THE 2012 IT PLANNING GUIDE

A review of the software technology trends predicted for 2012 by experts and

our own survey results, along with staffing priorities and approaches planned

by IT departments and ISVs for next year.

FOR APPLICATION

DEVELOPMENT

The 2012 IT Planning Guide for Application Development

All Rights Reserved. Copyright © Accelerance, Inc., 2011 Page 1

Who Should Read

How will you get your software developed next year?

How will your company take advantage of the latest software trends?

And what are those trends anyway?

This eBook is for IT decision-makers and software

executives -- CIOs, CTOs, directors of application

development or vice presidents of software

engineering -- facing application development

needs in 2012. The guide will help you discover

the software development and technology trends

people are talking about for the year ahead, how

outsourcing relates to these trends and whether

global outsourcing makes sense for your

company.

You may have discovered that effective use of

global software outsourcing is a promising way to

stretch your budget and get more software

developed than you originally thought possible.

You know it can take time to find and select a

good software outsourcing firm from around the

world. Many outsourcing companies talk a good

game about cloud computing and mobile

development or whatever has the latest buzz, but

will they provide you with great programmers and

keep them working on your software for the as

long as needed? You’ll learn about a shortcut to

the reliable software outsourcing firms that avoids

the posers.

Finally, there’s an offer for a free consultation to discuss your situation and how these trends will

affect it with an expert in software technology. Don’t miss this chance to get a running start in

2012!

About Accelerance

Accelerance helps you engage the right offshore/nearshore team to develop high-quality software.

Our free Rapid Referral advisory service enables our clients to make quick, safe and effective use of

global software development. Our expert software outsourcing advice and partner referrals are

completely free for clients because the partners pay Accelerance to find ideal customers for their

services. We’ve evaluated hundreds of offshore and nearshore software outsourcing firms in over a

dozen countries to assess their technology expertise and abilities to deliver services successfully to

the North American and other western markets. Only the most qualified software outsourcing firms

are accepted into the Accelerance network of partner companies. We consider each client’s

business, technical and geographic requirements to quickly match them with the best Accelerance

partner.

Call Accelerance at +1-877-99-ACCEL (877-992-2235) x100 Toll-Free

or +1-650-472-3785 x100 for Global Calls

www.Accelerance.com

The 2012 IT Planning Guide for Application Development

All Rights Reserved. Copyright © Accelerance, Inc., 2011 Page 2

IT Planning Process

Getting Business Value from Application Development in 2012 Is As Easy as 1, 2, 3.

To enhance the effectiveness of your operation and its value to the overall business, you need to

develop applications that drive operational goals. The best way to do that is good planning:

1. Evaluate trends: Understanding the

factors driving your business and operations

empowers you to make better decisions that will

positively affect your bottom line.

2. Identify priorities: Choosing the trends

that provide the most opportunity for your

enterprise will enable you to focus resources on

activities that get results.

3. Determine staffing: Executing your

plans for 2012 requires the right talent for the

job, including internal staff and external

contractors.

1. Evaluate Trends

Here are some trends we’ve been watching:

IT budgets are growing: 40% of IT decision-makers expect their budgets to grow, the

lowest level since 2009 (Spending is Heading Up, Mostly)

Maintenance dominates: 70% of IT spend is devoted to maintaining and operating the

organization, systems and equipment (MOOSE). (IT MOOSE Management — 20 Best

Practices)

Info management outpaces process automation: 39% of IT 2012 budgets will be spent

on information management; 32% on process automation. (2011 Corporate Executive

Board Survey)

Security is paramount: 37.5% of CIOs ranked IT security and privacy as their top

concern, followed by virtualization/cloud, regulatory compliance and managing contractors

and vendors. (Protiviti’s 2011 Information Technologies Capabilities and Needs Survey)

Staffing remains stable: 75% of technology decision-makers expect staffing levels to

remain the same in 2012; 10% predict staff reductions. (Spending is Heading Up, Mostly)

