No-code platforms have made performing various business tasks easier, from managing finances to achieving complete data integration from multiple sources. Now we could see a shift in the no-code ecosystem: tech no-code startups that use these providers to create meaningful apps without ever having to employ a team of developers.

While the cynics out there might argue that an effective app must have a skilled programmer at its core, successful citizen development startups are challenging this belief.

What is a Citizen Developer?

Citizen developers utilize existing no-code platforms to design, build, and run apps. Within an organization, this might be someone who has seen the need for a solution and decided, rather than waiting for the IT team to prioritize their need, to simply do it themselves.

From an entrepreneurial perspective, the increasing versatility of no-code platforms allows citizen developers to create applications with genuine commercial potential.

No-Code’s Impact on the Tech Industry

Can you remember your first no-code solution? Perhaps it was the ability to sort your data in an Excel spreadsheet. Or maybe you designed and published a website without ever learning a single line of HTML. No-code solutions have journeyed far beyond these capabilities thanks to the increased versatility of APIs, ETL solutions, and other methods of connecting decentralized services and systems.  

How is this impacting the overall tech landscape? For a start, Gartner predicts that by 2025, 70% of new business apps will utilize no-code or low-code tech. They also believe that 80% of non-IT-based employees will have a hand designing and developing tech services, indicating a massive shift in the industry towards no-code startups.

The Limitations for No-Code Startups

Why isn’t everyone using no-code tools, then? The simple fact is that you can’t do everything without some coding knowledge. Creating highly bespoke, on-brand apps that solve intensely industry-specific issues requires experts who can tweak a program constantly to ensure it delivers. This is the heart of continuous integration and delivery (CI/CD), a DevOps methodology that ensures apps, platforms, and other software solutions remain relevant and useful to the target audience.

What you might see in the very near future is a proliferation of low-code startups. An app or platform's concept, design, and launch might occur entirely via a no-code platform. Still, savvy startups will have a full-time or freelance developer on call to handle bugs, feedback, and those all-important upgrades to meet shifting client and market demands.

Final Word

Whether you built your app from scratch or utilized all the no-code tools, Arch Collective is on hand to ensure the right people take notice. Book your 15-minute introductory call and find out how we can support your marketing and brand messaging efforts for continuous growth.

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