Forem: Active Bridge

How Emerging Tech is Reshaping Custom Software Development in 2025

Active Bridge — Wed, 23 Jul 2025 19:52:57 +0000

Introduction: The State of Software Development in 2025

Software development is undergoing a real transformation in 2025. Just a few years ago, teams relied on predictable roadmaps and stable tech stacks. But today? AI coding assistants, cloud-native infrastructure, DevSecOps, and low-code platforms are changing how we build, scale, and secure software.

With so much innovation, the pressure is real. Tech leaders are asking: Which tools are actually worth the investment? What risks are flying under the radar? How do we future-proof what we’re building today?

In this guide, we unpack the biggest tech shifts shaping custom software development — from AI-assisted engineering to serverless computing — and what they really mean for CTOs, product managers, and engineering teams. Based on industry research, hands-on experience, and real conversations with teams navigating these changes, we explore how to move forward with confidence (not FOMO).

1. What’s Driving Change in Software Development?

At Active Bridge, we’ve spent years helping businesses build scalable, future-proof applications. But one thing is clear: software development today isn’t what it was even a few years ago.

Traditional monolithic architectures? Giving way to microservices and serverless computing. Manual coding? AI-assisted development is rewriting the rules. Cloud computing? Now it’s multi-cloud, hybrid, and AI-driven.

The way we write, deploy, and maintain software is undergoing a massive transformation. According to Gartner’s 2024-2025 Software Development Trends Report, over 75% of enterprises are actively shifting to cloud-native, AI-powered workflows. Meanwhile, Forrester’s 2025 Future of Software Development Report highlights that nearly 50% of developers are integrating AI assistants like GitHub Copilot and OpenAI Codex into their daily coding tasks.

It seems we are talking about a paradigm change.

1.1 From Monoliths to Microservices: Modern Software Development Methodologies

From Monolithic to Microservices & Serverless Computing

For decades, software was built as monolithic systems — large, interconnected applications where updates were complex and failures could cascade across the entire system. As digital products became more sophisticated, scalability and flexibility emerged as critical concerns, pushing teams toward microservices architectures and serverless computing.

🔹 Microservices: applications are now broken into independent services that can be developed, deployed, and scaled separately. This model allows faster iteration cycles, better fault isolation, and easier updates, making it the go-to approach for modern software engineering.

🔹 Serverless Computing: instead of managing infrastructure, teams can now deploy and run functions on-demand through platforms like AWS Lambda, Azure Functions, and Google Cloud Functions. This approach eliminates the need to maintain servers, optimizing costs and operational efficiency.

By 2025, 75% of all enterprise applications will be cloud-native, leveraging containerization, microservices, and serverless technologies (Forrester, 2025). The demand for agility and cost efficiency makes these models increasingly attractive, though challenges remain in service orchestration, monitoring, and security.

What this means for businesses: Organizations that embrace microservices and serverless can ship faster, scale more efficiently, and reduce operational overhead. However, it also introduces new challenges in managing service orchestration to ensure observability across distributed systems.

AI in Software Development: How It’s Changing Engineering Teams

We’re no longer coding alone. AI has officially become a co-pilot for developers. AI-driven development tools like GitHub Copilot, OpenAI Codex, and Tabnine are rewriting code, suggesting optimizations, and even debugging in real-time. According to Forrester, nearly 50% of developers have already adopted AI-assisted coding tools, and Gartner predicts that by 2027, over 50% of enterprises will rely on AI-powered engineering intelligence platforms.

Artificial intelligence is deeply embedded in modern development workflows. AI-driven coding assistants are accelerating software delivery, improving code quality, and reducing human error.

* Generative AI & Code Completion: tools like GitHub Copilot, OpenAI Codex, and Tabnine help developers write cleaner, more efficient code faster.
* Automated Testing & Debugging: AI-powered platforms can predict bugs, auto-generate test cases, and optimize debugging processes. The result is cutting testing cycles by 40% (Gartner, 2024).
* AI in DevOps Pipelines: AI-driven CI/CD pipelines predict deployment risks, automate rollback strategies, and enhance monitoring and performance optimization. What this means for development teams: AI isn’t replacing developers, but it’s changing the skill set required. The role of a software engineer is evolving from writing every line of code manually to leveraging AI for efficiency, accuracy, and automation.

Cloud-Native Development & Multi-Cloud Adoption

The days of relying on a single cloud provider are fading. Hybrid, multi-cloud, and AI-driven cloud strategies are now the standard for enterprises looking for flexibility and resilience.

* Red Hat’s 2024 Kubernetes Adoption Report found that 64% of companies are now using Kubernetes to manage cloud-native applications.
* Google Cloud’s AI & Cloud Adoption Report states that over 80% of businesses are shifting towards multi-cloud architectures to avoid vendor lock-in and optimize AI workloads.

This shift is about scalability, performance, security, and compliance. Businesses handling sensitive data (finance, healthcare, AI models) are leveraging multi-cloud to meet regional regulatory requirements (GDPR, HIPAA, AI Act) while optimizing for cost efficiency and reliability.

What this means for CTOs & engineering teams: Cloud-native development is not an option; for today, it is a necessity. Businesses that fail to adopt scalable, flexible cloud architectures risk falling behind in performance, security, and AI adoption.

Automated DevOps & Intelligent Security (DevSecOps)

As cloud adoption grows, ensuring secure, automated deployment pipelines becomes critical. That’s where intelligent DevOps and security automation come in. Modern DevOps is shifting toward intelligent, AI-driven security and deployment models:

* AIOps in CI/CD Pipelines: AI-powered DevOps automation can detect anomalies, optimize release cycles, and prevent failures before they happen. According to Gartner, organizations using AIOps have reduced unplanned downtime by 20%.
* DevSecOps & Zero Trust Models: security breaches are a growing concern, especially with the rapid rise in cloud-native architectures.

95% of companies reported experiencing Kubernetes-related security incidents in the past year (Red Hat, 2024).

The industry is adopting shift-left security, integrating security testing and monitoring earlier in the development process.

Platform Engineering & Developer Enablement: instead of every development team managing its own infrastructure, centralized platform engineering teams are becoming the norm. By 2026, 80% of large enterprises will have dedicated platform teams optimizing CI/CD pipelines and internal tooling (Gartner, 2024).

Why this matters: Today the speed of development demands built-in security, automated deployment monitoring, and intelligent DevOps pipelines. Teams that fail to integrate AI-driven DevOps strategies will struggle with scalability, compliance, and security threats.

Key Takeaways: How Software Development is Changing

The evolution of software development is being driven by three major forces:

* Scalability & Flexibility: cloud-native architectures, microservices, and serverless computing are enabling businesses to adapt quickly while reducing infrastructure overhead.
* AI-Driven Efficiency: AI-assisted coding, automated testing, and AIOps are accelerating software delivery while improving quality and security.
* Security & Compliance as a Priority: DevSecOps and AI-powered security solutions are becoming essential in an era of fast deployments and cloud-native vulnerabilities.

As organizations adapt to these changes, the focus is shifting toward automation, resilience, and intelligent software engineering. In the next section, we’ll explore the specific technologies shaping custom software development in 2025—from AI-driven automation to low-code solutions and beyond.

2. Key Technology Trends Reshaping Custom Software Development in 2025

The way we build, test, and ship software is evolving at a new pace. At Active Bridge, we’ve been closely following these shifts, working with businesses that are navigating the adoption of AI-assisted development, automation, and intelligent DevOps workflows.

One trend stands out: AI isn’t just a tool anymore. It’s becoming an active collaborator in software engineering. Whether it’s generating code, optimizing performance, or preventing bugs before they happen, AI is helping developers work faster, smarter, and more efficiently.

But what does this really mean for development teams? Let’s break it down.

2.1 AI-Powered Coding Assistants: How AI Is Transforming Development Workflows

For years, software development has been about human expertise, creativity, and problem-solving. But the way we write, test, and deploy code is rapidly evolving. AI is becoming an essential part of the development process.

Our development teams see this shift every day. Projects’ development landscape is changing. AI-powered tools speed up development. They’re changing the role of engineers, enabling developers to focus on strategy, architecture, and high-impact problem-solving instead of repetitive coding tasks.

The impact is clear:

* 76% of developers are now using or planning to use AI coding tools (Stack Overflow, 2024).
* AI-assisted development is cutting coding and debugging time by 30-50% (McKinsey, 2024).
* Companies leveraging AI in software testing are seeing fewer bugs, faster releases, and lower operational costs.
* But how exactly is AI transforming software development? Let’s break it down.

AI-Driven Code Generation: Developers Are Writing Less, Reviewing More

In the past, software development meant writing every line of code manually. Today, AI-powered coding assistants like GitHub Copilot, OpenAI Codex, and Tabnine are changing that.

Instead of starting from scratch, developers can now:

* Auto-generate entire functions based on a simple prompt.
* Refactor existing code to improve efficiency and readability.
* Eliminate redundant coding tasks, focusing instead on architecture and design.

AI-generated code is helping teams ship features 30-50% faster while reducing defects by 40% (McKinsey, 2024). But with AI taking on more of the coding, developers’ responsibilities are evolving. They’re no longer just writing code; they’re reviewing, refining, and ensuring AI-generated outputs are reliable and secure.

