Developer Velocity in the Era of AI

One of the biggest roadblocks to innovation for companies in any industry is outdated, legacy technology. These outdated systems, methodologies and manual processes slow down development teams and make it nearly impossible for you to keep up with competitors and today’s market expectations.

To combat these barriers, the most common fix is to modernize all facets of digital technology with automated, scalable, and agile solutions. Once modern platforms are in place, developers can now build new features and solutions that directly improve your business outcomes at a rapid pace. We call this developer velocity.

Developer velocity means empowering your development team to be more agile, innovative, and productive across all areas of operations. When you implement various modern solutions and technologies that remove barriers and points of friction, you can unleash the full power of your development team.

Here are a few steps to take to maximize this speed and begin rolling out cutting-edge software for you and your customers.

What is Developer Velocity?

Developer velocity measures the efficiency of creating and implementing new functionality for end-users and your organization. “Developer” is an all-encompassing term that refers to everyone involved in the processes of creating and implementing these new, faster functionalities; this can mean traditional developers, product owners, subject matter experts, testers, and even users who are creating functionality with low code tools.

Ultimately, developer velocity is about achieving improved business performance through software development. It is recommended and should be a priority because of the impact this will have on outcomes from top to bottom for your business. So, who needs to focus on rolling out features as quickly as possible?

Developer velocity solutions are intended for organizations that need help getting programs out quickly and at a higher quality. By putting innovative products in the hands of customers, employees, and partner organizations, your business can be bolder and achieve goals that were previously unattainable.

Benefits of increasing Developer Velocity

For any business, your customers and your team expect solutions that allow them to easily complete straightforward and routine tasks without needing manual or labor-intensive processes. With developer velocity, you can meet and exceed those expectations. Not only will these modernized solutions improve product turnaround time, they will also improve efficiency throughout your organization. Some specific benefits of developer velocity include:

Broad Business Benefits

• Faster turnaround and time to market
• Enhanced revenue, growth, and customer experience
• Minimize risk of adopting new features and functionality
• Sharpened competitive edge and innovative advantage

Team and Efficiency Benefits

• Modernizes, automates, and speeds development
• Removes barriers that hinder development and innovation
• Enhances collaboration and teamwork
• Unleashes the potential of software development team
• Extends the value of software investments
• Helps demonstrate IT ROI
• Improves developer retention and satisfaction

Developer Velocity Use Cases

Scenario 1: Update Tools and Technology

A national retailer is looking to streamline its web presence and build a new website for its customers. Existing legacy technology — not built to be automated — creates operational friction that slows down development and innovation.

Looking to increase developer velocity, the retailer decides to equip developers with a rich toolset and updated software architecture. As a result, the development team is able to see results sooner, iterate faster, and deploy working features more often.

• Legacy technology and processes no longer monopolize development resources.
• Automating manual software development tasks with Azure DevOps Pipelines or GitHub Actions allows developers to be more efficient and effective.
• New technology (data architecture, public cloud adoption) and tools (planning tools, DevOps tools, low- or no-code tools) accelerate developer velocity.

Scenario 2: Transform Cultural Mindset

A reputable FinTech firm wants to combine cloud capabilities with its brand recognition to create lasting impact for customers. But, in an industry not known for software innovation, it’s hard to change mindset and embedded cultural norms.

The firm needs to redefine structural beliefs that financial software development can lead to real innovation. By leveraging Microsoft Azure to create a development ecosystem, the firm enables banks and financial services institutions to implement new product innovations in a secure and stable environment.

• Investment in software development provides real value for customers and the company.
• Modern technologies, methodologies, and best practices help to better manage product lifecycles.

Scenario 3: Enable the Organization

An automotive parts manufacturer has creative people in all its business units and wants to give those employees an opportunity to add lasting value. Pent-up demand for something that enables organizational innovation limits ROI solely to IT’s contributions.

Creating cross-functional developer teams and improving developer culture with increased collaboration and knowledge sharing allows employees to tackle smaller issues that, when added up across the organization, make a visible difference in the manufacturer’s ability to innovate.

• Increasing the speed and unleashing the full potential of development talent demonstrates those employees’ value and enhances ROI.
• Shifting the burden off IT alone gives developers more time to create new functionality that drives revenue, growth, and better user and customer experience.

How Hitachi Solutions Delivers Developer Velocity

At Hitachi, we have been helping organizations optimize their development speed for years. Not only have we been assisting others, we have implemented these same programs and solutions into our own operation. Our experience allows us to deliver a consistent service, not only in an advisory role, but also as a first-hand example of what developer velocity success can and should look like.

As part of your implementation, we offer various developer velocity assessments, workshops, and mentorship designed to:

• Arm development teams with modern, cloud-based technology and tools such as Azure DevOps and GitHub Enterprise that automate processes and speed time to market.
• Provide a supportive development environment that removes friction and risk and encourages collaboration and innovation.
• Establish agile management and methodologies that nurture creativity and experimentation and fuel excellence.

Hitachi Solutions’ Modern Solutions team uses a rigorous and yet agile approach to software development to achieve high developer velocity, quality, and predictability using modern techniques, tools, and technologies. Our framework for success is built on industry-recognized practices and principles that drive repeatable results. If you’re ready to take the next step in your development, please contact us.