How Developers Win With Low-Code Platforms

Photo Credit, @reallynattu

Businesses everywhere have stated to see the values low-code has for
their organizations, and have been adapting the technology accordingly.
However, some IT experts and software developers  view the term “low-code” in a negative light, seeing it as synonymous with their jobs becoming obsolete as low-code embraces the idea that anyone can be a developer. This concept makes some professional developers fear that their position will not be needed to the same extent as the low-code trend continues to catch on, or that a lot of the coding they enjoy doing is taken away from them and replaced with a mostly visual, simplified interface. This notion can make developers feel like their role might be less relevant within a company using a low-code platform, or that the coding that they spent years learning to write will vanish within the development process.

This can’t be further from the truth. Low-code should not feel like
a threat to developers – it should feel like a relief. This article takes a
look into why low-code is good news for IT departments, and how low-code can empower developers to be more productive than ever before.

Low-code should not feel like a relief to developers.

IT departments are often overwhelmed. The requirements for software
development within companies is increasing year by year as they digitally
transform and rely more on technology to enhance their processes. This means more work for IT experts, who already spend up to 86% of their time just maintaining the existing tech within a business – updates, security fixes, patching, etc. This leaves little room for the creation of new software innovations at a pace the company desperately needs to stay competitive, automate their many processes, and digitally transform.

Not only are IT experts low on time to meet the requirements for new
software solutions, they might not have the time to make the solution “pretty” enough as well. Though they are the go-to experts for everything related to software creation, developers spend the majority of their efforts on ensuring that the solution is error-free. Important aspects of a software solution from the user’s point of view can go unaddressed when time is so limited; aspects like ensuring the app is simple to use and intuitive.

Potentially useful features remain unidentified due to gaps in communication and the need for speedy development.

For traditional software development, this means that in addition to extra time needed to code, test, and re-test, more time will also likely be spent tackling change requests for the solution’s usability and UX. The complicated back-and-forth process of standard development
procedures can be time-consuming and headache inducing for IT experts who already have so much on their plate.

Clearly, developers face several challenges, and low-code can be a valuable asset to help overcome them. Now is a better time than ever to clear up some misconceptions about low-code technology and outline the advantages low-code platforms have for professional developers.

Firstly, low-code platforms are not exclusively for non-IT experts –
professional developers save time and headache when using a low-code platform. It is true that any user can become a citizen developer and create their own solutions with little to no coding skills, but low-code platforms are also helpful to IT departments who need to create intuitive software at a fast enough pace to keep up with pressing demands. Low-code simplifies the aforementioned process of coding line-by-line, testing, patching, etc. and ensures that IT professionals can keep up with the quickening pace of start-to-finish timelines for creating new solutions. With low-code platforms, the limited capacity left after maintenance to spend time
on developing new apps is more than enough.

Now we can address another non-truth about low-code: that it takes away the need to code altogether. As the name states, there is some coding involved with low-code platforms, just not as much as standard software development. Creation of simple software solutions on low-code platforms does not need extensive coding, and the platform automatically generates and compiles the code needed for many processes during development. However, just because the process is simplified does not mean that the development process and the solutions created cannot be complex and involve code to write. The larger and more complicated software development requirements on low-code platforms still without a doubt need the expertise (and coding) of professionals. Low-code platforms provide the potential to go beyond their drag-and-drop design abilities, putting your coding knowledge to work in the process. Additionally, low-code platforms are best implemented when companies appoint a professional developer to learn the full capabilities of the system; a position that makes

IT experts even more valuable within their company than they already are.

Taking all of this information into account, low-code platforms can be one of the most useful tools IT experts can have to keep up with increasing demands on their departments. Low-code technology is here to stay, and it is not seeking to make enemies with those who love to code. Though these platforms have the ability to empower non-coders with app development capabilities, it also empowers IT departments to create more user-friendly, powerful, and complex software solutions in a fraction of the time that traditional software development takes to do so.

About the author: Katherine Kostereva is CEO and managing partner of Creatio (formerly bpm’online), www.creatio.com, a leading low-code, process automation and CRM company, focused on accelerating marketing, sales, service, and operations for midsize and large enterprises. Katherine Kostereva has bootstrapped Creatio and has grown it to a global software company with offices around the world, a team of 600 engaged professionals and thousands of customers worldwide.