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Business and IT departments are under increased pressure to deliver digital solutions across the enterprise while managing tighter budgets and fewer resources. Traditional development cycles can delay this progress, as business users often depend heavily on IT to build and deploy the applications they need. Low-code automation offers a collaborative approach that allows both business and IT users to work together to create enterprise applications that fulfil the needs of day-to-day users and align with the broader goals of the organization.
Low-code automation is a development approach that uses visual interfaces, drag-and-drop features and reusable components to create and deploy applications and automate complex workflows without extensive lines of code. Unlike traditional development, low-code platforms allow users to focus on high-level design and functionality. These solutions are ideal for organizations looking to improve agility and minimize reliance on IT teams as it is easier for non-technical business users to get hands-on with automation projects and instead of waiting for professional developers to have capacity.
Ease of use
One of the biggest benefits of low-code is that users do not require an in-depth knowledge of coding. Drag-and-drop interfaces, pre-built templates and one-click deployment simplify development, and users can see results fast. G2 states that 70% of users with no coding experience before using low-code platforms learned how to use low-code in one month or less.
Empower citizen developers
According to a Gartner report, 61% of organizations either have or plan to have active citizen development initiatives. As organizations ramp up their digital transformation plans to keep up with competitors, it has put pressure on IT teams to deliver new business applications. The advantage of low-code is that employees outside of the IT department can now help them to meet this challenge of keeping up with new developments by sharing the burden.
Speed of deployment
Traditional software development can take weeks or months to complete. With low-code automation platforms, users can rapidly prototype, iterate, and deploy applications in a fraction of the time. This speed is crucial for businesses seeking to capitalize on market opportunities. Forrester reports that the current usage of low-code platforms indicates that software development can be propelled to 10 times the speed of traditional processes. And the benefit of speed continues past the initial deployment phase, as if there are changes required, it is quick and easy to update processes.
Improve agility
The simple approach building and amending processes means you can make agile changes to process without having to worry about changing complex code. This helps to keep up with regulatory changes, adapt to market changes or respond to customer needs. This agility will continue to prove its benefits in the years to come as businesses adapt their processes and applications to keep up with evolving marketplaces.
Ensure best practice and compliance
The agility that comes with low-code platforms is particularly useful when it comes to keeping up with ever-changing rules and regulations, particularly in highly regulated industries such as finance and manufacturing. Documenting and automating workflows using a low-code platform is the ideal way to ensure that specific requirements are met, and that operations can be agile enough to evolve when regulations change.
Additionally, templates play a large role in low-code automation, with many applications originating from process templates. So, providing templates that adhere to best practice for users to follow when building and automating processes means they will be created in a compliant manner.
Legacy integration
Thanks to the wide availability of connectors, widgets and APIs, low-code platforms can easily integrate with legacy systems that are already in place within an organization’s infrastructure. In fact, low-code platforms can act as an integration layer between applications, so your users have a centralized platform to access information that is held in different silos across the organization.
Connecting your silos and systems across the organization can help to provide better customer service, as all data is centralized and visible, and helps to ensure operational efficiency and compliance through visibility and connectivity.
Cost saving
Cost savings can be seen in various aspects of low-code platforms. Costs can be saved on initial training, and money doesn’t need to be spent on hiring skilled developers who demand a high salary. Additional cost savings can also be seen from the faster time to market, being able to do more in less time and producing a solid ROI.
Customer onboarding
Onboarding teams can automate data collection and verification to eliminate the manual steps that often slow down the process. Furthermore, automating customer communications such as welcome emails and document requests ensures that customers are kept in the loop throughout their onboarding journey. This enhanced efficiency not only reduces the operational costs associated with the process but improves customer satisfaction.
Supply chain management
Low-code automation can be used to connect applications across the supply chain, allowing businesses to streamline processes across sourcing and procurement, order management, and supplier management. This not only improves supply chain visibility, allowing businesses to react swiftly to changes and demand fluctuations, but also increases overall operational efficiency, resulting in cost savings and better service delivery.
HR processes
HR teams can automate time-consuming tasks related to recruitment and onboarding such as pre-screening, interview scheduling and provisioning, create automated workflows to manage payroll and build self-service portals to enable employees to manage leave requests and training.
Compliance and risk management
Business teams can create automated workflows to complete essential compliance checks, enforce data security protocols and support audit requests.
See what you can build with Bizagi.
Low-code and no-code automation both speed up application development and make it more accessible to business users without coding knowledge. Low-code however, can involve some coding if customization is required whereas no-code relies completely on pre-built templates and components.
Want to learn more about the difference between low-code and no-code?
A low-code automation platform is a visual development tool used by both professional and citizen developers to analyze, design, and automate end-to-end business processes across the organization. This gives you greater visibility and control over the resources, costs, and timeframes associated with business processes. It also enables business users and IT to collaborate on process standardization and improvement efforts.
Forrester states that “Low-code platforms can help development teams work faster and increase enterprise-wide software production by empowering “citizen” developers.”
The low-code market is set for rapid growth. Gartner predicts that low-code application building will make up more than 65% of all app development functions by the year 2024 and with about 66% of big companies using a minimum of four low-code platforms.
Visual development
Drag-and-drop interfaces and reusable templates enable individuals with limited or no coding experience to build applications that address their specific needs without relying on IT teams.
Business process automation
Low-code platforms can be used to automate and orchestrate the people, applications, devices, and information across the organization, reducing manual intervention and enhancing efficiency.
Integration capabilities
Pre-built, native and bespoke integration options facilitate integration with internal and external systems and databases to ensure consistent access to business data.
Real-time collaboration
Real-time collaboration tools enable multiple users to work simultaneously on projects, facilitating immediate feedback and faster development cycles.
Scalability
Low-code platforms offer the flexibility to support more users, more data and more transactions as the business scales.
Reporting and analytics
A low-code platform includes analytics dashboards to provide visibility of process performance against KPIs and have the option to extend reporting capabilities by integrating with third-party software.
Mobile compatibility
Simplified creation of mobile-friendly applications with responsive designs.
Security and governance
Built-in security features such as access controls allow managers to manage user permissions, data security and compliance with regulations.
One-click deployment
One-click deployment eliminates the need for manual configuration steps, speeding up deployment and making it possible for non-technical users to launch applications without IT supervision.
Doing the research prior to committing to a vendor will ensure that you choose a platform that is aligned with the needs and skills within your organization. Consider the following questions:
1. What use cases will the platform address? Determining what type of applications will be built ensures that the final selection fits the bill.
2. Who will be responsible for development and what is their technical skill level? Opting for a platform with a visual interface allows non-technical users to participate in the development process.
3. What internal and external systems does the platform need to integrate with? Look for a platform that facilitates easy integration through pre-built, native, or custom connectors and APIs.
4. Is the platform able to scale with your business? Ensure that it accommodates not only your current users and data but can also scale to manage increased workloads.
5. Does it meet organizational security standards? Look for robust security protocols to safeguard sensitive business and customer data.
Need some advice on choosing the right low-code platform for your automation project?
Limited customization
The pre-built templates and components offered by low-code platforms can limit customization and make building applications tailored to specific business requirements difficult therefore it is important to select a platform that offers the ability to write script when required.
Governance
The ease of application development with a low-code platform can sometimes lead to business users creating applications without any IT involvement making it difficult for the IT team to keep track of and manage the applications in use across the organization.
Security
Without IT supervision, applications may not meet the security standards of the organization therefore choosing a platform that allows you to build governance into the development process and the applications themselves will mitigate the risk.
Bizagi’s low-code automation platform enables you to create and run process applications across your organization on any device, without coding.
