A Forrester Consulting

Thought Leadership Paper

Commissioned By Appian

March 2019

Large Enterprises
Succeeding With Low-Code
How To Recognize Low-Code Platforms Built
For The Most Demanding Applications
 Table Of Contents
1 Executive Summary
2 Digital Transformation Requires
A New Approach To Application
Development
6 What Makes A Development
Platform Enterprise-Ready?
10 Low-Code Powers Enterprise Digital
Transformation
12 Key Recommendations
14 Appendix

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 Executive Summary
Digital channels have become the battleground on which customers
are won or lost, so enterprises must undergo an extensive digital
transformation inside and out to remain competitive. As companies
transform themselves into digital businesses, they hit constraints in
their ability to develop applications software —whether in hiring and
maintaining talent, collaborating across silos, or delivering solutions with a
competitive speed-to-market.
This challenge is acute for large enterprises, which have the most
demanding requirements for the scale, sophistication, security, and
integrity of software solutions. Traditionally, these firms would rely on
professional developers working in custom programming languages to
build these top-priority applications. In recent years, however, low-code
development platforms have become a quicker alternative to coding. But
can low-code meet the demands of enterprises? Can enterprises build
and run their top-priority applications on low-code and reap the benefits
of rapid application development at scale?
In December 2018, Appian commissioned Forrester Consulting to find
out. Forrester conducted an online survey of 254 IT and line-of-business
decision makers in the US, the UK, Canada, and Australia to evaluate
expectations for and experiences with low-code development platforms
for enterprise-scale applications. We found that while some enterprise
application decision makers doubt low-code platforms can support
enterprise scale, firms with the highest enterprise requirements are finding
success running critical applications with low-code platforms.

KEY FINDINGS
›› Low-code accelerates development, meeting enterprise need for
speed. Eighty-four percent of enterprises have adopted a low-code
development platform or tool. These firms are successful in efforts to
improve existing IT capabilities, innovate products and services, and
become more agile — all of which power a greater speed-to-market.
›› Low-code platforms can meet the highest enterprise requirements.
Firms with the lowest tolerance for downtime and data loss, as well as
the strongest requirements for continuous auditing and independent
security certification, are the most likely to run top applications on
low-code. Their endorsement of low-code proves that enterprise-ready
low-code solutions are already available in the market.
›› Enterprises will turn to low-code to build complex business logic.
While many firms use custom code to build applications for complex
business logic today, they’re eager to build on the success that low-
code development has brought to other parts of the business. In the
future, enterprises will likely deploy low-code, rather than custom code,
to run these business-critical applications.

1 | Large Enterprises Succeeding With Low-Code

Digital Transformation Requires A New
Approach To Application Development
The digital transformation imperative has led enterprises to develop
a long list of software priorities that are quickly outstripping their
development and delivery capacity and prompting business groups to Figure 1
seek alternatives to traditional IT delivery. We found:
“What are/will be the drivers of your
›› Enterprises are under pressure to do more with what they
firm’s digital transformation efforts?”
have. Firms will need to find efficiencies in process, technology,
(Top five shown)
and capacity to meet digital transformation goals without cutting
into the bottom line. The top drivers for digital transformation Combined top three ranking
include 1) improving existing IT capabilities to promote agility and
innovation, 2) innovating with new products, and 3) improving
37% Improve existing IT capabilities
customer experience (CX). Yet reducing costs is also a top driver
to promote agility and innovation
(see Figure 1). While the need for product innovation and improved
CX may lead an enterprise to hire more professional developers,
talent is in short supply, and average salaries for developers will 28% Innovate products and services
1
remain high for the foreseeable future.
›› Developers struggle to deliver what the business needs in time
26% Improve the customer
quickly and securely. Security is the most common challenge
experience
facing enterprises today: 59% cite it as a challenge as they role out
digital solutions. Meanwhile, delivering solutions as quickly as the
25% Become a more agile
business needs them and redesigning business processes are top
organization
of mind in terms of difficulty to overcome (see Figure 2). Without
budget to dramatically expand development staff, technical teams
must enlist the talents of business groups to speed solutions 24% Reduce costs
delivery. Arming cross-functional teams with development and
collaboration tools appropriate for everyone’s skill level will also Base: 254 IT and business decision
help firms overcome another top challenge: lack of technology makers responsible for digital
transformation initiatives at enterprises in
skills. But this expansion into business development cannot come the US, the UK, Canada, and Australia
at the expense of security. Source: A commissioned study
conducted by Forrester Consulting on
›› Business experts are key to delivering process transformation. behalf of Appian, December 2018
New digital business initiatives and customer engagement are the
highest-priority application use cases at the firms we surveyed
(see Figure 3). It’s encouraging, however, that end-to-end process
automation also ranks within the top five. Automation is critical to
agility, cost reduction, and smooth customer experience. This is
also further proof that the business has greater value in application
development — not only for its proximity to the customer but also
for its knowledge of its processes.

