Websites are the digital business cards of companies. Through digitization, the website is often the first point of contact between customer and company. A key point in determining whether interest is aroused is the design. The first eye contact is often decisive. That is why web development plays such a central role.
But web development is not only responsible for the appearance of a website. There is much more going on in the background. The website establishes the connection between customers and the company departments. It provides functions for users and your employees. It also collects important data that tells you more about your customer base.
We'll show you which nine trends will dominate web development in 2021 and what the future holds.
1. usability in web development
Usability plays an increasingly important role. This has its good reasons. Applications have become more and more complex in recent years. This has created barriers to use. However, both your employees and users of your web platform benefit from easily accessible systems.
The productivity of a platform depends primarily on usability. The greatest functions and features are useless if they are too complicated to use. It is important that your employees have easy access to the software solutions. The same applies to customers or users of your web platforms.
This minimizes the training effort and ensures platforms that quickly develop their maximum potential. Such success in introducing new applications can be measured with KPIs. It then becomes apparent how effective platforms with a high level of usability actually are.
For this reason, usability plays an important role in web development in 2021. We realize software and web applications for you that are logically structured and easily accessible. This gives you platforms that users enjoy working and interacting with.
2. infrastructure in the cloud
The year 2020 was marked by a massive shift from the office to the home office. This has changed the profile of requirements for IT infrastructure. Disadvantages and weaknesses of current platforms were clearly evident. The integration of mobile work and the home office into daily work requires flexible platforms.
That's why applications like resources are moving even more to the cloud in 2021. If you're thinking about a platform change or upgrade now, the cloud is at the center of your considerations.
Many companies rely on Software as a Service (SaaS). This has the advantage for you and your employees that the applications are accessible via the Internet. So it doesn't matter whether you are in the office, the home office, on site with a customer or on the train. Access is even possible from abroad.
Thanks to this feature, SaaS and platforms in the cloud are the ideal infrastructure for the Modern Workplace. The integration of home office and external workplaces is completely automatic.
However, this is not the only positive aspect of SaaS solutions and cloud applications. Cloud systems and models such as SaaS offer these advantages:
- Access to data and applications from any location
- High scalability and flexibility of resources
- Reduction of maintenance effort for local IT
- Up-to-date applications at all times
- Consumption-based billing model with scalable costs
3. Mobile First!
The mobile market has developed rapidly. Powerful smartphones and fast mobile Internet are the drivers of this trend. In 2021, we can expect nationwide 5G with even more possibilities. Accordingly, mobile first is one of the trends in web development in 2021.
Mobile first means that applications and platforms are primarily designed for mobile use. Thus, a website adapts to mobile devices with its resolution. In addition, the focus is also on the functions. Modern users live mobile lives and expect this flexibility on the Internet as well.
However, mobile first does not refer exclusively to usage. Your internal applications must also be aligned with this concept. For you and your employees, this means that all information and functions are also available on the move, if possible. This is independent of whether it is communication or analyses of data from the CMS.
In web development, we implement systems that provide functions and information across systems. Thus, the boundaries between office and mobile workplace disappear.
4. edge computing opens the way for innovative solutions
Until recently, the term edge computing was unknown to many. Experts now agree that edge computing is overtaking the cloud and becoming the next IT trend. Edge computing includes all devices that are located at the edge of the network. These are primarily small, compact systems with very specific tasks.
Such edge devices bring you real added value at very low cost. Examples of edge devices are sensors that transmit measurement data or control an information display. The boundaries to the IoT are fluid.
The targeted use of such edge devices requires innovative ideas and the appropriate applications. We take over the implementation of your ideas for you. With web and application development, we realize apps for the Edge with the functions you need.
5. informative CMS platforms with connection to all business processes
The boundaries between marketing, information and sales channel are blurring. In 2021, the customer does not want pure sales catalogs. He is looking for added value, information and entertainment.
The basis for delivering just that to your customers is a modern content management system. On the one hand, a CMS is connected to all business areas. On the other hand, the CMS also collects important information. In the best case, these are available to you prepared and analyzed. In this way you get to know the needs of your customer base.
Through the CMS, you create a direct line to your customers. You can provide them with information and manage your various channels. This includes a blog, your website, various social media platforms or even a YouTube channel. With a modern CMS, managing all these channels is possible.
