The latest low-code trends are heating up the market in 2024

Low-code is all the rage. So if you want to get up to speed on what’s shaping the low-code market and what it means for app development, you’ve come to the right place. In this blog, we’ll cover the basics of low-code, the key trends shaping the low-code market, real-world low-code success stories, and the full potential of low-code.

You want the low-down on low-code? Let’s go.

Introduction to low-code development: Understanding the basics

Let’s start with the big question: What is low-code development, anyway? Let’s see what the analysts say.

The analysts weigh in: But is it enough?

According to Forrester, who coined the term in 2014, low-code is the rapid delivery of business applications with a minimum of hand-coding and minimal upfront investment in setup, training, and deployment. If you ask Gartner, you get this explanation: “Low-code platforms are application platforms that are used to rapidly develop and run custom applications by abstracting and minimizing the use of programming languages.”

Not bad for high-level definitions, if slightly repetitive. But they leave out some key information, such as the hallmark identifier–visual development. I prefer how OutSystems defines it (what can I say? I helped write the definition). “Low-code is a visual software development approach that enables developers to create applications by minimizing traditional, intricate hand-coding processes. It introduces a user-friendly, drag-and-drop development environment that makes app development approachable for coding novices and seasoned pros.”

Don’t let too many cooks spoil your low-code broth

No matter which definition you prefer, they all open the door to pretty much anyone claiming to be low-code just because they offer visual development and drag-and-drop interfaces. But, if you want to create mission-critical business applications that scale, not just any platform calling itself low-code will do. You need an enterprise low-code platform that can help you build perfect consumer applications, automate complex workflows, and modernize your legacy tech—all without compromise. I’ll cover this a little later in the blog.

Now that we’ve had this quick refresher, let’s look at why the market is growing and the key trends.

Why the low-code market keeps growing: Key trends shaping the industry

In case you haven’t heard, AI is taking over the world—and its influence on application development in general, and low-code market trends specifically, is hard to understate. But there’s more than that going on. In this section, we’ll take a look at some low-code trends that are setting the stage for market growth and giving us all a glimpse into the future.

Low-code is mainstream

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read “Low-code is becoming mainstream,” in the last few years. Wake up, bloggers, analysts, and tech journalists! Low-code is mainstream, and it has been for several years. A recent survey conducted by Forrester reveals that 87% of enterprise developers now use low-code development platforms for at least some of their work. It’s no surprise then that Forrester also projects that the low-code market will reach $50 billion in revenue by 2028.

It’s great when something you’ve been doing for a couple of decades catches on like this. OutSystems was low-code before low-code was cool (actually…before it was even called “low-code”), and we’re glad the rest of the world is joining the party–even if they’re a little late. Come on in—the water’s fine!

AI is accelerating low-code and low-code is accelerating AI

I can see you rolling your eyes–why is this no-brainer even in a blog? Well, with all the AI things the world has going on, I can’t skip it. Plus, the pressure to “do AI” is intense. Everyone wants to ramp up their AI strategy. And everyone wants to do it fast. And because low-code development is one way to speed along an AI strategy quickly, companies that use it are going to get their AI to market quicker.

But there’s a flip side to that coin–and it’s a win-win. The most savvy, forward-looking low-code platforms are already using AI (hint: OutSystems) to make it even faster and quicker to build applications–whether they have all the AI bells and whistles or not. Be prepared for the advent of prompts that generate applications and so much more–coming soon to an IDE near you.

Low-code will push shadow IT further into the shadows

As GenAI further democratizes coding, there’s going to be an explosion of shadow IT—non-developers building applications. This sounds a little scary to me, and it should sound a little scary to you, too. Citizen developers going rogue is not the vibe enterprises are looking for and can result in all kinds of risks. But well-trained citizen developers using an enterprise low-code platform with strict guardrails and back-up checks from central IT is a whole different story. It can send shadow IT scuttling to the far corners of the organization–and maybe out the door.

“Platform engineering” and low-code development will be so happy together

Platform engineering is a relatively new concept. It’s been created in response to the increasing cognitive load on developers. It gives them self-service tools and workflows to assist with tasks related to continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) and infrastructure provisioning, for example. The beauty of platform engineering is that it removes infrastructure and operations complexity. Developers can focus on iterating app versions instead of managing infrastructure and security. Does that sound familiar? Maybe kind of like low-code?