That’s where AI-driven debugging comes in.

From Writing Code to Fixing It: AI’s Role in Debugging & Optimization

Even the best developers spend a huge chunk of time debugging. AI is now stepping in to reduce that overhead, catching errors before they make it to production.

How AI-driven debugging is changing software development:

AI-assisted debugging tools identify and fix issues before they cause failures.
Automated root cause analysis pinpoints problems in seconds, rather than hours.
AI suggests fixes based on historical debugging patterns, minimizing repetitive errors.

Google’s AI Trends Report (2024) shows:

AI debugging increases bug detection accuracy by 55%.
Reduces manual debugging time by 75%, cutting production downtime by 30%.
68% of enterprises now rely on AI-powered debugging in their CI/CD pipelines.
With AI handling debugging, teams can focus on building, not fixing. But making sure software runs smoothly is about preventing errors from happening in the first place.

AI in Software Testing & CI/CD Automation: Smarter, More Reliable Deployments

Testing has always been a critical but time-consuming part of development. AI is now making it faster, smarter, and more efficient.

How AI-powered testing is reshaping quality assurance:

Self-healing test automation adapts to UI changes, reducing flaky tests by 60% (State of DevOps, 2024).
AI-driven test generation automates test case creation, improving test coverage.
Predictive CI/CD analytics detect potential deployment failures before they occur.
The result? Companies using AI-enhanced testing and CI/CD automation are seeing 50% shorter QA cycles and 38% fewer deployment failures. This means faster, safer software releases without compromising quality.

However, while AI is making development more efficient, it’s not without challenges.

The Risks & Challenges of AI-Powered Development

AI isn’t perfect. As it takes on more responsibility in software engineering, teams must be aware of potential risks and blind spots.

AI bias & code reliability. AI inherits biases from training data, which can lead to inaccurate, unpredictable, or even insecure code.
Hallucinations in code generation. AI tools sometimes generate syntactically correct but logically flawed code, which still requires human validation.
Security & compliance risks. AI-assisted coding introduces new attack vectors — malicious code injections, insecure AI-generated functions, and regulatory compliance issues. How to mitigate these risks:

Developers must stay in the loop. AI should be a co-pilot, not an autopilot. AI-powered security scanning (e.g., GitHub Dependabot, SonarQube AI) should be integrated into CI/CD pipelines.

Training & upskilling developers to review AI-generated code critically is a must-have. Despite these challenges, AI’s role in software development is only growing. The key is to use it wisely, balancing automation with human expertise.

What This Means for CTOs & Development Teams

AI-powered development is an industry shift.

AI-driven coding assistants are helping teams ship features faster and with fewer bugs.
AI-powered debugging is reducing downtime and making applications more stable.
AI-enhanced testing and CI/CD automation are speeding up deployment cycles while improving security.

AI isn’t here to replace developers, it’s here to augment them. The companies that successfully integrate AI into their software workflows will be the ones that outpace competitors, ship faster, and build more resilient applications.

In the next section, we’ll explore another game-changing shift: Low-Code & No-Code development, where rapid development meets long-term scalability challenges.

2.2 Why Cloud-Native and Serverless Computing Are the New Normal

Cloud-native development has shifted from an emerging trend to the default approach for modern software. But that doesn’t mean every company has figured out how to make the transition seamless.

We’ve worked with teams that started with a simple plan — move everything to the cloud. But as they go deeper, they run into unexpected trade-offs: spiraling costs, performance bottlenecks, security concerns, and vendor lock-in nightmares. Adopting cloud-native technologies means designing an architecture that scales without locking teams into rigid workflows.

And while the move to cloud-native is unavoidable for most businesses, making it work without introducing new risks is where the real challenge lies.

Why Companies Are Moving Away from Traditional Infrastructure

For years, businesses relied on on-prem data centers and single-cloud setups, but these models struggle to keep up with today’s need for agility, scalability, and rapid deployment. Maintaining legacy infrastructure is costly and time-consuming, while cloud-native approaches empower teams to iterate faster and reduce operational overhead.

That’s why 88% of enterprises are now running or planning hybrid and multi-cloud strategies (IDC, 2024). Companies are distributing workloads across multiple cloud providers for resilience and taking advantage of the best tools from AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud.

But cloud adoption increases speed. By 2025, 80% of new applications will be deployed in containers (IDC, 2024). We’ve seen first-hand how containerization accelerates development cycles and enables modular application design, making it easier to scale and update systems without downtime.

For companies still hesitant to modernize, the risks are clear: competitors who build cloud-native from the ground up will ship faster, adapt quicker, and scale seamlessly.

The Rise of Serverless Computing & Function-as-a-Service (FaaS)

Serverless computing is gaining traction as businesses seek cost efficiency and reduced operational overhead. The real draw is that it eliminates infrastructure management, letting developers focus entirely on writing and deploying code.

There are teams transitioning to AWS Lambda, Azure Functions, and Google Cloud Functions, drawn in by the ability to scale automatically and only pay for what they use. And the numbers back this up — 70% of AWS customers and 60% of Google Cloud customers now use serverless solutions (Datadog, 2024).

But it’s clear where companies get it wrong:

Unpredictable costs. Serverless is cheap for small workloads, but at scale, costs can escalate quickly.
Cold starts and latency issues. For real-time applications, serverless isn’t always the best fit.
Debugging distributed functions. Troubleshooting across multiple serverless services isn’t as straightforward as debugging a monolith.

Beyond basic event-driven functions, serverless is expanding into container-based architectures. 66% of companies using Google Cloud serverless services are leveraging Cloud Run, blending the elasticity of serverless with the control of containerized workloads. This shift is reshaping how applications are designed, making them more modular, portable, and resilient across cloud environments.

Kubernetes & Containerization as Industry Standards

For companies managing large-scale, cloud-native applications, Kubernetes has become the backbone of modern infrastructure. By 2024, 64% of organizations were running Kubernetes in production (Red Hat, 2024), using it as the foundation for multi-cloud and hybrid deployments. The reason? Kubernetes abstracts cloud environments, making applications portable across AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud without needing major reconfigurations.

Companies that try to scale without Kubernetes only realize they’re reinventing the wheel. They deal with inconsistent deployments, struggling with container orchestration, or fighting against cloud provider limitations. Kubernetes solves these challenges by abstracting infrastructure, making applications portable across AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud.

But here’s the challenge of Kubernetes security:

67% of organizations have delayed deployments due to security risks.
46% have suffered financial losses due to Kubernetes-related security breaches.
57% have detected vulnerabilities in their software supply chain. (Red Hat, 2024)
The key takeaway for companies relying on Kubernetes is simple: security, monitoring, and automation need to be built into the foundation.

Future Cloud Trends: Multi-Cloud, Edge, and Hybrid Strategies for 2025

Looking ahead, multi-cloud and hybrid cloud strategies are set to dominate.

By 2025, 87% of enterprises will operate in multi-cloud environments (IDC, 2024).

Multi-cloud networking is enabling seamless integration across providers.
Edge computing is bringing workloads closer to users, reducing latency for AI, IoT, and real-time applications.
Hybrid cloud is bridging private and public cloud resources, helping industries meet regulatory and security requirements.

According to Gartner’s 2027 Cloud Forecast, companies that fail to fully embrace cloud-native architectures will fall behind in innovation and agility. By then, serverless computing and Kubernetes will be the norm, not the exception.

What This Means for CTOs & Development Teams

For engineering leaders, embracing cloud-native, serverless, and Kubernetes-based architectures is the key to building scalable, cost-effective, and resilient applications. However, success depends on:

Investing in cloud-native skills — training teams in Kubernetes, serverless functions, and multi-cloud networking.
Automating security and compliance — integrating security into DevOps pipelines with CI/CD security gates.
Choosing the right cloud mix — evaluating the strengths of AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud to avoid unnecessary complexity.
Leveraging open-source tooling — standardizing on Kubernetes-native security, logging, and monitoring solutions.

Cloud-native adoption accelerates innovation and reduces infrastructure overhead. Companies that invest in cloud-native strategies today will be the ones leading in software development efficiency, security, and scalability in the years ahead.

2.3. Low-Code & No-Code Solutions: Acceleration or Limitation?

Low-code and no-code development platforms promise speed, accessibility, and cost savings, but for engineering leaders and CTOs, the real question isn’t whether these tools are fast—it’s whether they scale, integrate, and evolve alongside a growing business.

We’ve had discussions with technical teams who’ve tried low-code solutions, thinking they’d shortcut development cycles. At first, things move quickly—simple workflows are built in hours instead of weeks. But when the project scales, limitations surface:

Customization bottlenecks—expanding beyond built-in templates requires heavy workarounds.
Integration hurdles—connecting low-code apps to core business systems is often more complex than writing custom APIs from scratch.
Performance trade-offs—once traffic spikes, apps built on low-code platforms can struggle to handle the load efficiently.

“Low-code tools make it easy to build an MVP fast, but if your product is meant to grow, you eventually outgrow the platform.” Alex L. CTO at Active Bridge

The Rise of Citizen Developers — A Shift in Software Engineering?

The appeal of no-code is clear: business teams (product managers, marketers, and ops specialists) can build internal tools without relying on developers.

