Top tips is a weekly column where we highlight what’s trending in the tech world today and list out ways to explore these trends. This week, we’re listing out five things to look out for while adopting low code/no code platforms for your business.
In the era of instant gratification, where businesses want to see immediate results with little to no effort, low code/no code platforms are what they need. True low code/no code platforms have been increasingly adopted by organizations for over a decade, empowering their employees with little to no knowledge of coding to create websites and applications.
Spurred by the aggressive measures taken by world leaders to contain and eradicate one of the most lethal pandemics the world has seen, the early 2020s coughed up digital transformation like never before, leading to the mainstream adoption of low code/no code platforms among businesses, further addressing the shortage of developers and reducing businesses’ dependence on them.
Now, non-developers and regular business users can build apps by just dragging and dropping elements, and set up logic and workflows using predefined templates, all with little to no knowledge of coding. Everything good comes at a price, and before you decide to go blow your entire IT budget on software you’re likely not that familiar with, we’ll list out five things to look out for when spending on low code/no code platforms.
1. Business requirement
The first thing a business must learn to do is to show a bit of restraint when adopting new technology. Just because some technology is trending doesn’t necessarily mean that your organization has the need for it. A great approach would be to take the time to assess what types of internal applications or workflows would help your employees do their jobs more effectively and ensure you match that requirement with the appropriate platform. Scalability is also essential, and the platforms you adopt should be in a good position to be able to scale with your business.
2. Platform features and capabilities
Since low code/no code platforms are designed for non-developers, the first thing to check for is how easy it is to use. The interface should be smooth and user-friendly without much clutter or bloat. Not only this, the platform should have good integration capabilities with existing databases and systems and must offer a wide array of options for customization and flexibility.
3. Compliance and security
Data security and compliance should hold top priority in the world of business today. It’s definitely a lot less time consuming to take the time to ensure that the platforms you’re adopting are adhering to global compliance requirements, such as the GDPR and HIPAA, rather than having to face the risk of paying hefty fines and penalties. If your organization deals with sensitive customer information, it is critical to ensure that these platforms adhere to your company’s data security standards as the first line of defense.
4. Skillset and training
Although low code/no code platforms hardly require any coding knowledge, your organization must first assess the skill level of your users and employees to understand if they can become proficient with using the platforms. Gathering data from these assessments, the company can categorize their employees accordingly and ensure that sufficient training is provided to those who require it, either by the platform vendors or capable third parties.
5. Migration and exit
One last and significant thing to consider is how easy it would be to migrate your data from one vendor to another if needed. In case of vendor lock-in or extreme dependence on a single vendor, the migration process could become complicated and put your organization at risk. Therefore, it is necessary to decide on a clear migration and exit strategy beforehand so that data migration and vendor settlements can be done without any disruptions in productivity.
Being prudent when adopting low-code/no-code platforms is crucial to ensure the solution aligns with your business needs. Careful evaluation helps maximize ROI, avoids hidden costs, and helps increase productivity to keep your business thriving.