Apps get more focus: 41% of IT staff function dedicated to applications; 22% to

infrastructure. (2011 Corporate Executive Board Survey)

The 2012 IT Planning Guide for Application Development

All Rights Reserved. Copyright © Accelerance, Inc., 2011 Page 3

2. Identify Priorities

Of course your own enterprise will have priorities you need to address. But we think the four big

ideas outlined in the 2011 IBM Global CIO Study provide a solid framework for annual planning:

1. Expand: Refine business processes and enhance collaboration

2. Leverage: Streamline operations and increase organizational effectiveness

3. Transform: Change the value chain via better relationships

4. Pioneer: Drive innovative products, markets and business models

Within these mandates are key tasks that will improve operations and reduce spend:

Updating legacy systems and controlling costs associated with them *

Improving the customer experience for new or improved apps *

Standardizing infrastructure/processes and creating better business processes *

Developing innovative technology and identifying new revenue streams *

Deploying real-time information and “big data” more effectively *

Enhancing communication and collaboration internally and externally

Implementing risk management frameworks

Expanding and improving the value chain

Pursuing continual growth

* These activities are best suited to offshore outsourcing.

Courtesy of the 2011 IBM Global CIO Study

The 2012 IT Planning Guide for Application Development

All Rights Reserved. Copyright © Accelerance, Inc., 2011 Page 4

3. Determine Staffing

Even with high unemployment across the U.S., it can be hard to find the talent you need locally

and affordably. A New York Times article reported that many students hoping to study technology

and engineering give up when they struggle in early courses, reducing the pool of qualified

professionals. With demand high, qualified candidates could cost upwards of $250,000 annually.

What’s a company to do? Consider outsourcing offshore to a team of skilled developers. Sure, it’s

less expensive (see chart). About 50% less. But that’s only part of the benefit.

U.S.

Employee

Hourly

Cost

U.S.

Outsourcing

Offshore

Outsourcing

$43 $86 $22

$50 $100 $26

$57 $114 $30

$65 $130 $35

$72 $144 $39

$79 $158 $43

$86 $172 $48

With a solid offshoring strategy, you can do more than augment your staff.

You can develop great software with an offshore

programming team. And because the group works at

your direction, you can create a predictable software

development process, including project management,

requirements-gathering, software design, architecture

and technology recommendations, and testing and

quality assurance.

Another benefit is flexible ramp-up and ramp-down.

With our Rapid Ramp-Up custom sourcing service,

your selected partner will hire and run your software

development team under your direction. We also offer

a Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) option that

enables you convert the team into your enterprise at a

later date. And when you’re done, you’re done. No

firing. No layoffs. No hassles.

Even better? You don’t have to get on a plane to do it.

As an established software outsourcing company, we

apply our proven sourcing, screening and selection

processes broadly to secure the best in offshore

software development.

For more, check out these posts on our blog:

The Outsourcing Engagement Process

Body Shop or Sweat Shop (Or Neither)

The 2012 IT Planning Guide for Application Development

All Rights Reserved. Copyright © Accelerance, Inc., 2011 Page 5

Working the Agile Way

As the wave of Agile software development crests to its second official decade in 2012, it’s clear

that its use improves quality, adds value and decreases risk.

As its name implies, Agile is ideal for projects requiring quick turn-around in chaotic situations with

changing requirements. Its sprint-based nature and reliance on continuous integration (where new

working versions are released on a 2- to 4-week basis) optimize quality and control risk.

To ramp up projects quickly and ensure consistent quality and reliable delivery, we recommend a

Sprint Zero approach with the following emphases:

Start right: The first day of

Sprint Zero is usually

dedicated to training or a

refresher on Agile and Scrum,

as well as team-building. The

start of a project or a sprint is

often called a “Kick-off

Meeting”. Would you like us

to use that terminology? In

addition to being a team-

building opportunity, kick-offs

are often where feature

estimation is handled in a

group setting. In the official

Scrum Guide, Jeff Sutherland

and Ken Schwaber

recommend that a kick-off

meeting last no more than 8

hours for a one-month sprint or 4 hours for a two-week sprint.

