For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

Vendor Landscape: The Fractured, Fertile Terrain
Of Low-Code Application Platforms
The Landscape Reflects A Market In Its Formative Yearsby Clay Richardson and John R. Rymer
January 15, 2016

Why Read This Report

Key Takeaways

Business leaders demand more solutions to win,
serve, and retain customers; adopting a lowcode application platform is often the response.
The market for these platforms is growing fast,
but selecting a platform that actually delivers
without creating a 4GL-like orphan in the software
portfolio isn’t easy. Forty-two different suppliers
dot the vendor landscape, each with distinct
strengths, openness, and prospects for the
future. Technology management and enterprisearchitecture (EA) professionals should readthis report to understand the segments in theemerging low-code platform market and reduce
the risk of making a selection they later regret.

Low-Code Platforms Hold High Potential As
Well As Risks
Low-code platforms bring promise but also risks.
The promise: impressive results in speeding
application delivery, and high vendor growth
rates. The risks: dozens of small vendors sellingoutside of tech management, and customers withlittle consensus about how low-code platforms fit
into their broader portfolios.
EA Pros Will Find Five Low-Code Segments
Low-code platform vendors occupy fivesegments: general-purpose, process app,database app, request-handling, and mobile
app platforms. Product features and primary use
cases, as well as the scope of vendor ambitions,define these platforms.
Vendor Consolidation Is Inevitable
Low-code platforms are proving their value now. In
the next phase of this market, the most successful
low-code platform vendors will either be acquiredby large enterprise vendors or grow large enoughto push out smaller competitors. In addition, themobile app platform category will be subsumed in
the general-purpose platforms category.

forrester.com

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

Vendor Landscape: The Fractured, Fertile Terrain Of Low-CodeApplication Platforms
The Landscape Reflects A Market In Its Formative Yearsby Clay Richardson and John R. Rymer
with Alex Cullen, John M. Wargo, Christopher Mines, Shaun McGovern, and Diane Lynch
January 15, 2016

Table Of Contents

Notes & Resources

2 Low-Code Platforms: A Development
Approach Plus A Business Model

We based this report on ongoing research
into low-code application platforms, including
briefings with 42 vendors, a vendor survey, and33 customer conversations via client inquiries,
interviews, and other contacts.

5 Low-Code Platforms Allow App Delivery At
Customer Speed
6 The Five Low-Code Application Platform
Segments
13 The Roots And Directions Of Low-Code
Platforms
Recommendations

16 Define A Clear Role In Your Architecture For
Low-Code Platforms
18 Supplemental Material

Related Research Documents
Five Customer-Facing Scenarios Shape “LowCode” Platform Choices
Low-Code Platforms Deliver Customer-Facing
Apps Fast, But Will They Scale Up?
New Development Platforms Emerge For
Customer-Facing Applications

Forrester Research, Inc., 60 Acorn Park Drive, Cambridge, MA 02140 USA+1 617-613-6000 | Fax: +1 617-613-5000 | forrester.com© 2016 Forrester Research, Inc. Opinions reflect judgment at the time and are subject to change. Forrester®,Technographics®, Forrester Wave, RoleView, TechRadar, and Total Economic Impact are trademarks of Forrester
Research, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective companies. Unauthorized copying or
distributing is a violation of copyright law. Citations@forrester.com or +1 866-367-7378

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

January 15, 2016

Vendor Landscape: The Fractured, Fertile Terrain Of Low-Code Application Platforms
The Landscape Reflects A Market In Its Formative Years

Low-Code Platforms: A Development Approach Plus A Business Model
Low-code platforms have become an important way for technology management and enterprisearchitecture pros to quickly deliver software to win, serve, and retain customers and to keep thatsoftware evolving.1 Low-code application platforms are software environments that speed development
and delivery of new apps by changing two dimensions of traditional platforms, such as Java and .NET:›› How business apps are developed and delivered. Low-code platforms rely on declarative
development tools, including domain languages, WYSIWYG user experience (UX) definition, flow
diagramming, and visual data modeling, instead of programming languages. Provided the tools suit
the target applications, application development and delivery (AD&D) pros will be able to develop
custom apps many times faster with low-code platforms than they can by using programming
languages (see Figure 1).
›› How development platforms are acquired and consumed. Vendors offer licensing models
that reflect business value delivered rather than business value promised. Low-code platforms
are accessible via free or low-cost self-service offerings rather than the big upfront financial
commitments typical of enterprise software. Free and freemium models are essential, although not
all vendors yet provide them (see Figure 2). Most low-code platforms are available as public cloudservices. The business model requires minimal, if any, training for architects and developers to getstarted and anticipates that revenue will flow from fees for named users, deployed apps, and/or
capacity used as developers create business value with the platform.2 The model allows architects,
developers, and their business partners to quickly test a business idea in a working app, gain
feedback, and iterate toward a finished product.