Gartner estimates that by 2026, 80% of digital products will be built by non-technical users. This trend is reshaping IT departments - developers are no longer the sole creators of software. Instead, they’re becoming architects, mentors, and integration experts, ensuring that what’s built actually works in the long run.

From what we’ve seen, this shift brings two big challenges:

IT Governance & Security. With more non-developers building apps, who ensures security and compliance? We’ve heard stories of teams using low-code platforms to store sensitive customer data, only to realize too late that encryption and access controls were lacking.
Long-Term Viability—Many no-code tools are great for quick fixes, but they lock businesses into proprietary ecosystems. A Zapier-built automation might work today, but will it still be viable when the company scales to enterprise-level operations?

Where Low-Code Excels: Use Cases That Make Sense

Low-code and no-code platforms thrive in specific scenarios, especially for:

Rapid Prototyping. Quickly testing ideas without the overhead of traditional development.
Internal Tools. Building dashboards, CRM extensions, or automated workflows for non-technical teams.
SMB Process Automation. Enabling small businesses to automate operations without hiring developers.
MVP Development. Launching a minimum viable product faster, allowing teams to validate concepts before committing to full-scale development.

According to Forrester, companies using no-code platforms see up to 70% savings in development costs and experience a 90% reduction in development time. But while these platforms shine in speed and efficiency, they often fall short when it comes to scalability, customization, and long-term flexibility.

Can Low-Code Platforms Scale to Enterprise-Level Software?

Many teams jump into low-code solutions expecting them to scale alongside their business. But as applications grow, so do the limitations of these platforms:

Customization Constraints. Pre-built modules and drag-and-drop functionality work well initially but can become a bottleneck when advanced features or unique workflows are required.
Integration Challenges. Connecting low-code applications with complex enterprise systems can be difficult, requiring additional middleware or API customization.
Performance Issues. Many platforms are optimized for simple workflows, but handling large user bases, complex logic, or high-volume data processing can push these systems beyond their capabilities.

Take Zapier as an example—it’s fantastic for automating workflows but struggles with highly complex operations. Its pricing model is also based on task usage, meaning costs can skyrocket as businesses scale. OutSystems, on the other hand, provides a more scalable low-code approach, but requires deeper technical expertise, making it less accessible to true citizen developers.

How CTOs & Engineering Leaders Should Approach Low-Code Adoption

If you’re considering low-code, the key is knowing when and where to use it. From our experience, here’s what works:

Define clear use cases. Use low-code for internal tools, not customer-facing applications. Ensure it solves a real problem without creating long-term technical debt.
Assess the exit strategy. Before committing, ask: “What happens if we need to migrate off this platform?” If there’s no clear transition plan, you might be locking yourself into a costly dependency.
Prioritize security & compliance. Many low-code platforms store data in proprietary clouds, limiting control over encryption, compliance, and access management. If you’re in fintech, healthcare, or any regulated industry, tread carefully.
Bridge the gap between business & engineering. Low-code isn’t a replacement for developers—it’s a tool to make development more collaborative. Companies that succeed with low-code invest in developer oversight, training, and governance.

Low-code and no-code solutions can accelerate development—but only when used strategically.

For quick automation and internal tools? Great.
For long-term, scalable, enterprise software? Think twice.

CTOs and engineering teams shouldn’t see low-code as a replacement, but as a complement. As your company grows, will low-code be a stepping stone or a long-term solution? The key is knowing when to build fast—and when to build for the future.

2.4 Security & Compliance in 2025: Adapting to AI, Cloud, and Open Source Risks

Security isn’t a checkbox — it’s an ongoing challenge that evolves alongside AI, cloud computing, and open-source software. Every year, threats become more sophisticated, regulations grow tighter, and companies are forced to rethink how they protect their software and data.

Teams struggle with securing cloud environments, managing software supply chain risks, and keeping up with compliance. The challenge isn’t just about blocking attacks; it’s about building security into development workflows without slowing things down.

Open-Source Security Risks: How to Protect Your Software Supply Chain

The open-source ecosystem has transformed software development, but it’s also introduced new risks. According to Snyk’s 2024 Open-Source Security Report:

52% of organizations fail to meet SLAs for fixing high-severity vulnerabilities.
40% had to patch or replace compromised libraries in the past year.
Less than 50% verify the integrity of software dependencies before deployment.

This means many companies are shipping code without fully knowing what’s inside it. Attackers know this, and supply chain attacks are on the rise — compromising dependencies, injecting malicious code, and exploiting weak verification processes.

Why Zero-Trust & DevSecOps Are Becoming Industry Standards

With cloud misconfigurations causing 80% of data breaches (MIT Sloan, 2024), traditional perimeter security models aren’t enough. Companies are moving toward zero-trust security frameworks, ensuring that every user, device, and workload is verified before access is granted.

Zero-trust isn’t just about access controls—it’s about mindset shifts:

Least privilege by default. No one gets access unless explicitly needed.
Continuous verification. Every access request is authenticated, not just at login.
Micro-segmentation. Breaking down networks to limit breach impact.

At the same time, DevSecOps is gaining traction, integrating security into the development lifecycle instead of treating it as an afterthought. GitLab’s 2024 DevSecOps Report found that:

58% of security teams struggle to get developers to prioritize security fixes.
67% of developers rely on open-source libraries, but only 21% track them with SBOMs.
AI-assisted security tools are helping teams catch vulnerabilities earlier.

From our experience, companies that invest in automated security scanning, threat modeling, and real-time compliance monitoring gain a significant advantage. Security becomes part of development, rather than a bottleneck at the end.

Regulatory Changes: GDPR, AI Act & Global Compliance Shifts

Regulators are cracking down on data protection and AI ethics. The GDPR amendments (2024) and the AI Act (2025-2026) introduce stricter rules on data handling, security audits, and AI model transparency.

Key compliance shifts impacting software teams:

Higher fines for GDPR violations. Major tech firms have already been hit with record penalties.
AI model risk classifications. The AI Act mandates compliance based on an AI system’s risk level.
Stronger enforcement of AI-generated content labeling. Spain’s new law fines companies up to €35M for failing to disclose AI-generated media.

For software teams, this means compliance needs to be built into development workflows — not retrofitted after launch. Security leaders need to ensure data encryption, access controls, and AI governance are part of their foundational architecture.

What CTOs & Engineering Leaders Should Focus On

Security and compliance aren’t just IT concerns — they impact business continuity, customer trust, and market positioning. Based on industry shifts, here’s what leaders should prioritize:

Invest in proactive security. Shift from reactive fixes to real-time vulnerability management and automated compliance monitoring.
Strengthen supply chain security. Implement SBOMs, signed artifacts, and automated dependency tracking to mitigate software supply chain risks.
Embed DevSecOps culture. Ensure security is integrated into CI/CD pipelines, with developers actively involved in security practices.
Stay ahead of compliance trends. Keep up with evolving GDPR, AI Act, and data sovereignty regulations to avoid fines and legal issues.
Embrace AI-powered security. AI is being used to detect vulnerabilities, automate security responses, and enhance threat intelligence.

Cybersecurity threats are evolving, compliance rules are tightening, and the attack surface is expanding. The best approach isn’t waiting for regulations to force change—it’s staying ahead with security-first development.

For companies building software in 2025 and beyond, security isn’t a feature — it’s the foundation. And those who get it right will be the ones shaping the future of safe, compliant, and resilient software.

2.5 The Evolution of the Tech Stack: Where Does Ruby on Rails Fit?

Technology stacks are evolving faster than ever, with companies re-evaluating their backend frameworks based on performance, maintainability, and ecosystem longevity. JavaScript continues to dominate, Python remains a go-to for AI and data-heavy applications, and Rust is gaining traction for its security and performance. But where does Ruby on Rails (RoR) stand in 2025? Is it still a viable choice for modern web applications, or is it being overshadowed by newer full-stack frameworks?

Shifting Programming Language Preferences

According to the 2024 Stack Overflow Developer Survey, JavaScript is still the most widely used language (62.3% adoption), followed by Python and SQL. However, Rust has emerged as the most admired language, reflecting developers’ growing appreciation for memory safety and performance. Meanwhile, TypeScript adoption has increased dramatically (from 12% in 2017 to 35% in 2024), showing that developers want stronger typing in JavaScript-based applications.

On the backend, Node.js, Python (Django/FastAPI), and Go are seeing increased adoption, while Ruby remains steady but niche. The release of Ruby 3.3 and Rails 8 in late 2024 brought major performance optimizations and improved developer experience, but Rails’ overall market share has slightly declined in favor of JavaScript-based full-stack solutions.

The Longevity of Ruby on Rails in the Evolving Software Landscape

Where Rails Excels

Rails is still a top choice for startups, SaaS companies, and product-driven teams looking for rapid development cycles. Companies like Shopify, GitHub, and Basecamp continue to bet on Rails due to its convention-over-configuration philosophy, mature ecosystem, and ability to scale when implemented correctly.

Key advantages that keep Rails relevant:

Developer productivity: Rails emphasizes simplicity and developer happiness, allowing teams to move faster with built-in conventions and rich libraries (gems).
Scalability (when designed well): while Rails has been criticized for scaling challenges, modern architecture patterns (e.g., microservices, background job processing with Sidekiq) allow companies to handle large workloads effectively.
Community & longevity: with over 5,000 active contributors on GitHub, Rails remains well-supported, with continuous improvements that keep it competitive.

