom_margin=”||||false|false” custom_padding=”||||false|false” border_color_left=”#ff6317″]<\/p>\n If back in its infancy, the main point of QA was to find defects, its maturity comes with a strong emphasis on business growth, end-user satisfaction, cost control, and security. If we were to summarize these challenges, it would be: \u201cQA needs to deliver value at high speed\u201d.<\/p>\n According to Capgemini\u2019s World Quality Report<\/a>, executive management is looking at no less than seven important objectives of QA and testing:[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_gallery gallery_ids=”6615″ posts_number=”24″ show_title_and_caption=”off” show_pagination=”off” zoom_icon_color=”#ff6317″ hover_overlay_color=”rgba(255,255,255,0.75)” hover_icon=”%%186%%” _builder_version=”4.6.6″ module_alignment=”center” custom_padding=”2vh||2vh||false|false”][\/et_pb_gallery][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.6.6″ text_font=”|300|||||||” text_font_size=”1.1em” text_line_height=”1.6em” quote_font=”|700|||||||” quote_text_align=”left” quote_font_size=”16px” header_2_text_color=”#ff6317″ header_2_font_size=”1.5em” header_2_line_height=”0.9em” header_3_font_size=”23px” header_4_font=”||||||||” header_4_font_size=”16px” header_4_line_height=”1.5em” header_5_font_size=”14px” custom_margin=”||||false|false” custom_padding=”||||false|false” border_color_left=”#ff6317″]<\/p>\n This really is a balancing act, that builds on top of several trends:<\/p>\n Balancing QA in agile and DevOps methodologies<\/span> means that testing can happen during the lifecycle, parallel to development, without a closing phase. This comes with new approaches, such as:<\/p>\n Artificial intelligence and machine learning<\/span> have the potential to make QA even smarter \u2013 either by identifying and prioritizing issues or by optimizing testing for both efficiency and effectiveness.<\/p>\n As we have already seen, AI\/ML needs training on huge amounts of historical data, which -given the right amount of time and high level of adoption- should lead to smarter, real-time testing.<\/p>\n (Intelligent) Automation<\/span> has been around for 20 years, as it can deliver better control and transparency, better detection of defects, and decreased costs.<\/p>\n However, 2\/3 of companies face automation challenges caused by (too) rapid changes of their applications. Many times, the root cause is that manual steps (and higher maintenance costs) are still included in automated test processes.<\/p>\n The main security<\/span> trends refer to implementing security checks earlier in the lifecycle, with a potential increase in the security of final products and software.<\/p>\n It is quite surprising then, that across the board, security appears to be the least automated testing type (13%, which may be caused by some steps that really have to be manual).<\/p>\n QA costs<\/span> can be influenced by several factors:<\/p>\n At Berg Software, we have continuously adapted to the changes in the QA landscape. Our QA engineers are permanently in touch with clients, to ensure their end-users\u2019 satisfaction.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row use_custom_gutter=”on” _builder_version=”4.4.6″ custom_margin=”||||false|false” custom_padding=”6vh||||false|false” border_color_left=”rgba(0,0,0,0)”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.4.1″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.6.6″ text_font=”|300|||||||” text_font_size=”1.1em” text_line_height=”1.6em” quote_font=”|700|||||||” quote_text_align=”left” quote_font_size=”16px” header_2_text_color=”#ff6317″ header_2_font_size=”1.5em” header_2_line_height=”0.9em” header_3_font_size=”23px” header_4_font=”||||||||” header_4_font_size=”16px” header_4_line_height=”1.5em” header_5_font_size=”14px” custom_margin=”||||false|false” custom_padding=”||||false|false” border_color_left=”#ff6317″]<\/p>\n On its 25th anniversary<\/a> (Dec 4th), JavaScript is quite literally running the world. From computers to phones and even some appliances, JavaScript is currently a massive ecosystem that influences many areas of software development.<\/p>\n It should come as no surprise then, that according to RedMonk Programming Language Rankings<\/a>, JavaScript is still the most used language:[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_gallery gallery_ids=”6615″ posts_number=”24″ show_title_and_caption=”off” show_pagination=”off” zoom_icon_color=”#ff6317″ hover_overlay_color=”rgba(255,255,255,0.75)” hover_icon=”%%186%%” _builder_version=”4.6.6″ module_alignment=”center” custom_padding=”2vh||2vh||false|false”][\/et_pb_gallery][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.7.7″ text_font=”|300|||||||” text_font_size=”1.1em” text_line_height=”1.6em” quote_font=”|700|||||||” quote_text_align=”left” quote_font_size=”16px” header_2_text_color=”#ff6317″ header_2_font_size=”1.5em” header_2_line_height=”0.9em” header_3_font_size=”23px” header_4_font=”||||||||” header_4_font_size=”16px” header_4_line_height=”1.5em” header_5_font_size=”14px” custom_margin=”||||false|false” custom_padding=”||||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ border_color_left=”#ff6317″ sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n
While we can\u2019t possibly look into each and every technology, programming language or framework, we picked several of the most important ones: AI\/ML, Cloud, QA (and a bonus: JavaScript).<\/p>\n2020 Trends in Artificial Intelligence \/ Machine Learning<\/h2>\n
According to the State of AI Report (3rd Edition, published October 1st, 2020) AI\/ML is getting close to maturity in a lot of industrial areas:<\/p>\n\n
2020 Trends in Cloud<\/h2>\n
\nThere are good reasons for this increase in spending. By further investing in the cloud, companies can hit three vital targets:<\/p>\n\n
\n
2020 Trends in QA<\/h2>\n
\n
\n
Bonus 2020 Trend: JavaScript<\/h2>\n