A Guide to Low-Code Development
What is low-code development and how can it help solve your unique business challenges?
Here’s everything you need to know.
What is Low-Code Development?
Low code is a modern approach to software development that eliminates the need to write code. With low code, you can build, edit and test custom business applications using visual, point-and-click tools instead of hand-coding. Low-code platforms enable anyone to build apps — even those with limited technical knowledge or development experience.
With low code is also more likely to deliver application projects on time and within scope and budget.
Low Code vs. No Code: What’s the Difference?
No code is the promise of building dynamic, feature-rich apps without writing a single line of code. It’s something platforms strive to achieve with visual, point-and-click and drag-and-drop tools. The most common features and capabilities needed to build, deploy and manage applications are provided by the platform without coding.
Low code, on the other hand, provides the option to augment applications by inserting or modifying code such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, SQL, etc. This can result in more sophisticated and robust systems built primarily by “citizen developers” with some guidance or assistance from more technical users.
Top Benefits of Low-Code Platforms
Despite acknowledging the importance of custom business apps, organizations still struggle to deliver and support critical applications. Their biggest hurdle remains the lack of hard-to-find IT talent, followed by inadequate funding. Businesses also face the complexities of integrating their new apps with legacy systems and meeting delivery deadlines.
Low code empowers organizations to overcome challenges surrounding app development. Enabling business users to create purpose-built apps using only visual, point-and-click tools reduces the need for additional IT talent and lowers workforce and infrastructure costs. Here are a few reasons why low code makes so much sense, for both IT and businesses.
Purpose-built solutions
Many businesses make do with expensive off-the-shelf software suites usually intended for a mass market. Often, these clunky “solutions” offer tons of features but cannot address the exact requirements of a department. With low code, business professionals can build custom apps that match their unique workflows. Through testing, the tool adapts to the process, not the other way around.
User empowerment
Low code empowers the person closest to the problem to solve it. Business leaders gain the ability to DIY solutions, reducing the reliance on backlogged and short-staffed IT teams for simple, departmental tools. Teams are likely to use the software or technology they built themselves, too, eliminating a steep learning curve while increasing adoption success.
Streamlined operations
Low code allows businesses to centralize all their data in an online database, which serves as the foundation for various apps that streamline and automate data management. For example, instead of checking multiple Excel spreadsheets to analyze monthly team performance, managers can simply build web dashboards that display visually stunning graphs based on real-time data.
Faster time-to-market
In today’s digital landscape, organizations need business agility to remain competitive. Low-code development supports a “test-and-learn” approach where teams adopt agile practices for testing and quickly launching minimum viable products as needed. They then continuously improve apps in subsequent iterations, resulting in faster time-to-market and constant innovation.
Reduced project backlogs
Low code takes the pressure off burdened IT teams. Since business professionals can now build and deploy custom applications on any website, CMS, portal or through direct links without coding — IT talent can focus their attention on bigger, more urgent projects that only they can complete.
Lower costs
Low-code development eliminates the need to hire hard-to-find IT talent. Instead, it maximizes existing resources (business professionals), resulting in reduced overhead costs. You also save by leveraging cloud technologies integrated into the platform instead of procuring infrastructure.
Security & compliance
The best low-code platforms comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and more industry regulatory standards. Low-code enforces these guardrails to prevent data breaches and malpractices from shadow IT.
Massive scalability
Low-code platforms allow IT teams to quickly scale and react to urgent business needs in real-time — something that’s impossible with limited on-premises infrastructure. With enterprise-grade cloud systems supporting your low-code databases and applications, you’re ready for any spike in usage.
What will you create with Lowcono
The range of online applications you can create is limited only by your imagination. Here are a few popular use cases.