Where Rails Faces Challenges

Performance vs. lighter backends: while Rails is optimized for developer speed, frameworks like Next.js (React-based full-stack), Django, and FastAPI offer more lightweight, high-performance alternatives.
Frontend shift to JavaScript: with the rise of Next.js and full-stack JavaScript solutions, many teams prefer to keep both frontend and backend in the same ecosystem (JavaScript/TypeScript), reducing the need for Rails as a separate backend.
Adoption trends: 2024 JetBrains Developer Report notes that Node.js, Spring Boot, and Django are leading backend choices, while Rails usage has remained steady but niche.

What Makes a Tech Stack Future-Proof in 2025?

With companies adopting multi-language, cloud-native architectures, the focus has shifted from a single framework to a combination of flexible, scalable, and maintainable tools. Here’s what CTOs and engineering leaders should consider:

Scalability & performance. Can the stack handle high-traffic applications efficiently?
Ecosystem & libraries. Does the framework have an active community and well-maintained extensions?
Developer experience & productivity. How fast can developers build and iterate?
Long-term viability. Will the framework continue receiving updates and support in 5-10 years?

So, Where Does Ruby on Rails Fit in 2025?

Rails isn’t the default choice for every project anymore, but it remains an excellent option for startups, SaaS platforms, and product-driven development. The framework thrives in teams that prioritize rapid development, developer happiness, and a battle-tested ecosystem.

For engineering leaders considering Rails:

If you want speed and convention-driven development – Rails is still one of the best.
If you need extreme performance at scale – You might look at Go, Rust, or full-stack JS solutions.
If you already have a Rails codebase – There’s no urgent reason to migrate; Rails 8+ ensures long-term viability.

The evolution of the tech is about choosing the right tool for the job. Rails may not be the hottest new trend, but it’s far from obsolete. In 2025, it remains a strong contender for startups and businesses that value speed, convention, and a mature ecosystem.

3.The Business Impact: What These Trends Mean for CTOs & Tech Leaders

With AI reshaping software development, security risks intensifying, and the demand for specialized tech talent growing, CTOs and tech leaders need to think beyond just keeping up. The real challenge is making smart decisions about where to invest, how to structure teams, and how to handle compliance risks—all while keeping technology aligned with business goals.

Budgeting for AI, Cloud, and Automation

AI as a Productivity Driver

Automation in software development has evolved—from CI/CD pipelines and cloud infrastructure to AI-powered coding, testing, and observability.

CTOs we’ve spoken with tell us the same thing: teams using AI spend less time on repetitive coding and debugging and more time on architecture, strategy, and problem-solving.

According to Harvard Business Review, 87% of developers using AI-assisted tools like GitHub Copilot report higher productivity and job satisfaction. But the real impact of AI isn’t just about speed—it’s about changing how teams work.

Here’s what’s happening inside AI-enabled development teams:

Developers spend more time architecting systems instead of writing boilerplate code.
Observability tools predict system failures before they happen, cutting downtime.
AI-driven security scanning prevents vulnerabilities from slipping into production.

CTO takeaway: AI isn’t a quick fix—it’s an investment in efficiency at scale. The biggest ROI comes when engineering teams learn to work alongside AI, not just use it.

Optimizing Cloud Costs

80% of enterprises are moving to hybrid and multi-cloud setups (IDC, 2024), but that doesn’t mean they’re saving money. This firsthand—companies migrate to the cloud expecting cost reductions, only to overspend on unused resources, inefficient architecture, and lack of cost visibility.

CTOs are tackling these issues by:

Implementing FinOps (Cloud Financial Operations) to prevent runaway spending.
Using AI-powered cloud automation to scale resources dynamically.
Leveraging edge computing to reduce dependency on centralized cloud infrastructure.

CTO takeaway: cloud adoption should be as strategic as it is technical. AI-powered cost monitoring and cloud efficiency tools are becoming must-haves, not nice-to-haves.

Talent Acquisition: Hiring for AI-Assisted Development

The New Skillset: AI-Augmented Developers & DevSecOps

Software engineering roles aren’t disappearing—but how developers work is evolving fast.

The CB Insights 2024 report highlights a 37% increase in venture funding for AI-driven startups, and with that comes demand for developers who know how to leverage AI effectively.

What we’re seeing in hiring trends:

Less focus on manual coding, more focus on AI-augmented problem-solving.
Security and compliance baked into development workflows—not added later.
AI-assisted testing and debugging replacing traditional QA teams.

CTO takeaway: rather than hiring more developers, companies are upskilling existing teams to work efficiently with AI. Those who learn to integrate AI into their workflows will outpace teams still coding everything from scratch.

Security and Compliance Are Now Core Engineering Priorities

With security threats growing and regulations tightening, security-first development is becoming essential.

67% of organizations delay deployments due to security concerns (Red Hat, 2024). Only 21% of companies track open-source dependencies, leaving them vulnerable to supply chain attacks.

Rather than treating security as a separate department, companies are embedding it directly into development teams. DevSecOps roles are growing rapidly, focusing on:

Zero-trust security frameworks.
AI-driven threat detection and security monitoring.
Automated vulnerability scanning for supply chain security.

CTO takeaway: security is no longer an afterthought — it’s a core part of engineering. Hiring developers who understand secure coding, DevSecOps, and compliance automation is becoming a top priority.

Navigating Compliance & Security Risks

Regulatory Compliance: Adapting to GDPR, AI Act, and New Regulations

Compliance is becoming more complex, with new regulations like the AI Act and stricter GDPR penalties forcing CTOs to rethink software architecture.

The biggest challenges include:

AI regulations: companies must now track model training data and ensure transparency in decision-making.
Supply chain security laws: software vendors need a Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) to track dependencies and vulnerabilities.
Data residency laws: more regions are requiring localized data storage, impacting cloud strategies.

CTO takeaway: compliance isn’t just a legal requirement — it affects how software is built. Automated compliance tracking and AI-driven security enforcement are becoming essential tools.

For tech leaders, the challenge in 2025 is about balancing innovation with governance, efficiency with security, and automation with human expertise. The companies that get this balance right will be the ones leading the next era of software development.

4. How to Future-Proof Your Software Development Strategy for 2025

The landscape of software development is evolving faster than ever. AI is reshaping how teams code, test, and secure applications. Cloud automation is redefining infrastructure management. Security and compliance are becoming daily engineering concerns, not just audit-time checkboxes.

For CTOs and tech leaders, the question isn’t whether to embrace these changes—but how to do it in a way that ensures long-term scalability, efficiency, and security.

Where to Start? Focus on What Moves the Needle.

Over the past few years, we’ve seen teams invest heavily in AI-driven development, cloud transformation, and DevSecOps workflows. Some scaled faster, reduced overhead, and built more resilient systems. Others rushed in, overcomplicated their tech stacks, and ended up with bloated cloud costs, fragmented security models, and tools developers barely use. The difference? It wasn’t about adopting every new technology — it was about integrating the right ones into a workflow that actually makes sense for their business.

Here’s what we’ve learned from working with teams navigating this shift:

1. AI Works Best When It Enhances, Not Replaces, Developers.

The most productive teams aren’t treating AI as an afterthought or a shortcut to writing code—they’re weaving it into their workflows where it genuinely helps. AI-powered code generation speeds up development, but it still needs human oversight to avoid introducing vulnerabilities or inefficiencies.

What works:

Using AI for debugging, testing, and repetitive coding tasks, freeing engineers to focus on architecture and problem-solving.
Training developers to work alongside AI tools, not rely on them blindly.

What doesn’t work:

Expecting AI to replace experienced engineers—it doesn’t. It’s a multiplier, not a replacement.

2. Cloud Investments Need More than a ‘Lift and Shift’ Approach.

We’ve seen companies migrate everything to the cloud, expecting automatic cost savings—only to watch their bills double because of over-provisioning, inefficient scaling, and redundant workloads. The cloud isn’t inherently cheaper or better. It’s only as efficient as your architecture.

What works:

Using FinOps strategies to track and optimize cloud spending.
Automating workload scaling so you’re not paying for unused capacity.
Investing in edge computing to reduce centralized cloud dependencies.

What doesn’t work:

Treating the cloud as an unlimited resource—it needs cost and performance governance just like on-prem infrastructure.

3. Security Can’t Wait Until Production—It Starts at the First Line of Code.

One of the biggest mistakes we see is treating security as a final checkpoint rather than part of the development process.

With supply chain attacks, open-source vulnerabilities, and AI-driven exploits increasing, security-first development is no longer optional. It’s not just about hiring cybersecurity specialists—it’s about making security a part of every developer’s workflow.

What works:

Embedding security into CI/CD pipelines so vulnerabilities are caught before deployment.
Training developers in secure coding practices—not just relying on security teams to fix issues later.
Automating compliance tracking to stay ahead of evolving regulations.

What doesn’t work:

Assuming compliance means security. Just because you meet regulations doesn’t mean you’re actually secure.

