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In today’s competitive market, business tools can make a huge difference. When it came to business tools, organizations used to have two options. They could buy off-the-shelf software or build a custom application. But now, there’s another alternative for accelerating innovation: the low-code and no-code (LCNC) development approach.
According to a study, 84% of enterprises use low-code applications to improve time-to-market and decrease IT overheads. Gartner estimates that by 2025, 70% of all new enterprise applications will be developed using low-code or no-code technologies.
This blog post discusses the LCNC approach and how it differs from conventional custom app development.
What is Low-Code/No-Code?
Low-code/no-code software development approaches allow users to create applications with little or no coding effort. Low-code platforms include a drag-and-drop user interface, pre-built integrations, and reusable components. No-code platforms are also visual-based with drag-and-drop elements, but they offer a more plug-and-play experience.
Who Uses Low-Code/No-Code Platforms?
Professional developers use low-code platforms to the accelerate software development process. Citizen developers (i.e., business professionals with basic coding skills) can also use these platforms to create applications. Most low-code platforms offer features like cross-platform support, built-in security processes, and third-party integrations.
Non-IT citizen developers can use no-code platforms to build department-level functional apps. But citizen developers must test a no-code platform to verify that it has all the features to meet their business needs.
How Does Low-Code/No-Code Differ from Conventional Custom App Development?
In the custom app development approach, a business owner discusses project requirements with an in-house development team or a technology partner like Eleviant. The team develops a strategy and works with the client to deliver the final product. The entire process involves several stages, including discovery, UX design, development, and testing. With this conventional approach, it takes 4 to 12 months (or longer) to build custom software. Furthermore, without the right strategy, a custom app can turn out to be a costly failure.
With low-code/no-code platforms, professional developers and business stakeholders can collaborate and pay more attention to factors such as strategy and customer experience. Citizen developers can use a low-code/no-code platform’s pre-built templates to design a prototype and send it to a development team for completion. With low-code/no-code, businesses can quickly develop applications to improve core business functions like HR processes and marketing automation or modernize legacy applications.
Factors that led to the widespread adoption of Low-Code/No-Code
Businesses that are prioritizing digital transformation of daily operations are turning to low-code/no-code tools. Many factors, such as the pandemic, skill shortages in the technology industry, and legacy app challenges, have contributed to the rise in popularity of LCNC platforms. Take a look at the image below to see the key drivers for LCNC adoption.
Benefits of Low-Code/No-Code Development
The following are some benefits of low-code and no-code development approaches:
Faster Transformation
The LCNC development approach reduces reliance on the IT department, allowing businesses to quickly adapt to changing market dynamics.
Enhanced Integration Capabilities
Stand-alone legacy applications can limit an enterprise’s ability to grow. LCNC platforms offer the same integration capabilities as traditional custom app development. With LCNC platforms, citizen developers can integrate business applications or collaborate with a technology team to build and maintain robust solutions.
Makes Emerging Technologies Accessible to SMBs
With LCNC platforms, small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) can easily leverage emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, blockchain, and machine learning. LCNC platforms offer many drag-drop components and connectors for emerging technologies. For example: a domain expert can use a low-code platform’s data science tools to build AI solutions.
Process Automation
When it comes to process automation, Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and LCNC development complement each other. RPA involves developing bots to automate repetitive business tasks by mimicking human actions. LCNC offers limitless process automation capabilities as it provides developers the flexibility to rewrite business rules.
Decreased Costs
LCNC is a cost-effective development approach as it reduces the need for hiring developers with advanced programming skills. With LCNC, companies no longer need to maintain an in-house development team.
Increased Productivity
The citizen development approach helps business teams launch innovative ideas and quickly eliminate process bottlenecks. It allows citizen developers to work with development teams to combine traditional and low-code development techniques for complex projects.
The LCNC revolution is here to stay. Companies that adopt LCNC technologies now are better equipped for the future. Interested in learning how the LCNC is driving digitization across industries? Want to explore successful real-life LCNC examples? Talk to our experts to find out the best approach for your business requirements.
Stay tuned for the next post.
(This post is the first of a three-part series on low-code and no-code (LCNC). Part 2 discusses LCNC use cases with real-life examples, and part 3 discusses LCNC tools).
