What makes a business truly human-centric? Is it about a seamless experience for employees and customers? Is it about bringing technology and people together? Or is it about creating remarkable solutions, faster? In fact, all of the above are true. But businesses – especially IT teams – often struggle in the face of rapidly-changing demands in this digital-first era. With low code/no code automation, you can not only simplify the software development process but also reduce TAT for building new applications by 90%. Not to forget, you can achieve this without worrying about resource crunch or high expenditures. How?
With low code/no code, companies today can spend more time and resources on the things that matter most rather than developing custom applications. In this article, we explore the benefits and applications of this modern marvel that makes coding seem less burdensome and allows enterprises to accelerate digital transformation.
Understanding low code/no code automation
In the late 90s and early 2000s, the first-generation low-code platforms (Outsystems and Appian) required extensive customizations and months of development. Today, Gartner predicts that 65% of all app development will include low code/no code automation by 2024.
Low code (a term coined by Forrester) tools make interaction with code easy for both developers and non-developers. These use visual modeling and drag and drop interfaces. Enterprise users with some programming experience who want to speed up automation projects prefer the tools. Moreover, with low code, even non-developers can create forms, data-collection applications, business workflows, and custom user interfaces for customer applications.
No code solutions have been created to specifically aid non-technical users or citizen developers. Consider Shopify and WordPress, both of which have revolutionized online retail. Organizations without in-house coding capabilities or with limited resources to hire custom application developers can utilize these tools. No code solutions help them bring software-related innovation within reach.
How organizations globally are benefiting from low code/no code automation
Almost 60% of all custom apps are now developed outside of the IT department. Over 30% of these users work in a professional setting. Low code/no code tools are enabling non-programmers to develop workflow applications that can easily be integrated into larger business processes. Here are a few organizations moving their digital transformation projects forward by employing low code/no code automation.
1. Schneider Electric ramps up application development: 60 applications within 20 months
As a global leader in energy management and automation solutions, Schneider Electric is known for its continued innovation aimed at simplifying the customer’s lives. The company’s IT department wanted to replace its legacy applications with next-gen technologies. Redeveloping several legacy apps rapidly could lead to interference with existing business workflows. To avoid significant disruption to the underlying processes, Schneider utilized low code/no code to create a ‘digital factory’ that accelerated and standardized application development.
They set up the factory foundation in four months. Over the next six months, the company enabled local IT teams to develop apps on their own while ensuring that developers complied with governance rules laid down centrally. Additionally, Schneider launched an internal campaign promoting the benefits of developing low code/no code applications to key business and IT stakeholders. The citizen developers within the organization increased from 20 to over 100 with the help of training and onboarding sessions.
The result? Within 20 months, Schneider Electric developed 60 applications. In the first year alone, the low code vs no code automation platform sped up development by a factor of 2x and saved 650 days of effort.
2. Dallas/Fort Worth Airport connects 2000 employees with 18 airport-wide applications
The Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) is the world’s 8th-busiest airport in terms of traffic. It’s total facilities cover approximately 27 square miles. Due to its size, DFW struggled with everyday business process management. Besides, it mainly used paper-based processes, requiring the physical transportation of forms and files across the facility.
DFW realized that its important to build a more efficient and reliable way to manage its operations. It employed one low code/no code cloud platform that could capture four main areas of improvement. These include cost competitiveness, customer satisfaction, operational excellence, and employee enhancement. With this platform, the organization eliminated paper to increase enterprise mobility. Moreover, it enabled employees to work at their most efficient pace.
The result? DFW Airport created 40 employee-centric applications with the help of the low code/no code cloud platform within 14 months. They employed a mobile app that optimizes customer experience (for example, alerts staff about restroom facility conditions). The application also ensures that compliance requirements are duly met.
3. The City of New Orleans keeps track of COVID-19 vaccine distribution
The Orleans Parish Communication District (OPCD), the city’s 9-1-1 system, found itself in a predicament when more than half of its EMS personnel were either not working or afflicted with the coronavirus. It had to strategize on how to use the available resources appropriately without falling behind in keeping track of COVID-19 vaccine distribution.
By deploying a low code application, OPCD not only opened up a health department emergency call center but also enabled the News Orleans residents to check their eligibility for vaccination, schedule appointments, follow up with their second dose, and get necessary reminder notifications.
The result? The low code application allowed OPCD to manage vaccine registration, follow-ups and tracking all in one place. It also encouraged the New Orleans residents to quickly and easily sign up for their first and second COVID-19 vaccine doses. The organization was able to demonstrate its value to the community with the help of innovation and flexibility.
Similarly, automotive manufacturer Continental is creating a maker culture with low code/no automation to drive digitization with both citizen and pro developers. The company has created an Electronic Capital Request (eCR) application. It supports 10,000 global users in processing budget requests and approvals. It created the 300-story project within 12 weeks, rather than one year.
In other news, HopeSource, a Washington-based not-for-profit organization, has developed apps to track which shelters the homeless individuals registered with them are checking into and which services they have received. Moreover, the application has allowed the organization to move from paper-based manual entries to automated data monitoring. So, Hopesource has increased support by 75% to 3 million people over three years.
The future promise
Organizations across all industries are seeking new ways to meet challenges and increase business performance as a result of digital transformation. 75% of large enterprises will be using two or more low code/no code automation tools by 2024 for both IT applications and citizen development initiatives.
However, enterprises today lack access to relevant resources that can help them select the right low code/no code automation platforms. Some low code vs no code automation tools are often expensive but less scalable; others are relatively immature. While some offer a diverse range of system integrations others require a lot of employee training. Therefore, to ensure that they invest in the right tools and technologies, businesses need to have a solid grasp of the technology landscape.
Is your business prepared to take on the digital transformation challenge? For over two decades, Netscribes has helped some of the world’s leading technology enterprises to successfully navigate the age of disruption. With our technology intelligence solutions, you can gather deep insights into the ever-changing technology landscape and stay ahead of the competition with a strategic roadmap for the future. To learn more, contact us.
