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The challenge The Developer Relations team of a cloud communication company was looking to deepen their understanding of the evolving needs of professional developers who integrate third-party APIs. They aimed to refine program content, optimise engagement strategies, and assess the potential role of no-code/low-code and AI-assisted tools in meeting developer expectations. The approach In close collaboration with the client, SlashData utilised its extensive collection of existing data from the 26th edition of the Developer Nation survey, which closed in Q1 of 2024. This survey provided fast access to insights by utilising a globally representative sample of over 5,000 professional developers who use third-party APIs. The sample covered a range of experience levels and API types, satisfying the client’s target audience. The result The data gathered from SlashData’s survey provided the client with valuable insights into the preferences and behaviors of developers using third-party APIs. The analysis answered the client’s core questions, including: What program resources are most valuable to API users, and how does that vary by region and experience level? What problem-solving resources are favoured by developers, and how does this preference shift with experience? How do professional developers stay informed on software development trends, and how is that different across regions? How prevalent is the usage of no-code/low-code tools among API users? What functions do AI-assisted tools serve, and what are the main challenges developers encounter when using these tools? With these insights, the client gained a deeper understanding of API usage patterns and developer program needs, enabling them to tailor their offerings to meet regional and experience-based preferences and improve developer engagement across key resources and tools. Following this success, the client requested further research to benchmark their developer program, aiming to assess their market position more accurately and identify strategic areas for improvement. Why SlashData With a deep understanding of the developer landscape, SlashData leveraged its extensive developer community and a curated network of third-party providers to reach precisely the right audience for the client’s research objectives. Our proprietary survey platform not only hosted the survey but also enabled robust data integrity through advanced metadata analysis, ensuring the responses accurately represented the client’s target professional developers. By tapping into SlashData’s developer community and verified third-party panels, comprehensive insights were delivered more quickly and efficiently than would have been possible with a fully custom survey. Related services Audience Insights Developer Insights Are you trying to get a deeper understanding of how developers integrate APIs? Let’s talk.

The challenge The developer marketing team from a leading cloud service provider wanted to better understand their users' satisfaction with various support features, such as documentation and sample code, as well as benchmarking themselves against their largest competitors.  The approach SlashData worked closely with the Client to understand the research objectives, and designed a 30-question survey that best answered the Client’s business questions and need. Then, SlashData gathered responses from 750+ developers currently working at an organisation with more than 1,000 employees, and were current users of the leading cloud service providers. The respondents were sourced through SlashData’s own developer community, as well as through vetted third-party survey panels. The sample collected covered the geographies and specific developer profiles requested by the Client.  The result The data collected from SlashData’s survey was able to answer the Client’s business questions, as well as allow them to understand how their users differed from their competitors: What types of projects and development focuses does their userbase do more or less than their competitors? How satisfied are developers with the Client’s support features? How frequently do the Client’s users access support features, compared to their competitors? How do the languages developers work in impact their satisfaction with the Client’s resources? How does the developer’s involvement in tool or technology purchases and discovery impact their satisfaction with the Client’s resources? How does a developer’s level of experience impact their satisfaction with the Client’s resources, and in comparison with their competitors? Why SlashData SlashData, acting as a full-service market research partner, helped the Client go from their research intention to actual data. SlashData was able to leverage its experience with cloud developers and the wider market to turn the data into actionable insights and easier-to-understand visualisations. SlashData was able to tap into its own developer community, as well as select third-party sample providers, to distribute an online survey that reached respondents who precisely matched the Client’s target audience. The survey was hosted on SlashData’s proprietary survey platform, which enables in-depth data cleansing through the advanced metadata it collects. Related services Quantitative Research Developer Research Are you delivering on your users' needs and wants? Contact us , and we will explore their needs together.

