Low-code has been growing in popularity, and its market is expected to reach $29 billion in revenue by 2025. But, what is low-code? What are its benefits, and what can you build with it?
Let’s find out.
The benefits of low-code include:
Organizations can pivot quickly to new solutions that respond to market changes much faster.
That’s possible not only because of the speed of development but also because development teams can quickly present a working prototype. From there, they can gather business feedback fast and adjust accordingly, instead of going back and forth till they get it right.
Proof point:
Adapting agile to build products with low-code: tips and tricks
“What started as a way to build digital systems faster and reduce our maintenance effort soon grew in scope, as we realized the benefit that such an approach would have if we could cascade it to our member credit unions and their members.”
Jim Horlacher, EVP, Chief Information Officer, Corporate One
By automating repetitive tasks and removing the complications of traditional software development and hand coding, low-code accelerates software development, which maximizes developer productivity and empowers organizations to do more with the same resources.
More advanced low-code platforms like OutSystems both abstract away and automate all the mundane and tedious development and CI/CD tasks that slow developers down and prevent the creativity that leads to innovative apps.
Proof point:
“In the past, we used traditional development and front-end frameworks like Angular. Development was slow, too costly, and we had a huge maintenance overhead to keep these web apps updated and secure. We looked at low-code to lessen this burden.”
Wesly Van Cleempoel, IT Manager, Duvel Moortgat
Organizations create new and innovative products much faster that meet customer expectations and boost employees efficiency and motivation. They can also adapt and change their existing products based on user feedback and data much more easily.
Full-featured low-code platforms like OutSystems also include the capabilities necessary for delivering multiexperiences, allowing organizations to address all the ways customers engage digitally (e.g., touch, voice, and gesture).
Proof point:
“We’re not just improving established products and processes; we’re delivering disruptive innovations that break new ground and require fresh thinking.”
Guðný Herbertsdóttir, Managing Director of Digital, VÍS
The visual programming approach of low-code empowers business and other stakeholders to be a part of the development process.
The result is whole-team or fusion-team collaboration that enables organizations to capitalize successfully on developer knowledge and business expertise. By pulling experts from business and IT to collaborate on cross-functional projects that deliver new applications, organizations can maximize the diverse knowledge and skills they possess.
Proof point:
“By using a low-code platform, developers are able to get out from behind their monitors and spend more time understanding how we can directly add value and why a seemingly small change can make a world of difference.”
Nick Mates, Project Coordinator and Tech Lead, Lendr
Thanks to the reusability of components and modules, development teams don’t have to start each project from scratch or write hundreds of thousands of lines of code. Therefore, adapting and changing applications due to competition, economics, disruption, or the emergence of new opportunities is a fairly quick and easy process.
Proof point:
“Had we not had an approach to code reusability in place, we may not have been able to closely engage with our business users to give them the timely support they needed to serve our customers while adapting to work from home.”
Beatriz Clarke, Software Development Manager at STEMCELL Technologies
Inexperienced developers can quickly build their first apps and understand step-by-step what they are doing. They see almost immediately how they can bring value. As a result, their ramp-up is much smoother, and they can quickly contribute to a high-performing team.
In addition, according to a recent study, developers are 58% more likely to be satisfied with their tools when using low-code than when just using traditional development. This motivation is key for organizations in a time of high developer turnover and tech talent shortage.
Proof point:
“Instead of having to hire experienced developers, we’d be able to upskill our own staff and hire developers at the early stages of their career."
Michael Aldred, Managing Director, thinkmoney
Low-code delivers speed and simplicity so junior developers and tech enthusiasts without a strong development background can build apps as if they were full-stack developers.
Just as importantly, it enables skilled developers to focus on more creative, less mundane aspects of programming. As a result, companies of any size can maximize their existing resources and deliver the solutions their business requires to stay competitive.
Proof point:
“Building new business propositions for the circular economy is an experimental process. That’s why we embraced low-code application development. We need to get to market with new digital solutions quickly and cost-effectively so we can test them with customers. Moreover, we need to refine and adjust them quickly, especially as we roll out to more organizations."
Antoine Le Feuvre, CEO at SUEZ Circular Solutions.
What can you build with a low-code platform? Explore a few app examples
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