2
Figure 2
“How do/es the challenge/s you selected impede your ability to deliver on digital transformation priorities?”
Impedes/significantly impedes

74% Inability to deliver as quickly as the business needs

65% Lack of technology skills or knowledge

63% Business process redesign

61% Customer experience design

61% Security

60% Project management and/or program management

59% Legacy technologies (i.e., upkeep)

58% Data issues

52% Organizational barriers (e.g., culture)

51% Vision and strategy of the transformation

48% Legal/regulatory issues

Base: 60 to 138 IT and business decision makers whose enterprises experienced challenges executing digital transformation efforts
Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Appian, December 2018

Figure 3
Top application priorities in terms of value to the business overall
Combined total rank

61% New digital business/product initiatives

55% Sales and customer engagement

50% Compliance

50% Customer service and support

45% End-to-end process automation

41% Marketing

33% Record keeping

31% Billing

28% Field enablement and service

Base: 254 IT and business decision makers responsible for digital transformation initiatives at enterprises in the US, the UK, Canada, and
Australia
Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Appian, December 2018

3 | Large Enterprises Succeeding With Low-Code

LOW-CODE DEVELOPMENT ALLEVIATES KEY CHALLENGES,
YET MANY DOUBT IT CAN MEET ENTERPRISE NEEDS
Low-code platforms employ visual, declarative techniques instead
of programming to build applications, accelerating the pace of pro
developers and allowing business experts to lead or participate in
2
solution delivery. Eighty-four percent of enterprises have turned
toward low-code development tools or platforms to handle some
3
portion of their development needs. Why? To reduce the strain on
IT resources, increase speed-to-market, and better involve business
decision makers in the development of digital assets. Interestingly,
even though enterprises using low-code report impressive progress
toward digital transformation goals, almost a third of these same
firms are hesitant to use low-code platforms to develop their most
demanding or top-priority applications (see Figure 4).
Is their reluctance to use low-code for top applications justified?
Our findings say that low-code platforms help firms overcome
scarce resources by accelerating developer productivity and
empowering business experts to assist in application delivery. To
understand how far and how well low-code platforms can scale
to enterprise needs, decision makers need criteria to 1) clearly
understand their requirements and 2) identify the most enterprise-
ready options in the market.

84% of enterprises have turned toward low-code

for its ability to reduce strain on IT resources,
increase speed-to-market, and involve the
business in digital asset development.

4
Figure 4
Enterprises using low-code are seeing impressive progress against digital transformation drivers, yet nearly a third of
those using low-code are not using it to build and deliver top-priority applications.

