The global market for low-code development technologies will hit $26.9 billion next year, representing a near 20% increase from 2022, according to a new Gartner report. Among the different low-code technologies, the analyst firm expects low-code application platforms (LCAPs) will be the main component of the market and grow 25% to reach $10 billion in 2023.

Gartner predicts the market's growth will stem from the rise of composable business initiatives, hyperautomation, and IT roles or responsibilities existing outside the IT organization as business technologists.

Gartner Distinguished VP Analyst Jason Wong gave SDxCentral additional insight into the market and demand over an email-conducted interview.

SDxCentral: Which LCAP vendors do you expect will top the market in 2023?

Wong: Large enterprise vendors, such as Microsoft, Salesforce, and ServiceNow are starting to consolidate their positions as enterprise LCAPs based on their SaaS [software-as-a-service] and PaaS [platform-as-a-service] offerings already used by customers. But this is not a zero-sum market, so multiple LCAPs are often used within a single enterprise, along with other low-code development technologies highlighted in this report.

SDxCentral: Gartner predicts that by 2026, developers outside formal IT departments will account for at least 80% of the user base for low-code development tools, up from 60% in 2021. What level of skill will these developers have? How might this prediction impact major LCAP vendors?

Wong: Gartner survey data shows that the majority of the business technologists have a high degree of technical skills. Some are or have been professional developers or data scientists, while others have certifications in specific development tools. The younger generation of workers are more technically savvy and ambitious in their use of technologies, which contributes to the business technologist movement. Increasingly, we see vendors of low-code development tools recognize that they need to not only make it easier for business technologists, but that they also need to help them with learning and development of tech skills in the context of their business roles.

SDxCentral: What do enterprises need from low-code vendors or offerings that they don't have yet?

Wong: Now that low-code development is being adopted by mainstream organizations and used for more use cases, Gartner sees greater need for governance and collaboration capabilities built into the offerings. This is really needed to help with fusion team enablement between the business and IT stakeholders.

SDxCentral: How will low-code use cases evolve in the next few years?

Wong: Low code is already becoming a characteristic of many technologies, from automation to AI [artificial intelligence] to development and testing. As a result, more and more technology use cases will either begin with some low-code approach or will use low code in the maintenance of the solution. Low code will also lead to the creation of more modular and autonomous capabilities that can be discovered and orchestrated, leading to composable architecture and applications.