Austin is probably the most attractive city in Texas for young IT professionals that seek a promising career in the industry. Also called Silicon Hills, Austin has known an increasing number of IT companies relocating or opening new offices. Some of the most prominent names speak for themselves: Google, Facebook, or Oracle are only a few to name from tech giants that have an interest in the talent pool from Austin. 

Recently Apple announced that will invest $1bn USD, in offices in Austin, which makes the city a fast-developing tech hub in the country. 

There are some 7000 professionals engaged in the High Tech industry working for SME, but the number is expected to grow with additional 15,000 IT professionals, according to Business Insider. 

However, the overall number of employees in the Tech industry in 2017 was estimated to be around 138,000+, which makes 14.1% of the entire workforce in Austin. Compared to the national average - 7%, Austin has twice more. 

Austin payroll in the tech industry reached $15,6bn, which is more than a quarter of the entire payroll of the Austin metropolitan area according to Austin Chamber. 

This makes the IT industry a part of the city’s economic backbone,  if not the most important part. 

In 2017, in Austin were located over 6400+ IT companies, out of which only 309 were new startups in the year of the report. 

All in all, Austin, considered as the Silicon Hills of the US, created a positive image as a tech hub and one of the most digitalized cities in Texas, and why not in the entire US. Since an increasing number of IT companies are attracted by this location, and taking into consideration the talent pool, Austin could become. 

Laravel is a popular open-source PHP web application framework used for building web applications and websites. It's known for its elegant and expressive syntax, as well as its rich set of tools and libraries that simplify common web development tasks. Laravel was created by Taylor Otwell and released in 2011, and it has since gained widespread adoption in the PHP development community. Here are the key aspects and features of Laravel:

• Elegant Syntax

• MVC Architecture

• Artisan CLI

• Database Abstraction

• Blade Templating Engine

• Middleware

• Authentication and Authorization

• Routing

• Caching

• Testing

• Security

• Community and Ecosystem.

• Scalability

When choosing a PHP framework for a project, there are several alternatives to Laravel, each with its strengths and use cases. The choice depends on project requirements, familiarity with the framework, and specific preferences. Here are some notable PHP frameworks that often compete with Laravel:

• Symfony: Symfony is a high-performance PHP framework known for its flexibility and modularity. It is often used for large, enterprise-level applications. Laravel actually uses several Symfony components under the hood. Symfony provides robust tools for building web applications, APIs, and microservices.

• Zend Framework (Laminas): Zend Framework, now known as Laminas, is a mature framework that focuses on building scalable and enterprise-grade applications. It provides a collection of reusable components for various tasks, allowing developers to choose and integrate only what they need.

• CodeIgniter: CodeIgniter is a lightweight and straightforward framework that emphasizes simplicity and speed of development. It's often chosen for smaller projects and rapid application development (RAD). While it has a smaller feature set compared to Laravel, it's known for its minimal learning curve.

• CakePHP: CakePHP is a full-stack framework that focuses on convention over configuration (CoC). It comes with features like scaffolding, a built-in ORM, and a friendly community. It's known for its simplicity and convention-driven development.

Companies specialized in providing services using Laravel can significantly benefit relevant projects. Their expertise in Laravel development allows them to efficiently create customized web applications that meet specific project requirements. With a deep understanding of Laravel's capabilities, these companies can ensure the project benefits from Laravel's robust features, clean code structure, and security mechanisms.

They expedite development using Laravel's built-in tools and extensive package ecosystem, making them well-suited for both small-scale and enterprise-level applications. Security is a top priority, with specialists implementing best practices to protect against common web vulnerabilities, enhancing the project's safety, especially when dealing with sensitive data.

After the project launch, these specialized companies offer ongoing maintenance and support, addressing issues, applying updates, and ensuring the application's long-term reliability. They also excel in integration with third-party services and technologies, expanding the application's functionality and enhancing the user experience.

In addition, some companies may offer UX and design services, further improving the project's visual appeal and usability. Through rigorous testing and quality assurance, they identify and resolve potential issues before deployment, ensuring the application performs reliably across various devices and browsers.