The advent of visual development environments makes the life of enterprises easier by shortening the time consumed by actual coding. Now, with the availability of low-code solutions, the development of web or mobile-optimized web applications can be cut down to a few weeks instead of months. Moreover, by simplifying and automating manual processes, companies can grow faster and it became easier for them to create flexible and custom apps than ever before. Let’s take a closer look at what are the advantages of low-code applications over manually coded ones.
Benefits of low-coding applications
If you are thinking about changing your traditionally developed back-office solutions, like procurement software or travel management software, to something new and more effective, or if you just want to make certain tasks easier for your team, read on to explore the advantages low-coding applications have to offer.
Visual workflow planning
As low-code platforms are visual environments, even business professionals, who lack development knowledge, can plan and manage workflow applications. With the simplified, component-based library of low-coding solutions, each user can drag-and-drop the chosen pre-developed element into the required place, while connecting the elements, as defined by the logic of the workflow.
No development knowledge is necessary, as a result, low-code applications consume far less time from your developer team’s working hours than traditional hand-coded applications. By enabling business professionals and developers with varying knowledge to work together on each project, the complete planning and execution process becomes smooth and easier than ever before.
Tool-based method
Low-code means that development knowledge and experience is not necessary for using and creating these applications. The wide-ranged library allows all users to deploy a fully functional app that they can customize to your brand’s image. Your team can forget about the time-consuming discussion between business and IT about a new requirement, and the following lengthy process of manual coding. With the use of the tool-based method, creating, updating and fixing applications and architectures becomes a lot easier.
Eliminating the IT skill gap
The use of these flexible solutions and applications does not require deep IT knowledge. Even though they are highly customizable, it is enough to have a solid SQL knowledge to leverage all functions they have to offer. Consequently, the use of low-code applications is a great resort to level the playing field in the IT world. Due to the fact that the knowledge of different programming languages is not necessary, more developers, even juniors, can work on the same project together, to completely finish it until the deadline comes.
Highly-customizable
Even though it is extremely easy to put together web and mobile-optimized web applications with low-code platforms, they still enable the developer team to tweak the code for customization.
You can simply tailor the apps for your own business logic and needs. As low-code platforms have open APIs for integration, it is a breeze to insert the applications into the existing in-house architecture. Moreover, you can increase user-friendliness and customer satisfaction by adding third-party services to your application, because low-code doesn’t limit the app’s extensibility or reusability.
Totally mobile-friendly
More and more companies are starting to realize the inherent potential of low-code. It is also a perfect choice for mobile and web applications that are designed to delight the end-user with their optimized and high-quality visuals. Today, when our society becomes even more mobile than ever before, it is important to deliver mobile-friendly applications to cater to the users wherever they go. Low-code apps are fully responsive, which makes them a perfect solution for such use-cases. Do it once, and use it on any device.
The end of Shadow IT
Shadow IT is the practice of planning and executing the creation of a new system or program within the company without the involvement of the IT department. This happens most of the time when the IT team is busy with securing, stabilizing and debugging the manual code, so the newly arrived requests from other departments get lower priority.
With the use of low-code, the development of all vital processes can be done within a few weeks – if not in days, in case of simple workflows or with use of the ready-made templates -, so that the IT team will have sufficient time to draw up the plan for the new requests, to put together the prototypes, and to develop them using low-code platforms. As a consequence, there won’t be more wasted time, inconsistent system logic or inefficient procedures. You can spice up life within your company with these low-code applications because processes and communication will flow smoother between your IT and other departments.
Easy integration and deployment
The best low-code platforms and applications are game-changers in the life of companies, who previously used manually coded apps. Using low-code platforms, your team can develop the same application for multiple platforms simultaneously, which shrinks development and deployment time only to a fraction of their manually coded counterpart.
Furthermore, as low-code platforms do not limit the expansion of architectural consideration of the end result, the applications can be deployed to on-premise or private cloud infrastructures, not only to the public cloud.
Simple changes
Low-code development makes changing the apps or adapting them to new requirements unbelievably easy. Because of the tool- and component-based library we mentioned before, it has never been easier to scale up or alter an application for different platforms. No matter where these requirements come from, let it be the clients or an in-house source.
Conclusion
The 8 benefits of low-code applications outlined above are just the tip of the iceberg. The list could go on with many other advantages that make low-code, and its end result, a better solution for enterprises than the traditional DevOps manual development. Don’t worry about the lack of time, budget or power anymore, because with low-coding you can create a POC (Proof of Concept) or a MVP (Minimal Viable Product) in weeks. Convince your stakeholders earlier and easier with a working concept and amaze them with the fully functional application a week later.
With the use of low-coding, you can focus on your company’s digital transformation and back-office development instead of struggling with the limitation of resources. Low-code apps seamlessly integrate into legacy systems, CRM and ERP solutions, so you can easily extend their functionality to the whole company.
We hope that this overview of low-code platforms and applications inspired you to revolutionize the way you work within your company. Believe us, you won’t regret it.
