CFOs: Are your finance function using low code development technologies to fulfill growing demand for fast application delivery and highly customised automation workflows?
According to Gartner, the worldwide market for low code development technologies is projected to total US$26.9 billion in 2023, up 19.6% from 2022.
In 2026, developers outside formal IT departments will account for at least 80% of the user base for low code development tools, up from 60% in 2021, the advisory firm predicted.
A rise in business technologists and a growing number of enterprise-wide hyperautomation and composable business initiatives will be the key drivers accelerating the adoption of low code development technologies through 2026, the firm added.
Organisations are increasingly turning to low code development technologies to fulfill growing demands for speedy application delivery and highly customised automation workflows, said Varsha Mehta, Senior Market Research Specialist at Gartner.
“Equipping both professional IT developers and non-IT personas — business technologists — with diverse low code tools enables organisations to reach the level of digital competency and speed of delivery required for the modern agile environment.”
Low code application platforms (LCAPs) are projected to be the largest component of the low code development technology market, growing 25% to reach nearly US$10 billion in 2023, Gartner pointed out.
Source: Gartner (December 2022)
While LCAP is the largest market segment, citizen automation development platform (CADP) is projected to grow at the fastest pace, with a 30.2% growth forecast for 2023, Gartner said.
Typical use cases of CADP include automating workflows, building web-based forms, bridging data and content across multiple software-as-a-service applications and creating reports and data visualisations, according to the firm.
“The high cost of tech talent and a growing hybrid or borderless workforce will contribute to low code technology adoption,” said Jason Wong, Distinguished VP Analyst, at Gartner.
“Empowered by the intuitive, flexible and increasingly-powerful features of low code development tools, business technologists and citizen technologist personas are developing lightweight solutions to meet business unit needs for enhanced productivity, efficiency and agility — often as fusion teams,” Wong noted.
Hyperautomation and composability to drive low code adoption
Interest in hyperautomation continues to grow due to rising operational optimisation demands, a widening skills gap and increasing economic pressures, Gartner predicted.
In addition, the firm forecast that the spending on hyperautomation-enabling software technologies will reach US$720 billion in 2023.
A portion of this spending will be directed at low code development technologies including LCAP, iPaaS, RPA, CADP and MXDP, to support process automation, integration, decision analytics and intelligence use cases, Gartner added.
Investments in low code technologies that support innovation and composable integration will also grow as organisations embrace the composable enterprise, according to the firm.
Composable enterprises require better reuse of existing packaged business capabilities (PBCs) for agile application development and to create custom user experience for new workflows and processes, Gartner observed.
“Low code development technologies are supporting the composable enterprise by enabling the creation of more agile and resilient software solutions,” said Wong. “These technologies can be used to compose and recompose modular components and PBCs, to create adaptive custom applications for changing business needs.”
