ThoughtWorks Celebrates 10 Years of Technology Radar
Eighty-seven percent of readers say Radar keeps them on track with technology changes and trends
For software developers, staying informed on the technology landscape is imperative for success — without this knowledge, developers risk losing track of what’s relevant. But keeping up with rapid innovation and the ever-evolving landscape can be difficult. That is why 10 years ago, ThoughtWorks created the Technology Radar — a bi-annual technology report informed by ThoughtWorks’ observations, conversations, and frontline experience solving its clients’ toughest business challenges.
The Radar was developed with technologists and their organizations in mind to ensure they are always up-to-speed with the latest tech tools and trends. It enables technologists to discover technologies they may have never heard of, and also provides a roadmap for determining which tech to evaluate as an organization. Now in its 10th year, the Radar exists in five languages and has featured over 1,000 technologies in its iterations over the past decade — from microservices to Chaos Monkey, Python 3 to Kubernetes, and much more.
For this special anniversary, ThoughtWorks surveyed over 2,000 Radar readers to understand how the publication has helped technologists throughout the years.
Jeff Foster, head of product engineering at software firm Redgate, said the Radar has become a valuable part of his company’s technology planning efforts. “The Tech Radar from ThoughtWorks distills their experience across the industries they work in into an easily digestible form where I can pick a handful of technologies that are relevant to me, for Redgate to get into and understand deeply, without having to waste time exploring already outdated technologies.”
Daniel Aragao, lead architect of realestate.com.au said “We’re always interested in using the latest technologies and evolving our ecosystem as well as we possibly can. And the ThoughtWorks Tech Radar allows us to compare our expectations with someone who is a thought leader in the industry and has an unbiased opinion. So, it helps us to guide our decisions and what we're going to be adopting next.”
Furthermore, 85% of respondents surveyed admitted to investigating an element listed on the Radar that they wouldn’t have otherwise considered and 50% introduced a new technology or technique from the Radar at their work. The survey also shed light on how individuals use the Radar: 87% believe that the publication keeps them on track of technology changes and trends and 58% confirm that the Radar introduces them to the nuances of specific technologies or techniques — enabling focus on one’s individual growth and the ability to balance a tech’s coolness factor and its inherent value.
It is then no surprise that 92% of the respondents said they would recommend the Radar to their friends and colleagues. As the ThoughtWorks Technology Radar gets ready to embrace the next decade of its journey, the team promises to continue to provide value to all its readers.
Want to know what’s happening in tech right now? Check out the most recent Tech Radar volume! As always, the guide can be viewed in an interactive format online and downloaded as a PDF to share.
About ThoughtWorks
We are a software consultancy and community of passionate purpose-led individuals, 7,000+ people strong across 43 offices in 14 countries. Over our 25+ year history, we have helped our clients solve complex business problems where technology is the differentiator. When the only constant is change, we prepare you for the unpredictable.
