What Developer Ecosystems Need to Know

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Developers are the heartbeat of digital innovation, making
a thriving developer ecosystem critically important to the
success of any platform or technology. Industry leading
companies recognize the need to build a strong relationship
with the developer community, but many continue to
struggle with how to do it effectively. The first challenge
is understanding the variety of players. The developer
ecosystem includes company employees, large and small
partners, full-time independent developers and a range of
part-time, opportunistic developers. Their wants and needs
vary greatly, but are specific and highly nuanced.
Through proprietary research with more than 750 US-based developers,
Accenture learned what’s important to developers and how they access
resources. We gathered developer perspectives on how well 15 of the top
platforms perform against their expectations, how ecosystems stack up
against each other and which ones are setting industry standards. The study
gives companies a novel perspective to benchmark their developer ecosystem
against and progress toward best-in-class developer offerings.

Insights from the 2018 Accenture Developer Ecosystem Survey reveal that
developers are pragmatic in their wants and needs.

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Education tops monetization in what
developers want most from ecosystems

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Accurate content makes all the difference,
Here are

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especially for workhorses i
KEY
FINDINGS:
3 Effective support is a close second to content

4 Market positioning matters, but marketing less so

5 There’s room for companies to differentiate

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EDUCATION TOPS MONETIZATION IN WHAT
DEVELOPERS WANT MOST FROM ECOSYSTEMS
Nearly three-quarters of survey respondents want to learn new skills, or improve
current skills, when engaging with a developer ecosystem. Learning is particularly
important to professional developersii (78 percent agree) and to those working
in medium-sizediii organizations and enterprises.iv The desire for education spans
generations, as all age groups are equally interested in keeping their skills current.

It does not come as a complete surprise that learning is at the forefront. The
technologies and techniques of software development advance at a breakneck
pace and being skilled in the latest and greatest is often the key to being valued.
Developers are also highly motivated by peer acknowledgement and they share
their learning openly. While it’s intuitive that developers want to learn new skills,
it was surprising to see how poorly developers perceive companies cater to this
pressing need.

Compared to learning new skills, monetization rated lower on the scale of

developer needs. Just 64 percent of respondents report they need to be able to
make money through engaging with a developer ecosystem and slightly fewer say
profitability is the most important factor when choosing a developer ecosystem.
Certainly, the bedrock for developers is to monetize their development investment,
but ecosystems must have a number of other things in place first – such as a
compelling value proposition, in addition to skills development. Without these
more highly-ranked elements the ecosystem will struggle, even to the extent that
offering to pay developers to develop applications can still fail to engage them.

Developers want a return on the time they invest in a developer ecosystem, but
education and skills development is a prerequisite to revenue generation. In
fact, certification could be a highly productive investment for companies to offer
their developer ecosystems: 71 percent of developers agree a platform should
offer formal training and certification. Companies that build up the educational
component of their programs will be clearing the path for developer engagement
and monetization.

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 74% 64%
want to learn new skills, or improve want to make money through
current skills, when engaging with a engaging with a developer ecosystem
developer ecosystem

62% 69%
report profitability to be the most say a return on their investment
important factor when choosing a of time is the most important
developer ecosystem factor when choosing a developer
ecosystem

ACCURATE CONTENT MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE,

ESPECIALLY FOR WORKHORSES
Technically accurate and up-to-date content rank as the two most important
elements in a company’s developer ecosystem of the 15 elements the research
queried – again, indicative of the pragmatic nature of this community. In fact, 9 in
10 professional developers rate these elements as critical. That content is findable
and readable also ranks high in importance. This makes sense, since developers’
most preferred channel for getting questions answered is reading documentation
and searching for answers on their own.

More experienced developers rate content’s importance higher than less

experienced developers. And workhorses rate the importance of all aspects of
content (accuracy, currency, findability, consistency, readability) higher than peer
developers who program fewer hours per week.

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We asked developers about their satisfaction with the ecosystems of the 15
platforms we investigated. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is perceived positively on
many dimensions, from being developer-friendly to keeping developers informed
and providing monetization opportunities. In the area of content however,
Microsoft Azure developers report being most satisfied with the accuracy,
currency, findability and readability of content provided to them.

Overall, just 24 percent of developers strongly agree that developer ecosystems

are generally good at providing the content they need. With developers screaming
for accurate and up-to-date content, this is an area where ecosystems need to
invest. That’s not an easy feat – as soon as documentation goes up it becomes
obsolete – but having a developer feedback loop in place can help considerably in
keeping content vibrant.

