Making sense of the low code wave
Low code platforms (Microsoft’s Power Platform, Outsystems, or Finboot) have been part of the curriculum of all kinds of users (viz. from IT teams to citizen developers or even business analysts). A sort of clan in the making I guess – the ‘Low’ brigade – if I might.
Understanding Low code development
A movie once had a chef say, ‘Anyone can cook’ and we saw a member of the Rodentia class turn into one. Low code has a similar story to tell where ‘Anyone can develop’ or ACD can sort of be the 3 words we use to sum it up. This has given non-developers the opportunity to improve their development knowledge and hone their technical skills.
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Low code, simply put, is the use of functionalities like pre-built templates, or drag-and-drop features to help non coders or non-developers create powerful applications all by themselves. Developers then can focus on innovation rather than on just coding and ultimately create unparalleled user experiences and power packed applications.
Fig 1: The swing to remote work, the ask for enhanced digital experiences, and the economic flux
Why many people choose Low code?
1. The Visual beat: Updating a spelling mistake in a line causes the whole code to break and the app come crashing down – the Horror!
The visual interface seems to be a treat that almost any non-developer will lap up without hesitation. That is a scenario that is most likely avoided with a decent layer of low code actions- even for users with no prior coding knowledge. Also drag and drop functionality tends to improve productivity in more ways than one.
2. The DIY feel: Using prebuilt components and templates means the deployment time is faster which further means that your customers are happy, which further suggests that your development costs come down. It gives non-developers the feel of building integrated applications at light speed. It also means that you as an organization, now have the flexibility which you did not have with full-code development.
With a small bit of custom code along with those templates in there you can deliver an exceptional experience.
3. The ‘-tion’ effect: There are a lot of ‘-tions’ that get taken care of with low code viz. automation, process visualization, document generation, closer collaboration.
Workflow automation and Business process automation are among a few other things that can be best achieved with low code. It helps not only streamline business processes, but also helps standardize processes making all your tasks simpler to manage and monitor.
What is best about it being a ‘low code affair’ is that your team can actually go about automating workflows themselves without the constant supervision of a developer – hi-five visual interface!
4. The ‘other’ side: When I first heard about low code, someone said it is so cool, and I was like – what I think it is just like those Comicon festivals – you know where you dress like Thor, and you think you are him! Ugh (non-coders can’t code!!). But as time went by it became clear that non-developers could come over to the other side.
How can low code help non-developers?
- They could become more innovative,
- Low code could help increase their contribution to bringing an application to life,
- They could build high-quality and powerful apps by themselves, and finally,
- They could be a part of digital transformation strategies like never before by adding their fair share of insights and experiences.
5. The ‘greenback’ talk: Low cost, less time, high returns that is the turn that low code is set to take in the future. We already know that time taken to develop and deploy applications is significantly reduced through automation. It is also the perfect tool if you are working on a time crunch since more people can use it, build faster, use all the existing data that they have.
I say low cost, because of the reduction in the maintenance costs. It also acts as a perfect opportunity for increased work for citizen developers and reduced mundane work for traditional developers. The low entry cost required with low code also decreases personnel costs.
Finally, by high returns, this image below shows the total addressable market that low code has in the year 2023 and is set to grow in the coming years.
Fig 2: The revenue opportunity for low-code applications
Why are some concerned about the Future of Low code?
Of course, I am not going to get into the does it ring a death knell for developers. Considering every new technology always brings a doomsday prediction along with it. (Psst… guess it is the same set of people who also said G-AI is going to replace what I do now…). But to be fair, I do need to address what naysayers are worried about as well. So here goes:
1. The security story: Who isn’t paranoid about the ‘S’ word now-a-days. So, what is deeply concerning for some is traditional application development always had reams and reams of code that took security really seriously. But if ACD (anyone can develop) is true then how do we trust that app? Fair point.
That dragon was laid to rest when low code platforms suggested they could bring in governance and control. make the platforms more secure by adding necessary built-in permissions and regulation compliance, by having a place for a sandbox, by configuring the runtime environment to pull out those security and exposure gaps.
2. The ‘scale’ issue: How does one scale an application? Two ways I can think of:
a: By increasing its capacity to provide faster and better user experience for any number of users.
b: By building large set of interconnected applications for various use cases
Generally, all this happens effectively through the traditional approach. But as far as low code is concerned, we have citizen developers working at it. And with that many believe comes the inability to scale. Since they may not be able to perform the ways, I mentioned above.
But here’s a myth buster to add a much-needed fight back. There are a variety of low code platforms like Microsoft’s Power Platform or even Outsystems that are meant to solve this problem. They help build apps of varying complexity. They ensure that their apps leverage containers and microservices built-in components.
Why technology innovations with AI, ML, IoT should prefer low code?
RPA or Robotic process automation has already seen a lot of push on low code systems. With simple rules, decision making is easier, and the workflows are automated. Other technologies are catching up too.
- Low code and machine learning form a compatible match- With this you can deploy machine learning models using preset templates to build any ML app for any business. You can even experiment with computer vision and NLP.
- Low code and AI, that awesome twosome – This can get you to deploy your AI-driven workflows in minutes without you needing to code or having any sort of data science skills.
- Low code and IoT, is a mix you need to explore – esp. SmartApps. This is a new age term for IoT applications that combine sensor data and predictive analytics to furnish you with intelligent user experiences. Using low code to get visually satisfying and model driven connected devices on a decent budget with lesser tech developers, who doesn’t want that sort of thing.
Low code is an audacious effort in the development world with citizen and professional developers working closely to achieve something credible and magical. Here’s an on-demand video of a webinar video we hosted for you to watch on how low code is all set to make its mark even in your careers in 2023.
Blatant sales pitch alert: Goes without saying that if you are looking for low code experts to help you transform customer experiences then reach out to us.