1. Many enterprises have implemented a low-code 2. These low-code firms are making significant progress
development tool or platform to handle a portion of toward top digital transformation goals.
application development.
Making a moderate or significant positive impact

91% Improve existing IT capabilities to promote agility and

innovation

89% Innovate products and services

84% 86% Become a more agile organization

85% Improve the customer experience

84% Reduce costs

Base: 254 IT and business decision makers responsible for digital Base: 212 IT and business decision makers responsible for digital
transformation initiatives at enterprises in the US, the UK, Canada, transformation initiatives at enterprises in the US, the UK, Canada,
and Australia and Australia using low-code

3. Yet 31% of enterprises using low-code have not used it

to build and deliver any of their highest-value The top five highest-priority applications in value
applications. to the business overall:
1. New digital business/product initiatives
2. Sales and customer engagement
3. Compliance

31% 4. Customer service and support

5. End-to-end process automation

Base: 212 IT and business decision makers responsible for digital

transformation initiatives at enterprises in the US, the UK, Canada,
and Australia using low-code

Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Appian, December 2018

5 | Large Enterprises Succeeding With Low-Code

What Makes A Development Platform
Enterprise-Ready?
To investigate what enterprises consider to be critical requirements for
top applications, we asked respondents a series of questions about the
requirements of their highest-priority, most valuable application projects.
Enterprises share six requirements for their top applications:
›› Acceptable downtime, ranging from none to more than several hours.
›› Acceptable data loss, ranging from none to more than an hour.
›› Scale of user base, ranging from on the individual level to Top application data
enterprisewide.
loss is detrimental to
›› Frequency of independent audits, ranging from never to continuously.
›› Independent security certifications, ranging from none of them to all
enterprises overall:
of them. 89% consider one
›› Support for the latest technology (i.e., operating systems and hour or less to be the
browsers), ranging from not at all important to a critical requirement. maximum acceptable
A cluster analysis of these factors identified three major groups of time for data loss
4
respondents within the larger enterprise community (see Figure 5):
›› The Prudent: enterprises with the highest requirements overall.
(RPO).
These enterprises have the lowest levels of acceptable downtime
and the strongest preference for zero data loss of the three groups. A
sizeable portion requires continuous auditing (30%), and they also have
the highest levels of independent security certification — 84% of these
firms say most or all of their top applications require it.
›› The Vigilant: enterprises where independent monitoring outweighs
What group do
other factors. These enterprises have the second highest levels of your highest value
independent security certification (64% say most or all top applications applications fall into?
require it), and more than a quarter say top apps require continuous
auditing. Meanwhile, this group has the highest tolerance for downtime Is your enterprise
and data loss of any of the three groups. Vigilant, Prudent, or
›› The Swift: enterprises where downtime and data loss outweigh Swift?
other factors. These enterprises have the lowest levels of independent
security certification, and only 1% report needing continuous auditing.
These firms are much more focused on staying online: They’ll accept
only moderate levels of downtime and data loss.
The Prudent, the Vigilant, and the Swift agree on the high value of
platforms providing the latest, up-to-date technology. And while user-
base size of top applications runs the gamut, there is high and consistent
use of top applications across multiple departments and enterprisewide
at all firms.

6
Figure 5
Our cluster analysis of six enterprise requirements segmented firms into three groups: the Prudent, the Vigilant,
and the Swift.

The Prudent The Vigilant

(N = 69) (N = 106)

• Lowest levels of acceptable downtime • Highest levels of acceptable downtime

• Strongest preference for zero data loss (81%) • Highest tolerance for data loss
• Most top apps run across multiple departments or • Most top apps run across multiple departments or
enterprisewide enterprisewide
• Quarterly audit most common (48%), but 30% require • Quarterly audit most common (45%), but 26% require
continuous auditing continuous audit
• Highest levels of independent security certification (84%, • Second-highest levels of independent security
most or all apps require) certification (64%, most or all apps require it)
• Strong preference for latest platform technology • Strong preference for latest platform technology

The Swift
(N = 79)

• Moderate levels of acceptable downtime

• Moderate tolerance for data loss
• Relatively even use cases across scales, but most apps
are run across multiple departments or enterprisewide
• Quarterly audit by far most common (62%); only 1% need
continuous
• Lowest need for independent security certification (95%
some, very few, or none)
• Strong preference for latest platform technology (though
lower relative to other groups)

7 | Large Enterprises Succeeding With Low-Code

Figure 5 (cont.)
Looking more closely within and across the groups, we find what requirements are critical for all versus dependent on
the firm’s need.