With such a platform, you can reach your customers in a targeted way. You manage digital media, page content and external channels. Such a platform also allows you to personalize content via targeted content marketing.
In this way, you build up an image on the one hand. On the other hand you invite your customers to interact. We realize individual CMS solutions based on SULU from Symfony. A direct integration into the existing IT structures or an existing webshop are no problem.
6. Smart Applications
Artificial intelligence, automatic controls and the Internet of Things - these have already been buzzwords in recent years. 2021 marks the beginning of the time when these technologies will be used by individuals. The major IT groups have long been active in this area and have integrated AI into their everyday lives.
Thanks to the possibilities of custom web development, you too will soon be taking advantage of these technologies. There are many possible applications, from which even small and medium-sized businesses can benefit enormously.
One example of the use of artificial intelligence and automated systems is the evaluation of data. Thanks to the high degree of digitalization, vast amounts of information are available to every company today. However, most do not exploit the potential of this treasure.
With automatic analyses and intelligent databases, the evaluation of such Big Data Lakes is successful. Without the use of expensive manual work, you receive valuable data on your customers, the market situation and many other topics. This is how you gain competitive advantages thanks to artificial intelligence.
7. headless systems for flexible e-commerce
Marketing and sales in the digital sector are undergoing a constant process of change. More than almost any other area, e-commerce is developing and changing at breakneck speed. If you don't keep up with the times, you'll miss the boat and lose customer loyalty.
In 2021, everything is under the sign of flexibility. Digital sales channels have become the primary and often sole sales channel. However, there are a multitude of channels for this. The software solution must manage, control and synchronize these simultaneously. A high degree of automation is also important.
We realize such platforms with Sylius, the e-commerce framework from Symfony. The headless architecture allows individual solutions and offers you many other advantages. So you get an e-commerce solution that offers exactly the functions you need via modules. APIs allow the connection to other platforms and thus a smooth data exchange.
With such an e-commerce solution, you get a high degree of flexibility. You work independently of a specific ecosystem, since you connect your favored platforms directly via the APIs. Thus, integration with your CMS, PIM or ERP is no problem.
These are the key advantages of an e-commerce solution with headless architecture like Sylius:
- modular design
- API architecture for integration of PIM, CMS and more
- no lock-in to a specific vendor
- fast integration options
- focus on usability and sales channels
8. hybrid and native apps
Having your own app for your company shows professionalism. In the meantime, the development of such apps is feasible even for small and medium-sized companies. The possibilities of individual application development allow you to create your own apps cheaply and quickly. We use state-of-the-art technologies such as Symfony.
Your own app can be designed for internal or external use. Own apps have the advantage that they do exactly what you need. Compact, small and flexible apps help solve very specific tasks.
We realize individual web apps of all types. These can be hybrid apps that use all the functions of a smartphone. We also create web apps according to your ideas. Web apps have the advantage that they run in the browser and are therefore completely platform-independent.
We make sure that the apps integrate seamlessly into your existing IT landscape. APIs and interfaces enable connection and data exchange. In this way, individual applications create real added value. Custom applications create flexibility and solve problems. This is one of the reasons why custom web apps are a trend in 2021.
9. sustainability and environmentally friendly solutions
The topics of environmental protection and sustainability have been touching almost all areas of our lives for some years now. Web development is also visibly influenced by it. In fact, sustainability has the potential of a win-win situation.
IT that is geared towards environmental friendliness primarily uses economical computer systems. With a focus on the cloud and models such as SaaS, this is possible. With consistent implementation, you need neither servers nor powerful workstations locally. Thin clients with extremely low power consumption are perfectly adequate as access devices to the cloud.
Such an IT infrastructure is inexpensive to purchase and even cheaper to maintain. In times of rising electricity costs, this is a clear advantage for your company. We implement the necessary cloud systems and SaaS platforms for you. This gives you a flexible, low-cost IT infrastructure that is also sustainable and inexpensive to maintain.
We realize the individual web development
We at cloudtec develop online platforms and web applications. The digitalization of business models and processes is our core business. If you would like to implement individual projects, please use our contact form. We advise you comprehensively and expertly about the possibilities of web development.