FIGURE 1 Comparing Low-Code Results With Coding Results: Four Cases

Enterprise

ResultCode

Low-code

US government(Affordable Care Act)

Document compliance module

100 person-months

5 person-months

British insurance provider

Agent portal

Unknown*

10 days to minimum
viable product (MVP)Call center operator

Customer-specific app

4 months

3 weeks

Spanish insurance
providerWeb channel and administration
system

2.7 years (estimated)

13 weeks*The project was on the technology management backlog list for years with little hope of ever starting© 2016 Forrester Research, Inc. Unauthorized copying or distributing is a violation of copyright law.
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For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

January 15, 2016

Vendor Landscape: The Fractured, Fertile Terrain Of Low-Code Application Platforms
The Landscape Reflects A Market In Its Formative Years

FIGURE 2 The Majority Of Low-Code Vendors Offer Free Or Freemium Models“Does your company offer a free or freemium pricing tier?”
Offers free/freemium (60%)

No free/freemium (38%)

Partial (2%)
Progress Software

AgilePoint
Avoka Technologies
BP Logix
Cherwell Software
July Systems
K2
ManyWho
MIOsoft
Mobideo Technologies
MobileSmith
NintexOracle
PNMsoft
Software AG
Ultimus
Zudy

Alpha Software
AlphinatAppery.io
AppianBizagi
CaspioClaySys Technologies
Formotus
Intalio
Intuit QuickBase
KeyedIn Solutions
Magic Software
MatsSoft
MendixMicroPact
Microsoft
OutSystems
Salesforce
ServiceNow
Simplicité Software
Snappii
TrackVia
ViziApps
WhoGloo
Zoho

Base: 42 low-code vendors
Source: Forrester’s Q4 2015 Global Low-Code Platforms Vendor Landscape Online Survey

Enterprise Architecture Challenge: Finding Platforms With Long-Term Fit And Scale
The 42 vendors we track in the low-code platforms market will generate a minimum of $1.7 billion inrevenue during 2015, and many are growing their revenues in excess of 50% a year (see Figure 3).3 The
trouble is that most of the vendors are small, and customers can adopt a low-code platform for a belowthe-budget-radar cost without consideration of corporate architecture strategies and standards. The risk
is high that today’s product selection will be tomorrow’s regret. The best low-code platforms are morethan just tools to solve an immediate pain point; they are platforms that can produce business value overa period of many years. With their discipline, technical knowledge, and understanding of the platform
portfolio, enterprise architecture pros can tip the scales toward strategic product selections. Doing so
requires understanding the types of products available and dispelling three myths about this category:© 2016 Forrester Research, Inc. Unauthorized copying or distributing is a violation of copyright law.
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January 15, 2016

Vendor Landscape: The Fractured, Fertile Terrain Of Low-Code Application Platforms
The Landscape Reflects A Market In Its Formative Years›› Myth No. 1: Low-code platforms are for citizen developers, not pro developers. Some
vendors — for example, Caspio, Intuit QuickBase, ManyWho, Snappii, TrackVia, and Zoho —seek unique market positions by targeting business experts capable of delivering apps relying
on spreadsheets, desktop databases, and similar tools. We rarely found these citizen developers
in our research.4 More typically, developers used low-code platforms to create tools for citizen
developers to deliver apps.
›› Myth No. 2: Low-code platforms eliminate the need for any programming. Generally,
developers can use low-code platforms to create self-contained, relatively simple applications
without having to write any code.5 But typical business applications require some programming andscripting for: 1) integrating with other applications and databases; 2) writing custom algorithms;
and 3) accommodating technologies not incorporated in the low-code platform (e.g., native mobile
application development). For these use cases, teams will need to use programming extensions
within the low-code environment or rely on external programming languages and scripts.
›› Myth No. 3: Low-code platforms mean small scale. Architects and developers balk at business
requests to evaluate low-code platforms because they believe these products cannot support large
and growing user bases and application portfolios. The evidence for many low-code platforms saysthese products can and do accommodate enterprise needs for high scale.6

FIGURE 3 Estimated Revenues In The Low-Code Platforms Market

Group
>$200

Vendors
Salesforce*

Revenue$600$100 to $200

Appian and Magic Software$300$50 to $100

Bizagi, Intuit QuickBase, K2, Nintex, OutSystems, ServiceNow,* and Zoho*$420$25 to $50

Cherwell Software, Mendix, MicroPact, PNMsoft, and Progress Software*$245$10 to $25

AgilePoint, Avoka Technologies, BP Logix, MIOsoft, Software AG, and Ultimus $90$2 to $10

Alpha Software, Alphinat, Appery.io, Caspio, ClaySys Technologies, KeyedIn
Solutions, ManyWho, MatsSoft, Mobideo Technologies, MobileSmith,
Snappii, and Zudy

$65

<$2

Formotus, July Systems, Simplicité Software, WhoGloo, and ViziApps$8
Total $1,728

Note: All figures are in US$ millions.
*Revenues attributable to low-code platform sales© 2016 Forrester Research, Inc. Unauthorized copying or distributing is a violation of copyright law.
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January 15, 2016