Critical for all Latest platform technology:

All three groups have a strong preference for the latest platform technology.

Scalability across large user bases:

Top applications run the gamut in scale at nearly all firms; high and consistent
selection across all scales, particularly multiple departments and enterprisewide.

Important, No data loss:

but depends on the firm Depends greatly on the organization, but even the most tolerant cluster draws the line
(75% of the Prudent will only accept up to an hour of data loss).

No downtime:
Depends greatly on the organization, but even the most tolerant group draws the line
(74% of the Prudent will only accept up to several hours of downtime).

Independent security certification:

Depends on the organization, but even 63% of the firms that need them the least (the
Swift) say, “Some apps require independent security cert” (middle of the scale).

Continuous independent audits:

While a significant minority need continuous auditing, there’s some consensus that
quarterly is the sweet spot for top apps.

8
SOME LOW-CODE PLATFORMS ARE MEETING TOP ENTERPRISE
REQUIREMENTS
A key finding: Enterprise development shops are using low-code
platforms for their top enterprise applications. In fact, the group with
the highest requirements overall (the Prudent) is also the group most
likely to use low-code platforms for top applications (see Figure 6).
This means that there are low-code platforms in the market today that
fit even the most demanding of enterprise application requirements. A
deeper look into the firms using low-code for top applications reveals:
›› Low-code use cases target most important use case for all firms.
Recall that “new digital business/product initiatives” is the most
valuable use case for all firms we surveyed. This use case is also top
for firms using low-code for top applications (see Figure 7). In fact,
the top five use cases for all platforms are the same as the top five
5
most valuable use cases for low-code. The notion that enterprises
use low-code platforms to deliver only small or departmental
applications is false.
›› Top applications on low-code are likely to handle more users and
data than other development platforms at the same firm. Not only
can low-code meet the most demanding enterprise requirements,
it can take on a significant share of the user and data load once
deployed. Sixty-five percent of enterprises using low-code platforms
for their top applications say that more or significantly more users
access applications on their low-code platforms compared with other
platforms. Sixty percent say the same about data created or stored
by low-code platforms. Interestingly, the percentages are even higher
for the Prudent group (71% and 66%, respectively).

Figure 6

Enterprises with the highest requirements overall are the most likely to use low-code for top applications.
Using low-code for top apps Using low-code, but not for top apps

69%
Overall
31%

76%
The Prudent
24%

72%
The Vigilant
28%

55%
The Swift
45%

Base: Overall (N = 212), the Prudent (N = 63), the Vigilant (N = 96), the Swift (N =53), IT and business decision makers who use low-code
platforms
Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Appian, December 2018

9 | Large Enterprises Succeeding With Low-Code

Figure 7
The top five priority applications overall are also the top five low-code use cases.
Top applications for low-code
No. 1 use case overall
48% New digital business/product initiatives
No. 5 use case overall
40% End-to-end process automation
No. 2 use case overall
40% Sales and customer engagement
No. 4 use case overall
40% Customer service and support
No. 3 use case overall
39% Compliance

Base: 146 IT and business decision makers responsible for digital transformation initiatives at enterprises that use low-code platforms in
the US, the UK, Canada, and Australia
Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Appian, December 2018

Low-Code Powers Enterprise Digital

Transformation
By identifying low-code platforms with features that address the
six enterprise requirements, firms can not only build and deliver
critical applications faster and at scale, but also gain a deeper
understanding of the business results of their digital transformation
overall. Enterprises yet to adopt low-code or hesitant to deploy an
existing low-code platform for their top applications can learn from
the enterprises that are powering their digital agendas with low-
code development. Our survey found:
›› Low-code platforms running top applications extend
flexibility, speed, and automation. Sixty-four percent of
enterprises using low-code to run top applications say they turn
to low-code because it is the most flexible option. More than
half say they use low-code because it has the fastest speed
of delivery. And 49% say low-code has the greatest ability to
automate processes. Prudent enterprises are even more likely to
value low-code for flexibility (83%), speed (63%), and automation
(67%). These qualities are particularly critical as firms attempt to
overcome the toughest digital transformation challenges: inability
to deliver at the speed the business needs, lack of technology
skill, and business process redesign.

