We live in unprecedented times where we must constantly come up with new techniques, processes, and systems of doing things efficiently. Low-code No-code platforms coupled with SaaS can accelerate a business innovation journey.

Low-code platforms need coding skills, but it quickens the development process by allowing developers to work with pre-written code components. No-code app building platforms promise to make software development easier to use for an average business user. With point-and-click or pull-down menu interfaces, such applications help users design and implement their own systems. It reduces the cost of employing an engineering team along with the time and effort put in development. Because of Low-code No-code, the dependency on niche technical skills reduces along with the IT development backlog. Low-code No-code is set to bring about a big change in the application development process.

The expectations are rising for digital experiences on both web and mobile applications. Cloud connected AI-led applications are being used by people daily. Businesses need to make sure that the growing demand of the customers are being met. The annual growth of Low-code No-code platforms is expected to be more than 28% approximately. “Gartner Forecasts Worldwide Low-Code Development Technologies Market to Grow 23% in 2021 and by 2024, 65% of applications will be low code.”  Microsoft has projected that in the next 5 years, over 500 million new applications will be developed. This estimate shows that more applications will be developed in the next 5 years than that were in the last 40 years.

The new applications and improved digital experiences produce an unbelievable amount of data, including a lot of unstructured data. There is a high demand to understand the unstructured data. The tools that we have been using in the last 40 years are not the same tools that will be used in the next 5 years. These tools are unable to keep up with the new application demands.

This fast-growing demand has resulted in companies hiring more professional developers and coders, but are there enough developers to meet these needs? It is projected that in the coming decade the US is going to face a shortage of a million developers. It will be increasingly difficult to find specialists with the required skillsets. Companies need to find more efficient ways to get more out of their current resources and investments. Smaller digital transformation projects with incremental changes that deliver results with better return on investment can benefit from Low-code No-code platforms.

A person who has application experience or the necessary skillset or the standard information can become a Low-code developer and get the job done. This is where citizen developers come into the picture, where a domain expert can leverage easy-to-use tools to build software. This is an easier alternative to allocating or hiring resources solely for such jobs. Smaller businesses can leverage such platforms to digitize, automate and/or develop applications for their business processes, like reservation management for restaurants, order quote creation, etc.

Low-code No-code platforms have many advantages; however, they present a few difficulties as well. Its best practices are still emerging and are not very mature. It also requires a change in the organization’s culture. Also, a single platform may not support all the use cases of an organization. Enterprise Low-code No-code platforms, however, are more sophisticated and provide scalability, performance, security, and integration with the organization’s apps. Although it increases productivity and reduces the time taken in the development drastically, becoming an expert in the platform takes time. Even the development teams take time to fully understand the platforms.

Though Low-code No-code has its challenges, it is expected to grow significantly. Pretty much every organisation will be adapting to it in the future. It is not a universal remedy, but it can address the issue of resource shortage. In the long run, systems and frameworks will turn out to be considerably simpler to work for common processes, simple programs and use cases. This is the future and going forward even non-technical users will be able to completely customize the apps and frameworks using Low-code No-code.

Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Low-code Platforms

References

• https://hbr.org/2021/06/when-low-code-no-code-development-works-and-when-it-doesnt
• https://appdevelopermagazine.com/why-low-code-no-code-will-become-the-mainstay-in-2021/
• https://www.valoremreply.com/post/democratizationofai/
• https://venturebeat.com/2021/02/14/no-code-low-code-why-you-should-be-paying-attention/
• https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2021-02-15-gartner-forecasts-worldwide-low-code-development-technologies-market-to-grow-23-percent-in-2021