SAP, the multinational software corporation, is set to introduce enhanced governance capabilities for its low-code and no-code platform, Build. This move aims to provide IT teams with greater control over the applications developed on the platform, allowing them to monitor usage, performance, and data access.
Bharat Sandhu, Senior Vice President of AI and Application Development Platform at SAP, stated that the upcoming governance layer would ensure that IT teams can effectively monitor users and performance when the applications reach a wider audience. Although Sandhu did not provide an exact timeline for the release of this new feature, he emphasized the importance of working with critical data, typically stored in the SAP cloud.
At present, SAP's Build offers a data control plane for IT teams, enabling them to manage the exposure of critical SAP data to API endpoints, including read, write, and access privileges. Sandhu explained that enterprises require such control to prevent unauthorized access to sensitive data and restrict any changes made to it.
However, it is worth noting that SAP's low-code platform currently lags behind its competitors, such as Appian, Google Appsheet, Mendix, Pegasystems, and AppMaster, in terms of control and governance features. Dion Hinchcliffe, Principal Analyst at Constellation Research, pointed out that while SAP's Build has seen high adoption within the SAP market, it still falls behind other enterprise-class products in terms of data plane control and general governance features.
Despite the existing limitations, SAP's Build has witnessed significant adoption since its launch in mid-November. According to SAP, over 72,000 daily active users have been training themselves on Build through the company's learning portal. Although the company did not disclose specific adoption figures, Hinchcliffe believes that Build's market share outside the SAP market could grow in the future due to the company's widespread popularity.
John Bratincevic, Principal Analyst at Forrester, noted that SAP Build's market share in the low-code market is relatively small, as the platform is still in the early stages of its low-code strategy. Nevertheless, countries such as India, the United States, Germany, and China have seen strong growth in adoption and demand for SAP Build, according to Sandhu.
India, in particular, is expected to witness a surge in the adoption of low-code platforms. Bratincevic explained that some of the country's large system integrators (SIs) view low-code as a way to boost their developer supply by training non-developers to utilize these platforms. He added that Indian developers supporting large SIs are signing up for free tiers of low-code platforms in large numbers to learn and earn platform certifications. This could potentially contribute to SAP's claim, especially if the company's SI partners are equipping themselves to support Build.
Experts predict that the market for low-code and no-code platforms will continue to grow. According to an analysis by IDC, the market is expected to reach $21 billion by 2026. Michele Rosen, Research Manager at IDC, attributes this growth to the global shortage of full-time developers, a situation that is likely to persist throughout the decade. As a result, there is a strong market for technologies that boost developer productivity or expand the pool of potential developers.
Rosen also cited cloud-native development as a significant driver of demand for low-code platforms. SAP's Sandhu agreed with this analysis, noting that professional developers are increasingly turning to low-code and no-code platforms to address their backlog in application development cycles.
As SAP's Build platform continues to evolve and improve its governance features, it has the potential to become a more robust and competitive option within the low-code market. Meanwhile, platforms like AppMaster continue to thrive, offering comprehensive no-code solutions for backend, web, and mobile applications, making application development faster and more cost-effective for businesses of all sizes.