The challenge The localisation team at a leading global technology company was using machine translations to make developer content accessible without the heavy demands of traditional translation workflows. The challenge was to determine if machine translation was sufficient or if additional localisation efforts were needed to ensure an optimal user experience. The approach SlashData worked closely with the client to understand their research objectives, and designed a methodology and a survey to measure the effectiveness of the client’s machine translations. SlashData gathered responses from around 700 developers who shared their experience using the client’s developer resources in their native language. The respondents were sourced through SlashData’s own developer community, as well as through vetted third-party survey panels. The sample collected covered the geographies, locales, and specific developer profiles requested by the client. The result This project provided the client with valuable insights into the effectiveness of machine translations across various locales, highlighting one locale that required additional localisation efforts, enabling the client to optimise resource allocation. Additionally, we analysed the key components of machine translations, offering a detailed understanding of their strengths and areas for improvement. We also conducted profiling analysis to identify developers who were more likely to face challenges with machine translations, considering factors such as their experience in software development. Why SlashData SlashData, serving as a comprehensive market research partner, guided the client from an initial high-level research brief to actionable data that addressed key business questions. Leveraging our expertise in survey design and our access to a diverse pool of developers, we efficiently gathered relevant data from a representative sample of developers using the client’s resources in their native language. Our advanced quantitative research capabilities allowed us to conduct an in-depth analysis and deliver an actionable, insights-driven report to the client. Related services Audience insights Product development and improvement Customer segmentation and profiling Is your strategy global, or do you segment your audience based on their location? Our surveys get responses from 130+ countries. Do you need data? Unlock the true power of insights.

The challenge Sentry came to us with a central tenet they wished to explore: Happier developers are more productive. They wanted to measure happiness in a reliable manner that allowed us to estimate its effect on productivity and efficiency as well as examine how various obstacles developers commonly encounter impact their workflows. Sentry sought to publish these results publicly to support both marketing and several products they were working on.  The approach Drawing inspiration from validated scientific work, we adopted questions from the “Oxford Happiness Questionnaire” and designed a survey that appropriately targeted professional developers working for firms with live software applications. Upon receiving the data, we worked with the client to estimate the various relationships of interest and model how happiness impacts developer productivity.   Why SlashData Relying on our extensive survey experience, we were able to construct a survey that was relevant to the audience of interest and used scientifically validated metrics to collect reliable data that could be used publicly with confidence.  The result The survey delivered clear, actionable insights: happier developers are more productive. We additionally found that larger companies faced unique productivity hurdles such as internal processes and communication issues. In identifying specific hurdles and relationships, Sentry received a reliable piece of research they could publish and take to their clients to offer solutions with their products.  You can dive into developer happiness in the free report  or get in touch  for more insights.  Related services Developers Research  Quantitative research

The challenge Red Hat was seeking to understand the current state of software supply chain security maturity. In addition, they wanted to develop a rigorous series of metrics that could be used to benchmark developer and organisation-level performance on an ongoing basis to assess developments in the market. The approach SlashData worked closely with Red Hat to understand the research objectives and designed a 30-question survey that covered all the topics relevant to assessing software supply chain maturity, such that they could be converted into a metric during analysis. Then, SlashData gathered responses from 800+ professional developers working throughout the software supply chain. Following survey outreach, SlashData developed a methodology that allowed the information from all the survey questions to be represented into a single metric used to benchmark developer and organisational maturity. From this, we could identify the areas where organisations were struggling most, as well as identify important KPIs that demonstrated the importance of a mature approach to software supply chain security.  The result SlashData produced a thorough and detailed report summarising our findings into the four areas of the software supply chain. Security performance metrics were developed for each, which were then combined into a single metric that could be used to produce an overall assessment of organisation security maturity. Further to understanding the current state of security practices, it also allowed us to understand why organisation leaders should care about this beyond just regulation and data exposure reasons.  How mature security practices in dependency management reduce the time to respond to vulnerabilities in third-party code. How mature security practices in code creation reduce the time to respond to vulnerabilities in first-party code. How mature security practices in build and delivery process reduce the time to respond to vulnerabilities in build processes. How mature automation practices reduce the time to respond to vulnerabilities in builds. How mature security remediation practices reduce the time to respond to vulnerabilities in production environments. How developers with low software supply chain security maturity are often unaware of their poor performance and the risks this creates. How more mature practices across all areas are associated with the detection and addressing of more vulnerabilities. How business leaders can improve their organisation's software supply chain security. Why SlashData SlashData, acting as a full-service market research partner, helped Red Hat go from its research intention to an actionable and reliable understanding of the current state of software supply chain security. SlashData was able to leverage its deep bench of analyst expertise to develop a custom solution to Red Hat’s needs. SlashData’s expertise in crafting insights allowed Red Hat to ensure that the deliverables were targeted at the specific audience they were trying to reach. SlashData was able to tap into its own developer community, as well as selected third-party sample providers, to distribute an online survey that reached respondents who precisely matched the client’s target audience. The survey was hosted on SlashData’s proprietary survey platform, which enables in-depth data cleansing through the advanced metadata it collects. The findings were made publicly available in the form of a thought-leadership report , while we also delivered them as an e-book  for Red Hat.  Are you interested in creating a thought-leading industry report together? Get in touch . Related services Quantitative Developer research

