Will 2021 be "The Year of Low-Code"? Leading industry experts such as the analyst firms Forrester Research and Gartner are predicting just that. What makes them think so? According to the US analysts, 75% of the world's enterprise software will be developed with low-code this year. Forrester Research also forecasts that the market value of low-code vendors is expected to reach $22 billion by 2022.
 

Change promotes progress

What role does the COVID-19 pandemic play in this? Since it began in the spring of 2020, the pandemic has made it clear how important it is for companies to focus on digitization. In order to maintain business operations even in the face of changing and thus challenging working conditions, a rapid conversion, adaptation and scaling was and is necessary.

Software applications also represent an important link that holds the global economy together. Of course, the need for professional application development has not just existed since the Corona crisis. However, the demand for rapid software development has increased significantly. Low-Code applications can provide enormous support, and that is what makes the technology so important for 2021 and the entire trend development.
 

Low-Code is the future

In order to establish software applications in a company, a competent IT department is usually required in addition to the relevant software provider. One advantage of Low-Code technology is that the respective department does not need to have any or limited programming knowledge. The applications are designed in that way that anyone can work with them and also adapt them if necessary. In order to drive forward its own digitization, the company does not necessarily have to have suitable IT personnel with special Low-Code knowledge.

Low-Code applications do not start from scratch during development. Only a small part of the code is programmed manually. The rest is developed using ready-made specialized modules and adapted to the individual project requirements. Finally, it is possible to generate up to 99% of the program code automatically (please also see Fishery Management System for the Federal Administration „FIT“). Low-Code applications are developed much faster than classic software solutions, allowing Low-Code to keep up with the immensely increasing demand.

However, this simplicity in the development process does not mean that Low-Code is only suitable for simple applications - quite the contrary. Since the individual modules have been tested many times, their quality and reliability is high. Thus, they are also suitable or even predisposed for demanding and mission-critical applications. There are also no limits to the functionality.

Even though supply and demand are increasing, the question of who will ultimately design and program the applications still remains open. Given the high shortage of skilled workers in the IT industry, this could become a problem. Low-code counteracts this, however, because even career changers can use the technology to develop sophisticated applications. Computer science expertise is not necessarily required to develop an application with the already programmed Low-Code modules.

Many Low-Code developers originally come from the natural sciences or even business administration.

So calling 2021 "The Year of Low-Code" sends a clear message: Low-Code leads to a huge increase in efficiency in software development, resulting from the high demand for fast and sophisticated enterprise applications. We are happy to be a part of it.