Vendor Landscape: The Fractured, Fertile Terrain Of Low-Code Application Platforms
the landscape Reflects A Market in its Formative Years

low-Code platforms Allow App Delivery At Customer speed
survival in the age of the customer demands that companies keep up with the unrelenting pace ofdisruptive innovation and changing customer behaviors. Quickly building and launching new digitalproducts and services that deliver convenient,
simple, and engaging customer experiences
is a key lever. Enterprises turn to a myriad
sprint used Appian’sof strategies to address this need, ranging
development platform tofrom outsourcing application development toprototype a new service calledhackathons for building new apps to buying
Direct 2 You, offering in-homeprebuilt, off-the-shelf solutions. however,each of these choices throws up its own
delivery for customers buying
barriers to speed, flexibility, and customer
or upgrading mobile devices.
experience. low-code platforms are a new,more attractive choice because they help
business and tech management:› Visually configure new apps instead of hand-coding them. Even with the introduction of Agileand lean development approaches, coding new applications continues to be a time-consuming
and labor-intensive process. And changing custom-built apps with tens of thousands of lines ofcode continues be cumbersome and slow. Forrester interviewed dozens of companies to gain
insights on how they’re using low-code platforms to speed development. the vast majority ofthese companies reported that their low-code platforms helped them accelerate development by
five to 10 times.
so what helped them achieve these results? Companies shared that visually configuring new
applications using these platforms has helped speed up development and allowed the businesses
to provide real-time feedback on the resulting applications’ functionality.
› Uncover true requirements and real value. the late steve Jobs famously said, “people don’tknow what they want until you show it to them.”7 Companies are now living this reality as they try
to build new products for customers that have changing tastes and an endless stream of productchoices. low-code platforms allow architects and developers to quickly build minimum viable
products to validate ideas and customer requirements before wasting precious resources onfeatures and functionality that customers may not value.
› Live-trial business ideas quickly and at low or no cost. new product and engagement ideas
are flowing from all parts of the enterprise. Who knows? that idea from the mailroom clerk mightend up shaping your company’s future product strategy. low-code platforms allow companies toquickly translate fast-moving ideas into low-cost working prototypes that they can deploy and testin the market.

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For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

January 15, 2016

Vendor Landscape: The Fractured, Fertile Terrain Of Low-Code Application Platforms
The Landscape Reflects A Market In Its Formative Years

For example, Sprint used Appian’s development platform to rapidly prototype a new service called
Direct 2 You, which aimed to offer in-home delivery for customers buying or upgrading their mobile
devices.8 Using this low-fidelity prototype, Sprint was able to prove the value of the service andmove forward to building the full offering.
›› Scale from working prototypes to production apps in minutes. Business leaders want to quickly
translate successful prototypes into production-grade applications that companies can deploy
across a large number of employees and customers. Unfortunately, many custom-built prototypes
quickly become throwaway apps that companies need to completely rebuild as the volume anddiversity of users increase. Low-code platforms provide enterprise architects and developers withtools for one-click deployment of prototypes and for scaling and performance-tuning applications
to support large numbers of users.
›› Use development talent the enterprise can find and afford. A drought of development talentoften leaves the business’ insatiable thirst for new web and mobile apps unsatisfied. Manybusiness leaders are immediately turned off by lengthy backlogs for delivering new apps. Thesebusiness leaders are demanding more self-service development platforms that allow them to hire
their own development talent — developers who may lack formal programming background andexperience but bring just enough technical skill to visually configure new business applications
using low-code development platforms.

The Five Low-Code Application Platform Segments
The landscape of low-code platforms is broad and fragmented. We identify five major segments inthe low-code platforms market: general-purpose platforms, process app platforms, database app
platforms, request-handling platforms, and mobile app platforms (see Figure 4).
All low-code platforms address development of at least a user experience, a data model and datamanagement logic, and business logic. Our segment definitions recognize the additional functions of
the products as well as the breadth of application scenarios we’ve observed in our customer research.
There are specialized products that use a low-code approach to deliver business-function-specificsolutions, including electronic forms, business intelligence and analytics, business rules management,
predictive analytics, collaboration sites, and other specialties. These are best evaluated as verticalsolutions rather than as platforms for development and deployment. EA pros should head off
redundancies between specialized platforms and low-code platforms under consideration.

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For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

January 15, 2016

Vendor Landscape: The Fractured, Fertile Terrain Of Low-Code Application Platforms
The Landscape Reflects A Market In Its Formative Years

FIGURE 4 The Five Low-Code Platform Segments

Generalpurpose

Scenario
flexibility

Requesthandling

Process

Database
MobileFunctional breadth

General-Purpose Low-Code Platforms
General-purpose low-code platforms target a wide range of web and mobile applications withextensive collections of declarative tools that address application creation, integration, deployment,
life-cycle management, and distribution (through marketplaces). Ten vendors occupy this segment:
Intalio, Mendix, MIOsoft, OutSystems, Progress Software, Salesforce, Simplicité Software, ViziApps,
WhoGloo, and Zudy. Today, Microsoft nominally occupies this category with its Azure App Service andupcoming PowerApps service with big potential influence.9
Vendors of general-purpose low-code platforms:›› Seek to displace Java and/or .NET and other established coding platforms. Vendors ofgeneral-purpose low-code platforms hope to be their customers’ primary platform for developing
and delivering all their apps. Most of the products in this segment have the broad functions ofapplication life-cycle management, and portfolio management plays a central role in an applicationdelivery strategy. We’ve seen strategic applications ranging from hospital administration to financial
services compliance to many insurance sales, agency, and administration applications built withgeneral-purpose low-code platforms.
›› Sell to both central and line-of-business application-delivery groups. Vendors in the generalpurpose segment target either CIOs and CTOs in central technology management organizations orline-of-business leaders and their technologists. These vendors also prefer large enterprises, which
are actually in the best position to make full use of these products.