Get quality items on the backlog: Teams take time to define the features or “user

stories” they’re going to build during the current sprint. This is usually done by the product

owner, acting as the customer’s representative, and most often involves prioritization of

feature requests and underlying functionality handled in such a way that a full working

version of the software is always delivered at the end of each sprint.

Decide on a definition of done: It’s vital that all team members understand the

“definition of done” which applies to all feature requirements and acceptance tests for a

given sprint. An important aspect here is that “done” is a binary condition; there is no such

thing as 60% done, for example, on an Agile project.

If this feels contrary to the traditional waterfall model of

development, that’s because it is. Agile projects tend to

be more collaborative and transparent. This lends itself

well to offshore/nearshore outsourcing.

Want to know more? Check out this webinar about

managing the risks of software outsourcing with Agile

methodologies.

The 2012 IT Planning Guide for Application Development

All Rights Reserved. Copyright © Accelerance, Inc., 2011 Page 6

What about CMMI?

We think Agile is a perfect match for CMMI. For example, our partner firm in Colombia collaborated

recently with a Canadian company to create a system for managing thousands of video cameras by

collecting real-time data such as GPS location information for police and other emergency service

providers. You can read more about how a hybrid Agile/CMMI approach was ideal for this project

that was mission-critical in every sense of the term.

The nature of CMMI as a process improvement model blends perfectly with Agile’s empirical

process approach where bug lists, prioritized feature backlogs and burn-down charts can be easily

monitored in near-real-time using commonly available online tools. A test-first approach to coding

assures system integrity and facilitates continuous integration of new code while limiting the

prospect that newly-created parts of a system will render older parts inoperable.

Want to know more? Watch this webinar about the

relationship between Agile methodologies and CMMI.

The 2012 IT Planning Guide for Application Development

All Rights Reserved. Copyright © Accelerance, Inc., 2011 Page 7

Working in the Cloud

Turns out the Rolling Stones had it wrong in when they told the world to Get Off of My Cloud. Now

the cloud is where everyone wants to be. The 2010 IBM Global Tech Trends Survey found that 91

percent of IT pros polled thought the cloud would be the primary IT delivery model by 2015.

Why? Cloud computing eliminates the financial and logistical

overhead associated with hosting applications and ramping up

rapidly by offering a cost-efficient, secure alternative to traditional

hardware infrastructures. The majority of respondents to our

survey noted that cloud storage and computing was a high to

medium priority for 2012.

For example, the cost of a single dedicated computer for hosting is

about $3K for three years. With cloud computing, for the same

$3K you can harness the power of 1,000 computers for a single

day (to handle a usage spike, for example) and then just turn it

off. Outside of the cloud, this level of flexibility is impossible.

The cloud allows enterprises to get much farther with just a few

end-to-end developers. This is particularly important for startups

that are moving rapidly to launch new products in less time with

minimal staff. But new skills are required to manage the cloud, and you may not have this talent

in-house:

Web analytics and statistics: Driving site traffic through search and other vehicles is

essential to monetization. Advertisers want the most for their money. This means analyzing

user interactions and trends, discovering patterns and identifying new needs.

Data mining: Cloud systems can be immense, so knowing what’s in them is essential to

creating value. Using statistical methods to spot patterns in huge data sets helps

organizations get the most from their investments. Data mining is a core competency

because it helps businesses gain an informational advantage over competitors.

Business intelligence: As companies hire more data miners to sift through and organize

information, they need people to interpret that data and translate it into operational goals.

This requires staff with a passion for engineering and competitive intelligence who can help

team members understand both cloud and customer. The overwhelming majority of

respondents to our survey indicated that business analytics was a high priority for 2012.

