No-code / low-code: why you should pay attention

We’ve all heard the hype about low-code and no-code platforms lately. The promise of no-code platforms is that they make software development as easy as using Word or PowerPoint, so the average business user can move projects forward without the added expense (in money and time) of a technical team. Unlike platforms without code, low-code platforms still require coding skills, but they promise to speed up software development by letting developers work with pre-written code components.

According to Gartner, 65% of application development will be low-code by 2024.

I was involved in an early comparative productivity benchmark between traditional development (using Java) and a model-driven low-code / no-code development project in 2017. The results were impressive: 5x to 7x productivity improvement with low-code / no-code development. A study by No-Code Census in 2020 showed a productivity gain of 4.6 times over traditional programming.

Low-code / no-code: a fragmented market

The low-code / no-code landscape is complex, with numerous solutions, platforms and sub-markets. For example, there are sub-markets targeting large companies, medium-sized companies and small companies. Enterprise low-code / no-code platforms offer high scalability, performance, security and integration with business applications. They are usually more expensive. Here’s Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for enterprise low-code platforms:

Gartner defines a low-code application platform (LCAP) as’ an application platform that supports rapid, one-step application development, implementation, execution, and management using declarative, high-quality programming abstractions, such as model-driven and metadata-based programming languages. “

G2 offers a similar landscape overview for small businesses. There isn’t really a crossroads between the low-code platforms for small businesses and enterprises. Some vendors of small business platforms will not be known or recognized in companies. Likewise, small and medium businesses usually don’t buy the enterprise platforms mainly because of their pricing and complexity.

Not surprisingly, many low-code platforms are business process management platforms. BPM has long supported model-driven development (MDD) – where you first diagram how software should work before building it. These diagrams are similar to the BPM process map approach where, to specify a business process, you drag and drop shapes representing sub-processes in the correct order. (The most popular standard for process mapping supported by most BPM platforms is BPMN.) Thus, process-oriented low-code solutions are quite popular. Examples of BPM low-code / no-code platforms are Appian, Pega and Outsystems. (Disclosure: I previously worked as VP of BPM Technology at Pega.)

But there are other paradigms under the low-code / no-code umbrella:

Website low-code / no-code platforms: Companies of all sizes can take advantage of these platforms. The main contenders are WordPress, Wix, Squarespace and WebFlow.

Database management low-code / no-code platforms: At the top (enterprise) you have platforms such as Mendix. At the bottom you have Airtable. There are also NoSQL database low code / no code platforms such as KgBase for knowledge graphs.

Automated integration of low-code / no-code platforms: There are several exciting and emerging platforms in this domain: Zapier, Parabola and Integromat fall into this category. These tools allow you to develop powerful and complex integration flows relatively quickly. Here’s an example of a Parabola workflow that pulls out of an API, does some data manipulations, and then sends it to another API. The automated workflow can be on demand, scheduled or called via a webhook.

Mobile Application Development: Most low-code / no-code platforms, such as Bubble, provide responsive UI capabilities for mobile applications. Others provide native support for the leading mobile operating systems (iOS and Android). Thunkable is arguably the ultimate example of low-code / no-code mobile application development.

Many of these platforms offer a rich collection of plugins and templates for certain types of applications.

Other categories of low-code / no-code platforms focus on specific application areas or niches:

• E-commerce and online stores: A leading example in this category is Shopify.
• Work management: A good example in this category is Monday.com.
• ERP applications: An interesting example here – also mentioned in Gartner’s MQ – is Zoho. Another important and impactful platform for ERP and CRM is Salesforce.
• Blockchain and IoT: Atra is an example in this category – for blockchain.
• Artificial intelligence: A fascinating area for low-code / no-code is AI, and we are now starting to see the emergence of tools in this area. An example here is C3 AI Ex Machina.

Low-code / no-code challenges

Low-code / no-code platforms have many advantages, but they also present some challenges and involve a learning curve. Many best practices are just emerging and are relatively immature. This is a critical liability. With traditional programming, there is a wealth of experience, robust communities and documented best practices. In many ways, low-code / no-code is still in its infancy – even though MDD has been around for a long time: especially with BPM platforms.

Here are some of the more critical low code / no code challenges:

1. It is about a culture change: Low-code / no-code requires a change in the culture of an organization, whether that organization is an enterprise or a startup. Changing the culture to wipe out silos is not easy. It requires executive vision and approval. It also requires the allocation of budget and empowerment to a non-code / non-code digital transformation competence center.

2. It takes time and effort to get to know the platforms: Low-code / no-code increases speed and productivity. But it is not easy. The tools and platforms are non-trivial, and developing a level of expertise takes time. This is one of the most misunderstood aspects of low code / no code. Complex programming constructs such as nested loops are easier on any platform.

3. You may need multiple platforms: Some platforms are more complete than others. For example, Unqork and Bubble are designed for use in any use situation and thus offer many options for integration with business systems. However, they can benefit greatly from other components that specialize in specific areas; for example Bubble together with for example Parabola or the Zapier plug-in for automated integration. The data manipulation and integration capabilities in Parabola or Zapier are easier to work with than the native in Bubble. There are other plug-ins or technology components that complement low-code / no-code platforms with additional technologies: check out the technology partnerships for Unqork or the extensive list of plug-ins for Bubble for example.

4. Resources and community support are scarce: Many low-code / no-code platforms are relatively immature. There are millions of developers – sometimes tens of millions – for conventional programming languages. Many online and on-site courses and books and materials are readily available for languages ​​such as Java or C #. There are multiple communities and resources for outsourcing. It’s a very different low-code / no-code scenario – especially for the more recent platforms.

5. Prices can be confusing: Enterprise low-code / no-code platforms are generally unnecessarily expensive. The medium and small platforms are less expensive, but tend to be less scalable. The involvement of multiple platforms for an end-to-end solution further complicates pricing issues.

Those are just some of the major challenges. They make it clear that low-code / no-code is not a panacea. However, it remains a formidable trend to develop innovative solutions for both established companies and startups.

We should expect to hear about more challenges in this space as it matures. And there will be failed projects. But the benefits – especially in accelerating development speed and productivity – will win the day.

Are you ready?

Dr Setrag Khoshafian is a Co-Founder at Startup Assistant and Principal and Chief Scientist at Khosh Consulting. Previously, he was VP BPM Technology at Pega, Senior VP Technology at Savvion and CTO at Portfolio Technologies and is a member of the Cognitive World Think Tank on enterprise AI.

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