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January 15, 2016

Vendor Landscape: The Fractured, Fertile Terrain Of Low-Code Application Platforms
The Landscape Reflects A Market In Its Formative Years

Line-of-business targeting is a way for vendors to gain adoption even if rejected by central techmanagement, and these vendors can, in fact, help business leaders obtain desperately needed
applications that central tech management can’t deliver. The downside, however, is the nightmareof an isolated oddball platform and its applications adding cost and complexity to the enterpriseportfolio. The better scenario is adoption of the platform as a strategic platform capable of adding
value throughout the enterprise.
›› Offer comprehensive declarative tooling with full application life-cycle support. Generalpurpose low-code platforms feature rich tool sets that address user experience (web page,site, mobile Web, offline mobile, and responsive UI); SQL database (schema, data management
logic, and transactions); process (long-running processes, workflow, and service orchestration);
integration (SOAP and REST services and adapters); access control (identity and permissions
management); application life cycle (user stories, team collaboration, component catalogs,
and sandbox-to-production phases); application and portfolio management (version control,change management, and administrative controls); and distribution through marketplaces and/or
community sites.
The most comprehensive of the products in this segment cover all of these functions. Don’t
expect these vendors to provide the deepest features in these categories, however. Process is thebest example; general-purpose low-code platforms provide good workflow but shallow businessprocess management (BPM) features.
›› Address database and workflow app needs. Business web applications are the bread andbutter of general-purpose low-code platforms, including public-facing portals that provide accessto many apps. Most of these vendors started with database and transaction functions and thenadded workflow and forms as they progressed. More recently, they’ve all tackled mobile web
applications. The next step is native mobile applications and expansion into NoSQL analytics andsensor-based applications.
Low-Code Platforms For Process Apps
Low-code platforms for process apps target applications that require coordination and collaboration
across different employee and customer roles. These platforms provide a rich mix of process
automation, case management, and social interaction features that can be configured to manage
structured and unstructured business processes. Low-code platforms for process apps draw theirstrength from visual process and case-modeling tools that allow teams to visually configure process
flow logic and ad hoc task management across a range of internal and external roles, applications, anddatabase systems. These vendors also provide built-in metrics, analytics, and audit trails for monitoringprocess and case performance. Thirteen vendors make up the segment of low-code platforms forprocess apps: AgilePoint, Appian, Bizagi, BP Logix, K2, ManyWho, MatsSoft, MicroPact, Mobideo
Technologies, Nintex, PNMsoft, Software AG, and Ultimus.

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For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

January 15, 2016

Vendor Landscape: The Fractured, Fertile Terrain Of Low-Code Application Platforms
The Landscape Reflects A Market In Its Formative Years

Vendors of low-code platforms for process apps:›› Seek to orchestrate processes that cut across multiple silos and systems. Vendors of lowcode platforms for process apps seek to replace heavy, complicated BPM suites that requiresignificant upfront financial and training investments. These vendors provide alternative platforms
for orchestrating business processes and interactions across different departments, and customers
often use them to easily extend existing systems of record, such as Oracle and SAP. Many ofthe vendors operating in this segment also provide out-of-the-box adaptors that customers canconfigure to integrate with a wide range of databases and applications.
Some vendors of low-code platforms for process apps have optimized their solutions for
the Microsoft cloud ecosystem. This includes K2, Nintex, and PNMsoft. While these vendors
have optimized their platforms for different Microsoft offerings such as Azure, Office 365, andSharePoint, they also provide good interoperability with non-Microsoft and Java components.
Customers tend to deploy other vendors, such as Appian, Bizagi, MicroPact, and Software AG, in
mixed Java and .NET environments.
›› Sell primarily to line-of-business and technology management buyers. Companies usuallyadopt low-code platforms for process apps to relieve a specific process pain, such as automating
customer onboarding or order fulfillment. Because business leaders own these process pain
points, vendors in this segment tend to sell into specific lines of business. Savvy vendors
employ a land-and-expand strategy that focuses on quickly solving the initial process pain point
and then expanding usage to focus on broader process problems and challenges across theentire organization. As these vendors work to expand within a given organization, technology
management leaders — including enterprise architects, data architects, and development leads —play a greater role in evaluating the vendor’s fit to enterprise standards and requirements.
Vendors in the segment of low-code platforms for process apps price their products based onsome combination of number of named users and number of deployed apps. This means thesevendors are motivated to expand their footprints across organizations and realize that they need tobuild strong partnerships with technology management leaders to be successful.
›› Offer visual modeling for process, forms, and tasks. The low-code platforms for process appsfeature tools that address process design (workflow modeling, business rules, case management,
and work routing); process analysis (audit trails, process metrics, and process analytics); data
management (virtual data modeling, process variables, and data synchronization); integration(visually configurable SOAP and REST services and connectors and adapters); forms design(electronic forms, e-signatures, validation rules, and responsive forms); work portal (task lists,
native mobile app, and alerts and notifications); and some application life-cycle and portfolio
management services. Appian is one of the few vendors in this segment to offer strong write-oncerun-everywhere functionality that supports customizing applications for mobile devices.

