ERP and Low-code Platforms

Low-code platforms gain popularity because they enable organizations to develop applications rapidly against lower costs. Low-code platforms are more and more used to develop performant, scalable and secure mobile and web applications. Gartner predicts that by 2024, low-code application development will be responsible for more than 65% of application development activity.

Providers of ERP packages are also embracing low-code platforms. An example is SAP. Their strategy is to serve their customers with standard, out-of-the-box ERP functionality without any customization by the customer itself. This enables easy upgrades in the future, as well on-premise and cloud deployments. If customization is required, SAP positions the Mendix low-code platform to develop applications. These applications integrate seamless with SAP.

This strategy is also presented by Gartner in their pace-layered application strategy:

·        Systems of innovation: applications to support new business models,

·        Systems of differentiation: applications to support services and products to differentiate from the competition,

·        Systems of records: applications to support generic business functions that everyone is using.

SAP is seen as a system of record. Certainly, everyone including the competition is using SAP. But to make the difference, uniqueness and speed to reduce time-to-market are required to increase market share. In this domain, a low-code platform proves its added value. But also, in the domain of the systems of innovation where one wants to experiment with new services and a quick response on market feedback is key, low-code proves its value by rapidly putting new or changed functionality into the market place.

SAP and Mendix have a strategic alliance. Pre-built connectors are available from both to integrate Mendix applications seamless with SAP. Mendix is part of SAP’s Cloud Platform Rapid Application Development.

Talking about ERP and Low-code Platforms, there is one platform that delivers the best of both worlds: Thinkwise Software. It is a low-code platform that focuses on realizing custom core enterprise systems with a pure model-based development approach. Thinkwise is noticed by Forrester and it is included as a contender in the 2019 edition of the wave Low-code Development Platforms for AD&D Professionals.

You have probably never heard of Thinkwise. Right, it is still a hidden pearl. Customers use Thinkwise to realize enterprise software. Examples are mainly within manufacturing. Those customers have realized front-end and back-end ERP applications with Thinkwise. They have reduced their total cost-of-ownership significantly and created a competitive advantage at the same time.

Both examples, SAP/Mendix and Thinkwise Software, show that the ERP application landscape is changing. Low-code platforms are here to stay.