This post is part of G2's 2022 digital trends series. Read more about G2’s perspective on digital transformation trends in an introduction from Tom Pringle, VP, market research, and additional coverage on trends identified by G2’s analysts.

Interest in DevSecOps software will regain steam after being deprioritized in 2021

2021 marked our second year reckoning with a global pandemic, the continuation of remote work, and a constant demand for digital offerings in place of high-risk in-person experiences. Higher demand for digital offerings means more workload for companies’ application development teams, leading to developer burnout as those teams struggle to keep up with higher technology adoption.

Previously trending topics in the software development space, while still receiving a lot of lip service, have understandably been thrown into question in terms of real-world prioritization. Back in 2019, as part of G2’s 2020 software development trends, one hopeful fool predicted that it was time for “the dust to settle” on DevSecOps (development, security, operations) adoption. Two years later, it seems that while the buzz remains, actual DevSecOps software interest has taken a bit of a back seat as companies push to simply get functioning software out the door. The higher workload for development teams as the result of a more remote world has applied pressure that is making true DevSecOps adoption difficult.

However, 2022 will bring new convictions for security-first software development as businesses come to recognize that robust preventative measures are a necessity, not an option.

G2 category traffic shows DevSecOps is regaining momentum

So now I’ve made yet another prediction about DevSecOps. Great. Luckily, I’ve got the data to back it up.

Combined G2 category traffic for our DevSecOps software categories shows that interest in DevSecOps software has been tumultuous, with a strong start to the year followed by a 40% drop between March and August of 2021. These indications of uncertainty line up with GitLab’s 2021 DevSecOps survey, which found that while DevOps practices have matured, security ownership remains a pain point. Clearly, companies are still experiencing some growing pains with reaching the goal of security by default in DevOps. 

However, interest in these categories has recently regained momentum, with a 24% increase in traffic since August. Fueled by the news of high-profile security breaches such as Twitch’s infamous source code leak at the beginning of October, companies are realizing that development teams need to take ownership of their security practices so that software releases are secure by design, not by after-the-fact audit. This follows a security-centric sentiment shared by the broader B2B software market. G2’s 2021 Buyer Behavior report found that, when asked what three factors were most important when buying software, the top answer among mid-market and enterprise companies was security. For small businesses, security was the third most common answer. With accelerated software delivery comes an accelerated occurrence of consequences for releases that don’t meet a high security standard via proper vulnerability scanning and software composition analysis, to name only a couple of the ways companies should secure their software.

A comeback in 2022

Given the recent trend, I expect DevSecOps maturation to continue. My prediction? Security will be the most important aspect of DevOps for development teams in 2022. Keep an eye on this space as more and more companies realize that in the rush to deliver software, it’s unwise to skimp on security.