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January 15, 2016

Vendor Landscape: The Fractured, Fertile Terrain Of Low-Code Application Platforms
The Landscape Reflects A Market In Its Formative Years

Low-code platforms for process apps lack strong UX design and integration tools. Customers withextensive requirements for building customized, pixel-perfect user experiences often need to build
their own custom user interfaces (UIs) using custom development or other third-party UX tools.
›› Address complex process and collaboration scenarios. Low-code platforms for process
apps are best suited to situations that require collaboration among several roles within an overallbusiness process (e.g., customer onboarding). Although customers can use these platforms for
simple workflows, they deliver the greatest value for more-sophisticated processes and workflowsthat can benefit from automated decisions, deadline notifications, case management, and ad hoc
work management. When evaluating vendors in this segment, look closely at how many steps
are involved in the target process, how many people are involved, and how much visibility the
stakeholders need to monitor how a process is progressing.
Low-Code Platforms For Database Apps
Low-code platforms for database apps target applications that gather, query, and present data stored
in relational databases, including apps that rely on electronic forms. The declarative tools theseplatforms provide address user interface and application logic creation, schema and database creation,
deployment, binding, and some life-cycle management functions. Nine vendors occupy this segment:
Alpha Software, Alphinat, Avoka Technologies, Caspio, ClaySys Technologies, Intuit Quickbase,Formotus, Magic Software, and Oracle.
Vendors of low-code platforms for database apps:›› Seek to own the database and forms apps in the portfolio. Vendors of low-code platforms fordatabase apps seek to peel away tracking, forms, and data-gathering apps from established coding
platforms like Adobe FormsCentral and ASP.NET. Although the low-code platforms in this segment
have data definition and database creation features, most are used to create new application UX
and logic that accesses existing databases, and all have data-binding features to do so.
Vendors in this segment all address apps with database as opposed to process foundations. Still,
Alphinat and Avoka Technologies, and increasingly, Alpha Software and ClaySys Technologies,
focus on forms-based applications, handling process using database logic. Avoka, in particular,
provides deep forms-processing features; Alpha’s mobile forms technology is strong; and Alphinat
is focused on omnichannel applications.
›› Sell primarily to line-of-business and/or small-business buyers. Vendors of low-code platforms
for database apps usually circumvent central technology management to reach the leaders ofunderserved business units. These business units may be in large enterprises, such as banks,
governmental agencies, and call-center operators, that are big consumers of electronic forms
technology. But they often are small and medium-size businesses hungry for custom information
tracking, reporting, and business analysis applications but lacking the developers to build themusing conventional coding.

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Vendor Landscape: The Fractured, Fertile Terrain Of Low-Code Application Platforms
the landscape Reflects A Market in its Formative Yearsof the five low-code platform segments, the products focused on database apps have thegreatest potential to empower nondevelopers, given appropriate tooling. Both Caspio and intuit
QuickBase have among their customers many business experts who are not pro developers but
who deliver applications.
› Offer WYsIWYG UI and data tooling with basic application life-cycle support. the lowcode platforms for database apps feature tools that address user experience (web page, site,
mobile web, offline mobile, and often responsive uX); sQl database (schema, data management
logic, and transactions); integration (soAp and REst services and adapters); access control(identity and permissions management);and some application life-cycle andportfolio management services. only intuitof the five low-code platform
QuickBase offers application distribution
segments, the products
through a marketplace.
low-code platforms for database appslack workflow/process tools. Customers
can implement page flows using the uXtools these products provide and mustbuild workflows using triggers and otherdatabase logic.

focused on database apps
have the greatest potential
to empower nondevelopers,
given appropriate tooling.

› Address database and forms apps. the segment name says it all: low-code platforms fordatabase apps are best used for collecting, managing, and presenting data stored in relational
databases. these vendors are unlikely to add formal workflow and process tooling; rather, thissegment’s future lies in stronger and stronger mobile and omnichannel features that transform
traditional electronic forms applications into modern interactive mobile apps.
Low-Code Platforms For Request-Handling Apps
low-code platforms for request-handling apps target applications that accept, process, and track
requests. these platforms come from the world of it service management (itsM) solutions and present
to developers the core application pattern of itsM — request handling — as a framework customizablewith declarative tools. the declarative tools these platforms provide address application creation,
workflow, deployment, “service” life-cycle management, and distribution (through marketplaces).
Cherwell software, Keyedin solutions, and servicenow offer low-code platforms for request handling.
Vendors of low-code platforms for request-handling apps:› seek to own request-management apps run by major departments. Many departments
buy specialized software packages to manage their core data and then manage requests using
spreadsheets, desktop databases, collaboration (e.g., Microsoft sharepoint), and workflow tools.

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January 15, 2016

Vendor Landscape: The Fractured, Fertile Terrain Of Low-Code Application Platforms
The Landscape Reflects A Market In Its Formative Years

