Software Trends: Future Evolution

Software plays a crucial role in facilitating the emergence of new economies and propelling scientific advancements. It not only opens up new markets but also contributes to enhanced reliability.

A noticeable shift is occurring away from custom-designed programs developed by in-house professional programmers. Instead, there is a growing inclination to adopt off-the-shelf software solutions obtained by end users from various vendors.

The landscape has witnessed the emergence of numerous development tools and languages, aiming to simplify software development or cater to the evolving needs of different environments.

This shift gained momentum with the introduction of affordable and user-friendly application software packages, coupled with versatile software suites designed for microcomputers. Acquiring software often proves to be a more cost-effective option than building it from scratch.

This trend has further intensified with the integration of web-enabled networking capabilities and collaborative features into software packages. These enhancements optimize their utility for end users and workgroups on the internet, corporate intranets, and extranets.

Moreover, many software packages can now be downloaded, updated, managed, rented, or leased through the internet and corporate intranets, provided by software companies or application service providers.

Certain software packages incorporate intelligent agents to execute activities based on user instructions. For instance, specific email packages use intelligent agents to organize, send, and filter email messages.

These overarching trends appear to be converging, leading to the emergence of a fifth generation of powerful, multipurpose, expert-assisted, and web-enabled software packages. These advanced tools feature natural language and graphical interfaces, supporting the productivity and collaboration of both end users and information systems professionals.

In the last seven to eight years, tools and practices have emerged, emphasizing the social aspects of computer-mediated interactions. Referred to as social software and social media, these encompass applications such as blogs, microblogs, wikis, social networking sites, real-time chat systems, and collaborative classification systems.

Around three to four years ago, a significant trend in software certification arose, partly driven by public dissatisfaction with the vulnerabilities of software-based systems. Failures in online banking and trading systems, along with widely publicized security breaches, led to widespread chaos. Consequently, there is a growing demand for certifying software systems as both fit for use and secure.

Cloud computing, a transformative technology, has introduced a new model where data and computation take place in a 'cloud' managed by a third party. This model delivers hardware systems, software, and applications as services over the internet.
Software Trends: Future Evolution