As businesses race to gain supremacy in the digital economy, building applications for the gamut of services they offer is now a daily preoccupation of CIOs. As applications expand in scope and explode in number, the workload quickly becomes too much for the IT team. And of course, adding more people is neither feasible from the budget perspective nor possible in these talent-constrained times. So, what is the way forward?
The good news is that the app development scenario globally has evolved significantly. No longer do enterprises need to labor under the constraints of having to build applications from scratch.
The rise of low-code and no-code platforms has started to transform the way apps are built in any industry. You no longer need specific IT skills to build a range of applications that have straightforward operational logic.
The low-code application development saga is rolling on thanks to its inherent ability to turn non-IT professionals into app creators. In fact, Gartner estimates that by 2026, 80% of users of low-code app development platforms will be people who are not part of the core IT team of a business. This is a huge relief for businesses as it helps them to up their digital competitiveness without incurring IT hiring expenses.
Low-Code is not without challenges
Before calling low-code a savior, decision-makers need to realize that there are challenges they must solve. It is nearly impossible to shift the entire application development portfolio into low-code platforms. Entrusting core technology initiatives that involve complex business logic management, to people who have no real IT skills could be a recipe for disaster in the long run. What CXOs need is a strategic approach to bake low-code application development into their technology initiatives. The goal is to reduce IT workloads by enabling more business teams to build their IT capabilities at ease. However, it’s also important to mitigate against application sprawl, poor development practices, and creeping security and data privacy risks.
The CXO cheat sheet for low-code application development
Getting success in low-code app development without burning crucial IT budgets is a challenge that most enterprise leaders are undertaking today. As they embark on that journey, they must be aware of how to bring about this radical change in their app development practices without risks.
Here is a quick cheat sheet that can help in their endeavors:
Segregate, finalize, and prioritize needs
As mentioned earlier, not every app for the business can be built with low code. It is important to first filter out use cases that require apps with heavy and complex logic. Then it becomes easy to implement low-code strategies on the remaining ones where the outcome expected is relatively simple. Once you have a bucket of use cases, it becomes easier to go into the next step of prioritizing them.
CXOs need to nail down which apps should be developed first. It could be based on several factors like monetary value derived, likely usage volume, criticality of business service that the app serves, dependencies with other applications, the number of stakeholders impacted, etc. Once the list is prioritized, it becomes easier to adopt a streamlined development process which can further be made effortless with a low-coding approach.
Identify the right people
The users of low-code app development platforms are typically either IT folks looking to accelerate their application development or business users wanting to build simple apps themselves. What enterprises need to ensure is that the people they entrust with the initiative must be well aware of the actual business purpose being realized or digitized with the app being developed.
This will help in creating a more reliable end product since the people involved will be knowledgeable about the workflows to be covered. They will be able to define the scope of use and implement the right controls and configurations for the app to work at its optimum level.
Set governance models
App development quickly morphs into an ongoing effort. Soon enough, it will be a part of the organization’s digital roadmap. Apps’ needs will evolve continuously depending on market conditions. Low-code application development is no different in this regard. CXOs need to ensure that the right governance models, usage hierarchies, access controls, etc. are used when teams are engaged in low-code application development.
Such an approach will help in future-proofing the practice as it can be made to accommodate future changes easily.
Select the right tools
Low-code strategies can help in bringing developmental flexibility to enterprise technology initiatives. However, truly realizing the value of such practices will require the use of powerful platforms and tools that facilitate low-code development. Picking the right tool for a specific business need could be a complex effort, folding in several parameters like budget, business logic-fit, usability, etc.
The aim must be to invest only in the most optimal and tailored low-code platform that can accommodate the unique developmental workflows of an organization.
The bottom line
Low-code application development is becoming a major driver of transformation in technology development for businesses of all sizes. CXOs must ensure that they follow a strategic approach as outlined here to ensure maximum ROI from such initiatives. The secret to maximum value is to find the right balance between using traditional development approaches for complex applications and low-code or no-code for more straightforward business apps.
Having the right technology partner can help your business embrace the most fruitful technology initiatives in both approaches. This is where Trinus can be a great choice. Get in touch with us to know more.