4. Hiring Smart: Train Your Team to Work With AI, Not Against It.

The demand for AI-skilled engineers, security-focused developers, and cloud architects is growing fast. But instead of focusing only on external hires, companies investing in upskilling their existing teams are getting ahead.

What works:

Providing AI and DevSecOps training for engineers who already understand the company’s infrastructure.
Building cross-functional teams that blend development, security, and operations rather than keeping them siloed.

What doesn’t work:

Relying only on hiring to solve skill gaps—training and internal knowledge-sharing are more scalable.

Final Thought: Future-Proofing Isn’t About Trends — It’s About Making Smarter Decisions.

Every company is moving toward AI-assisted development, cloud-native architecture, and security-first software design. But the ones that will thrive aren’t just adopting these trends—they’re making them work in ways that align with their business goals.

At Active Bridge, we’ve worked with teams that successfully scaled by focusing on efficiency, security, and developer experience—not by chasing trends for the sake of it. The future of software development is about smartest choices

Source: https://activebridge.org/blog/how-emerging-tech-is-reshaping-custom-software-development

Illuminating the Dark Mode Trend with BlaCKout: A Beacon of Comfort and Efficiency

Active Bridge — Wed, 10 Apr 2024 20:31:46 +0000

The digital landscape is awash with the soft glow of screens, a constant companion to those who traverse the realms of code, design, and innovation. Among the many trends that shape our digital interactions, the shift towards dark mode stands out, not just as a preference, but as a movement towards a more user-friendly, energy-efficient, and visually comfortable computing experience. This is not just a passing fad; many esteemed individuals in the tech industry, including developers at leading tech firms and UX/UI designers at innovative startups, have championed dark mode for its ability to reduce eye strain, improve readability, and conserve energy, especially on devices with OLED screens.

Amidst this backdrop, Active Bridge’s creation of the BlaCKout dark mode Chrome extension emerges not just as a response to a growing demand but as a testament to our commitment to innovation, user comfort, and environmental sustainability. BlaCKout is designed to deliver an unparalleled dark theme experience, diving deep into the aesthetics of darkness to offer relief and efficiency to those who spend their days (and nights) in front of screens.

Why BlaCKout? The Screen Comfort and Energy Saving

When we developed BlaCKout, we realized that our digital tools should not only help us accomplish our objectives but also embody our values and promote our overall well-being. The extension boasts several key benefits that make it a must-have for tech enthusiasts, web developers, and designers alike:

Unmatched visual comfort: BlaCKout delivers an immersive dark mode experience, making long coding sessions or design marathons more comfortable for the eyes.
Energy efficiency: Optimized for OLED screens, BlaCKout significantly reduces energy consumption, reflecting our eco-friendly ethos.
Customization at your fingertips: With BlaCKout, switching between dark and light modes is seamless, allowing users to tailor their browsing experience to their preferences.

Hearing It from the Innovators: What Our Team Says

We don’t just believe in BlaCKout’s potential, we live it. Our developers have integrated BlaCKout into their daily workflows, reaping the benefits of a more comfortable and efficient digital environment. Here’s what they say:

Alex:“BlaCKout has transformed my coding experience. The deep dark mode not only eases the strain on my eyes but also helps me stay focused for longer periods.”

Dmytro: “As someone passionate about sustainable tech, I appreciate how BlaCKout aligns with my values. This Google Chrome extension is not just about comfort; it’s about making conscious choices for our well-being.”

Kate: “The level of customization BlaCKout offers is unparalleled. It adapts to my needs, whether I’m designing late at night or browsing in broad daylight. It truly enhances my digital workspace.”

Join the BlaCKout Community: Your Voice Matters

In the spirit of collaboration and innovation that defines Active Bridge, we invite you to experience BlaCKout for yourself. As we continue to refine and expand its capabilities, your feedback is invaluable to us. Whether it’s a feature request, a success story, or constructive criticism, we want to hear from you. Your insights help us to improve BlaCKout, foster a community of users who are passionate about technology and its potential.

When you select BlaCKout, you’re not only selecting a more enjoyable internet browsing experience; you’re also supporting a shift towards a more intelligent, environmentally friendly, and user-focused online world. Let’s embark on this journey together, shaping the future of digital interaction one dark mode screen at a time.

Your opinion lights the way for our continuous improvement and innovation. Try out BlaCKout, share your experience, and be a part of a community that’s setting new standards for digital excellence. Together, we can make the digital world a better, brighter place — even in dark mode.

Compatible Hosting Services For Ruby On Rails Apps: In-Depth Review

Active Bridge — Tue, 25 Oct 2022 12:47:44 +0000

Meta: Looking for a hosting service for your Ruby on Rails applications? Here are four fantastic choices for compatible hosting providers as recommended by our engineers with over 10 years of experience in Ruby development.

Powered by the productive and forward-thinking programming language Ruby, Ruby on Rails is one of the fastest-growing web application frameworks right now. Right now, Rails is being used by thousands of web developers to build stellar web apps easily and unlock new business opportunities online.

An important consideration for developers and businesses using Ruby on Rails is the web hosting provider you opt for. This seemingly simple choice can affect the performance, reliability and scalability of your product. It can be difficult to sift through all the hosting options for you, so this guide will help you understand how to differentiate these providers. With our 10 years of experience in development with Ruby, we’ll give you four practical recommendations for ruby on rails hosting providers.

Different Types of Hosting Services

Not all hosting services are the same. Hosting plans are commonly divided into three categories:

Shared Hosting
VPS/VDS Hosting
PaaS

[Source]

Shared Hosting Services

With shared hosting, many websites and web applications share a web server and the resources are shared between each website. This means that your Rails application is far more likely to run into server performance issues like slowdowns, freezing and downtime.

Shared hosting also brings an extra layer of security vulnerabilities as attacks on ‘neighbor’ sites could harm your website and lead to nasty data breaches or costly app downtime. Shared hosting providers tend to deny server admins root access to modify files like system files or run any software programs not supported by the web hosting company.

While this is generally not an issue for beginner website builders and WordPress hosting, for complex Ruby on Rails applications, shared hosting can be too limited. However, shared hosting is by far the most affordable way to get your application online.

Virtual Private Servers

Virtual Private Server (VPS) (also known as Virtual Dedicated Server) hosting mimics the experience of having your own dedicated server by creating a virtual machine on the web server. Whilst the server space is still shared with other sites, your web application’s data is separated from others on the OS level. This affords crucial independence from other websites – improving security and performance.

While shared hosting resources are variable and depend on the current level of demand on the web server, a VPS dedicates a fixed amount of the server’s resources to your application.

That means that the CPU performance, RAM, data storage, and bandwidth stay constant even at peak times. Virtual servers also afford admins root access (known as administrator access rights on Windows servers). This allows you to fine-tune the server to the needs of your project, right down to installing the necessary software and changing the operating system.

PaaS (Platform-as-a-Service) Hosting

PaaS (Platform as a Service) refers to a model of cloud services where the service provider provides a platform for application development and hosting for web applications.

With PaaS, developers are left to write the cost and test their apps, leaving the infrastructure worries like managing server resources, IP addresses and hosting troubles to the PaaS provider. You can either pay a fixed fee or choose pay-as-you-go pricing to pay only for resources you use.

It is far easier to build, deploy and scale apps with cloud PaaS hosting – perfect for small-to-medium businesses who want to focus on making a perfect Ruby on Rails product, not managing server infrastructure.

Why we choose VPS or PaaS

Virtual servers offer far more flexibility, control and independence for your web app. If you need to install specialist software or make any OS-level changes to your server, you can do that with the virtual machine afforded by VPS.

With guaranteed server resources and bandwidth, your Rails app can be far more resilient to fluctuations in demand – remaining unaffected by other websites on the web server. VPS hosting frees you from the limitations placed on customers by most shared hosting providers like the number of websites, databases, domain zones etc.

With cloud models like PaaS, developers are liberated to create their apps without worrying about their web hosting. With PaaS, you are given more freedom to experiment in development, and are afforded the flexibility to scale your app’s resources at any time. Cloud infrastructure is smart and resilient to changes to your product.

What you should pay attention to when choosing a hosting for your Ruby on Rails project

Before selecting a hosting provider for your Ruby on Rails project, here are some important considerations to note:

Make sure the web provider supports the latest framework version. The Rails team regularly updates their framework with bug fixes, new features, and security improvements. Your code may not be compatible with older versions of the Ruby on Rails framework. It's, therefore, crucial to make sure the web host supports the latest build of Rails.

The web host should offer a scalable environment that allows for customization. As your application grows and as the demands for your product shift, your web host should be able to handle quick changes to resource needs. Moreover, you should be able to easily tweak and customize your server configurations to fit your needs.

The web host should take data security seriously to ensure reliability and prevent data leaks. It’s advisable to look into what measures the hosting provider has in place to ensure your application’s data stays safe.

To get the best performance out of your application, your web host should have multiple servers in different countries to match your locale and that of your users.

Make sure your web host offers quality technical support, ideally 24/7, to reach at any time in case anything goes wrong. Any downtime is costly for your business, and your hosting provider should work with you to get you back up and running in no time.

Your hosting provider should use a user-friendly control panel to make it easy to manage your web infrastructure. Needlessly complicated or poorly designed control panels can make it difficult to deploy your web app.

