Low-Code Doesn’t Mean Low-Control
Today’s IT teams are in a tough spot. They want to look to the future and build applications that change the game, but multiple factors are slowing them down.
Standard software development can be time-consuming, costly, and difficult to iterate. Skill shortages and legacy systems that require increasingly scarce talent only compound these problems. Trying to keep up with demands for more flexible, high-quality applications faster can strain IT’s relationship with lines of business.
The challenges of a standard software development strategy
A standard enterprise software strategy—hand-coding each application and manually managing infrastructure and security—provides a great deal of control, but results in software that’s difficult to iterate, scale, maintain, and govern. Many industries still rely on decades-old technologies like COBOL and mainframes. As seasoned programmers retire, it’s getting harder and harder to replace their expertise in these technologies.
Even if your environment doesn’t include tech that dates back to the Age of Aquarius, standard software development processes are still costly due to reliance on experienced coders and longer development cycles. It’s challenging to enact software development methodologies like continuous integration/continuous delivery or deployment (CI/CD) and shift-left to test earlier and more often. Unlike standard processes, these methodologies uncover problems when they’re less expensive to fix, preventing issues that don't fester and stale apps. Standard processes and legacy tech also limit your ability to take advantage of the agility and scalability of the cloud.
When development is slow and laborious, problems snowball. Business users, tired of hearing “no,” build and procure their own shadow IT solutions. These apps can lead to security risks and governance problems. In addition to dealing with shadow IT, developers are also kept busy maintaining brittle legacy systems. In fact, 42% of organizations say that legacy technology is their top innovation blocker.
All of this mounting technical debt leaves little time to work on modern apps that can become a competitive advantage and transform businesses. To reduce shadow IT, replace legacy tech with modern cloud apps, and make time for the applications that matter most to their businesses, forward-thinking IT teams embrace AI-powered low-code. This is why it’s the future of software development.
Why AI-powered low-code transforms software strategy
A low-code development strategy simplifies and abstracts the software development lifecycle (SDLC) without developers losing control over the code and infrastructure. Organizations can achieve faster time to market without sacrificing quality via pre-built components and integrations, visual interfaces, enterprise-grade security and scalability, and AI-assisted development and QA. Plus, modern low-code platforms make it possible for developers without AI experience to easily build AI-infused apps. Junior developers are empowered to contribute more, while senior developers can shuck off tedious tasks that stifle their creativity and productivity.
Low-code is the light at the end of the tunnel for beleaguered IT teams. You can whittle down long development queues, ease the labor of rebuilding or replacing legacy and shadow IT apps, and reduce technical debt. IT can say “yes” more often to business requests, easing tension and fostering better IT-business team collaboration.
So, finding the right low-code solution is imperative. Look for a provider that offers real, accessible code that can be edited, ported, and tested with your preferred third-party solutions. You should also consider platforms that offer enterprise-grade security and compliance. Of course, reducing risk and repetitive work is important, but it’s just as critical to choose a platform that can scale to millions of users and can reliably support even the most complex app requirements.
To stay ahead as the future of software development continues to evolve, especially around AI use cases, teams should prioritize modern AI-powered low-code platforms like OutSystems. The OutSystems platform has been powered by AI since 2018, which was long before the hype. This includes robust support in building applications that range from small-scale code generation to full-scale app generation, along with recommendations that improve and enhance applications. OutSystems AI capabilities can also help address security vulnerabilities, technical debt, and other maintenance issues. Additionally, OutSystems empowers developers to easily build AI-infused apps, even without AI expertise, enabling the creation of intelligent AI agents that can act autonomously and achieve complex goals.
How IT leaders are adopting low-code as a software strategy
While low-code hasn’t yet been adopted by every organization, it’s become a key component of many enterprise development strategies. According to Forrester, the low-code and digital process automation (DPA) market grew by 21% between 2019 and 2023. And Gartner states that “enterprise low-code application platforms accelerate application development by abstracting common software components, enabling developers to focus efforts on tasks closer to business outcomes.”
Adopting an AI-powered low-code platform has helped organizations like:
- Bosch, which eliminated shadow IT and built a digital factory
- GarantiBank, which replaced its monolithic legacy tech with agile cloud applications
- Entel, which created a center of excellence and skilled up new developers.
Even though leading global brands have implemented low-code as a pillar of their dev strategy, some misconceptions about low-code persist. Because some low-code development tools are designed as black boxes with inaccessible code and limited capabilities, you may wonder how much control a low-code platform can provide. Can you enhance apps with traditional code or integrate existing tools and databases? The quick answer is “yes,” but if you’d like a more comprehensive list of key questions to ask vendors during your platform search, read “Why low-code doesn’t mean low control.”
Low-code: The future of software development
A low-code strategy is critical for long-term software planning. The right modern AI-powered low-code platform can help your organization solve the largest problems plaguing IT teams: skill shortages, slow development cycles, technical debt, and frictive relationships with business leaders who seek innovative applications, not long development queues.
Download our guide—Low-code: Everything you need to know—to learn even more about low-code’s capabilities, benefits, and practical use cases that drive digital innovation forward.
