Most business owners know time is their most valuable asset. Automation allows them to focus on scaling their businesses.
However, building, automating, deploying, and maintaining applications requires software development knowledge. As a result, many businesses have become overly reliant on IT professionals.
This phenomenon has led to IT staffing shortages, application backlogs, and delayed project timelines. Meanwhile, the market continues to demand agile processes and solutions.
Enter the rise of no-code and low-code platforms. They help make the application development process easier and reduce the dependency on IT teams.
Learn more about no-code and low-code business automation, including the benefits and limitations. Plus, find out what factors businesses should consider when exploring these platforms.
Why businesses are turning to no-code and low-code automation
The increasing demand for user-friendly and efficient solutions in the business world has ushered in the rapid growth of no-code and low-code platforms for business automation.
These platforms empower individuals to create tools tailored to their business needs, even if they don’t have coding experience.
Both professional developers and non-developers can build complex enterprise solutions more easily, thanks to no-code and low-code platforms. The result? Higher productivity and market value for their organizations.
For example, businesses seeking to automate their social media management can use no-code platforms to craft their solutions, such as a social media scheduler.
While these no-code tools offer a solid foundation, they may not match the comprehensive features, advancements, and user experience of the best social media scheduler apps on the market.
Nonetheless, no-code and low-code solutions have untapped potential for further enhancements. They’ll allow businesses to innovate and refine their automation efforts.
According to Gartner’s Low-Code Development Technologies Evaluation Guide:
“By 2024, 75% of large enterprises will use at least four low-code development tools for IT application development and citizen development initiatives.”
What is low-code automation?
In recent years, low-code automation has gained traction for enabling citizen developers with limited coding skills to deploy business automation.
Leveraging low-code tools, users can develop business applications to fit their needs, often from a visual, drag-and-drop interface. Generally, there are three types of low-code automation platforms:
- Low-code application platform as a service (PaaS)
- Low-code rapid application development (RAD) tools
- Low-code enterprise architecture solutions
Low-code platforms are ideal for more complex processes requiring some technical skills, IT knowledge, and manual data input.
For businesses with small teams and basic coding knowledge, low-code platforms are a great solution for building applications, workflows, and processes in minutes.
Another benefit of low-code platforms is that even business users without extensive programming training can use the platform.
However, low-code automation is likely not the ideal solution if the business doesn’t have at least one IT professional on staff to help guide the development process. Why? Some coding is still needed to design automated processes.
No-code vs. low-code
Unlike low-code automation, which requires some software development expertise, no-code automation allows businesses to automate their tasks and processes with no coding knowledge.
It’s ideal for business executives who need to create simple applications and automation but who need the simplicity of drag-and-drop manipulation to meet their needs.
The best part? You can even add secure, user-friendly multi-factor authentication to your app without custom coding, preventing 99.9% of account compromise attacks.
Though low-code and no-code automation may include the same functionality — for example, the ability to create a button on a website — no-code automation generally offers fewer customizations.
A user with zero programming knowledge might rely on an existing template. A user familiar with programming could likely manipulate the code to alter the appearance or positioning of the button.
Benefits of low-code and no-code business automation
There are many advantages to low-code and no-code platforms. Here are just a few:
Cost savings
Hiring talented developers with the right expertise can be costly. A full-time developer can cost an organization upwards of $28,584.
Since the demand for software developers and IT professionals is already high, many businesses find it even harder to attract and compensate for the right talent.
Greater productivity
Automating core business processes traditionally can take months. Meanwhile, businesses can get the same results in weeks with a low-code or no-code approach.
Pair low-code platforms with artificial intelligence, and teams can reduce development time by up to 80% — incredible time savings.
This solution allows for greater speed and agility and decreases the burden on software developers and DevOps teams, opening the door for other projects to benefit your bottom line.
Improved customer experiences
When customer-facing applications aren’t performing like they should, a company’s reputation may be on the line.
Low-code and no-code development improves response times when issues arise so those within the business can resolve issues more quickly.
More accessibility
Automation can benefit all areas of a business. However, when platforms have to first funnel through IT, they become less accessible.
No-code and low-code development enables everyone to reap the benefits of automation without relying on IT teams.