The challenge The research team at a leading global network operator association wanted to understand the current landscape of network APIs. These APIs have gained significant attention recently and present an opportunity for telecommunications companies to generate sizable returns on their massive 5G investments. This project aimed to inform decisions that will shape the future of these APIs. The approach SlashData worked closely with the client to understand their research goals and crafted a 31-question survey designed to address the client’s key business needs. The survey collected responses from over 1,200 professional developers working on mobile, industrial IoT, consumer electronics, augmented reality, and virtual reality projects. These respondents were drawn from SlashData's own developer community and vetted third-party survey panels. The sample met the client’s requirements for geographic coverage and targeted developer profiles. The result This project provided the client with critical insights into the network API landscape, addressing key questions that will guide the future development of these services. The findings will help the client better support developers while enabling network operators to optimise monetisation strategies. Some of the key questions explored included: How many developers are currently using network APIs? How many are interested in using them in the future? Which industries have the highest demand for network APIs? Which functionalities of network APIs do developers consider more important? What challenges are developers currently facing with network APIs? What is the preferred pricing model for network APIs? Why SlashData SlashData, acting as a full-service market research partner, helped the client go from their research intention to actionable and reliable data on the current state of network APIs. Leveraging our expertise in survey design and our access to a diverse pool of developers, we efficiently gathered relevant data from a representative sample of developers. The survey was hosted on SlashData’s proprietary survey platform, which enables in-depth data cleansing through the advanced metadata it collects. You can find out more about network APIs in our free report  or contact us .  Related services Audience Insights Product development and improvement

The challenge A leading silicon vendor wanted to estimate the total addressable market of developers for their software products. The key point of interest for our client was to see how they compare to their competitors in terms of market share for each tool type they provide. They also wanted to track the changes in the market over 12 months. The approach SlashData worked closely with the client to identify its key research objectives and designed a custom survey to identify its target audience and the types of tools they use. The results were analysed in conjunction with our existing data to estimate the number of developers that make up our client’s addressable market. This survey was then fielded for the second time after 12 months to track how the results have changed, reaching over 1,400 developers in each wave. The result This research helped our client estimate the size of their addressable market and how their tools compare to their competitors in terms of popularity. Relying on our comprehensive set of questions, we provided detailed analyses for the specific tools of interest to our client, including profiling and segmentation. We also helped our client identify which of its key competitors was gaining popularity by tracking differences between the two waves. Why SlashData Using our expertise, we constructed and fielded two surveys that directly answered our client’s business questions. Each survey was hosted on our custom survey platform, which used advanced data cleaning and weighting based on our existing data. This ensured that our client received the highest-quality results. Related services Audience Insights Are you looking for data to better understand your target audience? Let’s talk.

The challenge Our client, a leading e-commerce solutions provider, wanted to understand the needs of developers working on headless or composable e-commerce projects. Headless e-commerce, which decouples the front-end from the back-end, enables businesses to deliver faster, more personalised experiences across channels. The study focused on identifying the platforms, frameworks, and features developers use, along with their project timelines and preferences. The approach SlashData worked as an extension of the client’s team to draft and run a targeted survey of 150+ users, capturing a comprehensive view of the current trends, tools, and practices in headless and composable e-commerce development. The result This research allowed our client to assess their standing in the current landscape of headless and composable e-commerce solutions. The findings were used to inform our client’s product strategy and investment decisions, helping them align their offerings with what is most important to their target audience. Why SlashData The survey was hosted on SlashData’s proprietary survey platform, allowing advanced data cleaning and ensuring that our client received the highest quality results. We were also able to leverage our developer network and vetted partners to target the specific audience of interest for our client. Interested in uncovering insights to transform your e-commerce strategy? Contact us . Related services Quantitative Developer research

