Software might have been eating the world 10 years ago, but for the vast majority of companies that are looking to develop and launch digital products in 2022, the unstoppable juggernaut that continues to drive the connected society is the app economy.
With literally hundreds of millions of apps available to end users, and thousands being worked on every day, there is little doubt that competitive advantage and brand awareness all comes down to the quality of the app itself.
There is a quiet revolution in progress that has the potential to transform how companies deliver digital products.
And as digital transformation continues to be a question of when and not if, the need for companies to accelerate customer engagement opportunities becomes a critical issue.
While it is app developers that have traditionally carried the burden of being the ones who code, test, code again, test, and launch, there is a quiet revolution in progress that has the potential to transform how companies deliver digital products. To be more specific, the low-code/no-code (LCNC) movement is making a serious push to be the go-to solution for any company that wants to build an app.
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Low-Code/No-Code Integration Is Soaring
Type “low-code no-code” into a search engine and you will find a plethora of resources and options, all of which are designed to point you in the direction of LCNC website design, database management, automation, mobile app design, and more. If the old adage about an app for everything still rings true, then the same can be said of LCMC solutions.
Adoption rates for LCNC platforms have skyrocketed in recent years, with a recent report from Gartner predicting that the market will total $13.8 billion in 2021, representing a compound annual growth rate of 22.6%.
LCNC solutions have grown so popular that the firm doubled down on its financial forecast by stating that these platforms will account for around 65% of all app development by 2024.
That is a significant figure, and one which is in line with a wave of enthusiasm for low-code/no-code that has seen entities as varied as the Hard Rock Café chain, the City of New York, Netflix, and Intuit all integrate this form of development into their digital working practices.
To put it bluntly, there is almost nowhere to hide from the digital disruption that LCNC can bring.
If you want further proof that business leaders don’t always need Gilfoyle-level competency to build the digital products that they want, then consider the fact that Goldman Sachs has just invested $90 million in LCNC platform WS02, with Goldman stating that the need to “connect applications is mission-critical” across the entire app ecosystem. To put it bluntly, there is almost nowhere to hide from the digital disruption that LCNC can bring.
The benefits of integrating a LCNC approach are simple to understand. Not every company has access to in-house coders or app development teams. Although there are reportedly over 24 million people worldwide with that specific set of skills, LCNC platforms are targeted at those of us that don’t have a traditional coding or IT background.
In today’s fast-paced business world, companies need to design, build, and deploy their own applications with a minimum of fuss, and LCNC options can tick those boxes. They not only improve time-to-market, productivity, and business agility, but also save time and money by easing the pressure on IT departments themselves.
In addition, these tools can empower business leaders to think about custom solutions and innovative ways to increase their digital maturity.
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Right Tool, Right Time
While the adoption of low-code/no-code is still a nascent digital development strategy, the ecosystem itself is quite fragmented. Selecting the right tool for the right job can be tough, especially as any solution must fit in with both the company’s business and technical goals.
Often, business leaders will have to ask themselves some fundamental questions before heading down the LCNC path — are we struggling to meet the demand for digital products, how can we increase our digital maturity, are there any hidden costs that we should be aware of, do we need to upgrade our infrastructure to adopt LCNC development processes, to name but a few.
Depending on the answers to these questions, a company may decide to embark on a pilot project first before diving in completely. The business world is continuously disrupted by the latest bright and shiny object, with technology’s continued evolution ensuring that seismic shifts in working processes will happen with increasing regularity.
And while LCNC marks a radical departure from traditional app or software development, taking a proactive approach to these options is likely to bring its own rewards.
LCNC is not designed to solve all your digital product or app problems, rather it is intended to augment existing capabilities and encourage innovation.
What you need to remember is that LCNC is not designed to solve all your digital product or app problems, rather it is intended to augment existing capabilities and encourage innovation. A core part of digital transformation, for instance, is business agility. Introducing LCNC into the mix allows companies to be both bolder and more experimental in the execution of their ideas.
A recent blog post by Forrester analysts highlighted exactly why the low-code/no-code movement needs to be taken seriously.
The so-called citizen developer community, the authors of blog said, is often responsible for an increase in both the number of available applications and the companies adopting these tools, albeit that standard concerns about how secure or compliant an app are still here.
As more enterprises adopt LCNC, there will be a need for developers — both those with coding expertise and those without — to ensure they minimize the chances of vulnerabilities appearing after launch.
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Early Days, Revolutionary Resource
While low-code/no-code is the new kid on the block, we must acknowledge that the revolution is in its early days. App developers are still the ones with (in theory) the power to design and release the digital experiences or products that customers want. So leveraging these tools to increase digital maturity or accelerate digital transformation is not always a slam dunk.
However, LCNC is already demystifying the world of app development and allowing more people to build the apps they want. Coders have always been the ones that can bring digital visions to life, and citizen developers are just another resource for companies to call upon.
What matters is that being able to achieve your business goals with the minimum of time, money, and fuss is exactly why LCNC should be part of the equation, provided that you not only do it right but also use the right tools for the job.
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