Number of downloads for “DevOn NCD”, a “no-code” development platform made free by LG CNS, surpassed 2,000 downloads in just a month. It will be interesting to see whether a market for “no code” platform that allows normal people who do not know anything about coding to develop premium programs will open in South Korea as well. Once such market is vitalized, small and medium-sized enterprises that relatively lack software (SW) engineers compared to bigger companies will be able to carry out digital transformation earlier than expected.
According to LG CNS on Wednesday, the number of downloads for “DevOn LCD”, which was introduced early this month, surpassed 1,600 downloads in three weeks. Once 400 downloads from a period in February when the platform was introduced privately are added, the total number of downloads surpasses 2,000 downloads.
DevOn NCD, which indicates “no coding development”, allows a person to develop a program without having to study Java or C language. With just a month of training, one can develop a program as simple as moving an icon with a mouse.
Because the platform combines design and development processes and it takes care of program test right away, hours needed to develop a program can be reduced. Even though the platform allows easily development of a program without coding, programs developed by the platform come close to programs developed by coding. LG CNS has utilized and verified the platform through about one thousand projects for the past six years and it also used the platform for a $8.8 million (10 billion KRW) project.
“The reason why LG CNS is making DevOn NCD free is because we want to expand an ecosystem for no code market and find new business opportunities and contribute to growth of small and medium-sized enterprises and academic circles at the same time.” said Lee Ho-gun who is the director of LG CNS Development Innovation Center. “Because small and medium-sized enterprises and medium-sized enterprises lack developers compared to major companies, the platform will be a great help for them.”
Since introducing the platform, the company has received inquiries from dozens of companies regardless of their size or field. There was an inquiry from a medium-sized SI (System Integration) company that wanted to utilize DevOn LCD from productivity and efficiency aspects.
“Low-code” markets that involve no coding or minimizes coding are continuing to grow in foreign countries. According to Gartner, the company estimates that no-code and low-code markets will grow 9.1% annually and will be worth about $21 billion in 2022.
The reason why Google acquired a no-code development platform company early last year is because it knew the potential of no-code and low-code markets. Microsoft (MS) and Amazon Web Service (AWS) have also jumped into no-code market as well. In foreign countries, no-code platforms are generally provided as either SaaS (Service as a Software) or PaaS (Platform as a Service).
No-code and low-code markets in South Korea are still in its infancy. Besides LG CNS, the markets are generally made up of few small and medium-sized enterprises such as SOFTPOWER and Quintet Systems. A representative for SOFTPOWER said that the company has been receiving calls not only from small and medium-sized enterprises but also public agencies and major companies regarding digital transformation. The representative also expected that the no-code market and the ecosystem in South Korea would gradually become bigger even though number of companies that specialize in no-code app development platform is still lacking in South Korea.
Once no-code app development platform usage becomes higher, social costs can be reduced by reducing a duration required to learn programming language that typically lasts about a year. Such platform can be an alternative to an issue of lack of professional developers. Some also advise that no-code app development platforms need to be seen as a new tool rather than platforms that completely replace programming languages that are currently used.
“I’ve heard that there are students who give up on learning languages from departments such as industrial engineering.” said Director Lee. “No-code app development platforms will be able to solve such issue and they will be established as a new IT culture.”
Staff Reporter An, Hocheon | hcan@etnews.com