Request-handling low-code platforms provide a platform with a core framework for request
management and tools to customize for the needs of individual departments. Typically, ITSM is thebeachhead, followed by facilities management and administration, HR, and finance.
›› Look to Salesforce as their market model. These vendors hope to duplicate Salesforce’s featof turning an application-extension platform into a big independent source of revenue, starting bypersuading existing customers to branch out from ITSM into other application domains.
›› Sell to I&O pros, line-of-business leaders, and solutions providers. The vendors in this segment
focus first and foremost on ITSM applications, which are sold to infrastructure and operations (I&O)
professionals. Some I&O pros have an aptitude for creating business applications; those individuals
are the primary developers driving this segment, filling gaps left by application-delivery groups.
The vendors also sell to underserved business leaders among their ITSM customers as well as topartners that specialize in adapting the ITSM solutions for industries and geographies.
›› Offer a service catalog with supporting-request submit-and-track processes. The core of alow-code platform for request handling is a catalog of services available to requesters. Processes
surround this catalog and the services it presents to request services (sometimes via self-service
applications), assign requests for fulfillment, track the progress of requests, and report/analyze
performance. Cherwell Software and ServiceNow add marketplaces (just another catalog) forcomponents and applications for specific functions, like employee onboarding and facilitiesmaintenance requests.
›› Address the request-management application pattern. Request handling is a broad
application pattern and has been a primary scenario for SQL databases and, more recently,
collaboration platforms. The core of these scenarios is managing work assigned to employees orpartners, but self-service is also important. The challenge: Even though the pattern is common
across many applications, each department or function typically must add its own process
customizations and user interfaces, configure the core pattern’s workflows, and/or customize thedata model for its applications.
Low-Code Platforms For Mobile Apps
All low-code vendors provide some level of support for building and deploying mobile applications.
However, at least five of the low-code vendors we talked with focus on the mobile apps use case:Appery.io, July Systems, MobileSmith, Oracle, and Snappii.10
Vendors of low-code platforms for mobile apps:›› Seek to simplify cross-platform mobile development. Many companies can’t afford to maintaintwo native code bases for a single mobile app that supports Apple phones and tablets and/orAndroid phones and tablets. Finding and retaining talent for building native mobile apps using
these software development kits (SDKs) is also problematic. Companies facing this dilemma often
opt to use low-code platforms for mobile apps that allow them to build a single code base that© 2016 Forrester Research, Inc. Unauthorized copying or distributing is a violation of copyright law.
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January 15, 2016

Vendor Landscape: The Fractured, Fertile Terrain Of Low-Code Application Platforms
the landscape Reflects A Market in its Formative Years

can support different native app formats and languages. using this approach, companies candeploy sophisticated mobile apps that take advantage of each device’s native functionality andoperating environment.
› sell primarily to customer-facing business lines. Vendors of low-code platforms for mobile apps
usually target customer-facing teams that lack deep benches of mobile development talent andcan’t afford to hire a mobile-app development firm. this includes marketing, customer experience,sales, and services teams that need to build mobile apps that keep customers connected to theirproducts and services. these teams often have a small pool of developers who can quickly learn to
use these low-code platforms to build visually appealing and functional apps.
› Offer mobile widgets and app store deployment tools. the low-code platforms for mobile
apps feature tools that address mobile user experience (responsive layouts, mobile device
simulators, mobile Web, and offline mobile); mobile middleware (data services, soAp and REst
services, and adapters); access control (identity and permissions management); and some
application life-cycle and portfolio management services. only intuit QuickBase offers application
distribution through a marketplace.
low-code platforms for mobile apps lack workflow/process tools, as it is rare for customers to use
these platforms to create multistep workflows that involve different stakeholders. the tools do support
creating simple page flows to guide mobile users through completing a series of forms or tasks.
› Address mobile apps for customer and employee engagement. this segment addresses theneed to quickly build mobile apps that allow customers to look up information or initiate service
requests from their mobile devices. Additionally, we see companies using low-code platforms formobile apps to build apps that engage mobile field workers and mobile employees.

the Roots And Directions of low-Code platforms
Visual and declarative development tools have been available in various forms for decades, andvendors have applied those techniques to both narrow (e.g., report writing and simple web page) andbroad (e.g., interactive websites and process
workflows) application development.11 inperhaps a platform version of Moore’s law, each
Each wave of declarative
successive wave of declarative tools/platforms
tools/platforms has lowered
has lowered the bar for skills needed to build
the bar for skills needed toincreasingly complex business applications
build increasingly complex
without the need for formal programming.12 Eachbusiness applications without
successive wave of platforms has also kept up
formal programming.
with new scenarios, progressing from terminal
applications to client/server to web and now tomobile and omnichannel apps.

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Vendor Landscape: The Fractured, Fertile Terrain Of Low-Code Application Platforms
The Landscape Reflects A Market In Its Formative Years