82% 80%
rate technically accurate content rate current, up-to-date content
important important

78% 83%
rate findable content important of those with 10+ years of developer
experience rate consistent content
as important versus 72% of those with
1-3 years of experience

84%
of workhorses rate findable content
important versus 72% of part-timersv
(<20/week)

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SUPPORT IS A CLOSE SECOND TO CONTENT
Developers rank timely, knowledgeable and capable support just after accurate
and current content in the list of most important elements of a company’s
developer ecosystem. While developers want the right answer quickly, they rate
knowledgeable support as more important than timely support by a small margin.
Getting it right trumps getting it quickly if a trade-off is required.

As with content, workhorses and experienced developers rate timely and

knowledgeable support higher in importance than those who program less or
are less experienced. While overall personalization of support (knowing what
software stack you use, what API version you have) ranks lower than knowledge
and timeliness, it is universally important to developers of all experience levels.
And, empathetic support – focusing on resolution, not metrics; understanding of
the developer perspective – is the least important of the support elements queried,
showing once again the generally independent and low maintenance nature of the
developer community.

Android developers are more satisfied than others with the level of knowledgeable
support they receive. Android also ranks highest for personalized support.
Microsoft Azure developers report the greatest satisfaction with the timeliness
and technical background of the support they receive. As with content, there’s
significant room for ecosystems to improve their support: just 23 percent of
developers strongly agree that developer ecosystems are generally good at
providing the support they need.

Improving support begins with knowing one’s developer audience, understanding

the inherent nuances and tailoring support accordingly. Companies should
consider customizing the range of support channels to specific segments,
ensuring that service level agreements (SLAs) are published and met, focusing on
near real-time support for critical developer activities and being authentic, open
and honest when issues arise. Content and support are tightly integrated, with
content being an important first line of support. Enhancing often-static content by
enabling developers to communicate with their peers in supported forums (internal
and external) can help a platform stand out in developers’ minds for both content
strength and support.

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 81% 79%
rate timely support important rate knowledgeable support
important

79% 83%
rate capable support important of those with 10+ years of experience
rate knowledgeable support
important versus 73% of those with
1-3 years of experience

93%
of workhorses rate knowledgeable
support important versus 75%
of part-timers

MARKET POSITIONING MATTERS,

BUT MARKETING LESS SO
The openness of an ecosystem (either by strategy or ubiquity) is an important
consideration for developers when selecting a platform. Developers consider
how well the platform is integrated with other companies to be as important as
readable and consistent content and personalized support. Integration is especially
important to developers working for enterprises, 81 percent of whom rate it highly.

Market relevance (has the platform stood the test of time and will it continue
to do so) is also an important foundational element to developers, particularly
professional developers: Nearly 90 percent rate market relevance as important
compared to 64 percent of hobbyists.vi Reputation (how my peer developers regard
it) also matters, more so to those with more than 10 years of experience than new
developers. Android is ranked highest among its developers for reputation while
Microsoft Azure gets the highest marks for market relevance.

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Traditional marketing – such as event frequency, variety, effectiveness, coolness
and swag – is not valued as highly as other ecosystem elements, but is still
important to 65 percent of developers. Marketing to developers may not require
glossy materials and fancy events. Nonetheless, there’s ample opportunity
to improve how companies promote their market position and communicate
developer program capabilities. Only 20 percent of developers strongly agree that
developer ecosystems are generally good at marketing their capabilities to them.

Webinars and tutorials can be strong marketing vehicles to provide the educational
value developers crave. Focusing on value, and giving developers the opportunity
to solve challenging problems through the platform’s capabilities, effectively allows
the technology to market itself. Developers are typically curious, smart and part
of a tight-knit, sharing community. They are continually searching for new and
inspiring solutions. If the technology offers the opportunity to accomplish their
objectives then developers will find it, endorse it and share it.

76% 73%
rate integration important rate market relevance important

73% 65%
rate reputation important rate traditional marketing important

89%
of professional developers rate
market relevance important versus
64% of hobbyists

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THERE’S ROOM FOR COMPANIES TO DIFFERENTIATE
Developers associate different platforms with different strengths. For example,
developers in our study consider AWS the most future looking. Google Cloud
Platform is considered the most innovative and caring about the needs of
professional developers. And iOS has the most credibility among hard-core
developers. But there’s wide-open opportunity for platforms to differentiate
their developer ecosystems. Nearly half of developers think that all developer
ecosystems are pretty much the same in terms of usefulness.