The challenge The Continuous Delivery (CD) Foundation approached SlashData to gain a deeper of the current adoption rates of DevOps practices. Their goal was to explore the impact of DevOps on development velocity and performance while assessing the role of CD tools and practices in driving efficiency and success.   The approach Using data from SlashData’s syndicated developer survey, we collaborated with the CD Foundation to align the research with their strategic priorities for the upcoming year. SlashData’s long-running survey provided access to historical data trends spanning several years, enabling the CD Foundation to benchmark current adoption rates and identify year-over-year changes in DevOps practices. The result was a tailored analysis focused on uncovering actionable insights into CI/CD usage and its impact. The result SlashData delivered the 5th edition of the State of CI/CD report , a public report marketed by the CD Foundation and SlashData in Q2 2024. The report highlighted key trends contributing to low DevOps adoption rates among newer developers, a clear link between the usage of a broad range of DevOps technologies and improved developer performance, and a correlation between the usage of CI/CD and great development and deployment performance.  Why SlashData SlashData has been tracking developer behaviours, tool uses, and perceptions for multiple years, getting results at least every six months. This gives us a unique advantage in being able to track changes and developments over the years and continuously monitor the impacts of technology adoption and DevOps practices. Partner with SlashData to uncover what drives developer success and technology adoption across industries. Contact us today! Related services Quantitative Developer research

The challenge A leading global technology company wanted to evaluate its competitive position among enterprise developers. Their primary goal was to measure brand awareness and associations to inform strategic marketing decisions and uncover opportunities to strengthen their brand presence. The approach To tackle this, we developed a comprehensive 30-question survey conducted in three waves over 18 months, reaching over 800 enterprise developers in each round. To get the complete picture of awareness and associations, we included aided and unaided questions that covered several topics and competitors. These questions were used to measure the awareness of our client's brand and associations with specific areas of technical expertise in which our client was aiming to make improvements. Additionally, we integrated supporting questions to help identify key gaps in brand awareness and areas where the client could refine their messaging for better alignment with developers’ needs. The result The research provided our client with a clear picture of how enterprise developers perceived their brand and its position relative to competitors. As a result, they were able to: Pinpoint gaps in brand awareness that required targeted improvements. Optimise their marketing messaging to better align with their target audience. Track progress over time as subsequent survey waves revealed the impact of their brand-building efforts. Why SlashData By leveraging our custom survey platform with advanced data cleaning capabilities and access to an extensive developer community, we were able to provide our client with consistent and reproducible results. This helped us identify meaningful differences between survey waves and provide a basis for a data-driven strategy for our client. If you’re looking to measure your brand’s competitive position and strengthen awareness among developers, get in touch now! Related services Brand research Audience insights

The challenge In the constantly changing landscape of cloud computing, Akamai wanted to better understand developers' thoughts around distributed cloud computing. Their goal was to have a better grasp of developers’ level of awareness, current intentions towards it, and where they imagine the greatest utility lies with this technology.  The approach SlashData designed a developer-focused survey to capture insights into distributed cloud computing. By identifying the right developer audience and asking targeted questions about technology usage, challenges, motivations, and thoughts about the future of cloud computing, the survey revealed insights into what developers think about the future of distributed cloud computing. The data was thoroughly cleaned and analysed to build a strong understanding of the current perceptions. The result SlashData delivered a report based on a comprehensive analysis of survey results, uncovering developers’ growing interest in distributed cloud computing and highlighting areas where they feel the industry falls short. The report provided actionable insights into the key improvements developers seek before adopting distributed cloud services. These include clear cost savings, improved security, and better tools for managing distributed environments. Developers also emphasised the need for stronger data security standards and interoperable open cloud solutions.  Following the report’s release, SlashData was invited to TFiR to discuss the findings in detail and expand deeper on the content of the report.  Why SlashData SlashData’s expertise in questionnaire design, ensuring legitimate responses, and analytical capabilities allowed us to address Akamai’s questions in a timely manner. SlashData was able to convert the analysis into a strong narrative and actionable insights that allowed Akamai and the wider cloud service provider community to understand how developers were preparing for a distributed cloud computing future. If you’re looking to uncover developer insights and transform data into actionable strategies for your business, contact us today! Related services Quantitative research Developer research

