Low-Code Governance: Why it Matters and How to Get it Right

What is low-code governance?

Low-code governance refers to the policies, practices, and frameworks established to manage the usage of low-code technology in organizations. It covers the development, deployment, and maintenance of applications created using low-code platforms. The governance of low-code platforms is important because along with huge benefits, they can introduce pitfalls that need to be avoided to ensure successful application development.

Why low-code governance matters

Key aspects of low-code governance include:

Security: Security is paramount in every application across the business. Therefore, it is important to ensure that applications built with low-code platforms adhere to security standards to protect the data within them.

Compliance: Non-compliance is a costly mistake for businesses. Making sure that applications comply with legal and regulatory requirements reduces the risk of fines and legal issues. 

Quality assurance: Poor quality applications that aren’t fit for purpose result in technical debt or time-consuming and costly rework. By implementing a governance framework, organizations can ensure adherence to best practices, resulting in higher quality applications.

Access control:  Facilitating citizen development is a big benefit of low-code, but IT still needs visibility of the applications in use across the organization. Defining who can create, modify, and deploy apps maintains control over the development environment and ensures that each application is managed according to best practices.

Monitoring and maintenance: Business applications need to be up and running 24/7. Implementing testing protocols ensures that any performance issues can be identified and fixed quickly to maintain reliability.
Scalability and performance: Applications need to be able to handle increased loads as business needs change. It's important to make sure that your platform of choice can support this business growth.

Cost management: The adoption of low-code platforms has accelerated due to the need to save on high development costs. Governing low-code development helps to manage costs by preventing redundant efforts and focusing on efficient resource use.

10 steps to ensure effective low-code governance

1. Create fusion teams

Create cross-functional teams with members from IT and business units to foster collaboration and ensure that applications meet business needs while adhering to technical standards.

2. Select a low-code platform with strong governance features

It’s much easier to control low-code programs properly when key governance features are designed into the platform, so you don’t have to manage it separately.

3. Establish policies and standards

Create clear guidelines for development, including coding standards, data usage policies, and security requirements.

4. Manage access

Implement role-based access controls to ensure that only authorized users can develop, deploy, and maintain applications.

Example: Bizagi Experience Matrix

5. Set up security measures

Ensure that all applications comply with data security policies and regularly scan applications for vulnerabilities and ensure that security patches are applied promptly.

6. Ensure compliance

Ensure that all applications adhere to organizational standards and external regulations. Implement audit trails to track changes and user activities within applications for accountability and compliance purposes.

7. Promote standardization

Create a library of reusable templates and components to promote consistency across projects.

8. Test regularly

Set up monitoring tools to regularly test applications for functionality, performance, and security and schedule updates to fix bugs, improve performance, and address security vulnerabilities.

9. Track updates

Implement an approval process to review and approve changes before they are deployed and use version control systems to track changes and manage different versions of applications.

10. Provide training and resources

Train citizen developers on best practices, security, and compliance and provide resources such as documentation and FAQs to refer back to. 

Discover how Bizagi’s low-code platform enables you to govern your app development: https://bizagi.com/en/platform/governance