Low code is the future of enterprise development. Here’s why.

Today, 84% of enterprises use low code solutions to enable employees without IT skills to build simple workplace apps. In 2021, investment in low code systems hit $13.9 billion – up 20% on the previous year – and Forbes branded low code development their Most Disruptive Tech Trend of the Year. By 2025, Gartner predicts that 75% of enterprise IT apps will be built using low code development.

What’s driving this low code revolution among enterprises, and why should you care?

Reason #1:  The shift to self-service started long ago. Low code will complete it.

Over the last decade, enterprises have focused their digital transformation journey on digitalizing customer touchpoints and building seamless, technology-enabled customer experiences.

Now, enterprises must finish the job by making their back-end processes truly efficient, to deliver on customers’ expectations.

Low code solutions like Microsoft Power Platform, Mendix, OutSystems and others enable organizations to do just that, by connecting data and systems to provide full visibility across supply chains and – in turn – boost enterprise productivity.

A retailer might use low code development to build an inventory-tracking app, for example, with a QR scanner for tracking incoming stock deliveries. The company can share this data with customers to keep them updated on their orders, with their warehouse team to accelerate inventory audits, and with their finance team to support management accounting.

Reason #2: Traditional enterprise IT models can no longer meet demand. And demand is surging.

Self-service low code systems boost enterprise productivity by empowering employees to automate manual, repetitive tasks.

Ops team need to check staff numbers in the office after COVID-19? Build an app.

Sales team need to record leads in the field? Build an app.

App no longer needed? Throw it away!

Previously, development and maintenance of these types of apps landed at the desks of professional developers in enterprises’ IT teams, distracting them from business-critical responsibilities. Empowering staff to self-build digital tools within robust, secure environments like Microsoft Power Platform frees these professionals to focus on enacting digital transformation and other specialist projects.

That’s important, given enterprises’ lack of access to professional developers. Across the globe, firms face a shortage of 40m skilled workers – a number that’s predicted to double by 2030. Data analytics, IT, mobile and web design or management roles rank as the hardest to fill, worldwide.

Changing employee expectations are the other side of the coin. 96% of employees not already using low code tools would be willing to use them. Demand is particularly high among younger employees that now comprise the majority of workforces. Millennials and Gen-Z employees are digital natives that prioritize workplace flexibility over all other factors. Their digital-first mindset means they’re significantly more likely to be building their own tech solutions already, including using non-company-approved communication and collaboration tools for their work.

Low code systems that empower employees to build solutions quickly, simply and safely boost workplace productivity and satisfaction. In a recent Salesforce survey, 91% of respondents said that using low code systems saved them time and fostered better work-life balance. Organizations concerned about ‘The Great Resignation’ – take note!

Reason #3:  Low code development is evolving fast, and workplace habits are evolving with it.

In the future, low code development will be like electricity in our own homes: so ubiquitous, we don’t even think of it as ‘technology’.

This is because low code is already reshaping IT models – not least by changing organizations’ reliance on professional developers. And the space is evolving with exceptional speed, making low code development ever more useful and accessible for non-coders.

Today’s low code systems typically require users to build apps by assembling system ‘blocks’. Tomorrow’s systems will use technology like GitHub’s CoPilot to allow users to type in what they want their app to do, and AI will deliver it. In the future, low-code platform providers are also likely to focus on offering sector-specific solutions, such as app-building programs for healthcare professionals.

More useful systems will encourage more enterprise users. Employees’ working habits will change accordingly. Soon, our default for solving small workplace problems will be to build a simple app – just as we now email or instant messaging tools, where we once used paper and pen.

Seize the opportunity

While the majority of enterprises are already using low code development, it takes time for organizations to learn to use systems like Microsoft Power Platforms to their full potential.

Sogeti is on hand to support you to scale and secure low code development in your organization, by supporting you to test and build the business case for low code, train your teams and support app development, and implement end-to-end governance for low code development.

With our help, Rabobank employees developed 1,500 low code apps in just the first twelve months – unlocking the full value of Microsoft Power Platform to drive team productivity.

Once enterprises grasp the opportunity offered by low code development, their only way is up. To hear more about our experiences of supporting teams to realize their potential, get in touch today.