Yes, platform engineering is part of what an enterprise low-code platform already does. DevOps tools are built right in, so you get all the benefits of platform engineering without the extra work. Remember how OutSystems did low-code before low-code was cool? You can say the same about platform engineering.

Revolutionizing business processes with low-code solutions: Real-world applications and success stories

So, if you’re curious about how we’re so up on the low-code trends, it’s because they are already at work in more than a thousand OutSystems customers. So, I’m going to let our customers do the talking here. Read on for three examples of our hundreds (hundreds!) of customer success stories or browse through them all in the customer success section of our website.

Fidelidade launches augmented reality for insurance claims

Fidelidade is a long-time OutSystems customer that has built critical employee and customer apps using OutSystems low-code. Their Agent Portal has increased sales efficiency, cross-sell, and up-sell in 7.5% customers, delivering $1.9million in additional revenue. The MyFidelidade app has over 500,000 downloads. Most recently, they’ve made it easier to submit insurance claims with AR–and OutSystems.

KeyBank automates 3,600 tasks

Yeah, you read that right. KeyBank uses OutSystems low-code to make everything run better—and it’s working. As a result, it’s been more than 2 years since anyone in IT has said, "I can’t do that." Instead, OutSystems gives them what they need to figure out a path to yes.

Kent State University isn’t afraid of the B-word anymore

Kent State University (KSU) was fighting a growing backlog (sound familiar?), and finally said: Enough is enough. With OutSystems, they delivered more user-friendly apps that drive a superior student experience. KSU can also evolve its apps very quickly as new feedback comes in.

Categories in the low-code market: A comparison of different types of low-code platforms

Not all low-code is created equal. If you’re looking for a low-code platform, make sure you understand the three basic categories of low-code and select one that will best meet the needs of your organization and needs.

Low-code/no-code platforms for citizen developers

You can argue that no-code platforms don’t belong in the same category as low-code platforms, and I would agree. But for all intents and purposes, we’re lumping them together because the market does.

Who are these platforms for?

The platforms in this category often offer higher levels of code abstraction to empower business users or citizen developers—in other words, users with no development background—to create the applications they need to use daily.

What functions and features do they offer?

These platforms include almost exclusively “basic” low-code capabilities like model-driven or graphical programming approaches with scripting. The more simple tools are also categorized as no-code, offering the opportunity to build simple applications completely visually without any programming knowledge.

What are their use cases?

These low-code/no-code platforms are designed to meet departmental-level needs, like a vacation request or an approval routing app.

Workflow-based low-code platforms

This category solves the need to digitalize workflows, from business processes to case management.

What functions and features do they offer?

These low-code platforms focus on process automation, and they often have more functionality and features than low-code/no-code platforms. Therefore, they typically include more advanced low-code capabilities to solve simple to complex workflows.

What are their use cases?

These platforms are perfect for addressing anything that can be solved with automation and workflows, from an expense approval process to claims handling to shipping and distribution.

Unfortunately, not everything can be solved with workflows. So for use cases related to customer experience that require more personalization, these platforms tend to fall short.

Enterprise low-code

The enterprise low-code category includes the most modern and advanced low-code platforms.

What functions and features do they offer?

Enterprise low-code provides end-to-end application development and updates. No additional licensing, no scalability issues, and no data “do-overs” are needed as organizations move from department apps to enterprise-wide software.

Development teams can build any type of software solution, from user interfaces, frontends, backends, and automation while becoming cloud-native powerhouses without learning new skills. They can use the platform’s out-of-the-box capabilities, grab reusable components and UI templates from a repository, and extend the platform capabilities with custom code so they never hit a wall.

What are their use cases?

Enterprise low-code is designed to tackle complex, strategic, mission-critical consumer and internal software. In other words, organizations can build anything they need without the complexity of traditional development, or the limitations of simpler low-code platforms.

Want to explore the best low-code platform for your use case? Check out this article.

Navigating the landscape of low-code development: Strategies for harnessing its full potential

If we had to pick just one pro tip for harnessing the full potential of a low-code strategy, here it is: THINK BIG.

Can you roll out a low-code program to build one or two employee-facing apps? Sure. But should you? No.