If such differentiation can be accomplished, developers will respond. A full 70

percent agree that a platform offering a truly differentiated and meaningful
developer ecosystem would get a much larger part of their business. The same
percent believe they could contribute more client value if provided with a better
developer ecosystem. What would motivate developers to switch? At a macro
level, developers report they’d switch to ecosystems they perceive to be focused
on the latest technology, future-looking, developer-friendly and helping them build
their career. However, programming is a logical discipline and our study shows that
programmers very much value those things that help them solve problems and do
their job better and more efficiently. That means content and support are gateways
to success.

47% 70%
think all developer ecosystems agree that a platform that offered a
are pretty much the same in terms truly differentiated and meaningful
of usefulness developer ecosystem would get a
much larger part of their business

said being focused on the

53% latest technology

What would motivate 44% said being more future-looking

switching within the next

12 MONTHS? 41%
said being more developer-
friendly in terms of ease of use

40% said helping me build my career

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STANDING OUT FROM
THE CROWD Platform companies that stand
out among their competitors offer
Our research indicates that companies have many developers the chance to solve
opportunities to improve the way the engage challenging problems in interesting
and support the developer community. Gaining a ways. They:
deeper, more nuanced understanding of who is in Inspire developers, by continually
the ecosystem is a good first step but an emphasis pushing technology boundaries and
on improving content, education and support expanding the art of the possible
is also required. Rethinking the interactions and
Trust developers, by open-sourcing
developer journeys can result in a more active and
their code and granting access to
value-creating community. There is still significant their libraries and repositories
opportunity for savvy companies to become the
preferred platform for development. The game isn’t Educate developers, by
providing continually updated
over, but action is needed now.
and comprehensive learning and
As the industry becomes more congested, barriers certification programs
to entry continue to lower and developers can Inform developers, by providing
more easily move across platforms, there’s little relevant and perpetually up-to-
room for companies to assume the strength of their date information written exactly as
technology alone will attract and retain developers. developers need it to be written
Those responsible for developer ecosystems Support developers, by being there
need to understand what developers think of their when needed most, in the ways that
ecosystem, determine where their ecosystem each developer group needs them
capabilities stand relative to peers and define to be
actions that will help them move their ecosystems Engage developers, by
toward differentiation and best-in-class. This understanding what developers
research provides a starting point. Spanning 15 need to be successful and enabling
leading platforms, the research contains insights mutually valuable relationships to
platform companies need to engage the developers grow
they most want and need to sustain their success. Respect developers, by recognizing
the value they provide, the
knowledge they possess and
that their collective success is
intertwined.

In return, the developers they

engage help to drive user acquisition
and product usage that leads to the
platform’s revenue growth and rising
market valuation.

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For a more in-depth discussion on the Accenture ABOUT ACCENTURE
Developer Ecosystem Research, contact:
DEVELOPER ECOSYSTEM
RESEARCH
AUTHORS
The Accenture Developer Ecosystem Research
Stephen Donnelly study is based on a survey that was conducted
[email protected] online in December 2017 with 752 software
developers based in the U.S. The sample includes
respondents who are least 18 years old, self-identify
NOTES as a software developer and/or program as a
i Workhorses refers to developers among our hobby or contribute to open source projects. All
survey respondents who program more than 50 respondents have been a software developer for at
hours per week. least one year and spend a minimum of 10 hours
per week coding. They represent a combination of
ii Professional developers refers to developers public and private companies and organizations of
among our survey respondents who do 100 varying size. The survey and related data analysis
percent of their programming for professional quantifies perceptions of various platforms’
work developer ecosystems, likelihood of recommending
those platforms, and preferences for interacting
iii In our survey, medium-sized organizations are
with developer ecosystems.
those with 100 to 499 employees

iv In our survey, enterprises are those organizations

with 1000 employees or more ABOUT ACCENTURE
v Part-timers refers to developers among our Accenture is a leading global professional
survey respondents who program less than 20 services company, providing a broad range of
hours per week. services and solutions in strategy, consulting,
digital, technology and operations. Combining
vi Hobbyists refers to developers among our survey
unmatched experience and specialized skills
respondents who program or contribute to open
across more than 40 industries and all business
source projects as a hobby
functions – underpinned by the world’s largest
delivery network – Accenture works at the
intersection of business and technology to help
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than 435,000 people serving clients in more than
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