Low Code (LC)/ No Code (NC)— Driving Transformation ?

Every organization wants to compete with its peers and prove itself as a leader in the industry. But they struggle a lot to assemble people to realize their product within the limited time , resources and budget. As time to market is limited, organizations are in need of an option that enables them to accelerate their product development and launch.

For organizations of this kind, Low Code/No-Code is a boon.

A Low-code platform provide pre-built components, templates, and libraries to make the application development process quicker and more streamlined. Almost 70% of the coding is achieved with these platforms. This platform demands a minimum coding experience from the developers on the opted technology. These platforms provide a visual, drag-and-drop interface for designing and building custom applications, which makes it possible for non-technical users or those with limited programming skills to create complex applications without writing extensive amounts of code.

No-code platforms are even more accessible as they do not require any coding at all, but instead allow users to create applications through visual workflows and configuration. These platforms free the business team by offering 100% generated code.

Low-code/no-code platforms — Reason for its popularity and adoption.

Increased efficiency: Increases the overall efficiency of the application development process.

Improved accessibility: It is possible for non-technical users to create custom applications, which opens up new opportunities for digital transformation and innovation directly from the business team.

Reduced costs: It is possible to create more applications with the same budget as manual coding is considerably reduced.

Faster time-to-market: Organizations can respond quickly to changing business requirements.

Improved user experience: Visual drag and drop interfaces offers development process more intuitive and user-friendly.

You might be having a question now about Testing and deployment of these LCNC platform output.

LCNC platforms typically include testing and deployment tools to support the entire application development lifecycle.

Testing: LCNC platforms offered testing tools allow developers to validate the functionality of their applications before deployment. This includes unit testing, integration testing, and user acceptance testing.

Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD): Platform normally includes CI/CD tools that automate the testing and deployment of applications. This can include cloud deployment, on-premise deployment, and deployment to hybrid environments.

Debugging: Normally platform includes visual debuggers, log analysis tools, and other diagnostic tools.

Monitoring and Management: Monitoring and management tools allow organizations to monitor the performance and availability of their applications, and also manage them in production environments.

LCNC platforms support DevSecCompOps (Development, Security, Compliance and Operations ) by providing pre-built templates and components that have been designed with security and compliance in mind. These platforms can also help automate security and compliance checks during the development and deployment process, making it easier to identify and address potential security vulnerabilities.

Some of the most popular LCNC platforms in the market are,

Salesforce Lightning Platform: Salesforce’s LCNC platform provides a comprehensive suite of tools for app development, including a drag-and-drop interface, pre-built components, and integrations with a wide range of tools and systems.

OutSystems: Is a open-source low-code development platform that provides a visual interface for building custom applications, integrations, and workflows. It is designed for both web and mobile app development.

Appian: Appian is a cloud-based LCNC platform that provides a visual interface for building custom applications, integrations, and workflows. It offers a range of pre-built templates and integrations for common business processes.

Mendix: Mendix is also an open source low-code platform for building custom applications, integrations, and workflows. It provides a visual interface for app development and a wide range of pre-built templates and integrations for common business processes.

Power Apps: Microsoft offered Power Apps is a suite of low-code tools for building custom applications, integrations, and workflows. It provides a drag-and-drop interface for app development and offers a range of pre-built templates and integrations for common business processes.

Bubble: An open-source, no-code platform that allows users to build web applications without writing any code.

There are many LC/NC platforms are there in the market, When choosing a platform, it’s important to consider the specific needs and requirements of your organization, as well as the level of experience and expertise of your development team and the business you serve.

I would like to share information about the usage/adoption of LCNC platforms in the Banking industry where I have predominantly served.

Major Scenarios / use cases where LCNC platforms are used to perform a wide range of tasks including loan origination, customer onboarding, risk management, and compliance reporting. These platforms also provide pre-built adapters/connectors to securely integrate with existing banking systems and data sources by making it easier to access and analyze relevant information.

Here are some of the common use cases for LCNC platforms in the banking sector:

Customer onboarding: To automate the customer onboarding process, reduce the time and effort required for manual data entry and improve the customer experience.

Loan origination: To automate the loan origination process, reduce the time required for manual data entry and improving the accuracy of loan application data.

Risk management: To automate the risk management process, providing a centralized location for data storage and management and making it easier to access and analyze relevant information. (It is more of a design decision)

Compliance reporting: To automate compliance reporting, reduce the time required for manual data entry and ensuring that regulatory requirements are met.

Fraud detection: To automate the fraud detection processes, providing a centralized location for data storage and management and making it easier to access and analyze relevant information.

Customer service: To automate customer service processes, reducing the time required for manual data entry and improving the customer experience.

Sales and marketing: Can be used to automate sales and marketing processes, reducing the time required for manual data entry and improving the accuracy of customer information.

Now you might be having a question to know what exactly the difference between LCNC and RPA.

LCNC platforms and Robotic Process Automation (RPA) are complementary technologies that can be used together to automate business processes and improve the overall efficiency. LCNC platforms provide a visual interface for building custom applications, integrations, and workflows with Minimal or no coding effort, while RPA is used to automate repetitive, manual tasks that are performed by humans. For eg., an RPA bot can be used to automatically fill out forms within a custom application built using an LCNC platform.

But it is required to know the limitations of these platforms as well.

Limited customization: While LCNC platforms offer pre-built templates and components, they may not provide the level of customization required for certain business processes.

Limited Technology Options: Although LCNC platforms offer support to major technologies of choice, organizations have to do a fitment analysis of these platforms before adopting them duly considering their roadmap and technology options and standards.

Complex processes: LCNC platforms may not be suitable for complex processes that require extensive customization and integration with internal and external systems. In these cases, custom code may be required to build a solution that meets the specific needs of yours.

Integration limitations: When it comes to integrating with other systems and applications, especially older systems that may not have APIs or other integration points/ connectors.

Security and compliance: While LCNC platforms can help organizations meet certain security and compliance requirements, they cannot guarantee complete security and compliance. Organizations must still follow best practices for security and compliance, such as regular security audits and vulnerability assessments with appropriate governance and standards adherence.

Lack of control: LCNC platforms may not provide the level of control that developers and IT professionals need to manage and maintain applications. This can lead to challenges when it comes to troubleshooting and fixing issues with applications. Sometimes developers may feel the struggle they encounter with WordPress kind of site customizations.

In conclusion, the Low-code/no-code platforms are often used for rapid application development, process automation, and digital transformation initiatives of an organization. They can help organizations to quickly create custom applications to meet specific business needs, without requiring significant time, resources, or technical expertise. LCNC platforms are becoming an increasingly popular and important tool for organizations looking to improve their operations and stay ahead of the competition.