What Risks to Software Developers Face?

Unfortunately, few people outside the world of software developers appreciate the value of the work, the training and discipline required, and the extent of the risks software developers face in business. They don’t comprehend the range of threats beyond highly publicized acts such as intellectual property theft, cyber-attacks, and lawsuits. Many additional risks jeopardize software developers’ livelihood every day.

To help you better understand the risks your organization faces, we’ll look at some of the most significant issues software developers encounter. Before we go there, it’s worth mentioning insurance and risk management concepts. Insurance is a transactional means of sharing risk by spreading it widely across business classes, such as NJ Software Developer Insurance. By sharing the risk, you pay a little regularly instead of suffering devastating losses when disaster strikes. 

Altruistic Risk Management

Our risk management services seek to understand potential threats to a business and determine the best practices to eliminate or mitigate them, which results in fewer claims and lower costs. We believe that is a good result. Like dentists encouraging daily flossing and brushing to eliminate cavities that promote oral health, which loses them business, a modern insurance agency works to lower its client’s risk profile and reduce their annual premium. 

Being transparent, it’s not all altruistic. Statistics prove a healthy customer who appreciates knowledgeable and professional service returns a more significant long-term value. It’s the same for insurance agencies, dentists, and probably your business too. 

Software development has serious inherent risks specific to it. Beyond the standard and security risks all businesses face, developers have these concerns.

Personnel & Management Related Issues

Staffing issues arise when estimates on necessary time and its schedule are set too low. Improper staffing stresses current employers and contractors and can cause a loss of morale that leads to employee turnovers, among other reasons. Similarly, taking on too much work at one time or rapid, unexpected growth also affects the existing team and its ability to recruit, especially in competitive job markets. 

Productivity issues sometimes occur in concurrence with the above problems. Even in well-run projects, the “work will take the time allotted to complete it” unspoken rule applies. In the worst-case scenario, more complicated and unpleasant tasks for jobs with long timelines get pushed to the back, creating crunch time to work on the most challenging duties as deadlines loom. 

Management practices that oversee the day-to-day operational activities are essential. Communication from management is critical to enlighten the software development teams to understand the project plan and its needs. Setting priorities, supervising process implementation, and providing the developers with clear information and instruction, including everyone’s responsibilities, is a worthy goal that will pay dividends or create major problems in their absence.

Decision-Related Issues

Human nature plays a part in software development risks. Eagerness to spur projects and begin writing code sometimes causes a decision to abandon design development too soon. Such jumpstart decisions often result in additional expensive programming time to smooth out problems a complete design scheme would have anticipated and prevented. 

Bloat and gold-plating are human nature decision-based issues. The decision to keep working beyond scope because it is not clear when to quit is an avoidable issue. So is a decision to add extra showoff features that run up development time with little chance of recovering their costs as features. 

Meltdowns

We all protect our businesses with backups and redundancy because there is always a chance things can go wrong—almost beyond belief—with tech. If you never experience a meltdown, be grateful and stay aware because breakdowns occur. Your network is fried in an electrical storm; your software has a buried bug causing huge problems. A key lead developer goes AWOL or has debilitating personal issues. Overcoming problems by restoring systems is usually possible. But the effect of the issues they cause can ripple, multiply, and continue to wreak havoc long after the fix. 

Trapdoors

You didn’t see it coming. Whether by bad luck or your eye was not on that ball. Something happens- a Google or Facebook ban or an algorithm change occurs that makes your sales funnel irrelevant. Federal or state regulations shut you down overnight. The market or supplies inexplicably dry up fast and unexpectedly. Any such scenarios occurring during critical development periods are potentially crushing. 

Solutions

Dickstein Agency’s professional staff works to help identify and minimize risks and to set up systems and programs to protect you against them. The more our NJ Software Developer Insurance program relieves your time and worries about risks, the more time and energy you gain for development projects. We are eager to use our expertise to your advantage. 

About Dickstein Associates Agency

Dickstein Associates Agency has distinguished itself as a leading provider of personal and business insurance in the tri-state area for over 55 years. We pride ourselves on being advocates for our clients and providing them with quality and affordable coverages. As an independent insurance agency, we partner with various carriers, allowing for flexible and unbiased coverage for each client’s unique circumstances. For more information on how you can leverage all of your insurance to work best for you, and how we can secure the best insurance in the marketplace based on your specific needs, contact us today at (800) 862-6662.