The Support Group Blog

Low-code and no-code development platforms present a whole new way of solving business challenges in the digital workplace. Low-code and no-code tools allow the people doing the work – the process experts – to fix workflow and data hurdles instead of relying on internal IT departments or external developers to overcome them. 

The traditional ways of creating business apps require a deep technical understanding and aptitude to get started. So what invariably happens is that the process expert, who's directly involved with the data or workflow, is forced to translate all that tribal knowledge to the technical person. During this translation, material information can be lost and garbled, requiring multiple build and deploy cycles to filter out the noise. 

What makes low-code and no-code great is that it allows the users to create what they need without depending on a group of tech folks who understand the systems but not necessarily the business logic and workflows that need to be automated or optimized.

Speed and accessibility become a glaring obstacle with IT and development teams when they're physically separated from the process experts within the digital workplace. The traditional development cycle is challenging to sustain when you can't just walk down the hall and explain how the workflow is supposed to work. Low-code and no-code development platforms empower the end-users – also known as citizen developers – who know what needs to be done to create an app that solves their problem using not much more technical expertise than is required to make a moderately complex spreadsheet. Also, most low-code/no-code environments allow the users or developers to deploy in the cloud, which simplifies and streamlines the deployment process. 

Driving Force of Low-Code and No-Code Technologies 

We think the perfect storm of need and capability is the driving force behind the proliferation of low-code and no-code technologies. We'd be hard-pressed to find any team or organization that operates at optimal efficiency or has a sufficient amount of resources. By and large, teams struggle to meet deadlines, fulfill orders, satisfy customers, etc. The need is painfully apparent.

But fortunately, we have skill and access to help meet our needs. Someone with at least some business-class software exposure can drag and drop or maneuver around a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editor.

Low-code and no-code development tools make it easy for process experts to quickly develop systems that enhance productivity. What's more, they can scale and adjust the application as operations change.

Users can focus on doing and perfecting their work rather than spending excessive time preparing to dig into the work. In addition, low-code and no-code development platforms offer integration features that negate having to learn specific application programming interfaces (APIs). And cloud technology simplifies deployment and accessibility. Even cost isn't a barrier to entry in this space as many platforms provide a freemium cost structure where the tool is free though limited. But, adding features and/or users isn't overly expensive since it's customized according to usage. 

IT departments don't have the time or capacity to handle the endless backlog. And, it's not always easy for users to articulate their requirements, yet, when they're driving the project, they seem to know precisely what they want. So, it makes sense for the process experts to take the lead and IT to intervene when needed.

The Support Group leverages technology to help solve problems. If you'd like to learn more about how we can help you, contact us today for a free consultation.