Our proven picks for Ruby on Rails Hosting Providers we use
Now that we've covered what we find important in a Ruby on Rails hosting provider, here are four proven web hosts we recommend: ** Digital Ocean (VPS), Heroku PaaS Hosting, Engine Yard, AWS PaaS Platform.**

Digital Ocean VPS

Digital Ocean is a cloud hosting provider offering predictable pricing and developer-friendly features. Their droplets service unlocks scalable virtual servers to quickly deploy your application. With their easy-to-use control panel, you can skip the installation and configuration and get straight to deploying your code.

It's easy to configure and select your server's resources, with Digital Ocean offering dedicated CPU plans from $40 a month. Their general-purpose droplet VPS gives you 100% dedicated vCPU, along with a balanced 4GB of memory. Depending on your application, you can scale up to NVMe SSD storage for rapid performance.

Primarily, Digital Ocean VPS hosting is perfect for beginners and new developers to get their code deployed in seconds. However, the speed and affordability of their virtual servers give experienced businesses the power to run complex Ruby on Rails products.

Heroku PaaS Hosting

Heroku is a cloud service (PaaS) hosting provider focusing on speed and scalability. Within a couple of clicks, you can deploy from Git, your CI system, or deploy on every push to a branch in GitHub.

What stands out to us is that Heroku provides an easy way to set up and configure elements. Through the elements marketplace, you can easily install add-ons to unlock the true potential of your application. It’s easy to install these to your cloud server – increasing productivity.

Heroku is perfect for small-to-medium businesses or startups with burning ideas for their next million-dollar app idea. With their Guided Price Estimator, you can easily estimate how much it will cost to run your app on Heroku.

A standard package for running business apps starts at $25 a month for 512MB of RAM for lightweight applications. Stepping up to performance tiers with 2.5GB of RAM brings the app cost up to $250 a month. Overall, Heroku is an easy-to-use and adaptable PaaS platform for SMBs and enterprises alike.

Engine Yard

For medium-sized businesses and enterprises, Engine Yard is a compelling option. Engine Yard offers data-driven, fully automated PaaS hosting solutions for deploying and managing applications on AWS. This service is also designed for scalability but shines most in its excellent 24/7 full-stack customer support.

Engine Yard’s offerings are marketed as ‘NoOps’ meaning that the cloud infrastructure is designed to be completely automated with no need for any operations team to manage it. You can easily deploy your code, with simple GIT push deployment.

You can choose between the regions you deploy in, and intuitively scale your resources to meet your current needs. Engine Yard will scale your application for you, without you worrying about provisioning at all. The PaaS provider will also intelligently monitor your app’s performance, providing insights on how the application runs and how it can be optimized.

Engine Yard’s pricing moulds to your server usage, with the platform fee starting at $800 per month per private cluster along with $49 per month per Optimized Container Unit (OCU) (1GB of RAM and proportionate CPU). Engine Yard is perfect for larger enterprises building business-critical apps but wants a 'hands-off' experience managing their server infrastructure.

AWS PaaS Platform

For large enterprises providing truly global operations with their Ruby on Rails apps, Amazon Web Services (AWS) is one of the best and most reliable cloud service providers around. AWS’s Elastic Beanstalk is Amazon’s easy-to-use service for deploying and scaling web applications.

AWS Management Console allows you to upload your code instantly, and Elastic Beanstalk will automatically handle the deployment details of capacity provisioning, load balancing, auto-scaling, and application health monitoring for you. AWS will automatically scale your application up and down based on your application's specific needs based on your Auto Scaling settings.

AWS offers you complete resource control, giving you the freedom to select the AWS resources, such as Amazon EC2 instance type, that are optimal for your application.

With the added benefits of reliability and customizability, AWS tends to offer less comprehensive full-stack support than services like Engine Yard. Therefore, AWS is best suited to businesses that “know what they’re doing”.

AWS is designed for you to “never outgrow” and is usually the hosting provider choice of the largest applications across the world. As pricing for AWS is tailored uniquely to your demands, Amazon offers a comprehensive pricing calculator for estimates of how much it will cost to use AWS for your Ruby on Rails application.

That was four proven hosting providers for Ruby on Rails applications.

There we have, that was four proven hosting providers for Ruby on Rails applications. If you are yet to find your own best hosting for Rails projects, we should note the fundamentals of what makes a good host:

Scalability: for customization of your server resources and to allow for frictionless growth.
Solid Technical Sport:to solve problems quickly and minimize downtime.
Secure Site Certification: for unrivaled security.
Money-back guarantee and/or free trials: for added peace of mind or to test out the service before you buy.
Multiple servers in different countries: for increased performance and data redundancy.

We have introduced some of the best hosting options for Ruby on Rails hosting according to Active Bridge's expert experience in Rails development.

Thanks for reading, we hope you found this useful.
The post source: Top 4 compatible hosting services for RoR apps.

More posts about RoR technology on our blog.

UX Research Methods to Build a Product That Users Really Enjoy

Active Bridge — Mon, 17 Oct 2022 13:35:22 +0000

An informed and detailed UX approach is a vital step in the product design process. UX research helps designers figure out how users interact with your product and how to build a seamless user experience.

This article will introduce some of the most lucrative research methods used to inform designers on how they can improve the experience and usability of their products.

What is UX Research?

UX stands for user experience and it defines the process designers use to create products that resonate with users. The principles of UX design include creating protects that understands the needs of your target audience and delivers a straightforward user experience whilst maximizing utility.

UX Research is the study of your users and how your product reaches their requirements and goals for the service. Effective UX research allows designers to gain valuable insights into exactly what users need from your product.

The aim is to create useful and more valuable designs that meet the specific needs of your target audience.

There are two types of UX Research:

Qualitative Research: This includes research methods like user interviews and field studies. Through this type of research, designers gain an in-depth understanding of a user’s thought-process, emotions and concerns.

Qualitative user research often answers the ‘Why?’ behind user behavior. This type of research gathers observational information and opinions and is especially valuable at the exploration and ideation phase of the design process.

Quantitative Research: Quantitative studies takes a more structured approach to gather measurable data about your user’s behavior and experience. Methods include surveys and analytics. Quantitative user research uses numerical data to test and eliminate biases gathered in qualitative research.

Quantitative UX testing answers exactly what users do when interacting with your product.

Common Methodologies

Here are some common user experience research methods used to inform and improve the design of products.

A/B Testing
Also known as split testing, A/B testing is a randomized experiment where equal groups of users are shown one of two versions of a product. Then, the metrics between each version are measured (for example click rates or conversions).

This method is used to test variations between designs and see how well they perform. A/B tests allow designers to make small changes and gather insights on how it affects their site or app’s performance.

Card Sorting
Card sorting is a research method that involves asking users to organize keywords and information into groups. In card sorting sessions, users are given a set of labels and are asked to sort them into categories. This helps designers understand how users expect information to be structured.

There are two main variants of card sorting: open and closed.

In open card sorting, users are asked to sort the ideas into groups of their own without pre-defined categories. Whereas with closed card sorting, users sort the cards into pre-defined categories.

Contextual Interviews
Contextual interviews involve observing users as they work in their own environment. Unlike other interview types like usability testing, users aren’t set tasks and instead the focus is on how users naturally work and how they would use your product.

These interviews can be conducted by visiting users in their place of work or at home. But most contextual interviews are carried out using screen-sharing and video conferencing software.

This method is well-suited for early discovery stages so designers can identify the common problems their target audience faces. As this inquiry takes place in your user’s natural environment, contextual interviews aim to be more realistic than other types of interviews.

Click Testing
Click tests aim to determine where users would click on your product’s interface to complete their intended actions. Users are given a website, screenshot, prototype or wireframe of a product and are asked where they would click to access the information they need or complete a task.

For example, a test could ask “Where would you click to purchase this product?”. The position of the user’s click is then recorded along with how long it took for them to decide.

Click testing creates a heatmap of where users naturally look for information. This allows designers to make the experience of using a product far more intuitive.

Prototyping
Prototyping involves making a simulation, mockup or concept of your final product. This allows designers to have a visualization in which to tweak the appearance and

There are many ways to create prototypes. The method you choose will likely depend on how far you are into the product design process.

For example, a paper prototype is a rudimentary sketch of the website or app suitable for the first ideation stages. Digital prototypes are perfect for later stages and give a more accurate representation of the product.

Prototypes can be shown to testers for feedback. With advanced prototyping tools, the mockup can be amended based on user feedback.

System Usability Scale (SUS)
Using the system usability scale questionnaire gives designers insightful user ratings of how well users can use your product. The SUS questionnaire involves answering ten questions with a five-point scale from strongly agree to strongly disagree.

The questions are as follows:

1.I think that I would like to use this system frequently.
2.I found the system unnecessarily complex.
3.I thought the system was easy to use.
4.I think that I would need the support of a technical person to be able to use this system.
5.I found the various functions in this system were well integrated.
6.I thought there was too much inconsistency in this system.
7.I would imagine that most people would learn to use this system very quickly.
8.I found the system very cumbersome to use.
9.I felt very confident using the system.
10.I needed to learn a lot of things before I could get going with this system.

Then, from the answers to those questions, designers are given a SUS score.

