In this past year’s Forrester Wave: Low-Code Development Platforms, Q2 2016 report compiled by Forrester Research, our member OutSystems was identified as a leader amongst low-code development platform providers.

In addition to OutSystems, the report identified 13 other significant vendors in the low-code development platform landscape, and researched, analysed, and scored them to see how each one measures up competitively. To achieve this, an evaluation was conducted against a comprehensive set of 26 criteria grouped into three key areas: current offering, strategy, and market presence.

The report concluded that OutSystems, Appian, Mendix, and Salesforce are leading the way in low-code development platforms. AgilePoint fell just short of the leaders, instead falling into the strong performer category. On the other end of the spectrum, MicroPact, Nintex, QuickBase, and MIOsoft were notably lagging compared to the competition.

Another key takeaway from the report is that application development and delivery (AD&D) professionals are gaining confidence in the ability of low-code development platforms to support fast delivery of large, complex, and reliable customer solutions. Consequently, the low-code development platform market is growing, as is the demand for rapid delivery of customer applications amongst AD&D professionals.

The report identified three essential factors in differentiating low-code development platforms and vendors. Authors named tooling as the first of these key differentiators, arguing that providing a wide breadth of tooling generally means less coding to deliver applications. The second factor designated was built-in support for modern development and practices. Lastly, the availability of free initial access to the platform for experimentation and learning was seen as a crucial factor in differentiation.

The Forrester Wave report provides useful insight into how digital leaders are overcoming the challenge of keeping pace with the demand for new apps, and bridging the gap between business and IT for digital innovation. It further offers an understanding of how digital leaders are managing to balance the need for new skills with the scarcity of talent. Finally, the research examines how digital leaders are able to provide rapid delivery without compromising scalability, security, and application management.

To read or download the full Forrester Wave report, click here.