ITL Recap: Low-Code Development - York Solutions

What is low-code development? Low-code is application development platforms that support graphical, model-driven development methodologies that enable teams to collaborate and rapidly build & deploy enterprise-class, cloud-native applications. Last Friday at our IT Leadership Group meeting, Carey Smith, CTO at Constellation, Inc facilitated a discussion on the topic, Low Code Development. Thank you to Constellation, Inc., for hosting our group!  

IT Executives face many pressures in their day-to-day. Here are some statistics Carey Smith shared with us to kick things off: 

• 54% of business leaders see IT as an obstacle
• 74% of executives are willing to run their own IT projects
• 47% of IT decisions are made outside of IT
• The business-led tech spent is 40% of the IT budget
• By 2020 90% of IT will be controlled outside of IT

“In the new world, it is not the big fish which eats the small fish; it is the fast fish which eats the slow fish” – Klaus Schwab. The benefits of low code development are the velocity and affordability it provides IT teams. The velocity creates robust digital products that can be delivered in a fraction of the time that the traditional products are delivered. The affordability aspect makes it so IT teams can have more hands-on-deck while not requiring the highest level of technical skills. 

Many challenges come with IT, including the traditional baggage of IT, the rapidly changing marketplace, digital & business transformation, and the solution delivery value. On the other hand, there are many responses to these challenges. Some of them being modernization, emerging technology, shift to product model, rapid delivery framework, and agile, modern process & structures.  

Should low code development speed up the business process? 

Challenges continue to remain considering market demand for application development will grow at least 5x faster than its capability, according to Gartner. Could low-code development be part of the solution? Low Code has many benefits, including:  

• Visual and intuitive(design to code, UI design, and development, process workflow, visual drag and click) 
• Reusability (reuse components, functionality, app services)
• Oni channel app development(even non-designers can quickly create rich great-looking apps) 
• Openness and extensibility(support building for any form factor without having to maintain dedicated code) 
• Smart and connected(Connect to IoT, AI, machine learning, and blockchain) 
• Performance(build-in automate testing, proactive quality monitoring, real-time performance management) 
• Continuous integration (DevOps out-of-the-box) 
• Deployment (deploy to the cloud of your choice with one click)

Low code technology helps to simplify the building of software, and according to Gartner, “Low code application platforms will be used for 65% of all application development activity by 2024.” If you were unable to attend, you can view the slide deck here.