From what we have seen so far, I would expect global recession to continue. I believe in relevance of software engineering in software development business. Therefore, I expect software engineering to propose a solution for software development houses. I hope that it is time now to move from ritualistic compliance of software engineering processes to its use because of business value.
Pause for a moment and reflect on our daily work. How much of that is new? How much of that is repetitive? If it is repetitive, why are we doing it? How can we get the machine to do it? If you do not ask this question, someone else will. Look back and look around; it had happened in the past in other industries, and we have played a role there in helping them do that. We replaced people with machines; more productive and more consistent, barring the initial hiccups. I do not see a reason why we should be different, why business should perceive us as different.
I expect more engineering and more automation in software development. I would also expect software development to be more accountable to business than it currently is.
On technology front, I would be keeping a close watch on collaborative geographically distributed software development environment, open software development practices more accountable to business, and more effective software test automation.
I wish you all a very happy, successful and prosperous new year!
My favorite song for the year 2009 for software engineers (Title: Survivor - Eye Of The Tiger lyrics): http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=T6CUhK8AlXI
