Measuring the benefits of low-code development
A study of the low-code market has revealed some intriguing patterns, and demonstrated how this flexible digital transformation tool is helping companies to stay relevant in a rapidly changing market.
At Netcall, we’ve spent years helping companies create custom applications and digital services with minimal coding. It goes without saying that we’re big fans of technology like low-code development and RPA, which can support digital process automation in a simple, cost-effective manner.
But we wanted to see what our customers thought. So we decided to conduct some market research among our client base. We spoke to over 50 customers and industry respondents, using an app we built in one day with our Liberty Create low-code solution. As well as demonstrating first-hand how powerful low-code applications can be, the results of our survey provide fascinating reading…
Bringing people together
Our survey took in Netcall customers and respondents from multiple industries, and varying backgrounds. 44% of respondents had only started using low-code platforms within the last year, though a number of forward-facing companies reported adoption dating back to 2015.
Responsibility for app development was mainly split between IT people (64 per cent), business people (12 per cent) and collaborations (23 per cent). The majority of respondents reported greater collaboration between these two often distinct (and competing) divisions when designing and building low-code apps.
That suggests low-code can help to foster partnerships between departments that might not be understanding of (or sympathetic to) each other’s pressure points and challenges. IT teams in particular are often overstretched, and demands by other departments for coding or apps are less likely to cause frustration if these requests can be met quickly and easily.
See how they brought together two IT specialists and two business analysts to build 16 different systems within 12 months. Each one making huge financial and resource savings.
Better, faster, stronger
Every organisation in our survey was planning to create more apps during the next twelve months. Some were intending to launch a couple, whereas others were planning to create dozens. One respondent indicated an intention to launch between 50 and 100 new apps in the coming year, which simply wouldn’t be possible without low-code’s simplicity and versatility.
Although Netcall’s survey provides a rare glimpse into the mindsets of the companies relying on low-code technology, Gartner’s 2019 evaluation of low-code development technologies revealed two-thirds of all application development will be handled using low code by 2024. Gartner also concluded that three-quarters of large enterprises planned to use at least four low-code development tools within five years. Most respondents to Netcall’s survey only used one platform, though a number of organisations were using three or four low-code platforms.
When we asked whether IT developers found low-code to be faster than traditional development methods, almost 90 per cent of people said yes. Indeed, 70 per cent of respondents to our survey cited the ability to speed up app development time as a key reason for choosing a low-code solution. Other high-scoring responses included being able to reduce costs or accelerate digital process automation (both 56 per cent), enabling greater innovation (50 per cent), and reducing the need to hire hard-to-find development resources (38 per cent). One in six respondents wanted to reduce or clear an existing application backlog, while closer collaboration between business and IT divisions was cited by almost a quarter of respondents as a key benefit of adopting low-code.
See how they used low-code to deliver a finance business system project, four months ahead of schedule and less than one-third of anticipated cost.
They go high, we go low-code
Forrester analytics also published a key report in 2019. It stated that 50 per cent of developers are already using low code platforms, or planning to adopt them in the next 12 months. This was a notable increase on the number of people making similar statements in 2018, suggesting that the benefits of low-code are being increasingly recognised and understood across the business community. Low-code developers were statistically more likely to prioritise the ability to innovate than companies with no plans to use low-code, while they were also more likely to have a focus on improving products and services and increasing their influence in the market.
Forrester has previously described Netcall’s low-code platform as one of the most significant in the market, highlighting its ability to help our customers move towards a smarter future. After all, if a process isn’t digital here in 2020, it’s arguably not worth being called a process. With the events of the last nine months increasingly driving us all online, having a healthy digital presence is more critical than ever. If growth and innovation are key goals for your brand or business, low-code is the most cost-effective path to follow.
Take a look at the full results from our survey. Or if you would like to see how low-code can help your organisation follow the link below or talk to us.
Take a look at the full results
