(BPT) - The business world has been entertaining the concept of digital transformation for quite some time. Still, nothing directed companies to focus on it more than the physical-digital divide amplified by COVID-19. Recent global events have accelerated the need for companies to revaluate how they operate and how they provide experiences to customers. As a result, digital transformation is high on the agenda of many companies today, and adopting new technologies to automate processes is a crucial part of the roadmap. However, limited resources, technical debt, risk and change management are often significant hurdles to address.
According to a recent survey on The State of Low-code/No-code, many companies can’t simplify their current systems, as only 6% of low-code development is done by non-IT professionals. At the same time, there are solutions available that can help curb these issues.
Research shows that low-code/no-code can be a game-changer by placing technology to automate processes and design applications with the teams who know them the best: business users. No-code tools can reduce the demands on IT while driving digital transformation and enabling process automation.
Low-code/no-code technology provides a visual platform wherein business users can create apps and workflows with drag and drop commands using a visual interface program with little to zero coding involved. With the intuitive interfaces of no-code platforms, citizen developers can develop, edit and customize business apps and automate processes faster and easier than traditional development, which involves the complex coding language used by developers and IT professionals.
What makes low-code/no-code beneficial?
Low-code/no-code is not just about doing more with fewer IT resources. It's the ability to address automation and innovation needs with a more cost-effective, agile technology. It's putting power into the hands of business users to drive change. Finally, it's breaking down the barriers between IT and business users, driving greater IT-business alignment, and enabling organizations to take advantage of technology for competitive advantage.
Low-code/no-code can be used by any business unit within a company to automate customer-facing experiences and operations.
Accelerated time-to-market
With the right low-code/no-code tools to accelerate change and automate business processes rapidly without additional resources or programming background, it can result in accelerated time to market.
By using the low-code/no-code development approach, businesses can place app development and process automation responsibilities into the hands of those in their workforce who know business processes best. It goes without saying that app development and process automation tasks are accomplished quicker by business users who already specialize in the subject. Survey results show that when companies adopt low-code/no-code platforms, they can reduce the amount of time it takes to bring your apps to market. Twenty-nine percent of organizations that have adopted no-code technology believe it is between 61% to over 100% faster than traditional development.
Some platforms like Creatio further accelerate the app delivery and process automation by eliminating the need to build core modules from scratch. Its pre-configured modules can be used to develop solutions quicker that can be repurposed or re-assembled more easily.
Reduced app development costs
With the ability to build more apps in less time, costs decrease. But that’s not the only driver. Low-code/no-code development reduces the need for more developers, reducing hiring costs. And the right low-code/no-code platform can make everyone in the organization — not just IT — more productive.
According to recent survey data, companies that use a low-code/no-code development approach have increased their process acceleration.
From an organizational perspective, lack of resources and lack of collaboration is vital as a company thinks about digital transformation in the context of low-code/no-code platforms. Low-code/no-code can alleviate the demand on IT resources by enabling business users to perform more of the work themselves while also breaking down collaboration barriers between business and IT, because it reduces the traditional back-and-forth between IT and the business in requirements development, prototyping and testing, and other areas required in a traditional development process.
Enhanced customer experience
Low-code/no-code programs are just as beneficial for customers as they are for businesses. When employees without deep technical skills can change the blueprint of their internal processes and customer-facing channels, like apps and webpages, it can increase speed and reduce downstream, giving them a more competitive advantage. Results delivered faster means customers are satisfied quicker.
Alongside this competitive advantage, low-code/no-code can enhance your customer service functions, like providing better real-time updates and reduced delivery times.
“Our research shows that a low-code/no-code platform is the key to business resilience,” says Katherine Kostereva, founder and CEO of Creatio. “What separates the businesses who thrived during the pandemic to those who floundered was their investment in technology. When you utilize that technology to simplify operations and customer-facing experiences, before you know it, your organization will grow and scale to new heights.”
Looking toward the future
While organizations continue to accelerate their digital transformation efforts, it is clear that no-code/low-code is a key enabler of that transformation, enabling business users to drive process automation at a scale and pace that was simply impossible with traditional development models. With the automation of more processes a top priority for organizations in 2021 and beyond, no-code/low-code is here to stay. With mobile application development and the development of custom applications to meet specific departmental or functional needs as top priorities, no-code enables business users to automate both internal and customer-facing processes.
The distinction between simple tools that enable citizen development and more complex solutions that target software development teams today is predicted to no longer exist in the upcoming years. The low-code and no-code markets will merge to offer enterprise-worthy and powerful technologies that are user-friendly and do not require specific knowledge or training.
Creatio is at the forefront of creating a citizen developer world with its no-code capabilities. For more information on how low-code/no-code programs can help propel your business forward, check out their website today.
