Unlocking Business Agility with a Low-Code Platform

1. Why a “low-code platform” matters now

In today’s business environment, the pressure on IT and product teams has never been greater: rapid time-to-market, scarce developer talent, and ever-higher expectations for innovation. A low-code platform (LCP) is emerging as a strategic enabler, helping bridge the gap between business demand and delivery pace. 

According to market data, the global low-code application development platform market was estimated at about US $24.8 billion in 2023, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of around 22.5% from 2024 to 2030. Meanwhile, analyst firm Gartner forecasts that by 2025, approximately 70% of new applications will be built on low-code or no‐code platforms, up from less than 25% in 2020.  

Moreover, McKinsey highlights the strategic importance of citizen development, low-code tools, and composable architectures in its 2025 Technology Trends Outlook as a key lever for scaling digital capability.  

For business leaders, product teams, and IT decision-makers, this means the question is no longer “if” to adopt a low-code platform, but “how” to adopt it strategically, govern it effectively, and integrate it thoroughly. Used correctly, an LCP can accelerate delivery, engage business stakeholders, reduce backlog, and align digital outcomes to business strategy. 

2. Core capabilities & how to evaluate a low-code platform

When selecting a low-code platform, it’s critical to understand the capabilities that support strategic business outcomes, not just speed of deployment. These tools should support model-driven development, visual programming, APIs/integration, governance, deployment monitoring, and high scalability.
 

3. Real-World Use Cases: Business Leaders in Action

Here are three concretes examples where a low-code platform delivers value for product teams and enterprise IT. 

a) Business process automation & citizen development

A utility company used a low-code platform to automate customer support workflows and built over 300 solutions, saving more than US $75 million annually, including a low-code chatbot that delivered US $1.1 million in savings in one helpdesk use case.  

In this scenario: 

• Business stakeholders (customer service, operations) could visually map out workflows. 

• IT retained control over governance, integration, and deployment. 

• Speed-to-value was measured in weeks rather than months. 

b) Legacy modernization and agile product teams

A financial services firm used a low-code platform to modernize back-end workflows and front-end portals within months, rather than years. By enabling cross-functional teams (product, architecture, dev) to collaborate on the platform, the firm could evolve the product roadmap faster and reduce backlog.

c) Composable business & multi-channel delivery 

In global enterprise settings, a low-code platform can serve as the “glue” for composable architectures, where microservices, APIs, and reusable components deliver business-capable apps across mobile, web, wearable, and voice interfaces. 

Gartner expects low-code tools to become the primary development platform for 60% of software organizations by 2028. This means product teams can leverage a low-code platform to create composable modules (data integration, UI widgets, and workflow engines), which accelerate digital product launches. 

4. Best practices & pitfalls to avoid when adopting a low-code platform

Adopting a low-code platform without a strategy often leads to shadow IT, technical debt, or fragmented governance. Here are key best practices and traps to avoid, especially relevant for leaders responsible for digital transformation, IT team extension, or offshore/outsourced delivery. 

Best practices 

• Executive sponsorship + cross-functional governance: Ensure buy-in from business, IT, and security functions. Organizations with senior oversight on automation/low-code demonstrate greater rollout success.  

• Start small, scale fast: Begin with a use case that addresses high visibility and business value, then expand reuse and templates. 

• Embed training & change management: Don’t treat the platform as plug-and-play—invest in citizen developer training, IT developer upskillin,g and a Centre of Excellence. 

• Define architecture, integration and reuse principles early: Ensure the low-code platform is not just for departmental silos but is architecturally aligned with your enterprise tech stack. 

• Measure ROI and deployment velocity: Track metrics such as time-to-market, backlog reduction, number of active “makers”, cost savings. Many surveys show low-code reduces development time significantly.  

Pitfalls to avoid 

• Underestimating governance and shadow IT: Tools are easy to deploy—governance is harder. Inconsistent platforms across business units lead to security, data and integration risk. 

• Picking speed over scalability: A low-code solution may deliver fast, but if it cannot scale or integrate with your core systems, you risk creating technical debt.  

• Neglecting developer/IT involvement: Low-code doesn’t replace developers; it repositions them. If IT doesn’t embrace the platform, you’ll end up with fragmented delivery. 

• Ignoring platform lock-in and vendor risks: As the low-code platform becomes central, vendor lock-in and migration constraints grow—choose wisely. 

Practical takeaways for business leaders 

• Align your low-code platform strategy with your broader digital transformation roadmap (for example: team extension, outsourcing, micro-services composability). 

• Use your outsourcing partner not just as a delivery resource, but to architect the low-code ecosystem, provide governance functions and help scale citizen development across geographies (Asia, APAC, US, UK). 

• Build a platform-product mindset: treat low-code capability as a strategic asset—not just a tool—so that you capitalize on reuse, modularization, and productivity gains. 

5. Wrap Up

The momentum behind low-code platforms is undeniable—your competitors are moving quickly to harness them.  

If you’re looking for a partner who can help you evaluate, select and deploy a low-code platform. Who can also integrate it into your outsourcing model, establish governance frameworks, and scale citizen development globally, let’s connect.  

With the right low-code strategy, you’ll accelerate digital transformation, empower product and business teams, and build sustainable, agile software delivery capability across your organisation.