LowCode and Your Business

LowCode and LowCodeNoCode are buzz words that every industry seems to be using.

Quotes like:

No-code/low-code market will grow to $30 billion by 2025

By 2025, 70 percent of new apps developed by enterprises will use low-code or no-code technologies

These tools are powerful enough to help business owners to build products and services without facing the overhead of software development and unveil innovation in a completely different way

They make it sound like LowCode is the solution to every business problems, and can dramatically change their IT depts.

The truth is much more complex, with a 'yes.... but'.

The first question is what is LowCode, there are 2 answers:

1. The Evolution of ProCode
2. The Empowerment of Citizen Developers

1. The Evolution of ProCode

To say LowCode is something new is simply not right, the evolution of coding has always been from high complex code, to lower simple code.

The direction of the pyramid makes things little more complex to link to LowCode, as High Level Code is actually Lower Code then LowCode, with each level of abstraction from the hardware decreasing the level of code done by the developer.

Low level (High Code) - binary
Mid level (Mid Code) - assembly
High level (Lower Code) - java etc

This evolution is now shown not only with new coding languages, but frameworks. Frameworks and packages are the current frontier of LowCode, wth reusability and standardisation decreasing level of coding developers need to do.

So is LowCode going to change IT depts, yes it already has, and it will continue to do so.

2. The Empowerment of Citizen Developers

This is what we really think of when we here LowCode, this is the $30 Billion dollar market Gartner are talking about. This LowCode is platforms/software, with different companies using their proprietary code and UI to create their own flavour of LowCode.

This is aimed at a totally different market, to solve different problems. The 3 problems it can solve are:

• Accelerated Enterprise Delivery
• Empowering people with key skills to create solutions without code
• Simplified path for small scale solution deliveries

Accelerated Enterprise Delivery

This is when LowCode is added to an existing techstack, an example would be using a Power App, linked to a custom API sourcing data from Azure database.
The Power App allows rapid development cycles for feature updates, and simpler access control, while the rest of the tech stack ensure scalability and security.

Empowering people with key skills to create solutions without code

Applications in particular require multiple skill sets, they need to be designed to not only look good, but with intuitive UI and solve the business need.
Having a naturally talented designer be able to create the app, or a user from the dept with the business knowledge, are benefits that are hard not to appreciate.

Simplified path for small scale solution deliveries

With IT depts often stretched maintaining legacy systems, they very rarely have time for small scale solutions. Its why every business will have multiple shadow IT teams, and why Excel is used so much.

LowCode is a great solution for small low return on investment projects, replacing Excel and macros alone would alone be billion dollar market.

LowCode is very much the future, for both Pro Code and Citizen Developers, but for the second there needs to be some understanding of its limitations:

• Citizen Developers will never replace or even out number (by delivery volumes) pro developers
• All the controls, checks and bureaucracy with pro code development are there for a reason, and should still be there for Citizen Developers
• Not everyone can be a Citizen developer, they still need the non coding skills for app development
• Platform choice is key, as once committed to a platform you are locked in. Are there enough developers out there, will the company continue to support/develop it

There are still more benefits to LowCode with Citizen developers then limitations, but it isn't the solution to all problems, and should be part of a broad strategy for each company.