The challenge One of the major silicon vendor companies engaged SlashData to gain insights and recommendations for targeted improvements to their developer program. Their goal was to enhance developer satisfaction and engagement with their resources. Additionally, they sought to identify competing developer programs to benchmark their satisfaction and engagement levels against those of other competitors and industry leaders. The approach SlashData leveraged existing data from its 2024 Q1 Developer Nation survey, which reached over 3,500 professional developers across Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, South Asia, and the Greater China area. These developers shared insights into their experiences with various developer programs. Respondents were recruited through SlashData’s developer community and verified third-party survey panels, ensuring a robust and representative sample. In addition to using existing quantitative data to answer the client’s questions, we conducted desk research. This was done in order to provide a deeper dive into the user experience with the client’s developer documentation and sample code. Through this analysis, the client was able to receive first-hand feedback and recommendations on how to improve their developer support. The result The data gathered from SlashData’s survey helped the client understand the drivers of engagement and satisfaction amongst professional developers. The analysis answered the client’s core questions, including: Which types of developers are the most engaged with the client’s developer program? Which developer program resources are most important to highly engaged developers? Which types of technologies are associated with high engagement? Which developer profiles does the client attract, and how well does the client engage these developers compared to other vendors? Which of the client’s technology resources are associated with the highest engagement and satisfaction? Which types of developers should the client focus on to raise engagement and satisfaction? What are best-in-class examples of vendors with high engagement and satisfaction scores? These insights helped the client gain a deeper understanding of developer engagement patterns and program needs. In turn, this enables them to tailor their offerings to align with developer profiles and preferences, enhance satisfaction, and drive engagement with key resources and technologies across targeted developer segments. Why SlashData For the client, SlashData’s robust methodology and established global community of developers provided a unique advantage. Leveraging a deep understanding of the developer landscape, SlashData tapped into its extensive developer community and a curated network of third-party providers to reach precisely the right audience for our client's research objectives. Our proprietary survey platform hosted the survey, ensuring robust data integrity through advanced metadata analysis and sophisticated dynamic question logic, so the client received accurate, reliable insights on developer engagement and satisfaction with its technology resources. Do you have a developer program you would like to offer more support to your developer audience? Let’s see together what they need. Contact us. Related services Developer Program Benchmarking Quantitative research

