Low-code tech market to reach US$13.8 billion in 2021

The global low-code development tech market is expected to grow by 22.6% this year to US$13.8 billion, according to data released today by Gartner.

Driven primarily by factors influenced by the pandemic last year, COVID-19 restrictions will continue to drive a surge in remote development in 2021, which in turn will boost low-code adoption, Gartner says.

Low-code application platforms (LCAP) are particularly strong, and are predicted by Gartner to remain the largest component of the low-code development technology market through 2022, increasing nearly 30% from 2020 to reach $5.8 billion in 2021.

"While low-code application development is not new, a confluence of digital disruptions, hyperautomation and the rise of composable business has led to an influx of tools and rising demand," says Gartner research vice president Fabrizio Biscotti.

Digital business acceleration is putting pressure on IT leaders to dramatically increase application delivery speed and time to value, according to Gartner.

The increased demand for custom software solutions in support of digital transformation has sparked the emergence of citizen developers outside of IT, which, in turn, has influenced the rise in low-code. Gartner predicts that half of all new low-code clients will come from business buyers that are outside the IT organisation by year-end 2025.

"The economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic have validated the low-code value proposition," says Biscotti.

"Low-code capabilities that support remote work function, such as digital forms and workflow automation, will be offered with more elastic pricing since they will be required to keep the lights running.

All of the major software-as-a-service (SaaS) vendors currently provide capabilities that incorporate low-code development technologies. As SaaS grows in popularity, and these vendors' platforms are increasingly adopted, the low-code market will see a commensurate growth in LCAPs and process automation tooling.

Additionally, business technologists want to create and execute their own ideas to drive more automation across their business applications and workflows. The needs of business-driven hyperautomation will be one of the top three drivers for low-code adoption through 2022.

Biscotti says the proliferation of low code tools will continue in the foreseeable future.

"Globally, most large organisations will have adopted multiple low-code tools in some form by year-end 2021," he says.

"In the longer term, as companies embrace the tenets of a composable enterprise, they will turn to low-code technologies that support application innovation and integration.