The system usability scale can seem complicated to some users but is a great way to quantify how easy users find the product to use.

Usability Testing
With usability tests, a panel of representative users will try to complete pre-set tasks and then provide feedback on their experience. With in-person usability tests, observers will watch the user as they use the product. With remote usability testing, users are encouraged to ‘think out loud’ while their screens are recorded.

This type of user experience testing helps designers understand how users would naturally use products. Observing the tester reveals any small annoyances or usability problems in your design. Usability tests also provide opportunities for designers to learn about user behavior.

Usability tests are conducted on live websites or functional prototypes. They differ from contextual interviews as users are given specific tasks to complete. Remote usability tests can be moderated or unmoderated. With moderated tests, the participant is joined by an observer over video conferencing. Moderated tests best mimic in-person usability tests and allow observers to have conversations with the tester.

With unmoderated tests, testers usually record their testing flow using a screen recorder and follow off-line text instructions. Unmoderated tests are far cheaper but lose out on the opportunity for observers to ask questions or improvise during a test.

Reasons for Doing UX Research

Effective user experience research is vital for your product’s success. It helps designers develop a product that perfectly matches your user’s needs.

Many people incorrectly believe that UX research is only useful at the end of the design process to tweak a working product. However, using research methods to understand your user’s problems is incredibly important in the early development stages.

Methods like contextual interviews help you identify the problems your target audience is facing. This helps designers craft their early designs to better solve those problems. Showing prototypes to testers and gathering feedback allows designers to develop an intuitive product early on.

Other reasons for investing in user experience research through the design process include:

To create designs that are aesthetically pleasing to most users
To understand how users want their information to be structured using card sorting.
To understand the *Return on Investment *(ROI) of your product design.
Helps refine your target audience and identify early adopters.

Without a keen knowledge of your product’s usability, you risk releasing a final website or app that is frustrating and difficult to use.

UX research doesn’t stop at the initial launch of the product either. For every design change or update, designers must extensively test the user experience. Any UX issues can hurt your user’s satisfaction and could turn customers away from your product.

Great UX research can help you build a memorable and enjoyable user experience for your customers.

Thanks for reading, we hope you found this useful.

More posts about RoR technology on our Active Bridge blog.

How to Manage Remote Teams of Developers Effectively: Tips From Active Bridge PMs and Team Leads

Active Bridge — Wed, 28 Sep 2022 10:16:41 +0000

The COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally and permanently changed the way we work. While it's undoubtedly true that remote working was on the rise in the pre-pandemic world, the unique pressures of the last year have accelerated the move towards remote teams. Today, we live in a world where 16% of companies are 100% remote.

And of course, while almost any team can adapt to remote working, it's a more natural fit for some teams than others. Development teams were one of the pioneers of remote working, and for good reason - an eye-watering 41% of employers cite talent shortages as a primary issue they face when hiring developers. The requirement for focused and solitary work as well as collaboration also allows remote developers to thrive regardless of whether they're sitting in an office, a coffee shop, or some far-off location with a view.

What's also clear is that remote development teams are here to stay and will likely become the norm in the future. But how do you cultivate an effective, efficient, well-adjusted, and goal-oriented remote development team? Managing a remote team of developers isn't something you can leave to chance; it requires deliberate action and the right strategies and tools. With this in mind, we've created a helpful guide to managing remote development teams in 2021. Let's take a look.

What Is a Remote Team, and Why Are Companies Increasingly Deploying Remote Teams?

A remote team comprises people with complementary skills who work towards a unified purpose and performance goals, working from different physical locations. Typically, members of the remote team share responsibility for achieving established objectives. For example, in remote development teams, this unified goal might be a new software app or business solution, and the objectives would be specific development milestones.

It's important to note that while the terms 'remote team' and 'virtual team' are often used interchangeably, this is incorrect - there are distinct differences between the two. Remote teams are essentially traditional teams that are not tethered to one location. However, virtual teams consist of people with different skills brought together to perform a specific purpose or resolve an issue. Virtual team members often have different line managers, and their place in the team is usually temporary (the team disperses when the objective has been met).

But why are companies increasingly deploying remote teams? While the COVID-19 pandemic often dominates these discussions, it's important to remember that the benefits of remote working were already apparent before the need for empty offices arose.

Benefits of remote development teams:

Reduced office space costs - Office rent continues to rise, especially in cities.
Ability to hire talent from anywhere - Finding developers locally with the right mix of skills and experience can be challenging. Hiring talent locally can also be more costly because you're at the mercy of local economic factors.
Increased productivity - One study found that 91% of remote workers say they get more work done.

The Challenges of Managing a Multinational Development Team

Cultural Differences

Cultural differences can be a strength or a hindrance to remote development teams. Sharing culture and looking at things from a different perspective can broaden your horizons and usher more thought diversity into a team. Diversity of thought is a crucial aspect of problem-solving, which is vital in any software development project

However, sometimes cultural differences can make remote working more difficult. For example, some phrases and jargon might be common in one culture but not in another. This can lead to situations where employees feel alienated.

Cultural differences can come in many forms, including generational, ethnic, religious, and educational, and it's essential to be conscious of these differences to avoid friction. For example, in some cultures, religious observance involves wearing specific clothing items like a turban or headscarf, so a dress code that restricts headwear could be deemed non-inclusive.

Cultural differences can also impact communication and teamwork. For example, people from European backgrounds typically prefer a high level of eye contact and a more direct way of communicating.

Different Time Zones

Employees working across different time zones can create friction and even cause project delays. For example, suppose a remote developer is working on a task and gets stuck. They know that another team member could answer their question, but that developer is in a different timezone and will likely be sleeping. The only options are to disturb the team member during their downtime or to fire off an email that they will read many hours later.

Reduced Level of Engagement and Job Satisfaction

When working remotely, employees can often feel disconnected and unengaged from their wider team. One survey found that loneliness was the second biggest challenge associated with remote work for employees. When people are unhappy, they feel less motivated and are less likely to seek out communication and collaboration opportunities.

Slower Technical Knowledge Sharing

Developers often have to battle a large number of technical challenges throughout the software development lifecycle. Having all the team in a physical location can make overcoming this challenge easier because other team members are always just a few steps away. However, with remote working, sharing technical knowledge is often slower because team members don't always work at the same time or might be unavailable for video calls (which makes back and forth questions more straightforward).

Best Practices for Managing Remote Development Teams

Don’t overlook or ignore cultural and language differences. Try to be inclusive of cultural differences and allow opportunities to share culture. It's also an excellent idea to promote a unified team culture by sharing your company’s vision, mission, and values.
Implement an effective information system that includes a Source Code Management (SCM) system, issue tracker, etc. Version control is an essential aspect of a smoothly run software development project and can eliminate costly issues down the road. Deploying an effective information system needs to be a top priority.
Achieve “round the clock” efficiency when developers are in different zones. As a manager, you should know when your developers are working and when they are available to communicate with other team members. To reduce the impact of time zones, there should ideally be crossover periods where employees in different time zones can ask questions and update each other on progress without the need for a formal meeting.
Try to communicate the overall picture to your developer and, together, set clearly defined priorities. Instead of forcing day-to-day goals, set up week iterations and every month retrospectives. Agile software development is typically the favored way of doing things in 2021, and it's also a good fit for remote working. Why? Because self-organization and collaboration are key foundations of iterative development. Managers should encourage developers to be agile and continually familiarize themselves with agile methodologies.
Encourage team communication, knowledge transfer, intra-team calls, and make sure no one is ignored. Often, remote workers need a gentle push to encourage them to communicate. One way to foster a more connected team is to encourage small talk at the beginning of a remote team meeting. Those less formal ust and breaking down walls.
Prevent message overload. It's a good idea to create separate channels in Slack for different communication purposes. When developers are overloaded with messages they can become overwhelmed and distracted, pulling them away from the task at hand. For example, you could create a channel for dev discussions where developers can hash out important project issues. There could also be a channel for 'problem review', where developers note problems they want to discuss in an upcoming meeting. And of course, a 'just for fun' channel where workers can get to know each other better, share jokes, and engage in small talk.
Set up a meeting schedule preferably half a year or a year in advance. Consistency and structure are particularly important for remote workers. If developers know when they are expected to attend meetings, they can manage their time more effectively and meetings become much more productive as a result. It's also important to establish a clear structure for the meetings so that everyone knows what is expected of them.

Collaboration Tools For Remote Teams

There are plenty of collaboration tools out there, each with its own benefits. However, we can neatly arrange these tools into three categories; communication, project management, and documents/file management. Many companies go down the route of picking several tools to support remote working, which is a sound strategy. However, many of the latest tools satisfy all three categories.

For a remote development team to thrive, communication must be seamless and straightforward. Tools like Zoom, Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Basecamp 3 empower employees to collaborate with their team members and take control of their work. Many of these tools also come with built-in document management features, task management capabilities, milestone tracking, and more. However, for larger projects, having a dedicated project management tool like Asana, Trello, Basecamp, or LiquidPlanner is the best way to go. And when it comes to documents, your primary concern should be accessibility. In other words, employees should be able to access the documents they need from any location, and the documents should be organized in a way that makes them easily retrievable.

Thanks for reading, we hope you found this useful.

