3 Questions To Guide Your SMB’s Low-Code/No-Code Adoption
66% of developers are either planning to use no-code tools or have already started using them. Given their ability to reduce IT modernization costs by 70% and cut setup times from years to days, it’s no wonder why.
Experts like IBM differentiate low-code and no-code products based on who will be using them, explaining that, ‘While low-code application platforms (LCAP) are broad in scope, catering to both professional developers and citizen developers, they may still require some coding skills. Therefore, low-code application platforms primarily serve full-time and part-time developers. However, no-code products are specifically targeted for business users, allowing them to create custom apps without expert development skills and knowledge.”
This starter guide helps SMBs understand how low-code/no-code development tech can benefit their business and how to implement them.
Why Low-Code/No-Code?
This year, Gartner forecasts low-code development to balloon into a $26.9 billion global market, increasing 19.6% from 2022. Specifically, low-code application platforms (LCAPs) and hyperautomation-enabling software technologies are predicted to reach $10 billion and $720 billion respectively by later this year.
“Organizations are increasingly turning to low-code development technologies to fulfill growing demands for speed application delivery and highly customized automation workflows,” said Varsha Mehta, Senior Market Research Specialist at Gartner. “Equipping both professional IT developers and non-IT personas — business technologists — with diverse low-code tools enables organizations to reach the level of digital competency and speed of delivery required for the modern agile environment.”
What Tools to Consider
Low-code and no-code technologies can help democratize innovation at your organization. But only if they’re embraced as the changemakers they are and shared among both developers and non-technical staff.
Not sure where to start? Some of the most popular low-code development technologies include tools like:
- Low-Code application platforms (LCAPs)
- Integration platform as a service (iPaaS)
- Robotic process automation (RPA)
- Coordinator for Automatic Data Processing (CADP)
- Multiexperience Development Platforms (MXDP)
Whether you need resources to assist with process automation, data analytics and forecasting, or a highly-specific use case, these are the tools to know.
How to Satisfy Both User Types
There’s no question that low-code and no-code tools both have their place in terms of boosting your SMB’s productivity. Just keep in mind that professional developers may require more robust features and functionality to produce the same quality of work as their less-skilled counterparts.
As The News Stack points out, “professional developers bring higher expectations from their development platform than business users, based on best practices they developed over the years…Low-code platforms can help developers deliver apps faster, but it’s important for organizations to adopt platforms that support the way their developers like to work and support modern practices.”
They also recommend assessing any potential tools for these key adoption criteria:
- Direct Access to Code
- Team Development and CI/CD Pipelines
- Modularity
- Industry Standards
- Extensibility
Going forward, SMBs are encouraged to continuously research and vet new low and no-code options as they enter the market. Doing so will remain an essential part of running a competitive business, particularly as this low-code/no-code era evolves.
