A Tech Revolution: Low/No Code

Intro

Low code is making a lot of noise at the minute, being dubbed as a revolution it’s expected to change the game for application development over the coming years. You may be asking, “seriously, what is all the hype about? And why should I care “. In this blog I will do my best to explain the hype train and understand its relevance to you.

What is “Low Code” anyway, and why should I care?

I find a good analogy to use to explain low code is the evolution of websites. During the 2000’s if you needed a website building, you would speak to a developer who would write a website in HTML code, which was time consuming and a specialist skill which could be bloody expensive with high ongoing maintenance costs. The cost barrier to entry being so high meant that unless you were a large company with disposable cash, you simply couldn’t afford one. Giving larger organisation a distinct advantage that was out of reach of small and medium businesses.

In 2003, WordPress changed the game by providing the ability to create blog websites very quickly using a drag and drop editor. This meant you no longer had to learn another language (HTML) if you wanted your own website. WordPress quickly got traction and by the mid 2000’s other similar offerings started to emerge; GoDaddy and Wix. This new ability for anyone to create a website, significantly reduced the barrier to entry for companies & it started a new age in website building. It meant Bob’s Bakery down the road could now build their own website allowing him the same opportunities as the big boys. This meant that Bob’s new website could play a vital role in his company’s plans, accelerating their growth by additional online revenue.

We are in the middle of the same type of revolution happening with Apps. Given the release of things such as Microsoft Power Apps, Amazon Honeycomb, Google App Sheet & a few more to boot companies can have their own bespoke business process application built quickly and at low-cost comparative to classic high code applications. So, in Bob’s Bakery, the traditional labour-intensive paper-based processes have been replaced with digital automation, meaning Bob’s staff can work on more productive and fulfilling things, like the next amazing apple crumble recipe.

I still don’t get it? Why is it so good?

• Quick to develop and get a product in the hands of users
• Simple to support & maintain
• Easy to make changes, enhance & adapt
• It’s scalable

This is our way of explaining that low code solutions are not as out of reach as they may seem to be. Our aim is to help expand the knowledge on this topic for any business or organisation that may be interested. Get in touch if you want to know more.