How Low-Code Platforms are Making Digitalization more Accessible
By: Sophie Zoria
Tags: Digitalization, Low Code Development, Digital Transformation, Low Code Platform

Agility and relevancy are the two priorities for businesses in all industries. Whether it is a global delivery company that has to adhere to the new health regulations or a small software development company — both are in desperate need to follow the customer’s needs with a smooth process of digitalization. The funny fact is that 88% of the companies from the Fortune 500 list from 1955 seized to exist in 2015; this is a perfect example that businesses which refuse or cannot keep up with the adaptation to the market’s demand get literally wiped out by the competition or fall far behind tremendously.

In 2020, market demand is growing faster than ever, so finding a perfect balance between customer expectations and the technological capabilities to meet them is the key to success. Luckily, the low-code platforms for business developers today allow streamlining work processes, enhancing customer service, and cutting down on the budget. How? Well, let’s see.

What Is a Low Code?

Low-code is a methodology of visual software development. It has a graphical user interface (GUI) which replaces the need for code knowledge. Every low-code platform has a predefined set of features and components that can be combined in a preferred order by dragging them to the ‘timeline’. Such an approach allows building new mobile, web, and universal solutions for people without in-depth knowledge of coding languages, and so significantly simplifies and accelerates the development of the end-product.

The difference between standard development and low-code development

Traditional software development techniques require time, and this is the main difference between them and the low-code approach. Whether it is a waterfall or RAD methodologies, they both require knowledgeable developers to create a model of the app, then the QA team to test it, and only then can it be released. Yes, RAD goes faster because after a couple of cycles the MVP is already available while waterfall has a huge restrain here. Yet, they both are far behind the low-code app development speed and efficiency.

This methodology is based on positioning components of a future app in a particular order within a WYSIWYG IDE. It means that the low-code development of a solution can go as fast as a single day! For example, the University of South Florida created a communication platform within a matter of hours; they needed a quick solution to communicate the needs after Hurricane Irma, and a low-code development tool helped them to do so. With a low-code development company, even a more complex solution would take significantly less time than the traditional approach hence providing a wide range of benefits.

The obvious benefits of low-code development

A low-code development company can help a business, a school, a restaurant. Basically, any entity overcomes or address the following problems:

Time to market: A prototype for a solution can be available within hours while the upcoming iteration will perfect and refine the end-product.

Budget constraints: You pay for the used elements and can stop at any point. Plus, no heavy tech requirements that need funding and no more long months of manual coding.

Business expectation: The MVO can be available and tested significantly faster. So the market tests can be done earlier to identify whether the new solution makes sense at all.

No more shadow IT: The framework welcomes the development of new apps with improved efficiency and always within the IT organization. No more third-party users who steal your technology!

Approachability: Coding is complex and requires a lot of training and background knowledge. At the same time, low-code platforms for business developers enable every company member to participate in the process regardless of their experience.

Simplicity: The process of dragging and dropping the parts of the future app is simple, straightforward, and visual as opposed to the complex and at times, confusing code work.

Legacy system transformation: Update of any legacy system is a nightmare for any business while low-code allows for an easier transformation with fast results.

How Does a Low-Code Development Company Help?

Digital transformation is a necessity yet an obstacle for many companies around the world. Staff resistance to the changes grows while managers understand that without digitalization, the business will fall behind the competition. The gap is especially big when it comes to manufacturing, delivery systems, and even healthcare, where workers are afraid to lose their job due to the digitalization of the processes. And exactly in this respect, a low-code platform can come in handy providing a wide range of perks and making adaptation to the new technologies much smoother.

Flexibility to follow the market needs

Personalized ads, customizable products, carefully adjusted offers — all this is today’s reality for markets where customers demand their needs to be satisfied. Personalization of standardized traditionally-made software is a nightmare, and a costly one. Low-code development services can help with the customization of every app and process in a company. For example, in the high season of the retail industry, a low-code platform can help with implementing new delivery methods, scale the whole offer, and add new platform features (like live-streaming auctions) within a matter of days, not months of hard work. The end-customers always notice such efforts, and they undoubtedly have a tremendously positive impact on brand loyalty and ROI in the end.

Painless transformation of digital processes

Businesses constantly aim to update their working models, simplify the complex processes without losing efficiency. Low-code platforms for business developers help with streamlining company development, getting rid of the high-maintenance elements in the process, and adapting the offer to the current business needs. The healthcare system, for example, can easily move away from personal consultations and implement the ticketing system for queues. Such a visual approach to development also allows field experts to step in and alter the system to match their own needs instead of triggering the whole development team to participate in the update.

Smooth transition through employee involvement

Digital transformation is a goal, but it needs tools to engage every employee in the process. A low-code development company can offer tools to equip your internal users with means for reaching the goal. Since the concept of such platforms is similar to the good-old tools like PowerPoint, every employee regardless of their knowledge of coding and computers, will be able to begin working with it. The resemblance of any low-code platform with the good-old games and the intuitive design easily involve an employee in the process and heat the curiosity of seeing the result. Moreover, should some change not work or be redundant, it can easily be rolled back without heavy impact on the whole system. Education and involvement of the staff through the UI-friendly tools that develop actual applications is a pleasant and effective process for increasing business productivity and efficiency.

Top Low-Code Platforms

Today the concept of a low-code development company is no longer know-how, so the offer of such tools in the market is tremendous. Every business, every department, and every individual employee will find a solution to simplify and enhance their app development process. Below is a list of a few exemplary well-known low-code development solutions for different goals.

Monday.com: simple development of workflow management apps Creatio: CRM solution for sales, marketing, and service WordPress: intuitive website builder Appian: a major low-code platform for the development of any business-related app Mendix: a could-native platform for low-code apps in every industry

Low-code platforms for business developers can become the Holy Grail of digital transformation when the budget is restricted, and the staff already begins to oppose the idea. Intuitive design, straightforward process, and great support from the platform provider can drive a smooth transition of the legacy processes and solutions empowering employees to dive into development, regardless of the technical background.