In 2020, more than 4.35 million enterprise applications were developed; that’s a whopping 24.13 percent more than 2019.

–  US Business Formation Statistics (BFS) report

The latest market studies predict that 2020’s app development momentum will undoubtedly carry into 2021. Yet, hiring talented app developers is especially difficult for organizations amid a developer drought and pandemic uncertainties. According to the latest US labor statistics, the shortage of app developers in the US will exceed 1.2M by 2026. If this talent shortage is not plugged, the country could face an unrealized output of $162B!

Low/No-code solutions are the most viable way to tackle the talent shortage and budgetary constraints. There has been a lot of buzz around No-code development. Such solutions were clear winners in 2020. They were successful in narrowing the divide between programmers and non-programmers – enabling teams to innovate and transform business processes.

Today, No-code solutions are altering the landscape of enterprise application development. It is making application development just as simple as using Word or PowerPoint, thereby enabling any average business user to move projects forward without the extra engineering costs (in money or time). Experts believe that No-code development is the ultimate panacea to meet the rapid and complex app development requirements of the times without hiring costly talents. It helps leverage the internal talent within an organization and enables app development for all.

SharePoint and No-code App Development

In its recent Magic Quadrant Report, Gartner recognized SharePoint as the Leader among Content Services Platforms for the fourth year in a row. The report stated that the SharePoint ecosystem is growing faster than ever and is today used by over 200 million users to simplify collaboration, communication, and content management. Thousands of custom apps are further enriching the user experience and enhancing the functionalities of the SharePoint platform. SharePoint custom apps enable employees to perform their daily tasks better and faster and empower organizations to automate, streamline and enhance their business processes for better yield and business results.

In the last few years, No-code tools have penetrated the realm of SharePoint custom app development and altered the existing edifice. This development approach has mitigated the roadblocks organizations faced with the traditional app development approach. In a traditional setup, employees submit a request to an IT queue to pull a report, make a change, launch a product, etc. After request submission, they have to keep waiting infinitely for the IT team to respond. And often the wait is lengthy, with no feedback loop, and a backlog to hire the engineers to perform the task. By the time the results are delivered, most requirements have probably changed and employees are already raising submitting new requests.  

No-code solutions allow power users to leverage their business knowledge to build impactful SharePoint solutions without any coding and dependence on IT. This has significantly reduced the costs and complexities involved in a SharePoint custom app development project. No-code tools enable users to rapidly build solutions with point-and-click configuration and visual-based design. As a result, solution development timelines are up to 80% quicker, allowing an organization to keep up with the dizzying pace of technology development. 

Why No-code is an Imperative for SharePoint App Development in 2021?

75% of all application development will use Low/No-code platforms in 2021, up from 44% in 2020.

• Forrester’s 2021 prediction  

No-code emerged as a big business disruptor last year, 2021 is witnessing such tools become a mainstay for SharePoint custom app development. Such tools are enabling teams to rapidly build apps that shape better business outcomes, automate processes and solve various technology bottlenecks. It is helping organizations stay agile, empower employees and achieve more with less. Other reasons that make No-code adoption an imperative for SharePoint app development in 2020 are:

#1: Catalyzes a Move towards Business Automation

Business automation is a major buzzword for business operations. Successful business automation leads to streamlining of processes, efficient workflows, and elimination of challenges associated with manual processes. While many organizations have already ventured on their business automation journeys, there is still a long way to go. No-code is a strong enabler of business automation. It allows the rapid development of custom SharePoint applications without a single line of code, through visual designing and easy-to-use features. It makes business automation easy to implement for organizations of all types and sizes. No-code tools enable organizations to depart from traditional processes that hamper the effectiveness and digital success and instead move towards digital empowerment.

Delivers on the “Data for Everyone” Promise

The global pandemic has demonstrated the importance of empowering everyone with the right data and at the right time. As the sole content repository for a growing number of organizations, SharePoint lists, libraries, sites, or site collections are filled with insights that can propel an organization to the next level. No-code tools allow organizations to empower their employees to glean actionable insights from various datasets and enable decision-makers to make data-backed decisions. With No-code tools, business users can create impactful reports and dashboards by bringing together data from multiple sources. And all this can be achieved without any IT dependence.

Fosters a Culture of Innovation

A recent Gartner study discovered that through 2020, 91% of organizations engaged in some form of digital transformation initiative. However, digital transformation isn’t about changing a few processes here and there or implementing one or two innovative technologies to enhance a business’s performance and efficiency. It is much more than that. Digital transformation is all about transforming a business’s model, processes, people, outlook, and operations using advanced digital technology. It’s about transforming the entire organization not just parts, but completely. No-code tools champion digital transformation by empowering employees to build SharePoint applications themselves (with the least training), instead of relying on the support of their respective IT departments. When equipped with the tools to build impactful solutions on their own, the mindset of the employees’ shifts. This eventually leads to a digital snowball effect throughout the organization, making the digital transformation initiative a resounding success.

Compliments the “cloud-only” trend

2020 saw a massive exodus of organizations from SharePoint’s on-premise versions towards SharePoint Online (Microsoft 365). The sudden emergence of COVID-19 and its resulting remote working scenario forced many organizations to transition to the cloud. No-code app development tools helped ensure business continuity and high user adoption for organizations. Leveraging No-code, organizations could recreate hundreds of business-critical apps on the new platform at blazing fast speed. Availability of familiar SharePoint apps from day one after the move triggered positive user adoption in almost all scenarios. No-code tools also enable organizations to unlock new opportunities for innovation and future-proof all app innovations. With no-code platforms, organizations can attain new levels of productivity in the cloud.

Ensuring Business Growth in Challenging Times

While most of us hoped that the impact of the pandemic will fade away, the situation seems to have improved marginally in 2021 with lurking fear of a new wave. Therefore, organizations must continue to reduce operating costs and ensure business growth in a hybrid working scenario. A Forrester survey found that “enterprises that embrace Low/No-code platforms react faster and more effectively than firms relying only on traditional development.”  No-code tools help organizations cut costs that would be otherwise spent in paying professional SharePoint developers to build powerful applications. No-code also reduces time and significantly increases productivity, making it an important enabler of business growth even during such trying times.

“The future of coding is no coding at all.”

– Chris Wanstrath, CEO at GitHub

In an age where the demand for impactful SharePoint apps far exceeds the supply of quality developers, No-code development solutions are increasingly growing in popularity. In 2021 and beyond, such tools will become commonplace for application development of all kinds. This technology will empower non-technical business experts to bring together data and assemble software functions in the domains they know best, without any coding. Even the programmer purists, still working with hard-coding tools will recognize the convenience such tools bring toward their work. No-code SharePoint application development tools are a must-have for organizations that want to stay ahead of the game in 2021.

QuickApps is a No-code SharePoint application development and business process automation solution that is packed with powerful web apps. It enables business experts to create applications and automate business processes at an 80% faster turnaround time with a simple point-and-click configuration. Download a FREE TRIAL now to transform the SharePoint app development experience.