Privacy compliance will be crucial in app development

Low-code platforms allow business managers with no programming know-how to create applications for various business processes. They are gaining wide popularity because of their vast scope of use cases. While most low-code tools can currently solve 80-90% of a business process, there is a glass ceiling to what a point-and-click GUI can offer. However, in the coming decade, we can expect the market to force vendors to provide an integrated suite of developer products that allows for the speed and ease of use from high-productivity tools and the hyper-customization of pro-control tools.

 In the last decade, we have seen a worldwide push towards user privacy. Unfortunately, application platform vendors did not invest heavily in tools that allow IT and compliance teams to oversee applications built with low/pro-code tools.

That will change in the coming years as governance tools will become an important requirement and an imperative for developers to consider while building applications.

In the next five years, we can expect the following innovations in the development sector:

• Expansion of serverless to Backend-as-a-Service (BaaS): Currently, many confuse FaaS with serverless the way blockchain was confused with bitcoin. Bitcoin is an implementation of blockchain and not an equivalent. Similarly, FaaS is simply an implementation of serverless. While the current version of serverless is all about stateless functions, the future version will focus largely on state (data) allowing developers to build distributed applications while reaping the UX benefits of serverless.
• Maturity of low-code platforms: Low-code tools will expand to every employee’s core toolkit alongside their office suite of applications. As a more technical and computer-literate generation join the workforce, low-code tools will be essential in allowing them to take control of their organization’s operational inefficiencies and build solutions quickly.
• Multi-experience development: This involves creating apps for-purpose based on touchpoint-specific modes (e.g., touch, voice, gesture), while at the same time ensuring a consistent user experience across web, mobile, wearables, conversational and other touchpoints. A multi-experience development platform will offer developers an integrated set of front-end development tooling and back-end services that enable a centralized and scalable approach.

As technology is changing faster than ever, it is vital for business decision makers to be aware of all the developments and trends. However, organizations should not blindly follow the latest trend without developing a deep understanding of the technology.

It’s important to discern between hype and reality in order to make informed decisions.

Raju Vegesna

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Raju Vegesna is chief evangelist at Zoho. This views in this article are his own.