In today’s fast-paced digital economy, long-term success is not a given. It demands constant innovation, agility, and a willingness to adapt. For product managers, every decision matters and cannot be left to chance alone – great products are created using data-backed decisions. In this article, we will discuss why using data is essential for decision-making and how market research data, in particular, can help you find success. Why data is essential for decision-making While intuition can go a long way for a successful product manager, using a data-driven strategy can help provide clarity on what truly works and what does not. By conducting market research to analyse trends and understand the needs of your customers, you can remove the guesswork from the equation. Let us consider a scenario where your internal stakeholders want to change a staple feature of your product. Rolling out such a change without validating it with your customers may lead to detrimental results for your product. However, if you test this update with a small subset of your customers and monitor the impact of this change, you can minimise unnecessary risk and make informed decisions. Before committing to a new feature for your product, it is a good idea to first gather evidence that demonstrates its potential value. Depending on the situation, this may be done through a small survey of your target audience, asking your current customers about their thoughts, or even testing out this feature with a small subset of your current users. However, using data to make informed decisions goes beyond that. It involves analysing broader market trends, benchmarking your product against its competitors, and so much more. Remove the guesswork by validating product changes through small-scale testing. In general, whether you are about to launch a new product or looking to improve your current one, using the right market research data can maximise your chances of success. With this in mind, let us now have a look at some of the challenges you may face as a product manager and the different types of market research data you can use to make informed decisions. Understanding your customers through market research  As a product manager, ensuring that your products meet the real needs of your users  is one of the most critical aspects of your role. Overlooking the critical pain points of your customers or focusing on features that do not resonate with them can lead to poorly received products. A great product is one that addresses the real needs of its customers, not assumptions. By sending surveys  to your customers and asking the right questions, you can generate quantitative insights about their likes and dislikes, identify missing features, and pinpoint where you can improve. Alternatively, you may wish to take a qualitative approach by conducting interviews  and focus groups . These methods help you dive deeper into your customers’ motivations, behaviours, and preferences, providing rich insights that go beyond numbers. We can help you understand your customers and their needs. Find out more about our services. Prioritising features Building a successful product requires significant resource allocation, meaning that prioritising the wrong features can be very costly. On top of this, dealing with competing demands from stakeholders can make it difficult to know which features to prioritise. Luckily, market research offers plenty of solutions that solve a large variety of problems. One such solution is A/B testing , which uses randomised controlled experiments to compare two versions of something like a product feature or a marketing strategy to figure out which one is better than the other. For example, you may hypothesise that sending out notifications to the users of your application twice as often will boost engagement. However, this may not be the right choice for your application. This is where A/B testing  comes in handy. You can roll out this feature to a randomly selected group of users and test its effects on your engagement metrics of choice. A/B testing turns hypotheses into actionable insights, reducing the risks of costly missteps. In more complex scenarios, methods like MaxDiff  and conjoint analysis  can also provide detailed insights. MaxDiff  can help you figure out which features to prioritise by asking your customers to identify the most and the least important features in a series of questions. On the other hand, conjoint analysis  can be used to determine which feature combinations appeal most to your customers. This can be done by simulating a series of real-world choices and asking your customers which ones they prefer. Advanced methods like MaxDiff and conjoint analysis reveal what users value most, enabling smarter prioritisation. Price optimisation Another challenge product managers face is figuring out how much to charge customers in a way that maximises revenue. While conjoint analysis  can be helpful in performing price optimisation alongside feature sets, more specialised techniques may be more useful when your product's features are already decided. For example, Van Westendorp’s price sensitivity meter  can be used to identify a price range for your product by asking your target audience at which prices your product would feel too cheap, provide good value, or be too expensive. On the other hand, the Gabor-Granger method  directly asks customers whether they would purchase your product at certain price points. This approach pinpoints the price that maximises revenue by assessing actual purchase intent at different price levels. Effective pricing strategies balance perceived value and purchase intent. Van Westendorp reveals the optimal price range, while Gabor-Granger pinpoints the price that maximises revenue. Identifying market opportunities Approaching product management without first understanding market trends can lead to roadmaps that do not align with what the market needs. In turn, this can result in wasted efforts in pursuing stagnant or declining opportunities. One way to combat this is by performing a competitive market analysis , which can help you better understand the space and discover where to focus your efforts. Analysing market trends  can extend this a step further by monitoring shifts in the behaviour patterns of your customers and identifying things such as emerging technologies. In addition to this, it can be highly beneficial to perform market sizing research . With this, you can assess the size of your addressable market and, if an opportunity is worth pursuing, how much to invest in it. Monitoring post-launch performance While launching a product can be challenging in itself, it is only the first step on a long journey towards long-term success. To achieve this, you must monitor how well your product performs and address user feedback throughout its lifetime. However, failing to do so can lead to severe consequences, including customer churn and a damaged reputation for your company. By leveraging existing industry reports  or commissioning custom surveys , you can gather valuable insights to ensure that your product remains relevant and meets the expectations of your customers. For instance, fielding a survey with a representative sample of your target audience can help you understand your product’s standing in awareness and adoption. To identify what works well for your customers and what needs to be improved, you can also measure how satisfied they are with your product, including its specific attributes. Similarly, asking users of your product about how likely they are to recommend it to others can help you measure customer loyalty. For this, well-established metrics such as customer satisfaction (CSAT) and the net promoter score (NPS)  can provide valuable insights. Beyond this, you may also wish to explore things like user engagement rates or supplement your research with some qualitative interviews to build a comprehensive picture of how well your product is performing. Success does not stop upon launching a product. It is sustained by continually listening to your customers and evolving your product to meet their needs. How we can help As a product manager, you will face a wide array of challenges, ranging from understanding what your customers need, to finding ways to stay ahead of your competitors. Market research provides the tools and insights you need to make smarter decisions, reduce risk, and deliver products that resonate with users and drive business success. At SlashData, we specialise in delivering tailored research solutions for product leaders like you. Whether you are exploring a new market, refining your product roadmap, optimising pricing strategies, or assessing which features to prioritise, our expertise ensures you have the insights you need to succeed. Contact us today to discuss how our custom research solutions can empower your team and fuel your product’s success! About the author Nikita Solodkov, Senior Market Research Analyst Nikita is a multidisciplinary researcher with a particular interest in using data-driven insights to solve real-world problems. He holds a PhD in Physics and has over five years of experience in data analytics and research design.

