The Asia Pacific region is set to become the largest market for software developers by 2006, according to figures released last week by analyst group IDC. IDC predicts that the total number of professional developers worldwide is set to soar over the next few years, from 10.1 million in 2004 to 14.9 million in 2008. This will be driven by several factors, the group says, including growth in IT spending, population growth and a rise in literacy levels worldwide.
China and India are tipped to see the most rapid expansion, with predicted compound annual growth rates (CAGR) of 25.6 percent and 24.5 percent respectively. This will help the Asia Pacific region to overtake the US in 2006 and become the largest market for professional coders. IDC expects the UK's developer community to grow over the next few years, from 299,000 in 2004 to 358,000 in 2008.
With the outsourcing and offshoring of IT services likely to pick up pace, developers will need to ensure they have the right blend of skills to be employable. Steve Hendrick, group vice-president of IDC's Application Development and Deployment Research, believes there are two key areas that coders should focus on.
"First, tactical development of small and mid-size projects that don't warrant the structure or formality necessary to send the work offshore. Second, there will be a growing need for software architects and senior system designers who will not only define the rules, relationships, and activities of an application or system; but also help specify how to orchestrate the behaviour of application components given choices made regarding application infrastructure," said Hendrick.
ZDNet UK's Graeme Wearden reported from London. For more coverage from ZDNet UK, click here.