Since cloud services can be managed from anywhere,

location-specific hiring is less of an issue. Offshore

outsourcing may be a viable human capital strategy for

rapidly growing companies seeking top talent at

reasonable rates. For more, checkout our webinar,

Cloudy with a Chance of Outsourcing.

$3,000 for One Computer or a

Thousand?

The 2012 IT Planning Guide for Application Development

All Rights Reserved. Copyright © Accelerance, Inc., 2011 Page 8

Building UI/UX

Good UI/UX work can improve applications and reduce development time. Or not. To get the most

from these critical roles, you need highly specialized and skilled team members to handle each

function.

UI development is still the domain of programmers expert in, say, Ruby on Rails. UI pros

often hold dedicated positions on the dev team and are responsible for writing code and

accompanying documentation.

UX design experts work through the product development cycle. They handle product

planning to determine the value of products and services and help create goals that support

overall business strategy. These people also handle usability testing for prototypes and

finished products.

If you don’t have internal candidates for

these roles, offshore outsourcing is a

smart and affordable way to get the

talent you need. Similarly, if you have a

large project but no capacity to handle

it, working with an offshore team can

enable you to take on the new project

without letting continuing daily

operations suffer. The group provides a

start-to-finish solution for the entire

product development lifecycle.

Bringing in an outside team can help you

secure the human resources you need

without the management hassles. The

key is choosing a team that uses a

methodology similar to yours, such as

CMMI or Agile (see Working the Agile

Way on page 5).

The 2012 IT Planning Guide for Application Development

All Rights Reserved. Copyright © Accelerance, Inc., 2011 Page 9

Building Mobile/Tablet Apps

It seems that there’s a mobile app for just about everything, from productivity and utilities, to

digital marketing and entertainment, apps aren’t just for Happy Hour anymore. By virtue of shear

numbers alone, mobile apps have taken the world by storm. Demand for these shiny little chiclets

of code seems still to lag the capacity of users to desire them.

And we’ve only just begun. According to the 2010 IBM Global Technology Trends Survey, 55

percent of IT pros think application development for phones and other mobile devices will overtake

development of all other traditional computing platforms by 2015. The majority of respondents to

our own survey said mobile development was a high priority for 2012.

But as simple and sexy as mobile apps

seem to be these days, some CIOs see

risks:

With frequent delivery of new devices and

OS upgrades, it’s challenging for most

organizations to keep up with current

technology or to plan for the future. One

of the biggest unknowns in this regard is

the future viability of HTML5. Long touted

as a multi-platform panacea, native apps

still far outnumber those created for a

standard that seems less standardized

than many had hoped. And as each new

device flies off the factory floor with its

own set of unique vulnerabilities,

companies lack official mobile security

policies.

Despite the challenges, mobile app development will continue to grow. According to Kamesh

Pemmaraju of The Sand Hill Group, this is because mobile devices and applications provide both

internal business value and external value through customer interactions. That’s probably why

mobile app development is driven as much by business unit heads as by the IT department.

As mobile operating systems and devices continue to proliferate, so does the number of people

who can create mobile apps. The narrow scope of most mobile applications makes them ideal for

outsourcing/offshoring to a small distributed team.

Most modern web apps usually require a mobile user interface and global software outsourcing

firms that are good at designing and developing web apps must also be good at mobile apps that

access those web apps.

The 2012 IT Planning Guide for Application Development

All Rights Reserved. Copyright © Accelerance, Inc., 2011 Page 10

The 2012 IT and Software App Priorities Survey

At the end of November 2011 Accelerance asked recipients of our online newsletter to respond to a

multiple-choice online survey request about their IT and application development priorities for

2012. Here are the raw results:

IT and Application Development TECHNOLOGY - What are your priorities for 2012?

