Software Development: Key Roles

Introduction

In a time of increasingly growing demands and rapidly evolving technologies, the role of software development is absolutely central and pervasive. Software development has transformed virtually every aspect of our lives, from how we work and communicate to how we entertain ourselves and access information. 

When we say that numerous pieces of software are transforming industries across the board, we do mean it. The role of software development seems getting only bigger with time. It deals with designing and building software solutions that power mobile devices, desktop computers, and even cars. It involves not only identifying user needs but also creating new applications for any given market while making improvements based on user feedback.

Software Development brings job opportunities

Not everyone is excited about the fast-paced technology evolution. In fact, a lot of people have concerns associated with the fear of being replaced by machines. And these are quite serious. The anxiety is reasonable to some extent – now machines can complete a number of repetitive tasks. However, there are no real chances of machines completely taking over human roles in the foreseeable future. We should consider software as an assistant, not an enemy. 

Here is great news for all those worried about machines possibly taking away their jobs – technological advancements create more new roles than they replace. A wide range of new job opportunities is ensured in today’s technology-driven world and we can name a few good reasons why software development is a field with abundant job prospects.

• Progressively growing demand for software developers across industries. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics expects 25% growth in this profession over the next 10 years, which is roughly 371,000 jobs.
• The expansion of software development over a variety of sectors such as healthcare, finance, entertainment, education, e-commerce, and others.
• The ability to work remotely from any place in the world with a flexible schedule. This is where work-life balance is truly possible, isn’t it? It is reported that 54% of software engineers are more productive when they work from home.
• An extensive range of career paths to pursue and high-paying positions.
• Continuous tools, frameworks, and platforms evolution make software development experts stay engaged and motivated. HR managers claim that a willingness to learn is the most important criterion they look for in new hires (40.7%). 38.6% want someone who’s a cultural fit, while 34.4% base their decisions on technical evaluation.
• As the software development area keeps extending its impact, there’s a certain level of job security. 
• Software development roles often come with competitive salaries, especially for experienced professionals and those with in-demand skills.
• Seasoned specialists can enjoy the opportunities to work internationally or for multinational companies.
• The area of software development is vast enough so it’s possible to specialize in areas that align with each individual’s interests and strengths.

Software Development Team: Key roles

Team structure, talent, and communication are essential to drive software projects to success. It’s important to build a team of highly skilled professionals with solid expertise in the required area. Every team member within an IT project has a specific role to play and therefore contributes to reaching the common goal. There are no flawless projects yet with the right people “on board”, remarkable results can be achieved. 

The software engineering field is vast, with the number and variety of roles depending on the complexity of the application, the required delivery time, and the allocated budget. Accordingly, we can distinguish several different types of software engineers. In this section, we invite you to take a look at a typical software development team structure. 

Project Manager

In the most general meaning, a PM is one who keeps track of the project. This person’s role lies in controlling the entire software development team and helping them with any hurdles they encounter in the course of product creation. A project manager builds a strategy in a way that the goals can be achieved effectively in the defined terms. The PM’s responsibilities also include the supervision of the development team’s activity and ongoing communication with stakeholders. 

Team Lead

A team lead is a developer, tester, or architect who possesses strong leadership qualities and knows how to guide the team, make them stay focused on the core tasks, and provide them with all the resources they may require. This is the person who assigns tasks, controls the completion, solves problems, and ensures technical leadership through effective coaching and mentorship.

Front-End Engineer

A front-end engineer is a specialist who’s responsible for building flawless and aesthetical UI. This person covers cross-browser compatibility and fixing bugs to achieve superior visual presentation. Front-end developers deal with the code that runs on different user devices, browsers, and operating systems. Needless to mention, they work on the client side of web development so that they focus on what the end user sees and interacts with. 

Back-End Engineer

Back-end engineers create and maintain the server side of web applications and software systems. These are development team members who deal with the underlying logic and performance of the product under development. They cover the design and implementation of the core logic with scalability in mind by integrating with data systems, caches, and email systems using Application Programming Interfaces (APIs).

The role of back-end developers is critical even though it is behind the scenes. They handle the server, databases, and the application’s logic and functionality.

Full-Stack Engineer

A full-stack developer is a versatile software developer who has expertise in both front-end and back-end technologies, allowing them to work on all aspects of a web application or software system. In other words, they can handle both client-side (front-end) and server-side (back-end) development. Having a seasoned and experienced full-stack engineer in a team is beneficial as they have the skills required to create a fully functional web application.

