The World Needs More Front-End Developers And Back-End Integration Specialists

Half of the organisations around the globe plan to hire for mobile positions this year, according to a hiring priorities survey by open source solutions provider, Red Hat.

Of those companies, 32 percent are focused on skills related to front-end development, with 27 percent looking for back-end integration skills and 15 percent seeking DevOps for mobile.

Demand for mobile app developers

According to Gartner: “By the end of 2017, market demand for mobile app development services will grow at least five times faster than internal IT organisations’ capacity to deliver them.”

Based on the survey results, Red Hat expects that organisations will continue to prioritise hiring for these skills while also strengthening internal expertise in areas such as the Internet of Things (IoT), mobile project management, and wearables.

Cathal McGloin, vice president, Mobile Platforms, Red Hat, commented: “As organisations move to become more mobile-centric, many are expected to continue expanding their mobile development teams and explore how those teams can work more collaboratively to bring apps to market faster. At the same time organisations are looking ahead and seeking to understand the impact that emerging technologies such as IoT and wearables may have on their business.”

Red Hat polled a sample of global customers to better understand how businesses are organising themselves for success in the mobile-first economy, and to identify the most desired skills across enterprise mobility.

Key insights from the survey include:

– The mobile résumé extends beyond the front end. Emphasis on front-end and back-end skills remains high, with 32 percent seeking front-end development expertise, and 27 percent looking for back-end integration experience. As enterprises look to fill their hiring needs for front-end coding, some analysts are recommending a team-based approach and a two-track IT approach to balance agility with traditional core IT stability, which can help organisations increase development efficiency.

– More than one in seven businesses are on the hunt for DevOps skills, including agile project management. Fifteen percent of organizations are hiring for DevOps proficiency to help mobile teams break down communication and collaboration barriers between development and operations. As DevOps are essential to move mobile projects move from conception to full development and deployment at agile speed, they are expected to be crucial in the year ahead in order to manage, organise and accelerate development across the enterprise. Additionally, nine percent of organisations are hiring specifically for mobile project management skills.

– Demand for IoT skills outpaces wearables experience. Organisations are beginning to take a more strategic approach to IoT as part of an enterprise mobility strategy, with 13 percent expecting to hire for experience in IoT in 2015 and 70 percent planning to incorporate IoT projects into their business within the next five years. This contrasts with demand for wearables expertise, with just three percent of organisations planning to hire related skills this year.

The survey polled more than 112 enterprise IT decision makers and professionals from global organisations across industries and of all sizes, spanning small businesses to Fortune 500 organisations.

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