Software automation is no longer a nice-to-have; it’s a must-have for any modern software development team. Whether you’re a small startup or a large enterprise, software automation can help you stay competitive in today’s market and transform your software development process.
If you’re tired of your software development process being bogged down by repetitive tasks, human error, and time-consuming manual processes, let us help you accelerate your development cycle and improve the quality of your software products.
Benefits of Software Automation Solutions
The benefits of automating software development are not very different from incorporating automation into hardware development. Starting with the industrial revolution, automation transformed manufacturing. It can do the same for software product development.
Top 4 Benefits of Software Development Automation:
- Improved Quality. Automation increases both quality and consistency by reducing the inherent risks of human error.
- Reduced Labor Costs. When software engineering is automated, fewer people are needed and your engineers are responsible for fewer keystrokes. In fact, a study by Accenture revealed that automation can help improve productivity by up to 40%, and reduce operating costs by up to 60%.
- Save Time. Robots can work faster than humans on certain highly repetitive tasks, and the same can be said of automation in software development. Software automation solutions improve and streamline processes allowing engineers to work faster and deliver quicker, all of which builds value and quality. The Modularis approach is to automate 80% of your code so your engineers can laser-focus on the 20% that delivers high-impact value.
- Safety. Safety is an often overlooked benefit of automated software development, but it applies here as well. When your engineers are responsible for fewer keystrokes, their risk of repetitive strain injury is decreased. Further, if your development process makes smart and effective use of automation, the code you have in your product will be more secure, your engineers will be healthier, have a better work-life balance and be easier to retain.
Automation is the only way you can deliver better quality in less time for less cost, it’s as simple as that. And it’s something that is foolish to ignore – according to a report by McKinsey Global Institute, automation technologies could potentially automate up to 45% of the tasks performed across various industries, resulting in productivity gains and cost savings.
Software Automation Challenges in Software Engineering
Code generation has been around for quite some time – ever since engineers started writing software code, the good ones looked for ways to reduce the effort. Throughout the evolution of software engineering, we have seen challenges that come with implementing automation.
Top 3 Pitfalls of Code Generation and Automation:
- Pasta Makers. Code generation that is not based on timeless first principles of software engineering is not going to cut it. The vast majority of code generators are like pasta makers – they make spaghetti faster, but it’s still spaghetti. You want the best automation software for business, not the pasta maker.
- Guaranteed Dead End. At the opposite end of the spectrum are classic Computer Aided Software Engineering (CASE) tools . . . PowerBuilder anyone? These always paint you into a corner. In these situations, everything quickly becomes completely proprietary and you soon find that you are completely locked in. The problem with this is that you will always end up in a dead end.
- Generative AI. AI is a good thing, but you need to calibrate your expectations appropriately. It’s easy to get into serious trouble with this, and quickly. If you expect AI to build your entire software system for you, you are starting with unrealistic expectations.
Technologies like ChatGPT are changing the world, and can be a useful tool, but that’s all they are. Think of AI like a power tool; if your developers are currently using regular screwdrivers to put in their screws, generative AI can be like a power drill. Helpful, in the right hands, and able to improve the efficiency and output of hand operations.
However, you can’t separate the AI from the human operating the AI because these tools are non-deterministic – as Forrest Gump said of a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get. This technology is still in its infancy, and experienced people are still needed to use these tools to maximum effect. Generative AI will help humans produce better results, but direct human oversight and guidance is necessary to be successful.
PlatformPlus® is a generative low-code platform that is completely deterministic – you always know exactly what you’re going to get. If ChatGPT is a power screwdriver, think of PlatformPlus as a piece of heavy equipment. One is a hand tool, the other is something much, much bigger.
Software Development Automation Techniques
Everyone should be using commodity automations like continuous integration, automated testing/QA, and deployment automation. These are broadly accepted ways to automate parts of the software development process. But these are not automating the writing of the code itself as PlatformPlus does.
How Software Automation Solutions Improve Quality and Reliability
Automation reduces the amount of handwritten code which naturally reduces the chance for human error. But that’s just the beginning – commercial-grade, revenue-generating software products and platforms must also be flexible, scalable, stable and easy to maintain over the long haul. This is where the rubber meets the road and type and depth of automation becomes so critical. Only automation solutions that are based on timeless first principles of software engineering can deliver on these qualities. Solutions like PlatformPlus®.
PlatformPlus’ impact is so massive precisely because of the high level of consistency and thought that is baked into every solution that is built on it.
The laws of physics still apply and there is no silver bullet. But PlatformPlus comes close.
Best Practices for Effective Automated Software Engineering
Regardless of what automation techniques or tools you use, you should measure their effectiveness based on two key factors:
- The impact on your innovation fraction – this is the fraction of your budget that is going toward delivering innovation vs. maintenance.
- The ability to light up net new revenue, with less risk, in less time, and with fewer engineers.
If your investment in automation isn’t making a tangible impact on these two factors, then it’s time to do something different. It’s easy to get lost in the mechanics of what you’re trying to do without seeing the end results – don’t let yourself get lost in the mix!
Are you ready to launch your software projects on time and on budget? Download our 90-Day Guide to see how PlatformPlus® can get you there! Using the power of automation, you can innovate faster to get ahead of the competition and meet customer demand quicker.