An Overview of RAD on Businesses

The success or failure of Enterprise Digital Transformation initiatives is directly related to the quality of the execution and time to market. Rapid Application Development (RAD) is a shift away from the traditional Waterfall method and towards an Agile approach to help small businesses develop new products, features, and functions quickly enough to stay competitive in the rapidly changing digital world.  

A recent study, as per Mendix research, shows that 71% of IT teams are behind, unable to keep pace with growing needs. Additionally, 65% say that the turnaround expected by the business for custom development projects is shrinking. This is where Rapid Application Development comes into play.

Rapid Application Development (RAD) is a software development methodology that enables enterprise-quality business solutions to be built quickly using low-code or no-code development. RAD has been around for decades, but it has recently gained attraction among small businesses as their demand for new solutions grows, as does their desire to build apps quickly and introduce them to customers without spending much time in coding and lump sum amount in developers.

In 2019, the global rapid application development market was valued at US$ 10.01 billion, with a CAGR of 26.74 percent expected to reach US$ 52.59 billion by 2027, helping small businesses reach new heights and come to par with multinational companies.

This report deals with the RAD, its benefits, and how it has become a globally accepted best tool to flourish small businesses.

Introduction

Accelerating time to market is one way to stay relevant in the face of technology-driven disruptions in business models. Enterprises must quickly respond to customer needs, introduce new products/features to the market, and expand their reach. While digital transformation addresses these issues, Rapid Application Development processes pave the way for successful digital transformation.

Traditional enterprise application development approaches have limitations.

Planning, analysis, and design are typically the first steps in developing an application. A basic version will be developed, once the basic framework is in place. Feedback on the first version and features are added in subsequent production cycles. Traditional application development methodologies and tools are unable to meet the demands of modern enterprise applications, where customers seek solutions with the shortest turnaround time, as it is time-consuming.

Enterprises are now looking for more stable, less complex, low-effort, no-coding, and highly flexible application development methodologies. The solution to these problems is Rapid Application Development (RAD).

A Research on Global Rapid Application Development Market by Region 

According to Maximize Market Research Pvt. Ltd the global rapid application development market was worth US$ 10.01 billion in 2019 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 26.74 percent to 46.2 percent i.e., US$ 52.59 billion by 2027.

The impact of COVID-19 lockdown on the revenue of market leaders, followers, and disruptors is examined in the report. Since lockdown was implemented differently in different regions and countries, the impact varies by region and segment. The current short and long-term impact on the market has been covered in the report, which will assist decision-makers in preparing the outline for short and long-term strategies for companies by region.

Mendix, a Siemens business and the global leader in enterprise low-code, released key findings from a survey of enterprise software developers' attitudes and perceptions. The technology and business landscapes are rapidly changing, hence the information uncovered is critical and timely. Some ideas and mindsets around the separation of work between business and IT teams appear to be entrenched in a previous era, causing issues for companies attempting to adapt business processes to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic.

The survey found that both business and IT professionals prioritize the developers' ability to understand business needs. Contrarily, business professionals, on the other hand, say they are willing to do their application development if given the right tools.

Other key findings point to the urgent need for increased cross-functional collaboration between the business and IT sides of the enterprise and a stronger focus on the user experience. A total of 1,000 business and IT professionals responded to the online survey.

Only 9.4% of the business professionals polled believe developers need to understand the business, which is a very low number. 11.4 % of IT professionals believe that understanding the business is a necessary developer skill. Despite this, 66% of business professionals say they expect developers to assist them in solving their problems. These figures reveal a significant gap between what businesses require and expect, and the skills that developers are valued for to meet those requirements.

Given the development backlog (roughly half of all respondents believe developer teams struggle to find time for new projects), business stakeholders were asked if they'd be willing to develop an app on their own. 9 out of 10 said YES if a tool that didn't require specialized programming skills was available.