DevOps Engineer

A DevOps engineer combines software development (Dev) and IT operations (Ops) to streamline the software development and deployment lifecycle. This expert’s main role lies in bridging the gap between development and operations teams, fostering collaboration and automation to deliver a reliable software product. Why should you bring a DevOps specialist to your team? Their practices aim to shorten development cycles, increase the frequency of software releases, and improve the quality of software deployments.

UI / UX Designers

User experience (UX) and user interface (UI) are closely connected yet are not equivalent. However, the two require a good deal of creativity and strong technical skills.

UX designers are responsible for ensuring a seamless user experience by analyzing the target audience’s behavior. They also deal with all interface elements making it easy to navigate. It is supposed to be clear to every user where to click to sign in, set the filters, etc. Basically, a UX designer’s task is to make a user journey smooth and simple. 

UI designers, in turn, work with the layout and visual design. They play with fonts, colors, forms, sounds, and animations. 

Even though these are two different roles, the UX/UI designer is often one specialist.

QA Team 

QA processes make up an integral part of software development & delivery. This part must never be underrated. The QA team assists software developers by making sure that adequate practices are followed, the software product meets the desired quality standards, is free of defects, and functions as expected. Their goal is to identify and address issues throughout the development lifecycle in order to deliver a high-quality product to end users. 

Data Engineer

Data engineers are crucial for organizations that rely on data-driven decision-making. These experts assist developers and test engineers with the data infrastructure to provide the smooth functioning of the application. Data engineers are in charge of designing, building, and maintaining the infrastructure and systems that allow for data collection, storage, processing, and analysis. Their primary task is to make sure the data is available, reliable, and accessible.

Security Expert

Security engineers act as “white-hat” ethical hackers who discover vulnerabilities in systems. In other words, they create systems, methods, and procedures to test the security of a software system. Security engineers also handle designing, implementing, and maintaining security measures and protocols to protect systems, networks, and data from threats, including cyberattacks, unauthorized access, and data breaches. The role of a security engineer is pivotal in today’s digital landscape where cyber criminals’ actions are becoming more sophisticated. 

Where and how to find a reliable partner in software development

Where does every software development process start? The very first thing you should do is to find a reputable partner. You need a team of seasoned and experienced developers, designers, QA specialists, etc. to cover everything from conceptualization up to production and ongoing support. These days the pool of options is extensive indeed. But how to choose the best team? It will take you to study numerous candidates. This must be time and effort-consuming yet worth it. Should you find a team of true experts, your project will be doomed to success. 

We’ve outlined several useful tips to help you find a reliable partner that meets your needs. Follow this short guide to get to your perfect development team!

Put together your critical requirements and needs

Before you plunge into the search, think well about why you need software development, and define your goals, priorities, and limitations. You should have clear expectations in order to make a list of demands and selection criteria.

Research thoroughly 

Now when you know exactly what you are looking for, you can move on to the next step and start researching potential partners. And new questions arise. Where do you look for a software development studio? Just googling isn’t very helpful. It’s recommended to go to the following platforms:

• Clutch
• GoodFirms
• The Manifest

Look through the companies presented there and make up a list of potential partners you would consider for cooperation.

Check profiles

Take enough time to study every candidate’s profile along with portfolios, testimonials, and reviews. This way you can get a clear picture of how a particular company works and what services it offers. Also, take into account a candidate’s current and previous clients to get a sense of their expertise in the required field. Your objective is to find a company with experience working on similar projects as yours so that you can be sure they have the knowledge and skills to complete it. 

Assess technical expertise

You need a company with a particular level of skills and knowledge to implement your project successfully. How do you make a perfect match? Check your potential partner’s proficiency in the latest technologies and software to make sure they will be able to provide efficient solutions as per your needs.

Get acquainted with the company’s culture

You should never underestimate it. Learn about the company’s ethics, values, goals, and expectations in order to make sure you see eye to eye with each other. 

Take time to select a team of dedicated experts who are passionate about what they do and as committed to the project as you are. It’s essential to establish seamless communication and transparent working processes. To cut a long story short, it’s a stroke of really good luck to find a software development company to match your vibe. 

Conclusion

The marketplace for software developers proceeds to grow increasingly as new organizations varying in terms of size are confirming their online presence. The demand for skilled developers is greater than ever before due to the rapid evolution of technology. 

Companies are looking for contractors to cooperate with and contractors get the chance to work with diverse teams, on different projects, and in different environments.

The need for high-skilled software engineers is predicted to only grow in the upcoming years so choosing the right partner will be getting more challenging. There are a few critical factors to consider when selecting a company like expertise, portfolio, PM processes, the price of services, and similar. However, what you should understand, the team’s size doesn’t matter, but the quality of the output does.

Make the correct decision and gain a competitive edge in the modern technological landscape.