More posts about RoR technology on our blog:

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What Ruby and Rails are used for. Tips from full-stack developers to non-programmers

Active Bridge — Mon, 29 Nov 2021 14:52:36 +0000

Choosing the appropriate technology stack is critical when creating a new project. There are numerous choices for back-end development, including Python, Java, PHP, Ruby, and many more. In general, the correct stack is dependent upon your project complexity. Not every technology has the same advantages in all cases. So how do you choose the best one for your project?

It is easier to choose between Ruby on Rails (RoR) and other options if you understand what the technology is used for. This article will discuss what the purpose of Ruby and Ruby on Rails was, what it was supposed to solve, what projects Ruby on Rails is best for, and which businesses are already using it effectively.

1. The history and creation of the Ruby language and Ruby on Rails framework

1.1 What’s the purpose of Ruby and Ruby on Rails?

Ruby is a computer language created in 1995 by Yukihiro Matsumoto, better known as Matz. Matz believed in the object-oriented approach. Therefore, he began developing a genuinely object-oriented and simple language. Matz envisioned the language assisting programmers in being more productive and allowing them to do more with less effort. He knew the language had to be predictable. This idea translated into the principle of least surprise, which states that the software should act in the manner in which the programmer expects it to behave.

Because of the framework Ruby on Rails, Ruby has become a popular language for developing web applications. Building new software using just Ruby is a tedious task. This is why Hansson developed the framework: to simplify the development process of web development. Hansson made RoR public in 2004. It exploded in popularity after its debut, owing to its simplicity and limitless modification possibilities. Rails has implemented new features to speed up development, such as seamless database integration, migrations, and the creation of views. These functionalities were subsequently included by other frameworks, such as Django, Laravel, and Phoenix. People like the active Rails community and the flexibility to build simple or sophisticated websites.

Ruby's primary job is to create new projects quickly and with high performance. It is a general-purpose computer programming language, similar to C++ and PHP, that developers may use for various purposes in a range of different industries. It is believed that Ruby has a specific niche, web development. However, this programming language is used for more than just web projects. For example, Ruby is used by NASA, NOAA, Motorola, and is written in Ruby software for information security Metasploit and Sketchup for modeling relatively basic three-dimensional objects. In combination with the RoR framework, the language enables you to do the job as fast and simply as possible for a human, although it may require extra computer time.

The major benefits of the Ruby programming language that back-end developers mention are its large community support, user-friendliness, simplicity, readability, flexibility, and community gems, which are coding scripts that ease the development process.

2. What is the secret of Ruby and Ruby on Rails success?

2.1 Why is it still popular?

Ruby on Rails has seen a huge increase in popularity, as many developers are turning to it for its simplicity. No one can deny the popularity of this framework; more than two million websites are currently running on Ruby on Rails. According to the 2020 Stack Overflow Developer Survey, Ruby is the 14th most popular programming language globally. Here are some details about the technology popularity and some reasons behind its success:

Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2020, Diagram of Ruby language

It’s open-source

The fact that Ruby is open source is one of the reasons it is so popular in the first place. This enables rich and committed groups to be invested in preserving the language. Ruby on Rails is no longer as fresh or exciting, but it is still extensively used and getting regular improvements. Also, because Ruby on Rails is open source, you can help shape its future. If you think of a better feature, you can submit it for approval. Using this method, over a decade of development has gone into this web application framework.

The community

Ruby on Rails has a large and skilled community of seasoned developers. In fact, on GitHub, approximately 4,000 programmers contribute to the development of Ruby on Rails. As a result, the community creates a large number of free add-ons that RoR developers may insert into apps and projects. These are very helpful for companies that wish to deploy a new feature-rich application as soon as possible.

The infrastructure

Ruby on Rails is supported by a strong infrastructure, including testing systems, linters, component delivery, database interaction, and much more. Rails is for humans. Rails allows you to concentrate on the product's business logic. From a business standpoint, it's an excellent technology for fast developing an application, and it's ideal for small and medium-sized businesses.

Ruby on Rails MVC

MVC is a design pattern separating an application's responsibilities to make it simpler to reason around. By default, Rails adheres to this design pattern. Ruby on Rails MVC supports side-by-side development, allowing programmers to speed up the development process by three times.

Scalability

Developers can scale an RoR-based application to accommodate thousands of requests per second from many users. Shopify, an e-commerce site that handles up to 80,000 requests per second, is an outstanding illustration of high speeds capable with Ruby on Rails.

Security

RoR has built-in support to assist developers in avoiding typical security problems such as XSS and SQL injection. Brakeman is an analyzer tool used in RoR to find code flaws. It provides reports containing the app's security vulnerabilities. This helps detect SQL Injection, regular expression format validation, dangerous redirection, and many other problems. So developers make an application ready for production, create a secure environment for the end-users, prevent brute-force attacks, and keep API keys secure.

Consistency and clean code

RoR includes several code analyzers that can check for anything from code style to security concerns. RuboCop is arguably the most popular analyzer in the Ruby community because it follows the community's Ruby-style guide. The application code is clean and has high readability. All future updates are seamless, as developers have less code to read and sort through. And it gets easier for new team members to understand the code and get involved in the project.

2.2 Ruby on Rails Success Stories

Ruby on Rails has become so important for startups looking for rapid development to turn their ideas into apps and products. Many companies utilizing RoR have found their first clients very quickly with a quick launch of MVP and market entry. Here are a few examples:

Shopify is a complex web application built on RoR that allows users to create online stores. Shopify has over 500,000 users and is constantly adding new features to its platform.

Github, a platform for developers that value open-source software, was recently purchased by Microsoft. Ruby on Rails is the base of Github's code repository. Github's success shows Rails can sustain fast-growing enterprises with large user bases.

Airbnb. Rails enabled this lodging platform's rapid expansion by ensuring its flexibility and scalability. It also allowed fast development to create space for additional features introduced by Airbnb throughout its ongoing growth.

2.3 Limitations that come with Ruby on Rails

As stated earlier, not every programming technology is the best choice for every project. You wouldn’t take a Porsche out for off-road driving, and you wouldn’t drive a Jeep for a fuel-efficient trip. Just the same, each technology comes with its limitations, and the project's scope is the determining factor of which language to choose. Here are a few limitations that clients and developers might face with Ruby on Rails development:

Ruby is not the quickest programming language compared to the benchmarks of other languages, but it can do miracles when used in conjunction with Rails.

Ruby on Rails cannot manage a billion requests per second, but most applications do not need that. Rails, on the other hand, is highly scalable. Twitter, for example, abandoned RoR for internal reasons. But look at Kickstarter, Groupon, and Airbnb - all run smoothly and built with Rails.

Because of the higher entry barrier, there are fewer Ruby on Rails developers than PHP and its frameworks, and most programmers come to Ruby after a few years of other languages. However, it is important to note that skilled developers are in short supply across all technologies.
Because of the limited number of low-skilled programmers who would use this technology, there aren't many inexpensive Ruby on Rails developers to choose from. Beginners usually practice on something less difficult, so skilled RoR developers come at a higher price. The average hourly rate for a Ruby on Rails developer in North America is $81 to $100, according to Arc.

Ruby on Rails Developer Hourly Rate

3. As a company with 10 years of experience in Ruby on Rails specialization, we recommend it for the following projects:

At Active Bridge, we specialize in Ruby on Rails and use it for certain types of projects that we take on. Here is what we consider RoR development is better for:

What Projects Ruby and Rails are used for.

E-commerce. It is the selling and purchasing of products and services via the internet, so the needs of each online store can vary greatly. E-commerce websites and applications, like Shopify, with complex filters, selection modules, and connections with third-party systems are an excellent fit for RoR.
Cloud Software. Due to its scalability, cloud software, or software that is hosted and delivered online, that handles many complex queries is a great fit for Ruby on Rails development.
SaaS. With Ruby on Rails, teams can build more secure and resilient SaaS products quicker. “Software as a Service” applications are apps that are delivered as a service over the Internet, which eliminates the need to install and maintain software.
Atypical or non-standard projects that are technically challenging to complete are a good fit for Ruby on Rails because of its infrastructure and ability to add custom features to the open-source framework.
Exchange and trading platforms allow users to trade money and cryptocurrencies for other assets. Because of the built-in security features, RoR is a great tool for this type of project.
News portals and digital publication platforms work well with Ruby on Rails because of its ability to handle high traffic.
Social networks sites have a high-traffic demand, making them an excellent Ruby on Rails project.
Streaming and media platforms such as Twitch, Netflix, and Hulu all use Ruby on Rails. Because of the technology these platforms are scalable and run smoothly.
HIPPA compliant platforms. Ruby on Rails is a great tool for HIPPA compliant platforms because of its security and ability to handle robust features. Healthify and Mediprocity is an example of this type of product.

Development is a complicated process

It's too simple to say that certain technology has benefits and drawbacks. The project's performance is determined by various factors, including compilation speed, query processing by the server, database settings, and the choice of a development service provider. The scope of the project and the contractor or development team determine what development languages and tools will work best. There is no such thing as poor technology, just people that are not familiar with the technology or projects that this technology does not approach.

Thanks for reading, we hope you found this useful.

More posts about RoR technology on our blog: