Software is not only eating the world, it has developed an uncanny knack of inserting itself into every aspect of this world’s functioning. This means that any improvements to how software is developed have a real impact on the overall productivity of the global economy. Tools that improve the efficiency of software development, tools that allow software builder teams to raise the quality of their software, and services that enable businesses to run their apps reliably and securely are more important than ever before. As a result, there is an increased focus on building products and tools that make developer’s lives easier and their work more efficient.
Given such a huge demand for software experiences in our world, it is no surprise that the number of software developers globally continues to grow, and is projected to reach ~29M by 2024. The number of platforms available for developers to build apps upon is also growing. Desktop, mobile, smart devices, servers, web, cloud, embedded systems, edge, and IoT are just some examples of platforms developers are building on today.
The growth in software development presents an opportunity for software builders who build tools for other software builders. Some of the challenges software developers face today include:
These and many more requirements stemming from the deluge of software development have created a new breed of developer tools. These tools are coming not only from large software companies of the past, but also from newer, more nimble companies that hyperfocus on certain important but underserved aspects of software development.
In the past decade or so, the developer tools and services business has exploded. Innovative developer teams have found new and more efficient ways to solve software development challenges, and many have also created new possibilities and scenarios. Github, Twilio, Stripe, MongoDB, and even DigitalOcean are only a few examples of developer-focused companies that came in and carved out a name for themselves in crowded areas. They accomplished this by focusing on the needs of underserved audiences and underserved scenarios, and by providing differentiated experiences to developers. In fact, online Q&A forums like Stack Overflow, online programming interview practice tools like LeetCode, and online community forums like DEV are also examples of services that make developers’ lives easier.
We can see this growth by looking at the Forbes Cloud 100 list, the annual ranking of the world’s top private cloud companies. In the previous iteration, ~20% of the companies included in that list were developer-focused businesses. Many others, though not developer products themselves, still provide extensibility points that allow software developers to extend the core capabilities of those products.
At DigitalOcean, we know a thing or two about building a business that is focused on developers. We do it by:
Given our popularity with developers, it is no surprise that other businesses who are also trying to serve developers find DigitalOcean to be an ally with a shared ethos and developer-first mindset. Those building tools for developers need cloud services, and DigitalOcean helps them every step of the way.
Businesses building developer tools on DigitalOcean include managed database solutions, edge computing platforms, serverless platforms, CI/CD solutions, API services, developer collaboration tools, online programming environments, among many others.
One unique thing about DigitalOcean as a cloud provider is our intense focus. We know where our strengths lie and where we need to rely on ecosystem partners. We believe the developer tools space is big enough for many successful businesses to not only co-exist but thrive, so instead of building everything ourselves we believe in nurturing an ecosystem of partners. These partners build developer tools to enrich the experience of developers building on our platform or on any other. In fact, we go one step further, and actively invest in builders helping builders through our Hatch program.
Like most SaaS businesses, even developer tools and services products are faced with the problem of managing scale effectively. By providing industry leading price-performance packages, and especially attractive bandwidth economics at high scale, DigitalOcean provides a perfect cloud computing platform for developers tools.
Even if your team is capable of handling all the complexity thrown at you by major cloud providers, it doesn't mean you should. As a business, ultimately you are rewarded for the value you deliver to your customers, and not for the heavy lifting of infrastructure behind the scenes. DigitalOcean handles your infrastructure needs with ease, enabling you to focus on growing your business.
DigitalOcean is proud to be a developer-focused company. If you are also in the business of serving software developers, then we would love to hear from you.
Contact us to learn more about free infrastructure credits, robust training, and technical support to help you migrate your developer-focused tools and services to our platform.
Come build with DigitalOcean!