If low-code isn’t already on your business’ agenda, chances are it soon will be. Gartner predicts that by 2025, 70% of new applications developed by enterprises will use low-code or no-code technologies – up from less than 25% in 2020. A means of quickly creating digital applications quickly with less reliance on coding skills, low-code empowers organisations to create apps that can be easily adapted to constantly changing needs and scaled as required.
With numerous different challenges to contend with – the ongoing digitalisation surge, developer skills shortages, rising inflation and financial pressures, to name just a few – businesses need to be proactive to mitigate the impact of the challenging landscape on future plans and strategic goals. But how does low-code fit into this, and why is it soaring up business agendas now?
How does low-code answer businesses’ challenges today?
As demonstrated perfectly by the pandemic, businesses need to be able to evolve at pace. As teams, goals, and processes change quickly, so too must technology stacks and critical business applications. However, the ‘great resignation’ and the ‘great retirement’ have resulted in a shortage of coding skills, leaving many businesses unable to acquire the technical skills they need to keep up in the digitalisation race.
Instead, low-code applications allow organisations to utilise the skills they already have in the business. It allows organisations to rapidly build and deploy simple to high complexity applications by fostering a collaborative environment, bringing the existing operational and technical sides of the business together to work simultaneously within a single platform. This enables subject matter experts to contribute in a way that is intuitive to their specific experience, allowing them to input into the construction of the application and understand what’s being built as it’s being built. This circumvents the traditional and lengthy development and feedback cycles, helping organisations to achieve time to value quickly.
Low-code is also typically more agile and cost-effective than traditional app development. As costs and inflation continue to soar, we expect that more businesses will upgrade tech by building on what they’ve got, rather than ‘ripping and replacing’ their tech stacks. Low-code also has the advantage over this approach because of its scalability and longevity – applications can grow and evolve as the business does, transitioning from dozens to thousands of users, and hundreds of thousands of transactions.
Key considerations for implementing low-code
To reap the benefits low-code offers, it’s crucial to use a platform that is fit for your needs and capable of creating scalable, enterprise-grade applications. Creating a strategy that includes governance is crucial for this reason. Some LCAPs feature built-in governance, where applications are developed and published in an approved standards-based platform that offers monitoring tools to provide insights into use, performance, permissions, and audit trail. This ensures the application is secure and developed with the necessary oversight and in accordance with necessary rules and regulations.
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As well as consideration for the type of platform and the features required, organisations looking to implement the technology also need to consider the necessary shift in mindset, from siloed work to collaboration and contribution. Successful adoption of low-code is also dependent on getting all business users onboard from the start, properly training app creators and end users under the supervision of IT to ensure consistency and governance.
So, why low code in 2023? Predicted recession impact on budgets; tech skills shortages; ongoing digitalisation needs. These issues are all driving organisations to improve internal collaboration and automate mission critical processes quickly and cost effectively. With the right tools and preparations in place, low-code can accelerate the development of intuitive, enterprise-grade, compliant and scalable applications, ticking all the boxes of the time and skills poor, rapidly digitalising, multi-faceted businesses of today.
Adela Wiener, CEO at Aurachain
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