The phenomenon of low-code platforms in the business environment
Intensive economic development poses a number of challenges for modern businesses. One of those challenges is efficient operation in a dynamically changing environment and building a competitive advantage in an age of digital transformation. Modern companies have to constantly adapt their work, make it more efficient, and create ever new solutions that will not let them fall behind the competition. Those, in turn, require the use of innovative technologies. A certain difficulty lies in the limited number of programmers in the job market and the high costs connected to using their services. This problem is effectively solved by low-code platforms which not without reason are perceived as the technological future of business.
A low-code platform – what makes it different from standard software?
Low-code platforms are state-of-the-art computer systems created specifically with the thought of business users and their needs in mind. An exceptional interest in their implementation could be observed during the pandemic, when companies especially valued the possibilities offered by software of this kind. And there is quite many of those. Low-code development platforms offer functionality in, among other things, business process automation and optimization, document management, basing in this on the so-called visual approach to building business applications. These solutions are very simple to operate, they support global standards, and they allow efficient and safe integration with other computer systems.
Importantly, a low-code platform makes it possible to create business applications without coding, which is especially significant today, when companies want to efficiently automate their processes and build high-functioning business applications, perfectly fitted to their current needs, but without becoming dependent in this on external or internal development teams. Although as a rule, low-code platforms make it possible to build applications without coding, they reserve the possibility of using elements of code wherever it is justified by technical and economic reasons (for example in case of advanced integrations with other systems or complicated business scenarios).
Why is a low-code platform a good choice?
A low-code platform makes it possible to build, modify, and manage business applications by special mechanisms (drag&drop, point&click). All business applications are created in one standardized and centralized environment, where they are build, developed, modified, and kept. By definition, low-code development platforms are supposed to be solutions that are simple and very intuitive in use and functionality of which can be expanded in an equally easy way.
An immense advantage associated with choosing low-code development platforms is the possibility of becoming directly involved in the process of creating applications by individuals who will then be the ones to use them. This is significant insofar as it is exactly the end users who know best what functionalities they need. The Citizen-Assisted Development approach, which can be effectively implemented in the process of creating business applications with the help of low-code platforms, makes it possible to join the knowledge of business users and the specialists from IT departments, whose joint work can contribute to the creation of business applications that will be even more efficient and more bespoke to the company’s needs.
