AJAX Adoption Up 11%, North American Outsourcing On the Rise: Evans Data Survey

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Wednesday, May 24, 2006; 02:11 AM

The face of North American development continues to change rapidly, according to Evans Data's Spring 2006 North American Development Survey. This is evidenced by an 18% increase in the use of contractors and a 25% increase in overall outsourcing. Outsourcing by the corporate enterprise segment, which accounted for 57% of the development effort, increased by 37%. Off shoring played a major role with over 37% of North American companies sending development off shore, representing a 20% increase from the prior study. Additionally, in this same period the study indicates an increased willingness by a greater number of small and medium companies to pursue outsourcing and off shoring.

"The focus has shifted away from outsourcing or off shoring simply to save costs toward strategic talent acquisition of more highly qualified workers who have been trained in the technology areas that are driving business process change and revenue generation," said John Andrews, President of Evans Data. "We see this trend continuing to play a critical role going forward as the pressure on IT to be ever more agile and innovative will only increase."

Other findings from the Spring Survey of more than 450 developers in North America:

-- Wireless development efforts are expected to double to 40% in the next 24 months.

-- 69% of respondents consider Linux viable for mission critical applications, driving the 50% adoption rate expected by the year end. Corporate enterprises, typically the last segment to adopt non-commercial applications, are adopting Linux at growing rates.

-- AJAX, a web programming technique, has seen an 11% adoption increase since the release of the last study in autumn last year.