What Cloud Developers Want
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.
Eclipse Foundation Projects are OpenChain Conformant
Today we announced that the Eclipse Foundation is the first open source foundation to confirm its open source development process conforms with the OpenChain ISO 5230 international standard for open source license compliance. This means that every Eclipse Foundation project is being developed under a process which conforms to the ISO 5230 standard. The announcement is great news for our open source software contributors, users, adopters, and stakeholders globally.
The OpenChain ISO 5230 standard is officially known as the OpenChain 2.1 ISO/IEC 5230:2020 standard, and is maintained by the OpenChain Project. Its goal is to provide a clear and effective process management standard, so that organizations of all sizes, in all industries, and in all markets can benefit from a more efficient and effective open source supply chain.
The time and effort we put into documenting that our existing development processes comply with the OpenChain ISO 5230 standard will help strengthen global supply chain integrity, and showcases our commitment to supporting our members and all of our projects’ downstream adopters.
Supported by Leading Organizations Globally
Before it became an official ISO/IEC standard in December 2020, the OpenChain initiative was the de facto standard for several years. The standard was developed based on the contributions of more than 100 project participants, and supported by organizations including Arm, BMW Car IT, Bosch, Cisco, Comcast, Ericsson, Facebook, Fujitsu, Google, Hitachi, Huawei, Microsoft, MOXA, OPPO, Panasonic, Qualcomm, Siemens, Sony, Toshiba, Toyota, and Uber.
The breadth, depth, and diversity of organizations involved in developing the OpenChain ISO 5230 standard clearly demonstrate the importance with which the initiative is viewed across industries. The availability of the official, published standard is expected to increase conformance from hundreds of organizations to thousands. But to my knowledge, the Eclipse Foundation is the first open source foundation that has done the work necessary to document that all of our projects are developed under an OpenChain conformant process. This is an important milestone for both the Eclipse Foundation and for the OpenChain standard and its community.
Learn More and Get Involved
Because the OpenChain ISO 5230 standard is open, everyone with an interest in the initiative can engage with the community, share their knowledge, and contribute to the future of the standard.
Follow the links below to learn more:
- Review the Eclipse Foundation Development Process
- Get the ISO/IEC 5230:2020 OpenChain Specification
- Read more about the OpenChain Project and community
Eclipse IoT: 10 Years of Connecting the World One Device at a Time
It’s been 10 years since the Eclipse IoT Working Group was first established as the M2M Industry Working Group. I want to sincerely thank everyone that has helped make Eclipse IoT the leading community for open source IoT technology innovation and collaboration.
To celebrate this anniversary and a decade of achievements in open source IoT technologies, the Eclipse IoT community has a number of initiatives planned over the coming weeks. Keep an eye on the Eclipse IoT website, our blogs, newsletter, social posts, and your email for more information about planned activities, commemorative content, and tributes to key community achievements.
Powering the World’s Leading Commercial IoT Solutions
Today, the Eclipse IoT ecosystem is the largest open source IoT community in the world with 47 working group members, 47 projects, 360 contributors, and more than 32 million lines of code.
It’s impossible to overstate the impact this fast-growing community has had on commercial adoption of IoT solutions on a global scale. With dozens of IoT projects across device, gateway, cloud, security, edge, and other domains, the Eclipse IoT ecosystem provides easy access to all of the building blocks needed to develop end-to-end IoT solutions.
This has all been made possible by our community members. At this 10 year milestone, we want to recognize two founding members of the original working group—IBM and Eurotech—that continue to actively contribute to, and drive, Eclipse IoT technologies. Over the years, these innovators have been joined by dozens of additional member organizations, large and small, all of whom see the value that open innovation and collaboration bring to their organizations.
In addition to the original founding members, the current Eclipse IoT ecosystem now includes globally recognized players such as Bosch.IO, Red Hat, Huawei, Intel, Nokia, SAP, and Siemens, as well as smaller industrial IoT (IIoT) specialists such as Aloxy, Cedalo, itemis, and Kynetics; and edge IoT innovators such as ADLINK Technology and Edgeworx.
This broad and diverse mix of Eclipse IoT ecosystem participants has led to an extremely vibrant community that has helped drive commercial innovation and adoption at scale. As our IoT case studies highlight, Eclipse IoT members of all sizes and types are benefitting from new relationships, new business and market opportunities, and faster growth.
A Brief Word About Our IoT & Edge Research
Our 2021 IoT & Edge Computing Commercial Adoption Survey confirms that organizations clearly recognize the value of open source technologies for IoT solutions. Nearly 40 percent of survey respondents are using or evaluating the use of open source solutions exclusively, while another 35 percent are looking at a mix of open source and proprietary components. If you haven’t had a chance to read the full survey report, you can download it here
We recently launched the annual IoT & Edge Developer Survey. Be sure to participate in what has become one of the leading research reports within the IoT and Edge Computing industries. Participate now
Congratulations to 10 Great Years and Here’s to the Next Decade!