Low-Code Platforms Overcome Three Limitations Of Their Roots
But low-code platforms aren’t your uncle’s 4GLs modernized for web and mobile development andoffered as cloud services. Low-code platforms are different in three key ways:13›› They’re more open. 4GLs were completely proprietary and thus tended to be isolated and difficult
to connect into broader application portfolios. Low-code platforms employ many proprietary
elements, but most also provide platform APIs and adapters that make it straightforward toincorporate them into a broader platform strategy. Some generate either Java or .NET code,
which some customers believe is a good enough hedge against vendor lock-in. Lastly, some ofthe products incorporate open source mobile development frameworks, most notably AngularJS,
Apache Cordova, and Bootstrap. Mendix may have started a trend by supporting Cloud Foundry, aplatform-as-a-service available from multiple vendors and under an open source license.
›› They’re more complete as platforms. In the previous generation, declarative tools were tools
first and platforms second; low-code platforms aren’t just tools. The application deployment
features, as well as management of the platform, applications running on it, and application lifecycle management, set these products apart from those that preceded them. In particular, thegeneral-purpose platform vendors and several of the process vendors have demonstrated an ability
to address multiple application patterns over a period of many years. They haven’t gotten stuck
serving just one scenario and one technology generation.
›› They’re more easily integrated. The openness strategies of these vendors also allow new
opportunities to integrate them into a broader platform strategy. Most of the low-code platforms
are adept at ingesting and/or accessing data in a variety of external sources. And many have APIs
that allow customers to integrate external application modules — for example, native mobile apps
and custom algorithms — into broader applications running on the platform.
Consolidation Lies On The Horizon Of The Low-Code Platform Landscape
The intense demands for new apps to win, serve, and retain customers have propelled low-code
platforms into the foreground of many enterprise strategies, helping establish a distinct market. In thenext phase of this market, the vendor landscape will grow sparser as large vendors enter the market
and the most successful vendors attract more revenue and push out smaller vendors. Forrester
expects consolidation to push revenue growth in this market to 68% by 2019 and to an overall market
size of $10.3 billion (see Figure 5).
Expect these four developments to shape the future of this market:›› Large vendors acquire low-code platforms. Most large vendors have a low-code platform gap intheir product portfolios. Two needs and one harsh reality will prompt these vendors to fill that gap,
primarily by acquiring today’s most successful low-code platform providers. First, all vendors need
low-code platforms to complete their embrace of service composition as an application delivery
approach. Second, as the most successful independent low-code platform vendors approach© 2016 Forrester Research, Inc. Unauthorized copying or distributing is a violation of copyright law.
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Vendor Landscape: The Fractured, Fertile Terrain Of Low-Code Application Platforms
The Landscape Reflects A Market In Its Formative Years$500 million in annual revenues, they fill a need to bolster balance sheets with high-growth revenue
sources. The harsh reality: Building a low-code platform from scratch is beyond the capabilities ofeven the largest vendors.
›› The category of low-code platform for mobile disappears. In a world rapidly moving tovalue omnichannel applications, enterprises can’t live by mobile platforms alone. The vendorsof low-code platforms for mobile fill a myopic need and must move on to address a broader set
of application requirements. Very few companies will need mobile-only capabilities from theirplatforms. Mobile-only vendors will either sell themselves to other vendors to create broader
platforms or create those broader platforms themselves to survive.
›› The biggest low-code-for-process vendors expand into the general-purpose segment. The
seeds of this prediction are already sown; Appian, K2, and, to some extent, Nintex are already facing
customer demand to address more than the process applications that are their specialties. As thesevendors enlarge their ambitions, a lively competition with the general-purpose vendors will ensue.
›› The next wave of innovation is apps that include devices (Internet of Things). The next
source of organic growth for low-code platforms will be applications that incorporate sensors andactuators. The key challenge for the vendors is to address the issues of real-time data processingthese applications require. Doing so will likely require new architectures and thus, for customers,
will be a key test for vendor staying power in this market.

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Vendor Landscape: The Fractured, Fertile Terrain Of Low-Code Application Platforms
The Landscape Reflects A Market In Its Formative Years

FIGURE 5 The Low-Code Platforms Market Will Reach Over $10 Billion In Revenue By 2019Low-code platforms forecast, 2015 to 2020
(US$ billions)16$15.47812$10.318
8$6.142$3.8874$1.728$2.557020152016 (F)2017 (F)2018 (F)2019 (F)2020 (F)(F) = Forrester forecast
Note: The figure for 2015 is estimated.
Source: Forrester’s Q4 2015 Global Low-Code Platforms Vendor Landscape Online Survey

Recommendations

Define A Clear Role In Your Architecture For Low-Code Platforms
We continue to recommend that enterprises adopt low-code platforms to raise their capacity to deliver
applications to win, serve, and retain customers. However, we also advocate strategic selection of lowcode platforms, not simply adopting these products as just another tool for limited usage. The variety
of decision-makers involved in selecting low-code platforms — many of whom have limited technology
experience — raises a high risk of product selections that aid one or two projects but fail to move theneedle on overall application delivery. Enterprise architecture professionals are positioned to advanceto strategic choices, employing these recommended actions:›› Identify the right low-code platform segment for your enterprise. Using our segment analysis,
steer vendor selection toward the highest-value feature sets and scenarios for your enterprise’s
needs. Key questions to answer: How specific must the feature set be for the platform to deliver
value? Is your world, for example, primarily forms and databases? Does it involve coordination,
collaboration, case management, and long-running processes? Or does your organization need aplatform that can span multiple scenarios (general-purpose platforms)?
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Vendor Landscape: The Fractured, Fertile Terrain Of Low-Code Application Platforms
The Landscape Reflects A Market In Its Formative Years

Incorporate economic and adoption realities into this decision-making. A more focused tool can
produce ROI faster and can be easier to adopt than a broad platform with multiple services for yourtechnical community to master.
›› Identify and prioritize the right feature set for your enterprise. The bread and butter of lowcode platforms is declarative tooling to build applications. But what other features and tools will
your enterprise need to obtain maximum value from the platform it chooses? Pay special attention
to application management, application life-cycle management, change management, integration,and user experience features, and seek to obtain most of the features you need from the platforms
you evaluate. Fill gaps deliberately.
›› Steer product selection to vendors able to sustain innovation and value. Only a handful of
today’s low-code platform vendors will graduate as the market consolidates. Few of the low-code
vendors are publicly held, and so financial performance is guesswork. However, a reasonableproxy for financial statements is a vendor’s ability to sustain a high level of innovation over two or
more years; for example, keeping pace with new features to support mobile apps. Look also forachievable road maps and smart partnerships to expand customer reach and fill gaps.
›› Guide your colleagues to productive governance policies for low-code platforms. All of
the customers using low-code platforms with sustained success advise setting up conventions,application frameworks, and shared services. Setting up these guardrails and rules of the road will
require additional time and investment but will pay off in change management that is quick withoutcompromising application integrity.