If you do low-code right, it’s not going to help you ship a few apps—it’s going to completely change the way you deliver everything. So don’t get stuck on whatever your current burning priorities are: Think ahead to what you can do on a large scale to maximize the benefits of low-code development.

You can build apps that delight your users: customers, employees, and anyone else:

• Create market-differentiating software that is app-store ready
• Go desktop, go mobile, go both—build any app for any device
• Customize without compromise for your exact use case

You can build apps that make work easier:

• Digitalize manual and time-consuming processes
• Automate complex workflows
• Help employees work smarter

You can build apps that extend existing systems (especially those legacy monoliths):

• Overcome the limitations of legacy tech
• Work with what you have, instead of against it
• Preserve existing investments without stifling innovation

You can build core systems that are mission-critical and perfectly customized for your business:

• Leave behind the limitations of commercial off-the-shelf software
• Build exactly what you need, without compromise
• Stay safe with enterprise-ready security and governance

Have we gotten your wheels turning? There’s more where that came from. To inspire you to build great things, we’ve also created an App Library to showcase some of what our customers are doing. Check the library out!

Embracing low-code: How to find a platform and reap the benefits

Low-code is the future of software development. And an enterprise low-code platform is the best way to embrace this future. So, it’s a good idea for you to know what capabilities to look for so that you can take advantage of its benefits.

Enterprise low-code: Before you commit

In your low-code platform evaluation process, here’s what you should look for:

• AI and GenAI assistance: Many low-code platforms offer limited AI assistance. But to benefit from AI, you need an enterprise low-code platform, which has AI at every stage, from code suggestions and automated security checks to tools for building apps that use GenAI.
• Custom code extensions: Your enterprise has advanced and unique application requirements. Your low-code platform should support all the custom code you need to address them.
• Generated code: Most low-code platforms generate apps based on interpreted models, which makes it difficult to check for bugs or security issues. Look for a low-code platform that automatically generates real code so you can run it anywhere and scan it for anything.
• Automated SDLC: A robust low-code platform takes the pain out of managing the software development lifecycle (SDLC) by supporting each phase–all in one place. But if you want to integrate with other tools, you should be able to!
• Integrated governance: Enterprise low-code platforms come with built-in tools and features that assist with this, helping ensure that the applications developed are secure and compliant.
• True cloud-native: There are vendors that say “cloud-native”… and then there’s cloud-native. So, make sure your low-code platform is the real deal. (Hint: If you can’t auto-scale based on demand or do backend maintenance without downtime…it’s not the real deal.)

The enterprise low-code platform that doesn’t compromise on any of these capabilities is the one you should adopt.

Enterprise low-code: After you adopt

Adopt an enterprise low-code platform and your IT life will be so much better. Why? Well, for one, you’re going to build apps that blow people’s minds. Low-code isn’t just about shipping faster—it’s about shipping better apps faster. Co-create with the business (changing requirements? no problem!). Architect for tomorrow with cloud-native capabilities, GenAI, and more. The business will love you, and so will your users.

And you know what else? You’ll ship so fast your stakeholders will hug you. Low-code platforms help you bust your backlogs and win back stakeholder trust by helping you deliver 10x faster than traditional development.

Plus, you’re going to manage operations with your eyes closed. Well, not quite. In fact, you shouldn’t manage operations with a sunshade in place. But with the help of an enterprise low-code platform, you can easily customize controls, unify all your SDLC processes, and continually monitor and improve app performance with minimum effort.

And finally, you’re going to strike tech debt down. It’s a noble cause that everyone can get behind, and it can be a reality. Enterprise low-code platforms make it easier to always be iterating, so you can continuously evolve your app estate and easily respond to change. With the right low-code platform, you don’t just get to version 1 quickly—you also get to version 100 quickly–without releasing something that only partly works because of a deadline.

Now’s the time to be trendy

The handwriting is on the wall. Low-code is trending and the market keeps growing. So, this is not the time to pride yourself on ignoring trends. Instead, set yourself up as a trendsetter by using enterprise low-code to get your applications to market faster and more easily.

It’s time to learn more about OutSystems, a leading low-code platform in the latest Gartner Magic Quadrant for Low-Code Application Platforms.