As organizations look to become more agile, automate business processes, and create new web and mobile applications to meet consumer demand, tools that automate development are becoming increasingly key. This is especially important as the IT talent shortage continues.
Technologies such as low-code and no-code platforms , which can automate processes and empower workers to perform tasks, are experiencing significant growth.
This is clear from a recent Gartner study, according to which, in the last four years, sales of ‘low code’ and no-code application platforms grew remarkably, going from 3,470 million dollars in 2019 to 8,000 million expected for this year.
Over the next two years, this segment is forecast to be the fastest growing segment of the “hyperautomation” technologies market .
With this, the consultant’s forecast is that the ‘low code’ and no-code platforms will grow by 25% to reach 10,000 million dollars in 2023, and 12,300 in 2024. This, as Varsha Mehta, senior research specialist, points out Gartner’s market report, confirms the interest in these technologies.
“Organizations are increasingly turning to low-code development technologies to meet the growing demands for faster application delivery and highly customized automation workflows.”
In addition, the company expects hyperautomation technologies, such as business process automation, robotic process automation, and citizen development and automation platforms, to reach nearly $32 billion by 2024.
The high cost of technology talent and a growing hybrid or remote workforce will contribute to the adoption of ‘low code’ technology.
According to a Morgan Stanley report, there are 26 million developers in the world, and it is expected that by 2024, 38 million of these professionals will be required.
Since low-code technology is designed to fill that IT talent gap by allowing virtually anyone to be a developer, Gartner predicts that by 2025, 70% of new applications developed by enterprises will use low-code technologies. code’ or no code, compared to less than 25% in 2020.
In this scenario, ongoing digitization projects increase the pressure on existing resources. In fact, a Salesforce study found that 72% of IT leaders say project delays now prevent them from working on strategic projects.
‘Low code’, a personal and professional bet
Although low code and no-code platforms are the largest market segment, citizen automation development platforms are expected to grow the fastest, with a forecast of 30.2% by 2023. Among typical use cases highlights automating workflows , creating web-based forms, connecting data and content across multiple software-as-a-service applications, and creating reports and data visualizations.
By 2026, developers outside IT departments will account for at least 80% of the low-code development tool user base.
Gartner predicts that by 2026, developers outside IT departments will account for at least 80% of the low-code development tool user base, up from 60% in 2021.
Along the same lines, IDC shows that the global shortage of full-time developers will increase from 1.4 million in 2021 to 4 million by 2025. This means that the workforce of full-time developers worked at 90.8 % of its capacity in 2021, but it will be at only 84.9% in 2025.
But at the same time that citizen developers are turning to low-code and no-code platforms, about a third of professional developers are also using these tools to simplify development and speed build times, according to Forrester Research.
According to a survey carried out in January by IDC of 380 companies, 48.6% of those surveyed are buying ‘low code’ or no-code platforms to promote innovation internally. The second most important reason for purchasing the software tools (39.3%) was “needs related to the pandemic”.
Low-code platforms require very little coding; instead, they use a modular toolset to build business applications . By comparison, no-code platforms only require text input for simple formulas or expressions.
All this means that ‘low code’ development technologies are allowing the creation of more agile and resistant software solutions. These technologies can be used to compose and recompose modular components and packaged business capabilities, to create custom applications adaptable to changing needs.