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Vendor Landscape: The Fractured, Fertile Terrain Of Low-Code Application Platforms
The Landscape Reflects A Market In Its Formative Years

Engage With An Analyst
Gain greater confidence in your decisions by working with Forrester thought leaders to apply our
research to your specific business and technology initiatives.
Analyst Inquiry

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Supplemental Material
Low-Code Application Platforms By Segment
Vendors break out into five low-code app segments: general-purpose, process, database, requesthandling, and mobile (see Figure 6).

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Vendor Landscape: The Fractured, Fertile Terrain Of Low-Code Application Platforms
The Landscape Reflects A Market In Its Formative Years

FIGURE 6 Vendor Breakdown Within Low-Code App Segments

Generalpurpose

VendorAgilePoint

Process

Database

Requesthandlingx

Alpha Softwarex

Alphinatx

Appery.ioxAppianx

Avoka Technologies

x

Bizagix

BP Logixxx

CaspioCherwell Softwarex

ClaySys Technologiesx

Formotusx

Intalioxx

Intuit QuickBase
July Systems

x

K2

x
x

KeyedIn Solutions
Magic Softwarex

ManyWhox

MatsSoftx

Mendixx

MicroPactx

Microsoftx

MIOsoftx

Mobideo Technologies

x

MobileSmith
NintexOracle*Mobilexxx© 2016 Forrester Research, Inc. Unauthorized copying or distributing is a violation of copyright law.
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x

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Vendor Landscape: The Fractured, Fertile Terrain Of Low-Code Application Platforms
The Landscape Reflects A Market In Its Formative Years

FIGURE 6 Vendor Breakdown Within Low-Code App Segments (Cont.)

Generalpurpose

Vendor
OutSystems

Process

Database

Requesthandlingx

PNMsoftx

Progress SoftwarexSalesforcex

ServiceNowx

Simplicité Softwarex

Snappiix

Software AGx
x

TrackVia
Ultimusx

ViziAppsx

WhoGloo

x

Zoho
Zudy

Mobilexx*Oracle has two separate products in these two segments

Endnotes
	To learn more about how usage of low-code platforms is gaining momentum in customer-facing applications, see the“New Development Platforms Emerge For Customer-Facing Applications” Forrester report.

1

	To learn more about how usage of low-code platforms is gaining momentum in customer-facing applications, see the“New Development Platforms Emerge For Customer-Facing Applications” Forrester report.

2

	Salesforce, with an estimated $600 million in revenues from its Salesforce App Cloud platform, is the largest of the
low-code platform vendors.

3

4

Caspio, Intuit QuickBase, and Snappii are exceptions. Caspio and Intuit QuickBase introduced us to multiple
customers who are not professional developers and never have been but use those products to deliver businessapplications for their organizations. Snappii introduced us to one such person.

5

Configuration of SaaS is also a way to deliver applications without coding. The approach allows a developer tocustomize the SaaS product’s packaged functionality by using property sheets and parameter checklists. No coding
is required.

	In our research into the scalability of low-code platforms, we found many examples of large-scale, complex
applications, as well as large app portfolios, running on these platforms. To learn more, see the “Low-Code Platforms
Deliver Customer-Facing Apps Fast, But Will They Scale Up?” Forrester report.

6	Source: Andy Reinhardt, “Steve Jobs: ‘There’s Sanity Returning,’” Businessweek, May 25, 1998 (http://www.
businessweek.com/1998/21/b3579165.htm).

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Vendor Landscape: The Fractured, Fertile Terrain Of Low-Code Application Platforms
The Landscape Reflects A Market In Its Formative Years

8

For the details on the Sprint case study, see the “Brief: The New Economics Of Experimentation” Forrester report.

9

Azure App Service is a collection of four web-based developer experiences for 1) simple web applications; 2) mobile
applications; 3) API creation; and 4) integration/API composition. Previous research resulted in our analysis that the
product was best as a tool for learning modern, API-based applications. PowerApps is based on Azure App Service
and provides tools for quickly creating and deploying web and mobile database and workflow applications either fromscratch or through application templates. PowerApps is available as a limited preview; we expect general availability inthe second half of 2016. To learn more, see the “Azure App Service Helps Developers Move Smoothly From Web Apps
To Modern Apps” Forrester report.
	Snappii is positioned and completely focused on mobile application delivery. The vendor also can support web apps,
but given the company’s extreme focus on mobile, Forrester chose to include it in the mobile segment.

10

	The previous generation of declarative development tools included offerings such as Borland Paradox, IBM Notes,
and Microsoft Access and FoxPro. These tools targeted technical and nontechnical teams looking to quickly buildand deploy database applications to small groups of business users. Today, these declarative development tools are
considered legacy, and software vendors have dropped support for these offerings.

11

12

Moore’s Law is the observation that overall processing power for computers will double every two years.

	To learn more about fast delivery of business applications, see the “The New Productivity Platforms: Your Solution To
The AD&D Crunch” Forrester report.

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