The enterprise environment is increasingly complex, with a growing need for agility and digital transformation. Low Code/No Code (LC/NC) platforms have emerged as powerful tools within this landscape. They not only simplify and expedite application development but also bring forth other transformative benefits for large organizations.
Empowering Citizen Developers:
- Democratizing Development: LC/NC platforms open the door for non-technical employees—referred to as “citizen developers”—to participate actively in the application development process. This decentralization ensures that those with the best understanding of business processes can craft solutions tailored to their needs.
- Promoting Innovation: When more individuals have the tools to create and innovate, there’s a surge in problem-solving and ideation. Solutions can emerge from any department, not just IT, leading to a more innovative enterprise culture.
- Speedy Prototyping: Citizen developers can quickly prototype applications, validate their utility, and then either deploy them (if they meet enterprise standards) or hand them over to IT for refinement.
Bridging the IT Skills Gap:
- Alleviating IT Backlog: One of the primary challenges in enterprises is the IT backlog. The demand for new applications or updates often outstrips IT’s capacity to deliver. LC/NC platforms can help reduce this backlog by enabling non-IT personnel to create or modify applications.
- Faster Time-to-Market: The speed of LC/NC development ensures that business applications can be rolled out faster, allowing enterprises to respond swiftly to market changes, customer demands, or internal needs.
- Collaboration between IT and Business Units: Instead of the traditional model where business units list requirements and then wait for IT to deliver, LC/NC platforms foster collaboration. Business units can prototype solutions, which IT can then review, refine, and optimize, ensuring both alignment with business needs and adherence to technical best practices.
- Continuous Learning and Upskilling: Even though LC platforms might not require deep coding expertise, working with them can serve as a stepping stone for employees to understand application logic, databases, and integrations. This can motivate them to delve deeper into the IT realm, helping to bridge the IT skills gap over time.
Other Considerations for LC/NC in Enterprises:
- Governance: As LC/NC platforms empower more individuals to create applications, it’s crucial to have a governance model in place. This ensures that all apps adhere to enterprise standards, are secure, and integrate seamlessly with other systems.
- Security: With the proliferation of apps, security becomes paramount. Enterprises need to ensure that LC/NC platforms meet their security standards and that applications built on these platforms undergo security assessments.
- Integration with Legacy Systems: Large enterprises often operate legacy systems. Integration capabilities of LC/NC platforms should be evaluated to ensure they can connect seamlessly with these older systems.
In conclusion, LC/NC platforms hold immense potential for enterprises, not just in simplifying development but also in transforming organizational culture, promoting collaboration, and bridging the traditional divide between IT and business units. However, their adoption should be strategic, with clear guidelines and governance models to reap the maximum benefits.