The vast majority of our clients are currently facing similar challenges: large amounts of data to process, obsolete legacy solutions, a fragmented enterprise application landscape and processes that must be digitized in order to meet modern business requirements. Large transformation programmes are the rule, not the exception.
How do we tackle these challenges together with our clients and achieve rapid success? The approach has been in development for several years: low-code. This technology has always been and still is a high priority for KPMG, resulting in the creation of the KPMG Low-Code Center of Excellence (CoE) in 2021. The KPMG low-code Center of Excellence is our international competence centre where multiple KPMG member firms combine their low-code resources. In this way, we are able to offer our clients the greatest possible expertise and experience regardless of the chosen platform.
What is low-code?
Low-code is a refined way for companies to develop high-end applications which, according to ServiceNow, can perform up to 10 times faster compared to those developed traditionally. In contrast to the traditional coding methods, low-code applications can be created following the principle of a construction kit or a modular design system. Low-code platforms offer elements for applications that can be easily assembled, customised and reused in other applications. In addition, low-code platforms contain first-class data visualisation and statistical analysis capabilities, while automated reports can be created easily through the use of drag-and-drop.
Björgvin Magnússon
Partner, Consulting, Lighthouse Germany – Center of Excellence for Data & Analytics
KPMG AG Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft
What is the added value for you and your customers?
Thanks to this modular structure, you can significantly increase the efficiency of processes in your company, automate workflows and significantly reduce costs at the same time. The implementation of low-code applications is compatible with all common project management methods (agile, iterative, classic, hybrid).
Other advantages of low-code solutions include reusability of previously developed modules, cross-device accessibility and the ability to easily scale applications.
In the CoE, we consider low-code to be the future of application development and process automation. In particular, the ease of creating custom workflows allows applications on low-code platforms to flexibly adapt to your individual business processes. This enables companies to replace legacy systems and develop a state-of-the-art IT landscape in a relatively short time, meaning that the development and the resulting process optimisation quickly leads to quantifiable cost reductions. Additionally, it makes no difference whether the solution is ultimately to be used on a cell phone, laptop, browser, etc.
Two out of three apps could be developed with low-code technology in the future
The increasing popularity of low-code is not only due to the advantages already described - significant financial benefits can also be realized, as both companies and platform providers are now investing heavily in low-code.
The market share of low-code platforms has increased rapidly and it is now estimated that up to 65% of applications will be developed on them in the future, replacing traditional software development in many areas.
Research shows that 70% of users have learned how to develop low-code within a month - largely without any prior programming knowledge (Gartner® Magic Quadrant, 2021).
We are ready for you: With KPMG Sofy and our alliance partners
KPMG recognised this development trend very early and created our own in-house low-code platform, the KPMG Sofy Suite, many years ago. KPMG Sofy already has over 30 standard applications covering areas such as Governance, Risk & Compliance, Performance & Operations and Data Management. This makes KPMG a one-stop shop for clients: KPMG can build and deliver technology platforms, provide relevant process and subject matter expertise and leverage our implementation and global support capability.
The KPMG low-code CoE also works closely with our strategic global alliance partners such as Appian, OutSystems, Pega, Microsoft PowerApps, Salesforce and ServiceNow to ensure the best possible experience for our clients. Just like KPMG, these platform providers have been named as technology leaders by renowned technology analysts (Gartner, 2021; Forrester, 2021).
The most significant advantage for our clients is that KPMG can support clients on the platform of their choice, regardless of the industry or use case. In order to develop this service and to further grow our strong low-code team, we offer well established training programmes including certification opportunities with all of our platform partners in the KPMG CoE low-code Academy.
The immense advantage of our approach for our clients: We support you on the platform of your choice, regardless of the industry or use case. In order to consolidate this service and to grow our considerable low-code team, we offer trainings including certification opportunities for our platform partners in the CoE low-code Academy.
We apply our many years of expertise for your low-code apps
Thanks to decades of consulting and auditing experience we are in a unique position to combine technical, industry/client and domain expertise in the execution of client low-code projects.
In conjunction with our strategic alliance partners or by leveraging KPMG’s own Sofy Suite, we can realise every conceivable use case, from an initial concept to a complete implementation.
KPMG’s value proposition is accelerated growth through this orchestrated approach.