CloudBees-Commissioned Report by Accelerated Strategies Group Highlights Impacts of COVID-19 on Software Delivery

The shift to remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic has pushed organizations to shuffle their IT priorities by putting more emphasis on digital transformation, DevOps and public cloud initiatives according to a report commissioned by CloudBees, Inc., the enterprise software delivery company. The report is based on responses from 347 technology professionals around the globe about the impact of the pandemic on software delivery. An interesting finding identified in the report is that virtual work is helping software teams become more productive.

CloudBees engaged Accelerated Strategies Group (ASG) to determine whether the COVID-19 restrictions had forced organizations to change their use of tools for remote work as well as what kind of impact the pandemic was having on software delivery teams. The research included evenly distributed survey responses from small, medium and large companies. Three-quarters of the responses came from North America and EMEA, with the highest concentrations coming in equal numbers from individual contributors and managers.

"While COVID-19 has had a traumatic impact on the well-being and health of many respondents, the shift to remote work gives us some insights into how businesses may look as they continue to adapt and recover," said Mitchell Ashley, CEO and managing analyst, Accelerated Strategies Group. "Software teams and other business functions have seen demonstrable benefit from working remotely, though time will tell which changes are permanent and/or beneficial in the mid-to-long term."

The research by ASG revealed a shift in IT priorities due to the pandemic and its economic impact:

• Nearly two-thirds (63%) of respondents said digital transformation objectives have somewhat or significantly increased in priority.
• Slightly more than half said their firms placed higher priorities on increasing their DevOps initiatives (52%) and contracting with public cloud service providers (52%) as a result of the pandemic restrictions.
• Other DevOps initiatives are advancing as well, with about half saying their firms are now practicing daily standup meetings (56%), using cross-functional teams (46%) and automating tasks (43%).

Remote work during the pandemic is also pushing teams to be more efficient:

• Well over half of the respondents surveyed (59%) said their software teams have become somewhat or significantly more productive.
• 42% said they're finding it easier to complete work tasks in a timely fashion.
• The research also revealed some surprising results. Specifically, that the pandemic has actually reduced some of the burdens on software teams. For example, 61% of respondents found it easier to work across time zones, specifically indicating the newfound ease of working with staffers on different continents (39%).

"The responses underscore how IT organizations aren't sitting back during COVID-19 ? businesses are asking IT to be more strategic and teams are taking steps to increase cross-company collaboration and become more efficient at software delivery," said Shawn Ahmed, senior vice-president and general manager, Software Delivery Automation, CloudBees. "Software, DevOps and CI/CD automation will play key roles in the post-pandemic recovery and organizations are putting a high priority on these areas right now."

Additional Resources

• Download the research report: The Future of Remote Work and Software Development
• Learn more about CloudBees Software Delivery Automation solutions

About CloudBees

CloudBees, the enterprise software delivery company, provides the industry's leading DevOps technology platform. CloudBees enables developers to focus on what they do best: Build stuff that matters, while providing peace of mind to management with powerful risk mitigation, compliance and governance tools. Used by many of the Fortune 100, CloudBees is helping thousands of companies harness the power of continuous everything and gets them on the fastest path from a great idea, to great software, to amazing customer experiences, to being a business that changes lives.

Backed by Matrix Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Verizon Ventures, Delta-v Capital, Golub Capital and Unusual Ventures, CloudBees was founded in 2010 by former JBoss CTO Sacha Labourey and an elite team of continuous integration, continuous delivery and DevOps professionals. Follow CloudBees on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.