The importance of low-code as a base for business automation
Low-code has much more to offer than solely application development. Looking into this technology, the speed, performance, scalability, and accessibility show it that low-code can be a complete base for the creation of end-to-end business automation. And in the long run, the entire business, employees, and customers will benefit of the implementation of process automation.
Low-code has been making a strong comeback, after more than twenty years of high-code programming with languages such as .Net or JavaScript. This new way of application development, with little to no use of manual coding, is much more accessible and implements much quicker than hard-coding development. The implementation that was done with hard-coding used to take months, which can now be done within a few weeks with low-code.
Platform thinking
Currently, low-code is mostly seen as a tool that’s only used for application development (business applications). However, this application building feature is just one of the many possibilities that low-code development implies. Low code is primarily about the way a technology is deployed or used, think of Robotic Process Automation (RPA), applications, or workflows. To understand the diversity of low-code, platform thinking is a must. Envision a low-code platform as a toolbox containing multiple instruments to automate, to govern and to build all in one single platform. All the necessary instruments are (hyper) connected that results in an integration platform, where data is easily transferred from one data source to another. Appian, Outsystems, UiPath, IBM, and Microsoft Power Platform are some examples of these type of all-in-one platforms.
Other tools (besides application building) within the low-code platforms are RPA, workflow engines (BPM), Artificial Intelligence (AI), process mining, analytics and chatbots. Keep in mind that all these individual elements are low-code technologies working seamless together, which make low-code platforms the perfect base for business automation resulting into more efficiency, productivity, customer, and employee satisfaction.
Accessibility and flexibility
Low-code platforms generally use user friendly design studios where little to no development skills are needed to build processes. Consisting of easy-to-use building blocks that would only need little configuration. By hiding the back-end code for the user the interface becomes more visually attractive and business user-centric. This enables closer teamwork between different teams and departments, whereas multiple developers/users can work together on ideas, flows or applications.
This accessibility of the tools within these platforms facilitates fast results, that can easily be adjusted according to the clients or users feedback. The combination of speed, accessibility, and user-friendliness increases the involvement and collaboration between technology and creators (users). Making this technology a digital enabler of people and human cooperation.
Hybride
Although low-code is an alternative for high-code, both can be applied perfectly together in a hybrid setup. A project can build within a low-code platform to be finalized and personalized through high-code if needed. And just like other services and applications, low-code platforms are now often offered as full SaaS-products within different clouds. As applications grow or usage increases, the platform can be easily upscaled and maintained. This flexibility and the dynamic growth potential make a low-code cloud-platform widely deployable for companies on the digital move.
New skills
Due to the high diversity of automation tools within the low-code platform, the need for developers with various skills and the ability to think on a process level is crucial. Organisations that want to make use of these platforms will need to tap into new skills. The ideal low-code developer, the so-called citizen developer, should have an affinity for both the functional and the technical side of the business. Moreover, he or she also needs to have attention to governance and security to maximize the potential of low-code solutions. Working together and grasping the right information of security teams and or IT teams remains essential.
Although low-code can help to discover the new potential of people within your own organisation, there is no point in retraining all your accountants or IT professionals into citizen developers. A citizen developer sits ideally in between these roles because they are someone that have great affinity with IT and business processes. They can be trained and guided from their current roles but don’t underestimate the time and initial effort it takes to reskill a certain a resource in a new technology stack. Luckily, the various educational institutions are excited to already introduce low-code platforms within different courses such as IT management.
Low-code clearly has a lot to offer in comparison to high-coding (custom) programming. Bringing end-users and developers together because of its user-friendliness and accessibility is just one example. Speed of implementation, maintainability and scalability of the low code platforms will change business process automation once and for all. Low code must be part of every digital evolution journey and will allow organisations to unlock the full potential of Hyperautomation!
Sean Gerety says: “The technology you use impresses no one. The experience you create with it is everything.” Let the low-code experience be a very positive one.
Written by Mathias Fransen, managing partner RoboRana