High Medium Low or N/A

Mobile/Tablet Apps 47% 42% 11%

Cloud Storage & Computing 53% 32% 16%

New Web Apps 56% 33% 11%

Business Analytics 61% 17% 22%

CRM 50% 22% 28%

Integration using SOA 24% 41% 35%

Third-party APIs & Services 12% 65% 24%

IT Security & Privacy 47% 29% 24%

Agile or Scrum Methodologies 33% 44% 22%

UI/UX Improvements 32% 32% 37%

IT and Application Development STAFFING - What are your priorities for 2012?

Answer Options High Medium Low or N/A

Hire More Developers 45% 35% 20%

Outsource to Extend Your Team 22% 22% 56%

Establish a Captive Offshore Development Center 17% 28% 56%

Move Offshore Development back In-House 6% 18% 76%

Implement Shared Services for IT 12% 47% 41%

An examination of the survey results shows these key points:

Mobile is still popular: Half of respondents selected it, in contrast with articles that say

interest in mobile is waning

New web apps: Most respondents are planning to create them

Business analytics: is hot! A high priority for a majority of respondents

UI/UX improvements: not so much

Third-party APIs: a medium priority for most respondents

Hire more developers locally: and offshore development is a low priority for most

But keep offshore development going: A big majority have low priority or no plans to

move offshore development in-house

The 2012 IT Planning Guide for Application Development

All Rights Reserved. Copyright © Accelerance, Inc., 2011 Page 11

Wrap-up

Well, there you have it: the trends impacting software application development for the coming

year. Here’s a recap of the big take-aways:

IT budgets are growing: More

demand for applications and other

technology is prompting decision-

makers to allocate more funds.

Maintenance dominates: Most of

those funds are dedicated to

maintaining legacy systems and apps,

meaning you’ve got to find less

expensive options for developing new

technologies

Info management outpaces process

automation: Managing data is a higher

priority than streamlining processes,

but both are necessary.

Security is paramount: Locking down

proprietary information and ensuring privacy are the biggest concerns for tech decision-

makers. IT execs love the cloud, but security concerns remain a problem.

Staffing remains stable: That means you’ve got to do more with the same headcount,

and find effective and cost-efficent ways to outsource projects to qualified vendors.

Apps get more focus: Most internal staff time is spent on applications, meaning

infrastructure maintenance and improvements are ripe for outsourcing. Mobile/tablet and

web apps are the highest priorities.

How will these trends affect your job and your enterprise?

The 2012 IT Planning Guide for Application Development

All Rights Reserved. Copyright © Accelerance, Inc., 2011 Page 12

Let’s talk!

You’ve gone through the guide, now it’s time to figure out how to apply all this to the work you’re

doing. So give us a call. We promise we’re not going to put the hard sell on you. Our goal is to help

you:

Gain insight into the IT and application development staffing process

Discover options you may not be aware of for completing IT projects

Identify opportunities to reduce costs and increase ROI

Explore how cloud computing, HTML5 and mobile fit with your initiatives

Create a step-by-step action plan to get things done

Feel confident and re-energized about 2012

To achieve that, we’ll ask you questions like:

What are your goals and objectives for 2012 IT application development?

What is the impact (business value) of achieving these goals?

What are your challenges? What is getting in your way?

How can we help you?

What are the next steps?

What are you waiting for? Click here to set up your free consultation with Accelerance CEO Steve

Mezak. (Yes, free. No cost. No obligation. No lie.)

Why are we doing this for free? When we speak directly to CTOs and other development /

engineering leaders, we get a better understanding of if and how Accelerance can assist you in

achieving your goals. Yes, it helps us qualify you as a lead (or not). But there’s definitely

something in it for you: advice and a sense of what it’s like to work with us.

So click here now to schedule your call with Steve: http://meetwith.me/stevemezak* with one or

more times that work for you. Let’s get going!

* The meetwith.me website from TimeBridge is a free & very convenient service for scheduling

appointments quickly - and it works really great most of the time. But if the site is down or acting

cranky, please just send an email to Steve@Accelerance.com and we'll schedule our call the old-fashioned way.