The Rise of Low Code
Over the past few years, new platforms have emerged that enable business users and regular programmers to build applications visually, through simple drag-and-drop interfaces and configuration instead of writing traditional code. Known as low-code platforms, they have garnered significant interest from both organizations looking to be more agile in delivering applications as well as programmers seeking lower barriers to entry. According to research firm Gartner, the global market for low-code development platforms is projected to grow 21% in 2022 to reach $13.8 billion.
Low-code development platforms utilize visual development tools and intuitive interfaces to help developers quickly construct new applications without extensive programming experience. They provide reusable components and templates to simplify and accelerate the design of various applications including but not limited to Workflow Automation apps, CRM tools, Robotic Process Automation (RPA), databases, APIs and more. Some key features of low-code platforms include drag-and-drop forms, reports, workflows and interfaces to generate mobile and web applications in a fraction of time compared to traditional coding.
Empowering a Broader Array of Developers
By lowering technical barriers, low-code tools have helped introduce application development capabilities to groups that traditionally did not engage much in custom software creation, such as business analysts, citizen developers, operations specialists and others. This broader development community can now build and deploy solutions more intuitively without ongoing assistance from expensive engineering teams. At the same time, experienced developers have also adopted low code development platform because of increased productivity. For many companies, the expanded set of "gamified" development skills now possible has been a profound change.
Fueling Digital Transformation Through Process Automation
The emergence of low-code is closely tied to the rise of digital transformation initiatives across industries. As organizations look to quickly modernize outdated legacy systems or gain competitive advantages from innovative new applications, they have increasingly turned to low-code for faster, lower risk solutions. A major area driven by these platforms has been business process automation. By enabling new workflows, robotic assistants and tools for frontline workers, low-code has helped fuel digital upgrades in areas like customer service, finance, HR, manufacturing, healthcare and more.
Streamlining Integration With Existing Systems
While low-code offers clear productivity benefits, the applications still need to connect with back-end databases, systems of record and other critical services. Establishing seamless integration between new low-code generated apps and existing infrastructure can sometimes be challenging. Leading platforms have addressed this by offering out-of-the-box connectors to major databases as well as integration modules to sync with other systems through APIs, web services or user interface automation. They also allow embedding existing code components for robust multi-directional communication between applications. These integrations empower low-code developers to easily build features dependent on organization's existing technologies.
Enhancing Governance and Security Standards
Given that low-code tools enable cross-functional teams to autonomously build mission-critical solutions, their governance and security has also received significant focus from platform providers. Advanced offerings feature in-platform review and approval of new code, standardized authentication protocols, activity logging, audit trails and user/data access controls. Many have also achieved industry certifications like ISO 27001 to assure adherence to regulatory compliance requirements. As companies increasingly rely on low-code to fuel their digital services, establishing appropriate guardrails for quality, risk and developer productivity remains a priority.
Democratizing Application Development
By presenting intuitive interfaces that abstract away much of the technical complexity, low-code has succeeded in democratizing software engineering practices. Their promise of faster, low-risk application lifecycles has translated into massive popularity for both horizontal and industry-specific solutions. Going forward, as capabilities continue advancing areas like AI/ML integration, cross-platform deployments and code reuse, the range and sophistication of applications developed on these platforms will keep growing. Most industry experts agree that low code development platform will remain core to digital strategies of modern enterprises that need to harness internal talent for continuous improvement across business operations.
