Versatility Redefined: The Rise of the Full-stack Developer
Full-stack developers in high demand as businesses embrace cloud computing.
Across industries, the growing demand for cloud technologies has resulted in organizations competing for highly in-demand tech talent. According to Josh Haims of Deloitte Consulting, full-stack developers are among the most sought-after roles in finance, tech, health care, and retail industries.
The growing demand for, and complexity of, cloud technologies have resulted in organizations across industries competing for highly in-demand tech talent. Among the most sought-after roles in industries such as finance, tech, health care, and retail are full-stack developers with a unique experience, versatility, and a skill set that sets them apart.
The Rise of the Full-stack Developer
Cloud services, products, and platforms have grown increasingly complex in recent years. As businesses navigate the evolving marketplace and strive to stay competitive, they seek talent to help them manage this complexity and keep pace with their rivals.
Enter the full stack developer (FSD). These professionals possess creative expertise in client-side development, can navigate sophisticated back-end application logic, and excel in data sourcing and utilization. They are self-motivated to continually upgrade their skills to stay updated with evolving industry tools and languages.
FSDs constantly sharpen their skills to stay abreast of the latest technologies and trends, such as AI/ML, DevOps methodologies, and early adoption of quality tasks in the development process. They have their finger on the pulse of the hottest technologies, often making them the most versatile resource on the team.
Fundamentally, FSDs are highly experienced individuals who can proficiently work across the entire technology stack. However, FSDs don’t make front or back-end developers obsolete. For example, front-end developers often excel in delivering creative, customer-centric UX/UI experiences, and it’s critical to have back-end developer expertise to ensure that the site continuously meets performance requirements.
The Value Proposition of Full-stack Developers
Demand for FSDs is growing as more companies seek them out as go-to leaders for their delivery and innovation teams. Their capability to work in front-end and back-end environments within a single role makes FSDs highly valued.
However, some question whether their role in traditional on-premises environments is the same as in the cloud and how their capabilities compare to other developers. FSDs bring enormous value to both on-premises and cloud environments because their wide range of skills naturally transfers from traditional environments to the cloud.
The key difference is that the cloud environment offers opportunities for acquiring new skills and an evolved way of utilizing existing skills. For example, expertise in concepts such as infrastructure-as-code is in high demand in the cloud world, and many FSDs today have that experience. They often also excel in prototyping the front-end UI while ensuring back-end product robustness.
See More: Why a Full-Spectrum Developer Ecosystem Creates Better Business Agility
The bottom line, the value of FSDs lies in their ability to understand and execute tasks across various areas of the organization, including production, business logic, and data layers. This enables quicker time-to-market for application or product prototyping, increased transparency, and cost savings in resources.
Figure 1: Demand for the role by industry Q1 FY23
Source: Deloitte
Evolving Roles: DevOps, AIOps, MLOps, and FinOps Will Impact Full-stack Developers
AIOps and MLOps are set to impact the role of FSDs in the near future significantly. While DevOps is a well-established practice, emerging trends, such as increased self-service capabilities, greater emphasis on tooling, and the rise of low-code and no-code platforms and Generative AI, are expected to bring tangible benefits to developers, including FSDs.
With AIOps and MLOps, FSDs can expect to see their roles transformed as these technologies automate and optimize various IT operations tasks. Because these technologies help streamline processes, improve efficiency, and enhance decision-making, they enable FSDs to work more effectively and deliver higher-quality applications. Further, FSDs who adapt and stay abreast of these emerging trends will likely be at the forefront of innovation.
Moreover, despite helping abstract away implementation complexity, FSDs leverage their knowledge of security, operations, and infrastructure to strengthen their skillset. As polyglots, FSDs can easily adapt and learn new languages as technology evolves, making it feasible and essential for them to expand their linguistic repertoire continually. This versatility allows them to remain relevant in the dynamic field of software development, where staying up-to-date with emerging technologies and languages is crucial to remain competitive and delivering cutting-edge solutions.
Further, by combining their knowledge of different technologies with their understanding of broader concepts such as security and operations, FSDs are well-equipped to tackle the complex challenges of modern software development and deliver innovative solutions that meet the industry’s ever-evolving needs.
See More: Five Things to Love About AIOps
How Can Companies Support Their Full-stack Developers?
While many organizations have abstracted away the need for most developers to worry about security, operations, and infrastructure, it is crucial to recognize that many FSDs are natural auto-didacts and possess an instinct for learning whatever they can. So, enterprises should acknowledge and capitalize on this instinct by providing ongoing funding for additional training, meetups, certifications, and other resources that promote and incentivize continuous learning.
Upskilling FSDs through training opportunities and certifications can greatly enhance their capabilities and productivity. By investing in the professional growth of FSDs, organizations can foster a culture of innovation and creativity and enable FSDs to stay abreast of the latest technologies and best practices in the industry.
Additionally, providing opportunities for FSDs to engage in community meetups and other knowledge-sharing events can help them broaden their network, learn from peers, and gain valuable insights from industry experts. This can further fuel their adventurous spirit of learning and drive their professional development.
Full-stack developers are rare and in high demand at many companies. Enterprises can recruit, nurture, and retain FSDs by ensuring they are continually challenged, exposed to new opportunities, given opportunities to upskill and obtain more in-depth training in their area of expertise, and provided the freedom to do their jobs with appropriate guidelines. Organizations that can secure quality FSDs in their talent pool can reap the benefits of better-engineered products, leading to better business outcomes.
What steps have you taken to foster the potential of full-stack developers in your organization? Let us know on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. We’d love to hear from you!
Image Source: Shutterstock
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