Limitations of no-code and low-code automation
While these platforms can benefit those lacking extensive coding expertise, they have some limitations compared to traditional software development.
Flexibility and customization
No-code and low-code platforms may have limitations in accommodating highly customized or complex business processes such as implementing an authorization model since authorization is of vital importance for all websites and apps, and is particularly hard to develop with a low code platform.
Why? They’re made for rapid development with pre-built modules. For example, you might not get the perfect custom website through Squarespace, but you can get pretty close.
Without knowing how to code, you’re limited by the customization options available to you in the user interface.
Performance
While these platforms offer speed and accessibility, they may encounter performance challenges, especially when dealing with large-scale or resource-intensive applications.
The last thing you want is for your website to crash during high search volumes. Or you find your mobile application is filled with bugs that send your users straight into the open arms of your competition.
Long-term viability
Businesses must consider the long-term viability of solutions built on these platforms. Their capabilities and scalability may be limited compared to traditional development approaches.
You want a solution that can grow and adapt with you as your company scales. Otherwise, it can feel like you are taking ten steps backward instead of five steps forward.
Learning curve
Although no-code and low-code business automation requires little to no coding knowledge, non-technical users must get to know the platform.
Understanding the platform’s features, capabilities, and best practices takes time. Depending on the user, there may still be a learning curve.
Examples of low-code and no-code business platforms
From HR tasks to customer service workflows, low-code and no-code platforms will play a significant role in software development as the platforms grow and mature.
Cloud-based low-code and no-code platforms allow businesses to scale their applications. They also reduce costs associated with traditional development.
Low-code platforms
- OutSystems is a powerful, feature-packed, low-code development platform for large enterprises looking to publish straight to consumer app stores.
- Kissflow is another work management platform that focuses more on process automation.
- Appian helps businesses quickly develop low-code enterprise apps. It’s ideal for case management, business process management, and workflow automation.
No-code platforms
- Zapier automates the tasks business users do in web applications. It connects apps to automate workflows.
- Webflow is a powerful no-code platform for designing, building, and launching responsive websites without writing code.
- Jotform is a form automation system to help organizations of all sizes create and customize forms for every business need.
What to consider when selecting a low-code or no-code platform
As businesses select a platform for business automation, they should consider the following:
- Ease of integration: Does the platform offer seamless integration with other applications and systems?
- Scalability and flexibility: Can the platform scale as business needs evolve and accommodate customized or complex business processes?
- User skillsets: What is the technical expertise of the users utilizing the platform? Would a no-code or low-code platform be more suitable based on existing skill sets within the organization?
- Future needs: Does the platform align with the organization’s future needs?
- Use case: Are there specific use cases within the organization that could benefit from no-code or low-code automation, such as streamlining routine business processes or accelerating application development?
By considering these factors, businesses can make more informed decisions when selecting a low-code or no-code platform for business automation.
In short, the goal is to choose a platform aligned with your business requirements and long-term objectives.
How much do low-code and no-code business automation platforms cost?
Businesses should understand the pricing model and implications of the platforms available.
Generally, pricing models vary and reflect one of these structures:
- Resource-based pricing: Some low-code platforms offer pricing based on resource usage, including compute power, storage, or data transfer.
- Perpetual licensing: With this model, customers pay a one-time fee to use an application indefinitely.
- User-based pricing: Pricing is based on the number of users accessing the platform or the applications built on it.
- Recurring pricing: Most low-code development platforms are priced on a recurring basis, with fees based on factors such as the number of end users, the number of applications, and the number of developers.
- Combination models: Some platforms may use a combination of the above models, charging based on various factors, including the number of end users, applications, and developers.
No-code and low-code platforms are transforming the business landscape
As demand for digital transformation grows, the prevalence of low-code and no-code platforms will only increase.
By 2030, the low-code development market will generate $187 billion. As the market surges, these platforms are set to revolutionize how businesses develop applications, automate processes, and adapt to emerging technologies.
Automation is a must if you want to stay ahead of your industry’s latest technologies and advancements. No-code and low-code platforms are becoming indispensable tools for organizations striving to automate and succeed in competitive markets.
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