App development demand and low code spotlighted in new report

OutSystems has published its sixth annual research report on the state of application development and the challenges faced by development and delivery teams. The State of Application Development, 2019: Is IT Ready for Disruption? unveils detailed survey results from over 3,300 IT professionals in all industries across the world.

The new research report provides in-depth insights from IT managers, enterprise architects, and developers addressing a wide range of issues. "Digital transformation dominates business strategy today, which is why web and mobile development demand is booming. Moreover, speed and agility are more important than ever before", Steve Rotter, CMO for OutSystems explained.

This OutSystems report explores the priorities and challenges of application development and delivery, and the strategies that IT teams are using to try to speed up delivery.

Six key findings that impact every developer, including app development demand, agile, retention, and more:

• Demand for app dev soars: The number of applications slated for delivery in 2019 has increased 60%, according to respondents, 38% of whom plan to deliver 25 or more apps this year.
   
• Steep development time: 46% of respondents said the average time to deliver a web or mobile application is five months or more.
   
• Backlogs remain: 64% of IT professionals said they have an app dev backlog, and only 39% said their app dev backlog had improved in the past year.
   
• Development talent is hard to find and keep: Most respondents have hired developers, 75% of respondents described app dev talent as scarce, and only 36% of organizations have larger app dev teams than a year ago. The numbers appear to show retention of app dev talent is an equally grave concern.
   
• Agile practices are still slow to mature: 60% of organizations have invested in agile tools and services in the past year. However, the average agile-maturity score was a lackluster 2.7 out of 5, meaning most organizations are still in the process of defining agile processes.
   
• Customer-centricity continues to rise: Over 60% of organizations have invested in customer-centric practices in the past year, including customer journey mapping, design thinking, and lean UX. For the new apps slated for development in 2019, those that will be used directly by customers or business partners were identified as most important.
   

Low-Code Has Become Mainstream

Another key research finding was that low-code is no longer just for innovators and early adopters. For example, 41% of respondents said their organization was already using a low-code application platform. And, a further 10% said they were about to start using one.

The analysis in the report identified that organizations using low-code are:

• 26% more likely to describe their organization as satisfied or somewhat satisfied with the speed of application development
• 11% more likely to deliver web applications in four months or less
• 15% more likely to deliver mobile applications in four months or less
• 20% more likely to score their agile maturity as level 3, 4 or 5
• 12% more likely to say that their app dev backlog has improved since last year
• Reporting a 16% higher self-assessment score for digital transformation maturity