4 Ways Low Code and No Code Drives Experimentation
Low-code and no-code application development has enabled non-programmers across all functions of the enterprise to create applications that enhance employee productivity and increase engagement and agility. By enabling employees with situational awareness of daily operations to actively participate in the development of applications using low- and no-code platforms, business leaders can tap into a growing developer base that wasn't available until recently.
A 2021 Statista survey shows organizations that have built customer-facing apps using low-code platforms have increased revenues by 58 percent on average and were able to create software solutions 56 percent faster than with traditional programming technologies. Similarly, a recent Gartner report indicates that 80 percent of programming tasks will be accomplished without coding by 2024.
There are numerous opportunities in this space, so let's look at how leaders can use low-code and no-code app development to drive experimentation in the enterprise.
Low Code and No Code Drives Digital Transformation
Alan Young, chief product officer at software company InRule Technology, says low-code and no-code application development can not only drive experimentation and innovation, it can also accelerate digital transformation initiatives.
"Low-code solutions allow a single company to create hundreds of applications to accomplish various tasks," he said. "Even better, they enable non-programmers and, more likely, subject matter experts to create these applications." He says this helps speed up digital transformation efforts for organizations and makes them more agile to respond to competitive markets and changing regulations.
By using decision automation, non-programmers are able to write, manage and execute decision logic that powers businesses, all without writing code. "Decision automation is typically used in highly regulated industries, where the decision logic that powers a business often changes and is highly complex,” Young said, giving the example of mortgage lenders who must continuously adjust to changing rates and regulations. "Decision automation allows these businesses to update their logic without code in minutes rather than days or weeks.”
In addition to improving compliance and competitiveness, decision automation enables brands to make a vast number of decisions daily that would not be possible without a low-code platform. “Decision automation enables these lenders to execute billions of rules a day," Young said.
Related Article: How Low-Code Development Is Transforming Organizations' Approach to Tech
Low Code and No Code Helps Organizations Get More Done With Less
Low-code's core principles are abstraction, automation and seamless connectivity into other software platforms. Low-code functionality such as drag-and-drop interfaces and WYSIWYG editors is also being incorporated into many SaaS platforms, enabling teams and organizations to continue working in one platform without having to switch between software applications.
Tony Piunno, low-code product marketing manager at Hyland, an enterprise content services and management company, said low-code development is enabling organizations to keep up in an environment that demands continual growth.
"With digital business transformation continuing to drive technology advancements and workforce shortages challenging companies to do more with less, it has created the perfect storm for low-code/no-code technologies,” said Piunno. “Low-code application platforms (LCAPs) provide the ability to rapidly create business applications with minimal or no coding required. This type of user-friendly, intuitive application creation brings elements of speed and agility that are critical for keeping up with the new pace of business.”
Low-code/no-code tools also provide guardrails that help ensure new applications maintain compliance and security. "The need for digital agility has never been higher," Piunno said. "Low-code/no-code solutions can unlock additional agility from existing or expanding tech stacks, bringing tremendous value to organizations looking to maintain their competitive advantage while at the same time providing an optimal customer, or user, experience."
Related Article: Will Citizen Engineers Build Most Technology Products and Services by 2024?
Low Code/No Code Provides Opportunities to Fail Without Pain
Until recently, requests for the development of new applications would have to go through various channels across the enterprise. It would then have to be prioritized among a large number of other IT-related needs. It could typically take weeks, if not months, for an application to be developed. Additionally, that time investment would increase the pressure for a successful outcome and positive ROI.
An app built using low-code and no-code tools requires much less time and investment and enables employees from any function of the company to drive growth. Vlad Mystetskyi, senior team lead for monday Apps, part of app development platform monday.com, said low code and no code is opening the door for every team member to experiment and create innovative solutions.
Learning Opportunities
"Low-code/no-code development platforms are helping drive innovation in the workplace by giving every single team member the tools once reserved exclusively for software developers," he said. "With everyone, including those who can’t read or write code, having the ability to customize, optimize and develop new enterprise solutions, low code/no code is empowering employees to create the exact workflows that match their work/life needs."
Arvind Jha, senior vice president of software development at Newgen Software, an enterprise digital transformation platform provider, said low-code/no-code development provides the perfect storm for innovation and experimentation.
“A low-code/no-code platform necessitates minimal coding, which in turn equates with faster development, more experimentation, quick innovation and rapid deployment,” said Jha. “These platforms provide pre-built templates that speed up experiments and allow feedback to be incorporated at the shortest notice, thereby accelerating ‘product-market fit’ discovery."
To top it all, he said the low cost of development affords organizations more room for experimentation without overshooting the budget, supports faster integration with in-house legacy and external systems, and enables real-time business insights for rapid decision-making.
Related Article: An Enterprise-Wide Approach to No-Code Development
Low Code/No Code as the New Prototyping Platforms
Jason Beres, senior vice president of developer tools at UI control and tool provider Infragistics, said low-code/no-code tools are quickly becoming the next enterprise-wide prototyping tools fueled because there's minimal need for the technical skills required by traditional UX/visual designer-focused tooling.
"With a low-code or no-code tool, screen design is typically done with drag and drop WYSIWYG design-time experience, usually as simple as making a PowerPoint deck,” Beres said. “The key difference between this and a UX/visual design tool is that the low-code/no-code tool is building a running app in the background, with real code, connected data, real screen interactions and more. This means that anyone with an idea can express the design and experiment.”
Today, low-code and no-code tools are evolving to be interoperable with many other platforms and technologies, allowing an even more seamless development process. “The future of tools in this space will include connectors and adapters to popular design tools, like Sketch, Figma and Adobe XD," said Beres.
Although low-code/no-code can be used to create prototypes, it is not limited to them. In fact, it can create real world applications. “Both frameworks are great for prototyping solutions but also completely capable of building full-fledged enterprise-grade applications,” said Mystetskyi. “With all the tools, like authentication, security, governance and more in one place, low-code/no-code platforms are often used to develop enterprise-ready solutions.”
Many companies are supporting experimentation and innovation by encouraging employees across the enterprise to create a useful application using low-code/no-code tools. This, in turn, drives digital transformation, enabling companies to get more done with less. It also provides opportunities to create both prototypes and full-fledged enterprise applications without the fear of failure.
About the Author
Scott Clark is a seasoned journalist based in Columbus, Ohio, who has made a name for himself covering the ever-evolving landscape of customer experience, marketing and technology. He has over 20 years of experience covering Information Technology and 27 years as a web developer. His coverage ranges across customer experience, AI, social media marketing, voice of customer, diversity & inclusion and more. Scott is a strong advocate for customer experience and corporate responsibility, bringing together statistics, facts, and insights from leading thought leaders to provide informative and thought-provoking articles.
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