10 | Large Enterprises Succeeding With Low-Code

›› The results of using low-code for top applications align to the
needs of the digital transformation agenda. The top driver for
digital transformation overall is to improve existing IT capabilities —
and enterprises using low-code for top applications report this is the
most common value driven by their use of low-code platforms (53%).
They also report greater agility (43%) and reduced costs (42%). As
a result, it shouldn’t be surprising that 95% of these firms say they
are satisfied or very satisfied with enterprise-focused features of their Low-code has the
low-code platforms. Since 72% of firms overall are customizing out-
of-the-box applications with custom code and 57% are using fully
power to overcome
custom code to deliver top applications, there is significant potential the toughest barriers
in the market for low-code platforms to drive a greater share of the to successful digital
digital agenda.
›› Enterprise low-code use is likely to grow as platforms improve
transformation. In
support for complex business logic. We asked all the enterprises fact, we found that
using low-code what tool or platform they would use today for an 100% of low-code
application requiring complex business logic and what they’d ideally
use in the future (see Figure 8). Today, 30% would turn to fully custom enterprises have
coding to build complex logic, but this shrinks to 16% as they think received ROI from
about the future. Instead, firms would prefer to use custom low-code
for complex business logic in the future (30%). This tells us that while their low-code
enterprises may have reservations regarding low-code for complex adoption.
logic today, they have their eye on low-code’s future capabilities and
will shift that way given the option.

Figure 8
“If you were to build an application that required complex business logic, what tool/platform would you use to build it
today? In the future?”
Today In the future

30%
Fully custom coding
16%

Customizing out-of-the-box applications with 22%

additional custom coding 23%

Customizing out-of-the-box applications with 20%

low-code development tools/platforms 13%

Out-of-the-box applications with no modifications 17%

(i.e., packaged software and SaaS) 17%

Fully custom, using low-code development 11%

tools/platforms 30%

Base: 212 IT and business decision makers responsible for digital transformation initiatives at enterprises in the US, the UK, Canada, and
Australia using low-code
Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Appian, December 2018

11 | Large Enterprises Succeeding With Low-Code

 Key Recommendations
Can low-code development platforms help large enterprises deliver
their most demanding application projects to accelerate digital
transformation? The evidence says yes. Reservations about the ability
of these application platforms to scale are prudent, but no longer well-
grounded.
Forrester’s in-depth survey of IT and business decision makers about
the use of low-code development platforms at enterprise scale yielded
five important recommendations:
Add a low-code development platform to your portfolio. Assuming
your software teams, like those in the majority of other enterprises, must
deliver more software in less time, one or more low-code development
platforms belong in your portfolio. The evidence that enterprises can
accelerate delivery of the software crucial to digital transformation by
using low-code platforms is compelling. Moreover, development teams
in large enterprises are delivering their most complex and demanding
application projects using low-code platforms.
Use the six enterprise requirements to guide your product
evaluations. “Enterprise” is a vague term freighted with hidden
assumptions. Our findings expose the top six general enterprise
requirements — and test their relative importance to enterprise IT and
business decision makers. Use the six requirements in your vendor
and product due diligence, as only a subset of the dozens of low-code
development platforms will support them. Place your enterprise within
the three groupings — the Prudent, the Vigilant, and the Swift — to
streamline your investigations.
Probe vendor product road maps, and verify track records. Low-
code development platforms are strategic investments that must
support the delivery of many applications — and the sustainability of
those applications over time. Sustaining means vendors keeping up
with new operating-system and browser releases, but also continually
adding new features and technologies that are important to customer
applications. Today, the focus is on the variety of AI features; tomorrow,
who knows? Low-code platform vendors must keep up to sustain
customer value.
Include support for business-expert participation in your product
evaluations. Lurking in this research: business experts participating
in software delivery. Whether those experts play on an Agile team with
developers and architects, use low-code tools to convey requirements
to development and/or application teams, deliver solutions themselves,
or all three, they must be part of your strategy. Include support for
business-expert participation in software delivery in your consideration
of low-code platforms.

