# Low-Code as Enabler of Digital Transformation in Manufacturing Industry
## 3 Low-Code Development Platforms
### Analysis of the Current Low-Code Development Platforms  
There are only some low-code development platforms addressed to different industrial sectors. However, there is a lack of transversal platforms developed on open standards to create an ecosystem for building and deploying, in an automated manner, working apps to complete a specific task or solve a particular industrial problem. The following solutions have been identified as low-code development  
Figure 3: vf-OS big picture. \begin{table}
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**Software Developers** \\ \hline These users can access a new promising and high-growth potential market for the development of vApps. These are developed using the vf-OAK to quickly build applications running over the vf+SK and using the vf-IO and the vf-MW. The software developers can be independent or work within IT departments of particular manufacturers. \\ \hline \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Manufacturing and Logistics Users**} \\ \hline This group of users can search vApps in the vf-Store. The search can be filtered based on features, cost, or ratings amongst others. These users can request specific requirements to the vf+OS software development community when demanding custom vApps. \\ \hline \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Manufacturing and Logistics Solution Provider**} \\ \hline This segment exposes their ICT interfaces and manufacturing connections to the vApps. They are also able to contribute to the development of vApps that may be added and commercialised in the vStore. \\ \hline \multicolumn{2}{c}{**External Service Providers**} \\ \hline These users provide services (hosting, storage, connected cloud services, etc.) including those based on developed solutions. \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 3: Customer segments that can profit from vf-OS. platforms: (i) Siemens MindSphere, (ii) PTC ThingWorx, (iii) GE Predix, (iv) IBM Cloud (formerly IBM BlueMix), (v) Microsoft Azure IOT Suite, and (vi) Software AG ADAMOS [39]. Table 4 shows the description and main characteristics of each one, including vf-OS, that will be described in the following sections. Based on [39], analysis and comparison of the previously existing and commercial low-code development platforms have been performed against the vf-OS platform that will be described in the  
\begin{table}
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**Low-code development platforms and its description** \\ \hline
following section. Firstly, the main features of a low-code development platform have been identified. Based on this, the second step has been focused on analysing and performing a benchmarking among the different low-code development platforms using the following nomenclature: * supported, * supported to some extent, and - not supported. Table 5 shows the results of this analysis. It is worth mentioning, as a limitation of this study, that this benchmarking has been performed based only on the available information of references [35; 40; 41; 42; 43; 44; 45]. Moreover, the comparison is only against vf-OS and Table 4 main goal is not addressed to directly compare the other products mentioned. Table 5 provides the foundations to give response to the research question RQ1 related to the status about existing automation software development tools. In this case, and focused on low-code development platforms, it seems that vf-OS is well positioned as software platform within IIoT domain. Of the 16 features considered, all the analysed low-code development platforms (except GE Predix), are considered as operating systems and highlight security, as one of their main features. Moreover all the platforms provide IIoT connectivity in terms of protocols with different coverage degrees and OnPremise deployment and InCloud, with the exception of MS Azure IOT Suite, unless a further Microsoft license is acquired. A marketplace; different analytics functionalities and features covering a good spectrum of algorithms, methodologies, data ingestion, and ETL; and messaging and Pub/Sub also belong to the common features offered by all the analysed platforms.