Low-code: An Accelerator for Digital Transformation

Digital transformation is expected to be the top strategic priority for businesses of all sizes and industries, yet organisations find the transformation journey challenging due to digital skill gap, tight budget, or technology resource shortages. Amidst these challenges, organisations turn to low-code to remain competitive and agile.

Taking the programmer out of software development, low-code provides tools that enable people with minimal training and coding skills to create and adapt applications themselves using prebuilt templates and program modules. These features make low-code useful for organisations that need to streamline their development processes or bridge the gap between business requirements and IT capabilities.

THE POWER OF LOW CODE

According to Forrester Research, low-code can accelerate application development by 10 to 20 times compared to traditional coding methods, which is very important in competitive markets as it can shorten the time to market for products and services that rely on them. But it is only one of the many benefits, and there are more to take into account:

• Reduced Development Costs. The same Forrester report notes that organisations using low-code can realise cost savings of up to 90 percent in application development and maintenance. It has also been estimated that low-code tools can reduce the overall cost of building, supporting, and owning apps by 10-40 percent.
• Empowering Citizen Developers. Low-code platforms enable business users or citizen developers to easily create applications of varying complexity while reducing the need for skilled developers—costly and often in short supply.
• Increased Productivity: Gartner estimates that more than 50 percent of medium to large enterprises are using low-code application platforms to improve operational efficiency and increase productivity. A 2022 large-scale survey by KPMG found similar results as EMA companies witnessed an increase of 44 percent in process efficiency and higher employee productivity (39 percent).
• Better quality code. It has been estimated that costs of remedying app defects and maintaining apps post-deployment can be reduced by 25-50 percent.

Drawing from the case of a US-based company providing platforms for managing automatic toll booths for several top toll authorities that wanted to moderate its 15-year-old legacy accounts receivable management system to a new UI/UX web application while being able to handle millions of toll account transactions per year.

Partnering with FPT Software to adopt low-code solutions, the company was able to build a new user-friendly application to elevate user experience and streamline operation while reducing the application development workload by 70 percent, namely:

• the ability to interact daily with other systems to consolidate information recorded by the toll booths.
• interactive dashboards enabling details such as vehicle type, critical dates, and related documents to be viewed easily.
• the ability to generate system health reports and notify users if any system needs maintenance or repair.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN LOW–CODE TOOLS

Embedding AI within low-code platforms is getting more attention as this makes the barrier to software development even lower. Leading providers have integrated ChatGPT connectors in their developer environments, and you should not miss this feature when choosing yours. Nevertheless, there are a few more to keep in mind.

• Ease of use. A user-friendly interface—drag-and-drop interfaces, pre-built templates, integration options, and scalability—is crucial for rapid application development. Look for a tool that comes with a library of pre-designed templates for common application types and robust integration options to connect with existing systems, databases, and third-party services.
• Applicability & Customisability. It is important that a platform can be customised to meet your specific business needs, goals, and requirements. Consider factors such as scalability, integration capabilities, and the complexity of applications you plan to build.
• Reporting and analytics. Look for a product that comes with tools for generating reports and analysing application performance and user behaviour.
• Cloud hosting options. As anywhere, anytime is the new way of working, look for a tool that enables applications to be hosted on-premises, in the cloud, or in a hybrid environment.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN A LOW-CODE PARTNER

The maximum benefits from low-code will only be gained with the right approach and the right partner. Here are some of the key things to look for.

• Expertise. A potential partner starts with a proven history of successful implementations and a global presence, as well as upholding a commitment to innovation and a roadmap that adapts to emerging technology trends. A vendor who is committed to ongoing innovation can ensure your investment remains relevant.
• Support & Training. Adequate support is crucial for troubleshooting issues and ensuring a smooth implementation. Check out what your partner offers in terms of customer service, troubleshooting, training, and updates. It is also wise to consider what else they can offer to further address your technology needs, for example, cybersecurity, cloud computing, and more.
• Large-scale & Sustainable resources: As global business is facing developer shortage, service providers based in emerging economies with a growing, high-quality workforce will leverage businesses’ manpower to drive success.
• Security & Compliance. Ensure that your partner adheres to industry security best practices and your organisation’s compliance requirements, as well as offering transparent licensing models.

Take the Malaysian oil and gas conglomerate as an example. Identifying technology implementation in general and low-code in particular as the key enabler for their net-zero ambition, the company has partnered up to establish a Center of Excellence of over 120 low-code experts from FPT Software. With best practices, continuous training, and support, the company has successfully upskilled its non-technical employees while gradually forming best practices and frameworks to accelerate product delivery and commercialization.

Low-code has been reshaping digital innovation, democratises app development, and opens up new possibilities for solving complex problems. By embracing the power of low-code, organisations of all kinds and sizes can streamline application development, bring ideas to life faster, and stay competitive in the ever-evolving digital landscape.

A low-code partner with presence around the world and thousands of IT expert can help your business stay ahead in today’s digital age. Explore low-code solutions here.