For many development teams, tools are more than just software - they’re the engine driving every project, sprint, and release. Yet, our data shows that the decision to purchase new tools often lies not with the developers but with the leadership team, whose insights and strategies shape the tech stack. So, how exactly are CEOs, CTOs, and other technology leaders involved in deciding on the tools that will power their teams? In this blog post, we’ll dive into the involvement of technology leaders in tool selection, comparing their influence to other technology professionals within their organisations. We’ll also explore how factors like software development experience and company revenue affect their role in decision-making. With revenue often linked to organisational complexity and resources, understanding these dynamics provides a clearer picture of how management shapes the tools that teams use. This blog post is based on data collected in the 27th edition of SlashData’s Developer Nation survey, which reached more than 9,000 respondents from 130+ countries worldwide. In this blog post, we look at over 6,500 technology professionals working for organisations with two or more employees, more than 1,500 of whom identify themselves with management roles. The role of tech leaders vs other tech professionals in tool buying decisions When we break down involvement across four main roles within organisations - technical, non-technical, management, and IT operations - there are some notable differences. The technical professionals are the least involved in overall selection or purchase decisions, with 14% reporting no involvement at all. Meanwhile, managers are more involved, especially when it comes to approval of the overall team budget (28%), approval of expenses on tools and components (32%), and final selection decisions (50%).  IT operations professionals are more likely to be responsible for final tool selection than their technical peers The management group includes tech/engineering team leads, CIO/CTO/IT managers, and CEOs. Of these, CIO/CTO/IT roles are the most influential in making the final tool selection, approving expenses, and determining the budget for developer tools. For instance, 67% of CIO/CTO/IT managers make the final decision on tool selection for their teams, compared to 59% of CEOs and only 36% of tech leads. 67% of CIO/CTO/IT managers make the final selection decision for team/company tools This pattern highlights that managers drive final decisions, balancing functionality with budget and strategic goals. Recognising this influence, SlashData has now expanded its market research efforts  to focus more on CEOs, CTOs, and other C-level executives, providing insights tailored to these decision-makers and their unique priorities in shaping technology strategy. How experience in software development shapes tech leaders’ involvement in tool selection Involvement in tool selection and budget decisions isn’t solely determined by role - it’s also shaped by experience. Managers' involvement in tool selection decisions increases with experience in software development, especially for key decision-making activities.  Leaders with over five years of experience are the most actively involved, particularly in making recommendations (54%) and final selection decisions (52%) for team or company tools. This suggests that seasoned leaders leverage their expertise to guide important tool choices, balancing strategic needs with practical insights from years in the field.  This trend also extends to budget-related decisions. Executives with extensive experience are more likely to set the overall team budget for developer tools (30%) than beginners in the field (19%). The proportion of involvement in approving expenses and overall budget climbs steadily with experience, highlighting a likely correlation between tenure and budgetary authority. This pattern paints a clear picture of how experience shapes managers’ role in building a company’s tech stack. How company revenue shapes tech leaders’ involvement in developer tool buying decisions Understanding how revenue impacts tech leaders’ involvement in tool selection is essential, as financial resources often dictate the complexity of decision-making processes. Our data shows that tech leaders’ level of involvement in tool selection and budget decisions generally increases as company revenue grows. In smaller companies (monthly revenue up to $5,000), tech leaders’ involvement in tool selection is limited, which is true for other role categories as well, potentially suggesting limited resources.  However, as revenue increases, tech leaders become more actively involved, particularly in making recommendations and making final decisions. This suggests that companies with higher revenue likely have more complex needs, requiring executive input to ensure tool choices align with strategic goals.  For instance, around 46% of tech leaders in companies generating over $50,000 monthly are involved in approving expenses on tools and components, compared to only 23% in companies with a monthly revenue of up to $5,000. Similarly, around 62% of tech leaders in companies with over $50,000 in monthly revenue make final selection decisions for company tools, compared to 45% of those with a monthly revenue of up to $5,000. 62% of tech leaders in companies earning at least $50,000 monthly are involved in making final tool selection decisions Are you targeting tech leaders who make tool purchase decisions? Contact us to gain insights into their preferences. About the author Bleona Bicaj, Senior Market Research Analyst Bleona Bicaj is a behavioral specialist, enthusiastic about data and behavioral science. She holds a Master's degree from Leiden University in Economic and Consumer Psychology. She has more than 6 years of professional experience as an analyst in the data analysis and market research industry.