This is an article “How Low-Code Automation Helps the Modern Entrepreneur” by Marc Primo
Every business needs some form of digital encoding that streamlines complex processes into simplified commands. In three years, low-code automation will be utilized by 75% of large companies, mainly to help them boost their performances in all aspects of a business. From marketing and increasing conversions to adopting fintech solutions that simplify business accounting, minimal code in your systems makes things easier and your business more competitive in the long term.
Low-code automation simply means setting a set of simple codes that help non-technical entrepreneurs to control and manage business processes. It reduces their reliance on more developed solutions from software engineers through visual tools and user-friendly yet mobile-driven applications that usually come in drag and drop options.
If you are running a business and right in the middle of your digital shift, learning about what low-code automation can do for you is the right step forward.
Here are the first things you should know about the technology:
The benefits of low-code automation to business
These applications provide real-time results and are focused on faster turnarounds despite requiring minimal code. They are useful to business operations, increase team collaborations, and allow users to develop their own software solutions, even if they are not that well-versed in advanced software technology. Sixty-six percent of large-scale companies have already turned to low-code automation of at least four-code systems and have created great traction for rapid growth that’s expected to make up over 65% of developed application software by 2024.
Low-code automation offers business individuals ease of use while being not too demanding on software know-how. It’s not that challenging to learn low-code, especially if you know what your business needs, such as cloud-based processes for workflow, customer review management, email marketing, or service requests among others.
These codes are also designed to increase company productivity with instant intuitive features so that work becomes faster than going through a whole set of commands for one process. As the technology develops further, entrepreneurs are seeing more best practices they can apply to their businesses via templates they can easily follow, build, and automate with full protocol compliance.
Another benefit entrepreneurs can get from using low-code automation is the capability to apply subtle but essential changes in processes which keeps business operations agile and makes it easier to comply with regulatory updates.
The growth of citizen development
With the popularity of low-code automation, more citizen developers have entered the world of entrepreneurship to come up with more solutions in business using minimal code systems that are more cost-efficient and practically do away with expensive IT payments or salaries within the company fold.
Citizen developers apply low-code or even no-code software via platforms so they can create business solutions. In fact, over 500 million apps are expected to come out from this new breed of coders in the next five years, according to Microsoft leaders. Add to that more professional developers who are active in making game-changing applications of their own.
Two years ago, a Gartner report said that over 40% of companies are now activating citizen developer programs to keep up with the current trends.
Many have now considered low-code automation as the future of work, even though similar solutions have been cropping up since the late 90s with developers like Outsystems and Appian creating fixed infrastructure investments.
However, with the advent of cloud computing technology, tech giants like Amazon, IBM, Microsoft, and Google have redefined the way people do business towards a leaner and more efficient approach at low cost via the technology. More developers are also benefiting from sharing their open-source tools with third-party cloud vendors, which is good news to entrepreneurs who can look forward to more scaled and specific business tools they can invest in.
Turning to the cloud
Today, low-code automation applications can easily be hosted via cloud computing systems which also prompted many businesses to go for external cloud services. These cloud platforms allow entrepreneurs to manage and control their dashboards easily and wherever they are for minimal pay-to-go fees.
Applications also remain secure and flexible via the cloud allowing smoother collaborations among users, while giving citizen developers access so they can scale updates accordingly to the latest versions. They can also do beta testing for upcoming applications and services and easily choose which ones will work for their businesses without any fees involved.
This kind of lenient approach to experimenting with cloud-based technologies with no worries at all about risks is what makes low-code automation a main driver of businesses today.
Applying low-code automation for your business
Low-code automation technology can easily cover every aspect of your business operations you’d want to streamline. Hosting platforms and automation studios or vendors allow you to run process applications across your teams within low-code environments and whether you are on desktops or mobile devices without the need for coding.
Usually, entrepreneurs will be asked to come up with system diagrams and workflows wherein they map out walkthroughs of business processes and define the essential data that go along with them. During this phase of building an online infrastructure, users can be part of creating dashboards and interfaces with easy drag and drop features and the exact rules and commands per process. Entrepreneurs can also assign team members for particular tasks and interconnect or integrate applications as necessary.
Beta tests may be necessary to ensure that all system processes work according to plan before running the platform via a cloud environment with allowed access to select users.
Meanwhile, remote users also comprise a large segment of low-code users in the market today. With how the pandemic has forced companies to collaborate via the digital space, low-code automation has helped virtual networks so that workflows are not disrupted if not improved. Decision-makers were able to improve their marketing, gain more insightful details from business analytics, and focus on product management through the useful applications they gain access to via the cloud.
With such functional needs addressed amid the challenges of modern times, the business intelligence features that this technology provides empower more venture investments regardless of scale towards better long-term growth.