12 | Large Enterprises Succeeding With Low-Code

 Use the benefits your peers report to create and measure your
business case for low-code platforms. Our findings clearly report
and rank the application use cases most meaningful to the business
(see Figure 3), starting with new business and product initiatives and
progressing through customer engagement and compliance to process
automation. Focus on one or two of these in your low-code strategy
and create business metrics to gauge success and business impact.
Business cases based on a buckshot approach targeting many use
cases are too difficult to manage and too likely to “fail” even if they
produce some results.

13 | Large Enterprises Succeeding With Low-Code

Appendix A: Methodology
In this study, Forrester conducted an online survey of 254 organizations
from a variety of industries in the US, the UK, Canada, and Australia
to evaluate the adoption and use of low-code platforms. Survey
participants included decision makers in operations/business process,
executive management, and IT/technology. Respondents were offered
incentives as a thank you for time spent on the survey. The study was
completed in December 2018.

Appendix B: Demographics/Data
COUNTRY COMPANY SIZE

CA 3% 2%
100 to 499 employees
9% 4%
UK 21% 20,000 or more 500 to 999 employees
employees

US 56% 29%
57%
5,000 to 19,999
1,000 to 4,999
employees
employees

AU 20%

INDUSTRY POSITION
(only top 10 responses shown)

Technology and/or technology services 20% Senior-most IT decision maker in the firm 32%
Retail 12% Senior-most business leader 21%
Manufacturing and materials 9% Director in IT 20%
Financial services/banking 9% Manager in IT 13%
Healthcare payer/providers 7% Director in line of business or function 6%
Energy or utilities 7% VP in IT 4%
Business or professional services 7% Executive in line of business or function 3%
Transportation and logistics 4% Manager in line of business or function 2%
Insurance 3%
Construction 3%

14 | Large Enterprises Succeeding With Low-Code

“What is your level of responsibility when it comes to application development and delivery strategy at your
organization?”*

I am the final decision maker for my organization’s application

development and delivery strategy. 73%

I am part of a team making decisions for my organization’s

application development and delivery strategy. 19%

I influence decisions related to my organization’s application

development and delivery strategy. 3%

“What is your level of responsibility when it comes to strategy for business process automation at your
organization?Ӡ

I am the final decision maker for my organization’s

business process automation strategy. 75%

I am part of a team making decisions for my

organization’s business process automation strategy. 21%

I influence decisions related to my organization’s business

process automation strategy. 4%

Base: 254 IT and business decision makers responsible for digital transformation initiatives at enterprises in the US, the UK, Canada, and
Australia
*Base: 174 IT decision makers
†Base: 80 LOB decision makers
Note: Percentages may not total 100 because of rounding.
Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Appian, December 2018

Appendix C: Supplemental Material

RELATED FORRESTER RESEARCH
“Customers Illuminate The Benefits And Challenges Of Low-Code Development Platforms,” Forrester
Research, Inc., January 23, 2018.
“Now Tech: Rapid App Delivery, Q1 2019,” Forrester Research, Inc., January 4, 2019.

Appendix D: Endnotes
1
Source: “Digital Transformation Requires Development Transformation,” Forrester Research, Inc., October 9,
2018.
2
Source: “Now Tech: Rapid App Delivery, Q1 2019,” Forrester Research, Inc., January 4, 2019.
3
Source: Ibid.
4
Looking at the results of these questions in the aggregate does little to reveal how individual firms prioritize
each of the six specifications. For example, are there firms for which some data loss is unacceptable, but
hours of planned downtime are tolerated? Are there firms for which continuous independent audit is critical,
but no applications require independent security certification? To answer these questions, we performed a
k-factor cluster analysis of three groups using the six response sets. Each group weighs requirements for top
applications differently.
5
Though the order of the five use cases is different, the same five use cases appear at the top of both answer
sets.

15 | Large Enterprises Succeeding With Low-Code