Traditional software development is, there’s no denying it, a complex and lengthy process. No matter how agile and iterative our software development processes are, it takes time to build a software application from scratch. That’s absolutely acceptable if you need a really secure, high-quality, future-proof solution that meets complex business requirements. However, with the pace of digitization accelerating at rollercoaster speed, it is hard for IT teams to keep up with the soaring demand for new apps. That’s where low-code development platforms come to the rescue!
+65% of applications will be developed on a low-code application platform by 2024.
Gartner: Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Low-Code Application - 2019
OutSystems, Microsoft Power Platform and Mendix are just a few of the many low-code application development platforms (LCAP) on the market today. While each has its own usability, integration, scalability and configuration capabilities and payment and licensing models, they all share a common goal: to reduce the amount of development time or expertise required to build applications. To do so, low-code platforms bundle a series of visual development tools that help to create the user interface, the data model and the business logic with intuitive drag-and-drop features. With the click of a button, applications can be deployed in any environment and on any device.
The benefit of LCAPs is crystal clear: because they dramatically reduce the complexity of software development, they speed up the process of building applications. With a low-code platform, your application comes to life in weeks or even days – instead of months. Moreover, they can be changed easily whenever required. More than helping you respond to business needs much faster, LCAPs also lower software development costs and they help developers to get more done. With low-code, they can spend more time creating and building and less time on repetitive work.
Do LCAPs have a bright future? Absolutely! When you need new applications quickly and off-the-shelf apps won’t do, LCAPs may be good idea. Do they meet every software application need? Not yet. Certain very stringent non-functional requirements – like extreme peak performance for example – might still benefit a classical approach. Or maybe your specific problem domain really requires the full freedom of a classical programming environment to tackle specific challenges. But these projects are increasingly becoming the exception rather than the rule.
So, how do you make the choice? We will help. Cegeka starts every software application development project with a foundation phase: a deep dive into the nature of your organization to understand your needs and business drivers. Based on these insights, we will select the development approach (traditional or low-code) and the technology that best matches your needs. As a vendor-independent software supplier, we can give you unbiased advice on the best choice for your setup and long- and short-term goals.
Learn why the foundation phase is the basis for software success
Important to note: the way our software engineers approach low-code software development doesn’t differ that much from traditional software development. For years, our software factory has sworn by an agile, iterative approach: we develop in short sprints, ask for your feedback and test continuously to ensure that changes have the least possible impact on the timing. Improvements are made all the time to an application that is constantly evolving.
Moreover, we always work in close cooperation with your team: your product owners are part of the development team. We organize daily sprints, communicate extensively and transparently and constantly gauge your feedback. Thanks to that collaborative development process, everyone can have visibility over, and contribute to, the ongoing project.
Low-code development may sound like everyone can start building business apps in hours. Theoretically, they can. In reality, however, a software development background is going to be necessary for anything but the most trivial applications, even in low-code. Moreover, our team includes developers who are certified in the most common LCAPs. They will help you adopt, build out, manage and govern your low-code platform. They can even combine the speed and agility of low-code with the power of traditional development.
More than building apps with a LCAP, we can also introduce you to the concept and help you kickstart your low-code development journey.
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Delivering first-class software applications: that’s what Cegeka is renowned for, with projects for hundreds of companies and public sector organizations under our belt. Keep reading our software development blog post series to discover the secret to the high-quality, secure and future-proof software we build – on whatever platform that best fits your needs.