I truly believe these first 10 years are just the beginning of what the dedicated and growing Eclipse IoT community will achieve through open source innovation and collaboration. I’m very much looking forward to seeing what comes next.
To learn more about the benefits of membership in Eclipse IoT, visit the working group website.
Top Trends in the Jakarta EE Developer Survey Results
Our annual Jakarta EE Developer Survey results gives everyone in the Java ecosystem insight into how the cloud native world for enterprise Java is unfolding and what the latest developments mean for their strategies and businesses. Here’s a brief look at the top technology trends revealed in this year’s survey.
For context, this year’s survey was completed by almost 950 software developers, architects, and decision-makers around the world. I’d like to sincerely thank everyone who took the time to complete the survey, particularly our survey partners, Jakarta EE Working Group members Fujitsu, IBM, Jelastic, Oracle, Payara, Red Hat, and Tomitribe, who shared the survey with their communities. Your support is crucial to help ensure the survey results reflect the viewpoints of the broadest possible Java developer audience.
Jakarta EE Continues to Deliver on Its Promise
Multiple data points from this year’s survey confirm that Jakarta EE is fulfilling its promise to accelerate business application development for the cloud.
As in the 2020 survey results, Jakarta EE emerged as the second-place cloud native framework with 47 percent of respondents saying they use the technologies. That’s an increase of 12 percent over the 2020 survey results, reflecting the industry’s increasing recognition that Jakarta EE delivers important strategic and technical benefits.
Almost half of the survey respondents have either already migrated to Jakarta EE or plan to within the next six to 24 months. Together, Java EE 8, Jakarta EE 8, and Jakarta EE 9 are now used by 75 percent of survey respondents. And Jakarta EE 9 usage reached nine percent despite the fact the software was only released in December 2020.
With the rise of Jakarta EE, it’s not surprising that developers are also looking for faster support from Java EE/Jakarta EE and cloud vendors.
Microservices Usage Continues to Increase
Interestingly, the survey revealed that monolithic approaches are declining in favor of hybrid architectures. Only 18 percent of respondents said they’re maintaining a monolithic approach, compared to 29 percent who have adopted a hybrid approach and 43 percent who are using microservices.
A little over a year ago, monolithic implementations were outpacing hybrid approaches, showing just how quickly the cloud native Java world is evolving. In alignment with these architectural trends, MicroProfile adoption is up five percent over last year to 34 percent.
Download the Complete Survey Results
For additional insight and access to all of the data collected in our 2021 Jakarta EE Developer survey, we invite everyone to download the survey results.
IoT and Edge Developers: Let Your Voices Be Heard
Today, the Eclipse IoT and Edge Native Working Groups have launched the 2021 IoT and Edge Developer Survey. This is the seventh year for our annual survey, which has become one of the most widely referenced technical surveys within the IoT & Edge computing industry.
This year’s survey expands on previous editions to be more inclusive of trends in edge computing technologies. Our goal is to present a better understanding of the challenges developers face within both sectors, and to provide insights into the technical issues faced by their respective developer communities around the world.
We welcome your participation. Your input will help IoT and edge ecosystem stakeholders with the data to align their strategies with latest trends and apply investments where needed most. Start the survey now.
You Can Influence Industry Direction
Developers, service providers, technology manufacturers, and adopters within the IoT & edge ecosystem can all influence industry direction through survey participation. Last year’s survey received more than 1,600 responses, with the results being shared by more than 20 media outlets.
The 2020 IoT Developer Survey results revealed that IoT and edge application development is increasing at a rapid pace, fueled by growth in investments into predominantly industrial markets. It also indicated that smart agriculture, industrial automation, and automotive are key target industries for application development.
Our expectation for the 2021 survey is that it will offer even more visibility around IoT & edge development trends, and what those trends mean to stakeholders. The survey results will also be used to help the Eclipse IoT and Edge Native Working Groups with their open source roadmaps as they work to address the evolving needs for IoT and edge development tools, architectures, deployment technologies, security, connectivity, and other requirements along the edge-to-cloud continuum.
The Developer Survey Complements the Commercial Adoption Survey
The results of the IoT and Edge Developer Survey will help complete the picture painted by our recent 2021 IoT and Edge Commercial Adoption Survey. That survey found that IoT and edge computing technologies are being adopted at an accelerated rate by a growing number of organizations. The results also revealed that 74 percent of organizations factor open source into their deployment plans, a 14 percent increase over the 2019 IoT Commercial Adoption Survey results.
With a deeper understanding of the unique challenges faced by IoT and edge developers and the latest commercial adoption trends, the entire ecosystem is better informed and better able to meet the growing demand for IoT and edge solutions.
Complete the IoT and Edge Developer Survey by October 5
The 2021 IoT and Edge Developer Survey is open through October 5. Please take a few minutes to complete the survey now, while it’s top of mind.
As usual, the survey report will be published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), which means that the entire IoT and edge ecosystem can benefit from the insights it provides. Stay tuned for additional blog posts and promotional activities once the report is available.
Life at Eclipse 