No-code application development equips ideas people to turn their ideas into apps

Using a no-code design platform, designers use visual building blocks, if/then rules and simple wizards to create user interfaces and applications logic.  The design tool forms an abstraction layer.  behind the scenes, the app is converting your beautiful design into bits and bytes – so you don’t have to.  It means anyone with basic database or spreadsheet knowledge can become a citizen developer.

The short-lived joy of SaaS

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Enterprise computing practitioners were somewhat less thrilled by SaaS. Before its arrival, the role of the Enterprise CTO was unquestioned. They were the gods of technology, and nobody could get anything done in IT without their blessing.

The idea that departmental managers could arrive at the IT desk and start demanding software products they hadn’t even seen before, and show them immediate advantages was hard to counter, and left many IT heads on the back foot, trying to defend the common sense of requiring testing, integration and further validation before any recommendation was adopted.

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The rise of SaaS adoption levels in the enterprise has soared over two decades, as department heads have got ever more involved in selection decisions on the tools they, and their teams, want to use. The power to make decisions drifted from the center of the enterprise to the margins.

Few could argue that the quality of applications used in business has benefited from SaaS.  But at what cost?

Step into any large enterprise and you’ll encounter find the common problem of data held in various SaaS platforms with departmental managers pulling their hair out trying to gather it up to drive decisioning.

Nick Lawrie

Managing Director, NDMC Consulting

Once you’re proficient at no-code application development you’ll soon realize that your first app is just the beginning…

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The no-code application development craze

Businesses build custom apps using no-code platforms for lots of reasons. Step through the latest articles on app engineering and you’ll find the three main areas of no-code application development demand.  They are:

#1. Customer Service Apps

Customers want to serve themselves. That means processes need to extend beyond the remit of a company website. To bind together front and back-office systems requires the development of new apps.  Additionally, these apps need to be deployed on mobile, desktop and web form factors. They must interact with the incumbent systems and harvest data from across and beyond the enterprise.

#2. HyperAutomation Apps

Another major reason for the rise in no-code application development comes from the recognition that back-office systems need to be automated.  Most businesses today rely on hard-copy documents and humans to some extent to fill in gaps between automated processes.  Broken process steps and simple things like signatures are common culprits for offline process steps.  Hyperautomation is about leveraging the latest crop of digital technologies—including blockchain, AI, big data, cloud computing, robotics and RPA, chatbots, the Internet of Things (and sensor networks), etc.—to automate processes at scale.  To create the apps you’ll need, manual coding isn’t an option isn’t an option because it takes too long and costs too much.  That’s why people are turning to no-code applications development.

#3. Data Analysis and Decisioning Apps

The democratisation of artificial intelligence technology has led to a dramatic growth in the use of computers in decisioning that would previously have been left for humans to do. Most startups finding investment in Silicon Valley these days have an ‘AI’ aspect to their business models. Data analysis and decisioning form a major part of the digital transformations businesses are today considering to gain a competitive advantage on their rivals.  All these aspects of enterprise IT fundamentally need no-code application development to speed their adoption.

Why you will want to build more than one no-code app

Justify one no-code application development for any of the above categories, and you will find the opportunities for no-code app development don’t stop there.

Most businesses today, even will all of the great SaaS tools and business apps at their disposal, are underpinning a large proportion of their critical business processes with spreadsheet systems and self-authored apps that rest on the desktop and are largely invisible to IT.

Back in the day, that wasn’t really an issue—and everyone did it—but in an era where data security and privacy is everything, and customers want the transparency of operations to serve themselves 24/7, well, spreadsheets quite frankly don’t cut the mustard.  The downside of SaaS is that it spreads your data across a wide number of data silos.  This all means every company I know has a shopping list of new no-code developed apps they want to build to serve customers better, automate further and faster to cut costs, and to improve data use and value, through richer data analytics and decisioning.

 

You’re looking for a no-code platform, not a no-code design app

Back in the day, that wasn’t really an issue—and everyone did it—but in an era where data security and privacy is everything, and customers want the transparency of operations to serve themselves 24/7, well, spreadsheets quite frankly don’t cut the mustard.  The downside of SaaS is that it spreads your data across a wide number of data silos.  This all means every company I know has a shopping list of new no-code developed apps they want to build to serve customers better, automate further and faster to cut costs, and to improve data use and value, through richer data analytics and decisioning.

Which all sounds great. In the real world of digital businesses today, no-code application developments extend beyond the expectation that only one app will be the outcome of that investment. Businesses need enterprise grade no-code platforms that support not just the design, but the roll-out and ongoing operational maintenance of custom no-code apps.The enterprise IT today is flooded with new ways to develop business applications using low-code or no-code tooling.  This innovation in software engineering reduces or removes the need for coding and scripting when authoring apps. These tools help a non-technical (or less IT competent) user to build custom apps for themselves.

 

Ready to discover the new era of codeless software? Check out our products.

Secure&Live – A feature rich and data secure digital transformation platform.  Secure and Live is a codeless Enterprise applications Platform-as-a-Service (aPaaS), built to turn business models and strategies into apps.

GlueWare –  Enterprise iPaaS for bringing your data together, mashing it up, and bridging between your eCommerce store and back-office, streamlining processes for maximum results.

 

AppFabricBuild as many apps as you need using an agile codeless SDLC approach and change them as often as you like.

Live Wireframe – Design and publish ebooks, courseware and apps, then go live in two clicks!

CDPCodeless Customer Data Platform to create a single view of your customer data. Use our data integration tools to harvest insights from across your enterprise and beyond.  

 

 

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Learn about the data safeguarding, features , integration tooling and modules of Encanvas that make it a leader in codeless enterprise aPaaS

Modern no-code platforms need to serve multiple masters

App Designers

Every good no-code applications designer knows that the best results come from an engaged stakeholder group able to articulate how an app should work.

The design process today needs to allow business people and app stakeholders to get hands-on in the app development. This means removing the code from design screens, because normal human-beings that chose not to take Computing as their primary choice in college, don’t fair well when code is presented on a screen. It’s an instant put-off.

For this reason, no-code software platforms are taking off in popularity. Not only do they produce faster results, but generally the quality of apps they produce is as better fit to business needs.

IT Admins and Architects

At some point, no-matter who authors an app, it needs to be handed over to the IT guys for it to be properly maintained and managed.

In the world of computing today, data security and privacy are foremost in the minds of leaders responsible for business continuity and keeping the lights on.

This means self-authored apps using no-code must co-exist with systems of record (like ERP and financial systems) as part of a joined up enterprise digital platform.

It also means, IT admins and architects need their own robust and easy to administer toolsets to manage the roll-out and governance of apps developed by the business.

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Check out our easy read guides.  Each is crammed with facts and insights on the hottest topics in enterprise IT.

Make no-code applications development part of your continuous change agenda

In Germany, most companies have what we’d describe as an ‘Organization Department.’ This is a team of people committed to the continuous improvement of organizational designs, behaviors, systems, processes, compliance, workforce incentivization, and data governance.

If you want to really maximize the potential of your data and the operational effectiveness of your business, applications development should not be seen as a one-time-only ad hoc event, but an integral part of continuous organizational improvement. That means building your tech tools into the improvement team of your organization, how so ever that manifests itself.

 

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About Ian Tomlin

Ian Tomlin is a management consultant and strategist specializing in helping organizational leadership teams to grow by telling their story, designing and orchestrating their business models, and making conversation with customers and communities. He serves on the management team of Encanvas and works as a virtual CMO and board adviser for tech companies in Europe, America and Canada. He can be contacted via his LinkedIn profile or follow him on Twitter.

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